real food market at southbank (4.5/5)

When you think about food markets in London, Borough Market is probably the first place you'll think of. Little behold that a bit further west is a hidden gem called the Real Food Market at Southbank. It's like walking around the world in 80 yards, with a stall for every palette. Some of our highlights are the slow roasted hog sandwich with crackling, the goat's milk ice cream and the bakery stall that gave us Baileys brownies. You'll get fed along the way as there is a distinctive willingness to give out samples (not even Borough Market does this). Once you've collected all of the treasures there are plenty of places to eat them including the scenic Southbank and London Eye itself.

Chorizo sandwich.

The crackling was amazing.

Goat's milk Maple ice cream.

An excellent range of brownies, including Baileys and Snickers variations.

Carrot Whoopies

medlar, london (4/5)

As you can probably tell by the restaurants we have shared with you - we like French food. Medlar thankfully has restored the faith in London-based establishments with a refreshing take on the country's dishes. For 3 courses at £39.50, it's a perfect excuse to explore Chelsea while not breaking the bank. A prominent shade of green is their signature, which is also represented in the majority of the dishes served. A favourite was the under blade fillet of beef with Cafe' de Paris snails which was cooked to perfection. The accompanying snails and sauces created one of the best synergies of flavours I have experienced. Their desserts were also very well done, whether you go for the traditional mille-feuille or for the more contemporary honeycomb ice cream. Overall we would highly recommend, with very good value for money given the quality of the food, a vibrant new interior and friendly service.

Medlar is proud of its crab raviolo - good but not its best dish.

Cold served halibut with an interesting mix of flavours and perfectly formed pearls.

A rather mediocre monkfish dish, though the presentation is commendable.

The exceptional under blade fillet of beef with Cafe de Paris snails and triple fried chips

Generous portions of honeycomb icecream.

A lemon and blackberry twist on the French classic.

Medlar is in a quirky part of Chelsea well worth exploring.

southbank on a weekend

On the way to the Southank Food Market...

These two stylish gentlemen deserve a medal or something. I love this picture. 

braithwaites english cream tea, camden stables market (5/5)

I've only been to Stables Market at night once before, and take my word when I say that it's only worth going at night. It is a typical touristy nightmare during the day. But still, we braved the crowds because we knew that this little gem would be worth it.

And this gem is housed in an adorable, quintessentially English caravan, complete with Union Jack bunting, coloured in a classy wallpaper-ish print with matching paper cups (which I kept for a few days before questioning the hygienic implications).

I stumbled across Braithwates most randomly on the web one day, and had to go and verify if the rave reviews spoke any truth at all. Believe me, they do.

Each cream tea set (£4.99) includes two halves of a scone (plain or with fruit, your choice) topped with smooth, rich clotted cream and strawberry jam, and an English tea. Perch carefully on these extremely old and partly broken steel benches facing the back of the caravan, and happily munch away. Ahhhhh, a perfect English afternoon.

primrose hill, regent's park

The long spell of good weather has finally allowed me to venture into the lazy list, but unfortunately I was cooped up in the office for most of the sunshine time. Thankfully the weekend was still sunny.

Primrose Hill is just north of Regent's Park, and I can't seem to find out if it is part of the latter or not, since there is a map of Regent's Park in Primrose Hill. Anyway, I might be cheating, but I'm going to cross Regent's Park off the list.

Primrose Hill is famous for its expensive residential properties and its marvellous view over London. But of course, the top of the hill is as crowded as any other London tourist hotspot, so camp out at the foot of the hill, take a nap on the luxuriously long and soft grass, then hike up there to admire the view, and call it a day.

pied a terre: not worth it (2/5)

I went to Pied a Terre with my family to celebrate my graduation, and offered to foot the bill. Damn, do I regret it.

I suppose my expectations were too high, since Le Restaurant was the last fine dining experience I had and it was completely out of Pied a Terre's league.

The four of us went for the 9-course tasting menu, priced at £99 per head not including the 12.5% service charge.

Now, when I fork out £99 for a dinner, I'm not paying for something good, I'm paying for something special. Pied a Terre fails miserably at this.

The menu was not particularly imaginative nor well executed, in taste or in presentation. The only courses I really liked was the meat, a tender and fabulously pink saddle of lamb with crispy skin, and the cold scallops starter went really well with the cucumber, yogurt and lemon garnishes. 

The foie gras was overwhelmingly salty, the fish was not worthy of a second glance nor was the opening soup. The desserts in particular were a letdown. A mango mousse that tasted like it came out of an ice cream box? No, no. The 'Congratulations' message on my second dessert was a very sweet touch, too bad it wasn't on the dessert I ordered. I cannot believe that our waiter did not take my order correctly. But by the last course I was thoroughly despaired from the experience and didn't bother sending the very average creme brulee back.

Which brings me to the staff. There were a few outstanding waiters, and quite a few disappointing ones. That was one of the problems I had with the service- usually at these places you have one or two designated waiters which makes it a personal experience, but not at Pied a Terre. This one junior waiter was particularly careless, flinging cutlery around and whisking away our plates before we even put down our forks.

For a Michelin-star establishment, there were too many faults, too many disappointments. Note that it has been downgraded from 2 stars in 2011 to one in 2012. I advise avoidance, and I'll be petitioning the elevation of Le Restaurant to at least two Michelin stars.

 My mother tried the Anjou pigeon, she enjoyed it but I didn't.

Cracker tree for the cheese.