Tag Archives: Brick Lane

48 hours in London – What to do!

11807673_10153414782588260_3308692434366476078_oLast weekend I went over to London to visit my friend, Aoife. I had such a great weekend that I just had to get back to blogging so I could tell the Internet all about it! It was my third time in London and although I would never live there I really do love the buzz and vibe of the city.

In April, when I last went to London, my friends and I missed our flight because we were in the bloody bar! Like one minute away from the gate! So I went directly to my gate this time round, after a quick stop off in duty free to treat myself to some perfume! Aoife and I really wanted to make the most of the weekend and visit a few different markets and restaurants so I was on the ball and did my makeup and hair on the train into the city so we didn’t waste any time!

11816187_10153414782633260_1665407719062363677_oOn Friday night we went to Dalston Yard Street Feast, which is a night market that runs over the summer in 3 locations. The place was buzzing when we arrived around 10pm and there were a lot of people who had clearly been out since 5pm! I immediately loved the look and feel of the place! We started off with a cucumber G&T in the Gin Store while we tried to figure out what we wanted to eat. I wasn’t too hungry so I decided to get a cheeseburger slider and some chili fries from Slider Bar. The guy taking the orders was fucking everything up and it REALLY annoyed me! The slider wasn’t even that great and the fries were average so it was pretty disappointing. Aoife on the other hand got an amazing brisket burger and Cajun fries from Smokestak. They cook their meat in a 4.5 tonne custom fabricated smoker train! The meat was crazy tender and the Cajun mayo was TDF as Aoife would say. TDF – To Die For. Serious order envy on my part!

The market closes up at midnight so afterwards we nipped into Farr’s School of Dancing for another G&T and some people watching. The bar has a really cool vintage theme and is definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area.

11838678_10153414782298260_6745500840914062253_oThe next day we were up bright and early to seize the day! We rented the London bikes, which are only £2 for the day, and cycled to Victoria Park. Once we got there we had brunch at the famous Victoria Park Pavilion. I opted for bacon and egg on sourdough bread and Aoife got eggs florentine. The food was really good and it was so nice to be sitting outside on the picnic benches beside the lake. The lake was so nice in fact that Aoife decided we should rent a pedal boat and have a little tour around it! I’m not sure if we got a dodgy boat or what but it was REALLY hard to get the thing moving and turning! We ended up getting stuck in some weeds and at one point I honestly thought we were going to have to be rescued! We eventually got back to the pier though and I was happy to be back on dry land. I don’t think I ever laughed so much!

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With legs like jelly we got back on our bikes and cycled through the park and towards the Olympic stadium. We got off the bikes at the back of the stadium and had to walk the entire way around it to get to the entrance. Aoife is not the best tour guide. She wanted to go to the man-made Beach East to check it out and once we got there we went straight to Pub Tropicana for a drink and to cool off! It was gloriously sunny and about 24 degrees!

IMG-20150806-WA0008Next up was a quick train ride to Greenwich for a look around the naval college and a cup of coffee. I really liked it here. It’s much more laid-back and European than the other spots we visited. I guess I’m just not much of a city girl! We headed back to Aoife’s apartment then to chill out and rest our feet!

Once we finished our episode of ‘come dine with me’ (seriously, I’m always either eating, thinking about what to eat or watching programs about people eating!) we got ready for our night out! We had decided we were going to go to Brick Lane for an Indian so I had done a bit of research to choose the best place to go. I found this blog really helpful when making the decision!

So, we ended up going to Cinnamon! It was BYOB so we brought two bottles of wine with us. Classy ladies! The trick to getting a good deal for your meal is to know where you are going and then act really interested in the restaurant beside that place! We ended up getting 20% off our bill. I wanted to hold out for a free drink too but sure what are ya gonna do?!

CinnamonI got the bhuna and Aoife got the butter chicken. We shared some poppadums, garlic naan and bombay aloo too. It was A LOT of food! We both enjoyed our meals but I would have like if the bhuna was a bit spicier. There was literally no kick from it. Aoife also said that, while the butter chicken was nice, it wasn’t like any other she’d had before and it was more yellowy than red. The highlight of the night was when the waiter informed us – AFTER we had eaten our meals – that eating rice at night makes you fat! He then proceeded to tell us he was a personal trainer and whipped out his phone to show us a picture of his bicep. So weird!!

After dinner we walked up to Shoreditch high-street and ended up in Dragon Bar. Having eaten so much Aoife was convinced that we would not be able to get drunk. Let’s just say we proved her theory wrong! It was a great night just dancing around drinking more wine. I have to say, I just love the music in the bars in London. There was a lot of RnB and rap which is right up my street and which you don’t really get in Ireland so I was having the time of my life! It also helped that no-one knew me so I didn’t have to be self conscious about my hella-cool dance moves! Girl got SWAG!

Me being me, I left my phone in the bar but the lovely barman kindly text MY DAD to tell him they had it so I had to drag a very poorly Aoife back to the bar the next day to retrieve it and immediately delete many embarrassing Snapchat story entries which, thankfully, had not sent yet! Once we’d gotten that business out of the way we stopped off at Shoreditch Urban Street Fest for a feed. I got a pepperoni pizza, which was crap, and Aoife got an Argentinean steak sandwich, which was delicious. Second bout of order envy of the weekend!

Having put Aoife through enough, we parted ways at Liverpool street station. I was tired, a bit peaky and pretty emotional at this point with the thought of a flight home but it was so worth it for such an amazing weekend!!

So, what do you like to get up to when you’re in London? Leave a comment if you know of any places, restaurants or activities I should check out next time! Follow me on Twitter – @Shlawlor and add me on instagram – @lovefoodbaby

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