E U R O P E - part 1. London

POLLEN STREET SOCIAL 

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted about FOOD. Is my excuse of: work has been busy/ I haven't had time super lame? Yes, yes it is.

No more excuses - here it is: Our best meal in London (also our only meal in London which means we had to go big). Thank you to Phil and Steph for the amazing recommendation. Jason Atherton knows what he's doing in the kitchen and executes each dish to perfection. I will frequent this restaurant upon any return to London and hope everyone can try it out during their travels.

We opted for the tasting menu as this was our big night out/one of Joe's bday dinners during our 24 hour layover in London. Here is what we ate:

POLLEN STREET SOCIAL 

Chilled Pea soup, citrus creme fraiche, peas & gambas

English Breakfast 

Orkney Sea Scallop carpaccio, kohirabi, pomelo (my fav), yuzu jam, black olive & samphire

Cornish Turbot roasted with capers & brown butter, samphire almonds, white strawberries, caper gnocchi 

Roasted Lake District rack of Lamb, Shepherd's pie, Sweetbreads, braised lettuce, morels & mustard seed

Cumbrian Pork Belly & Cheek, Mrs Brown's black pudding, almond crumb, apricot puree, fondant potatoes

English Strawberry soup, yoghurt foam, cucumber granite

Caramel popcorn & sweet corn cream

Granny Smith apple parfait, blueberry, shiso & eucalyptus

I opted for the Lamb as my main course and Joe went with the Pork Belly. Both were delicious, unique and fun. The meal itself lasted about three and a half hours which was a perfect way to get through our jet lag. We split a bottle of Red Wine during the dinner and to start I ordered a glass of bubbles (shocker) while Joe tried an Old Fashioned (duh). The portion sizes were perfect and the desserts were very light and a perfect way to end the meal. I am proud to report that Joe and I were members of the clean plate club for each course! 

My favorite of the night was the English Breakfast - soft scrambled eggs topped with mashed potato, pork jus and bacon bits.. served in an egg (see above photo). It was glorious. I could have ate 5 more. Just writing about it is making me hungry and now I want to fly to London to eat this dish again.

Runner up to the English Breakfast was the Turbot. The fish was cooked to perfection with a nice crust and the caper gnocchi was a unique and delicious compliment to the fish. I was also surprised at how sweet the white strawberries were. Yum!

This was definitely a successful layover in London - Joe and I knocked off multiple tourist attractions (Big Ben, London Eye, Buckingham Palace, London Bridge, and a stroll thru Piccadilly Circus) had a fabulous dinner at the amazing Pollen Street Social in Soho, and finished the night with a cocktail at the new Shangri-La at the Shard over-looking all of London town :) 

Best way to start our European vacation!  Next stop - Norway!