A Taste of London

So after a bit of a hiatus, I’m back! But before catching up on my un-Happy Hour at Lecosho with my best friend Jenn of Amateur Gourmand, I’ve got to post about Mike and my recent trip to Florence and Venice, including a night in London.

Since we’d have been too rushed trying to jet from Heathrow to Gatwick for a flight to Venice on the day we arrived from Seattle, we decided to stay the night in London. We had a few evening hours to kill, so we walked around near Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben. But before heading off to do that, we needed some food to sustain us.

After some walking around, we came across Bumbles Restaurant. They had a 3-course set price menu, so we decided it would suit our budget. While compared to the food we ate in Italy it wasn’t earth shattering, it was a good meal worth writing about.

Mike started off with the fish cakes and baked beans, while I went with the onion soup. Mike quite enjoyed the fish cakes and baked beans. I just thought it was okay, but that was more due to the texture than the flavors. I will admit the cakes tasted good in combination with the beans.

The onion soup (as you can see) was just a simple onion soup, like french onion without the fanfare. It was good, but not great.

Then, came the entrees. Mike went with the roast pork with spiced aubergine (eggplant) and new potatoes. The pork was so succulent with a great flavor. The eggplant puree was spiced with curry, which really worked well with the pork! The new potatoes were delicious as well.

I had ordered the Devonshire lamb bolognese. While it was unlike any Italian bolognese I’d ever had, it was an interesting English take on a pasta dish. The lamb’s flavor really shined through even though it was ground; there was a healthy portion of lamb throughout the sauce, which was very hearty and comforting. And while I am not crazy about spaghetti noodles, I enjoyed them in this dish.

For dessert, Mike went with the vanilla ice cream while I decided on the yoghurt mousse.

While the vanilla ice cream was just fine, I couldn’t get enough of the yoghurt mousse! Imagine the flavor of Red Mango yogurt with the texture of a light mousse combined with some berry coulis, crushed gingerbread cookies, and meringue. It was so refreshing and a perfect end to the meal.

And since we were in a magical land where they exist, Mike and I had to make sure to get a Zinger Tower Burger while we were in the UK. This fabled burger first came into our lives while living in South Korea, a treat I’d only indulge in when going on vacation flying out of Incheon Airport. Imagine a spicy Zinger burger fillet with a hash brown and American cheese on top – need I say more? The UK variety (pictured below) adds salsa into the mix, which honestly really isn’t necessary. While it wasn’t as great as its Korean counterpart, it was still yummy (and something unattainable in the good ol’ U S of A).

I’ll be working tonight to format and upload all my pictures from Florence and Venice, so look out for those posts later this week!