everything in England is like 100 minutes away from each other by "rail"... it's giving... the greater Boston area (maybe this is why they called it "New" England)
i'm always totally in awe of people who have the foresight to structure trips around incredible new meals and restaurants. genuinely: wondering how you did this! lots of planning ahead? or was much of it impromptu (popping into places, google mapping "pastries near me" the night before, etc.). i want to be better at being an adventurous vacation eater... HBD!
ever since going to Iceland in 2017 with a group of friends, I've been a dedicated and meticulous Google Maps "My Maps" builder. I spend weeks (!) leading up to big trips filling out a personal, private map with all of the intended spots I'd like to go to. it helped with this trip that I'd spent the past year and change reading about the restaurant scene in the city I was going, but beyond that I read a ton of reddit and talk to people and then just slowly populate a map so I know if I am going to be in XYZ area that I'll be close to XYZ food. it also helped that I'd done most of the touristy stuff in London before so I could really prioritize eating (which I didn't have the money to do when I was a student there!)
I did the same thing with google maps for a London trip last summer and it works so well. I don't like to spend time researching during vacation so I created the map over a few weeks before we left and made a few reservations in advance (sometimes nice to have some structure to my day). Particularly helpful for dining in touristy areas!
amazing, this is so helpful, thank you! i'm too scared of reddit...but google maps i can do!! ftr when i went to london in 2019 i was eating vegan and was so pleasantly shocked by what a great vegan scene london has. there's an amazing crepe place in brixton called Pipoca that i highly recommend in case anyone reading swings that way these days :)
I didn't make it down to Brixton this trip (we did a lot of the north London stuff I'd previously skipped having mostly stayed southeast) but I hope to next time! the food scene is so great down there and that neighborhood is so cool and strange. the vegan scene is fab!
This made me miss my student days in London so much - doing a very earnest play in a factory turned art space off Brick Lane, and going with the rest of the cast to get a beigel after each performance; treating myself to a duck sandwich at Borough Market, and eating it on the walk towards the Tate Modern, where I would nod at some art; getting kebab meat and chips from Woody's in Camden at [redacted] for the tipsy walk back home to Islington, common sense drowned out by that last round at the Elephant's Head... ahhhh.
I now feel so out of the loop about good places to eat when I visit these days, but will use this lovely post for restaurant advice when going with my partner and tiny baby son in the summer. Thanks Fran!
oh thank you!!! I highly rec Vittles too for a ton of affordable options all around, very counterintuitive to general Eater/Bon App culture. I hope you have a wonderful trip!
Fran this was so lovely. Bringing my back to the halcyon days when I would read Grubstreet Diets as a little treat, at random times when I would actually get to sit at my desk at my crappy school admin job. Happy birthday Fran!
Lovely to hear you had a great time in my hometown, Fran! I can't believe I haven't found London's First Deep Dish Pizza! Thanks so much for the recommendations! :)
Looks like you didn't have Dishoom on this trip. Have you had it a previous time? When I went last year it was all anyone was asking me about, and then I went and it was amazing.
I haven't been - I asked around about it a bit and it seemed the tide turned/moved on from the general hype. I bet it's solid, but wasn't really of that much interest given the lines we saw out the door this go around!
Looks amazing!!! I never really travel for my birthday either but going to Vegas tomorrow for Phish at the Sphere. Going to puke up buffet shrimp all over the crowd as i turn 34
yes... yes!!!! ABBA Voyage kind of as close as I've gotten to the Sphere - both seem like they are both too good and too bad for their own good in the right way.
when i saw the beach picture at the top i was like--now how did they get over there! but then it was explained (train)
everything in England is like 100 minutes away from each other by "rail"... it's giving... the greater Boston area (maybe this is why they called it "New" England)
i'm always totally in awe of people who have the foresight to structure trips around incredible new meals and restaurants. genuinely: wondering how you did this! lots of planning ahead? or was much of it impromptu (popping into places, google mapping "pastries near me" the night before, etc.). i want to be better at being an adventurous vacation eater... HBD!
ever since going to Iceland in 2017 with a group of friends, I've been a dedicated and meticulous Google Maps "My Maps" builder. I spend weeks (!) leading up to big trips filling out a personal, private map with all of the intended spots I'd like to go to. it helped with this trip that I'd spent the past year and change reading about the restaurant scene in the city I was going, but beyond that I read a ton of reddit and talk to people and then just slowly populate a map so I know if I am going to be in XYZ area that I'll be close to XYZ food. it also helped that I'd done most of the touristy stuff in London before so I could really prioritize eating (which I didn't have the money to do when I was a student there!)
I did the same thing with google maps for a London trip last summer and it works so well. I don't like to spend time researching during vacation so I created the map over a few weeks before we left and made a few reservations in advance (sometimes nice to have some structure to my day). Particularly helpful for dining in touristy areas!
amazing, this is so helpful, thank you! i'm too scared of reddit...but google maps i can do!! ftr when i went to london in 2019 i was eating vegan and was so pleasantly shocked by what a great vegan scene london has. there's an amazing crepe place in brixton called Pipoca that i highly recommend in case anyone reading swings that way these days :)
I didn't make it down to Brixton this trip (we did a lot of the north London stuff I'd previously skipped having mostly stayed southeast) but I hope to next time! the food scene is so great down there and that neighborhood is so cool and strange. the vegan scene is fab!
This made me miss my student days in London so much - doing a very earnest play in a factory turned art space off Brick Lane, and going with the rest of the cast to get a beigel after each performance; treating myself to a duck sandwich at Borough Market, and eating it on the walk towards the Tate Modern, where I would nod at some art; getting kebab meat and chips from Woody's in Camden at [redacted] for the tipsy walk back home to Islington, common sense drowned out by that last round at the Elephant's Head... ahhhh.
I now feel so out of the loop about good places to eat when I visit these days, but will use this lovely post for restaurant advice when going with my partner and tiny baby son in the summer. Thanks Fran!
oh thank you!!! I highly rec Vittles too for a ton of affordable options all around, very counterintuitive to general Eater/Bon App culture. I hope you have a wonderful trip!
Fran this was so lovely. Bringing my back to the halcyon days when I would read Grubstreet Diets as a little treat, at random times when I would actually get to sit at my desk at my crappy school admin job. Happy birthday Fran!
thank you!!!
Lovely to hear you had a great time in my hometown, Fran! I can't believe I haven't found London's First Deep Dish Pizza! Thanks so much for the recommendations! :)
Looks like you didn't have Dishoom on this trip. Have you had it a previous time? When I went last year it was all anyone was asking me about, and then I went and it was amazing.
I haven't been - I asked around about it a bit and it seemed the tide turned/moved on from the general hype. I bet it's solid, but wasn't really of that much interest given the lines we saw out the door this go around!
i’m taking 📝 notes 🍦
that sheeryakh looks really good my mom loves asian dessert i should send this to her. fishcotheque is such a goated british restaurant name. hbd!
thank you!!!
Looks amazing!!! I never really travel for my birthday either but going to Vegas tomorrow for Phish at the Sphere. Going to puke up buffet shrimp all over the crowd as i turn 34
yes... yes!!!! ABBA Voyage kind of as close as I've gotten to the Sphere - both seem like they are both too good and too bad for their own good in the right way.