A vegetarian dinner with a view at OXO Tower Restaurant

Oh, London. You beautiful, exciting, welcoming, fearless, fun, brilliant, nutty and wonderful city.

I have loved London ever since I first visited as a young girl, and I am so proud to call the capital my home. The longer I live here, the more I love it.

And I recently had one of those evenings where the sheer beauty of the city blew me away once more.

If you look closely at the above photo, you'll see where I was fortunate enough to spend an evening: the OXO Tower Restaurant on the South Bank.

See it?

Up on the eighth floor you'll find the restaurant, and if it's a warm enough evening, you should sit outside and admire the insanely beautiful view.

Meet my date for the night, the lovely Ciara.

It was a balmy early summer's evening and the setting couldn't have been more perfect. Being Friday night, it was definitely time for cocktails (lol as if I need the excuse of Friday).

Don't they look pretty!? Mine was the Due South - vodka, elderflower liqueur with lemon, raspberry ripple and champagne. Divine.

I know it's very remiss of me but I'm afraid I can't remember the name of Ciara's cocktail. I can remember, however, that it was super delicious. We both enjoyed each other's drinks as much as our own that we had to have the other one later on.

The reason I was there was to sample the restaurant's new vegetarian menu. Whilst not strictly veggie, I do eat vegetarian about 80% of the time. I'm not actively trying to, I'm just not that fussed about meat. I love veggie food! So I was excited.

After a spot of bread each - oh my days, the rosemary potato bread was BEYOND - we tucked into our starters.

I went for the smoked burrata with grilled apricots and fresh almonds. Sweet Lord, it was tasty. The burrata was smokey and creamy and the apricots were perfectly grilled. It was a delicious summery plate.

Ciara had the sweet potato pancake with Cornish Brie, courgette flower and kumquat marmalade. To be honest it wasn't really a pancake but rather a disc of sweet potato, but to quote Ciara, it was: "So delicious I forgot what the ingredients were. A plate of deliciousness."

So there you have it.

With a glass of light white wine and the view to admire, it was heaven.

For my main, I chose the cheese crumble.

According to the menu, it was: "Walnut, tofu and Spenwood cheese crumble, pickled red cabbage, radish and spring onion salad." Now those are all foods I like.

Most peculiarly, however, the crumble turned out to be seemingly 80% mushroom. And I don't like mushrooms. Why did they not mention mushroom on the menu? I don't know. It was disappointing.

Speaking of mushrooms, Ciara went for the mushroom lasagne.

It was a huge portion, and even as a big meat-eater, Ciara loved it. It wasn't too saucy and the mushrooms were nicely sautéed.

Fortunately for me, we'd ordered a couple of sides.

Tenderstem broccoli with flaked almonds and delicious skin-on chips. Perfection.

As we ate, the sun starting making its way to bed and the view just kept getting better and better.

And the staff came round with blankets too to save us from getting chilly. Top-notch service.

Even though we were quite full, both Ciara and I definitely wanted pudding.

Behold, the OXO chocolate plate. It was pretty dreamy: a milk chocolate tart, white chocolate semifreddo, orange chocolate mousse and sour cherry chocolate fondant. It was, quite simply, excellent.

I would know because even though it was meant to be Ciara's pudding I definitely ate at least half.

I also ate my own pudding:

Rhubarb, custard and gin sorbet. It wasn't quite what I was expecting - the custard element was like a panna cotta in texture - but sweet baby Jesus it was heavenly. The slightly sharp rhubarb with the sweet vanilla custard was perfection.

We watched London light up and sat talking till late.

It had been one of the best dining experiences I'd had in a while, despite mushroom-gate.

Ciara and I were guests at the OXO Tower Restaurant but all opinions are our own.

Bottomless Bucks Fizz and brilliant brunch at Timmy Green, Victoria

Up until six months ago, I worked in Victoria. Now I've got a new job and am based in Kensington. But in the six months since I changed jobs, Victoria has suddenly blossomed in to a foodie hotspot. I mean, seriously?!

It's all down to the opening of the Nova building which has attracted a whole host of brilliant eateries. And as soon as I found out about Timmy Green I was desperate to pay them a visit. Plus I hadn't brunched in a whole two weeks so was craving my fix.

I've realised that brunch seems to have replaced afternoon tea in my life. I'm totally still down for three tiers of deliciousness, don't get me wrong, but - the millennial cliché that I am - I bloody love brunch.

And guys, Timmy Green has made it into my top three brunch spots in London I think. For reals.

I absolutely loved the vibe - floor-to-ceiling windows, two levels, plants on the ceiling, neon signs - it's bright, fun and chilled. There were fresh flowers on every table and even a very talented singer/guitar player when we visited. It was also packed.

Oh, and there's prosecco on tap so what more could you want really?

My dear friend Tasha and I decided we'd indulge and go for the bottomless brunch which entails two courses and two hours of Bucks Fizzes or prosecco (and you can switch between the two).

I was a big fan of the presentation of the Bucks Fizzes and they were freshly-made each time - whilst at some bottomless prosecco brunch spots you end up getting sloshed because the staff top up your glass before you've even drunk half, at Timmy Green it's a slightly classier affair.

They also have a cracking cocktail menu so I'm going to have to go back to make the most of that for sure.

For our first courses, we shared the banana bread and the granola.

Warm, squidgy, moist banana bread with light mascarpone cream, fresh berries and honey. It was huge, stodgy and oh-so-delicious.

Homemade maple granola, thick Greek yogurt, fresh berries, coconut flakes, honey, chia seeds, and flaked almonds. The granola was wonderfully crisp and there were chunky clusters too, which I loved. 

And to quote Tasha: "Cute plates." She was not wrong.

After a brief pause we were ready for our next courses - and let me tell you it was not an easy choice as the whole menu sounds amazing.

I ummed (my laptop just tried to correct that to bummed lol) and ahhed for a while but eventually settled on the broccoli and corn fritters. And chums, it was an excellent choice, if I do say so myself.

The fritters were fluffy and flavoursome, the avocado on top was the perfect ripeness, my egg was poached to perfection (just look at that yolk!) and I liked the courgette ribbon on the side too. I wasn't fussed about the chilli jam but that's just because I'm not a spicy gal.

I thoroughly recommend - unsurprisingly - getting a side of halloumi.

It was a rather inspired addition to the dish IMHO. Unfortunately our halloumi was actually forgotten but it didn't take long for the v friendly staff to bring it out.

As I reached three-quarters of the way through my meal, I was so full, but it was so delicious I just couldn't stop. I know there's no judgement here.

Tasha went for the avocado on charcoal bread served with homemade labneh, dukkah and spinach.

Weirdly enough, you can opt to add an egg to the dish (as you can see above), but Tasha didn't ask for one because she doesn't like eggs. So we weren't sure what happened there but hey - two eggs for Rachel!

I was really intrigued to try the charcoal bread as I'd never had it before. It was, well, rather like regular bread, but with a slightly smokier flavour. I liked it.

The trouble was - especially sans egg - the ratio of bread to toppings was a bit off, Tasha found.

But all the food was exceptionally delicious and the quality was brilliant. It's classic brunch food, with slightly creative twists. I may have just found my new fave brunch spot...

Tasha and I were guests at Timmy Green but all opinions are of course our own.

Dinner and many many cocktails at Browns, Canary Wharf

'Tis a funny place, Canary Wharf. It's so shiny and corporate and I never have any reason to go there, but on the rare occasions I do, I do always find myself a bit in awe of the big buildings (and feeling like I'm in The Apprentice).

It's not a place I would ever think to go for dinner and yet that's where I was on Friday evening.

After getting rather lost on what should've been a seven-minute walk from the tube station, I made it to Browns by the river.

I'd never seen a Browns before I moved to Bristol for uni and for a long time I thought it was an independent restaurant. Yeah, lol. I was wrong. I believe there are about 25 branches of Browns across the UK so it's not exactly as chainy as Pizza Express, but there are a fair few.

I was looking forward to tasting some delicious things from their new menu.

My old school friend Tash and I kicked things off with cocktails and they were so fab that we drank different ones all the way through dinner. At around £7, the cocktails are really reasonably priced too (for London especially).

The place was packed and the vibe was fun.

We decided to get the sharing plate to start, and the staff kindly agreed to amend it a little for us.

Neither Tash nor I being huge pork fans, we asked if we could skip the pulled pork and pig cheek crostini and have more of everything else - 'chicken lollipops', salt and pepper squid, prawn cocktail, beetroot houmous and crostini.

It wasn't the most exciting sharing plate ever but it was perfectly nice. The bruschetta was crisp but the chicken was a bit oily for me.

On to the mains (and more cocktails)!

 Tash had the lobster risotto with parmesan, chives, courgette and lemon which she loved.

 I decided to have the beetroot and avocado salad with added feta.

Beetroot houmous, quinoa, avocado, asparagus, baby kale and feta - it was genuinely one of the best salads I've had in some time. I loved it.

It was also huge and just seemed like it wasn't going down, as much as I ate!

I absolutely loved that after I ordered my salad, our waitress asked, "Would you like some chips on the side?" Like, she literally read my mind.

That's like the law of having salad, right? You have to have chips as well? (And pudding?)

So yeah Tash and I got the truffle parmesan chunky chips and asparagus with hollandaise on the side.

The chips, were, amazing. So crisp! So fluffy! Could've done with a touch more truffle oil in my opinion and they were better once the cheese was meltier, but they were still fantastic.

And the asparagus was super too, even though I don't believe it's currently in season - not overcooked or stringy.

I did notice that there weren't loads of options for veggies on the menu, so you may want to bear that in mind if you're not a meat- or fish-eater.

For pudding we both decided to have the apple, cherry and almond crumble (and another cocktail).

It was HUGE, but I am always ok with that. It was also v hot, which is good.

Cherry and almond is always a winning combo in my book and I loved the almondy topping - Tash thought there wasn't enough topping in the crumble to fruit ratio, but I was on board with it.

I don't think the cherries were fresh, but I could be wrong - and hey, when they're in a crumble who really cares? The fresh berries on top were a random but nice touch.

All our cocktails had lovely fresh berry garnishes too which I loved. Probs got one of my five a day through sheer alcoholism.

It had been a delicious Friday evening that just happened to be in Canary Wharf.

Tash and I were guests at Browns but all opinions are my own, natch.

Brunch at the Rude Health Cafe, Fulham

Last Sunday was flatmate fun day, which is exactly what it sounds like: a day of fun with my flatmates.

Whilst we spend a lot of time together normally, whether in the flat or off doing something (and have a tendency to book spontaneous holidays - see Germany), we decided to have a full day devoted to flatmate activities in the capital.

It was a depressingly dreary and drizzly London day, but that was actually perfectly fine for our plan: brunch, the Natural History Museum, burgers and an evening of chilling.

But today, dear friends, I want to tell you about the wonderful way in which we started flatmate fun day.

If you're into delicious, healthy food, you probably know about the brand Rude Health - they make the most scrumptious mueslis, porridge mixes and dairy-free milks.

I only found out recently but they actually have their own cafe in West London - what fun, thought I.

Despite the grey day, the cafe was upliftingly colourful and v busy when we arrived late Sunday morning.

Whether it's in my head or not, a green juice sure does make me feel healthy. I kicked things off with this bottle of goodness: apple, cucumber, kale, romalene and pear juice. It went down a treat.

We each ordered a dish from the menu full of genuinely delicious-sounding but healthy options like sprouted porridge with salted maple syrup and nuts, or shakshuka, and were told each dish would be served when it was ready.

Despite not really knowing what it was, Maddy and I both decided to go for the 'Dutch Baby' (baked sprouted spelt pancake). We were told it would be a 20 minute wait.

Jess however opted for the avocado toast, which subsequently arrived first.

Sweet Lord, it looked amazing.

Sourdough toast with avocado, beetroot, goat's curd, chilli and poached eggs. It tasted as good as it looked too - they'd been very generous with the avo and Jess loved the slightly spicy kick from the chilli.

Pleasingly, she hadn't made too much of a start before mine and Maddy's brunches arrived - it certainly hadn't been 20 minutes.

Feast your eyes on that!

Served in a little individual skillet, it was like one thick fluffy pancake topped with mascarpone, berry compote, crushed pistachios, fresh blueberries, banana and maple syrup.

It was unlike anything I'd ever had before and boy, was it good.

^the faces of two girls happy with their brunch choices.

Now, because this was brunch not just breakfast, we decided another course was in order. Slash we just couldn't resist all the amazing-looking baked goods on the cafe counter.

Between the three of us, we decided to share a slice of banana bread, a brownie and a couple of energy balls.

Now the banana bread, we all agreed, was stand-out delicious. Jess said it may have been the best banana bread she'd ever had and it was definitely in my top three (I have eaten a lot of banana bread in my time though.)

It was still warm, super moist, with a crisp top and the perfect balance between squidgy and fluffy in texture. 10/10 would eat again.

The brownie was incredibly rich so we were glad to be sharing it, but it was lovely - super dense with a nice crust.

I loved the energy balls, they were squidgy, just sweet enough and felt packed full of goodness.

Safe to say we were sufficiently energised for the rest of flatmate fun day!

My only tiny qualm with the Rude Health Cafe is that you have to go outside to go to the loo, which is a bit annoying when it's raining.

But aside from that we all loved it - I'll definitely go again.

Maddy, Jess and I were guests at the Rude Health Cafe but all opinions are totally honest.
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