World Tour: London Treats

Never judge a book by its cover. Those are our words to live by and we did just that when we went to London. After hearing from various sources that London would be full of less than tasteful food (*searched for the best way to say that), we decided we couldn’t judge the place based on these comments. We would need to investigate this matter ourselves. We booked a cheap flight to London and packed our bags. A place that is booming with fashion that we couldn’t keep our eyes off of (*fashion is our other passion that deserved a little more attention this trip…), the home of the most elite of royal families and the common stomping grounds of one of the most renowned singing groups of our time, The Beatles…we found it hard to believe that it did not have it’s own delicious fare standing out among the surrounding EU (*Translation: European Union).

After our short and cheap flight, we were badly in need of eggs and luckily eggs is a key component of what is referred to as the “English Breakfast”. The English Breakfast consists of eggs over easy, toast, sausage, bacon and beans (*reminds us of good ‘ole Pork and Beans). Interesting to say the least. We, unfortunately, were not pleased and insisted on heading out into the city for some typical sightseeing to clean up the dirty thoughts we were having of London cuisine. Harrod’s did the trick with some much needed retail therapy. Side bar on this spot: Now anybody that knows us, knows we keep it strictly to the food…that is until you come across those places in time such as Harrods. This is a massive operation that is about the size of a mini mall and puts the Macy’s in New York to shame…smh (*Translation: Shaking my head…).

Between Buckingham Palace, Harrods and TopShop the disturbance to our palate was long forgotten by the next feeding time. Of course, we decided to give the fare another try (*and besides we had nowhere else to go for food…) and this time we had to try the acclaimed fish and chips. Absolutely delightful. As we munched and crunched on the thick, crispy fried cod alongside a heaping pile of fries, we were pleased with what we had discovered. London may not be the capitol of fantastic food fare, but it has those fish and chips down cold.

Food.Fun.Stuff: Socially Conscience

We will be out of commission for most of this week, so none of our regular stuff will go up i.e. Etiquette Tuesday, Top Five Wednesday or Johnna’s Pick of the Week. We will be back next week with the usual goodies and lots of stories to share. Until then, we leave you with this event going on tomorrow night @ Social. Shirt designers Hugh & Crye will host a charity event tomorrow, March 25, 2010 to benefit Martha’s Table. Donate ill-fitting dress shirts and receive a 20% discount from Social and a 10% discount off Hugh + Crye merchandise. The event will also showcase portrait photography from local photographer, Mark Silva. We love a good cause and would have been remiss not to mention this event. Go, donate and taste what Social has to offer, Enjoy!
The Where:
Social
3400 block of 14th Street, NW
Washington, DC
(202) 797-1100

Happy Monday: Redwood (Bethesda, MD)

It is only Monday and drinks are in order. Hectic is an understatement for the way this week is panning out and it has only just begun…luckily local restaurants understand. This weeks happy hour spotlight shines on Redwood of Bethesda which offers up a happy hour Monday thru Friday from 4 pm to 7 pm. Drinks such as the Black Duck Cosmo and Maker’s Mark Manhattan are featured for $4-$5 alongside bar bites such as Vidalia onion rings and cornmeal crusted fried oysters. The real kicker is the half-price bottles of select wines offered on Sundays from 5:30 pm- 9 pm and on Mondays from 5:30 pm to 10 pm. With the rain putting a damper on the georgeous weather we had this weekend, cocktails should be consumed and the blues should be heard (*They have live blues on Tuesdays…)…Cheers!

The Where:
Redwood
7121 Bethesda Lane
Bethesda, MD
(301) 656-5515

World Tour: Fish and Chips from London

Fish and chips is the first thing I think of when London comes to mind. Funny because for most people it might be the Royal Botanic Gardens or the Tower of London but for me the food is the first pressing thought. In just a few short weeks, we will be strolling the streets of England’s capitol city known for the home of the Royal family and pounds for currency. After finding a cheap flight to London, it was time to decide just how long we wanted to stay in the city. When rationing out our time spent in the city, we decided we should shorten our stay because we have yet to hear about cuisine that matches its sister European cities such as Paris or Rome. We shall see whether this was a good idea.

Though many may think fish and chips, bangers and mash and the like are the only types of food you might find floating around the royal city, this is a mere myth. Indian food seems to be taking its toll on the culture. A few friends visited London a couple of years ago and said they had some of the best Indian food there but could not think of any good places for typical English fare. The irony. A city that is exalted for it’s diversity, fashion, deep architecture history and politics does not have good food?? And to find out the food that is good is not native to the land?? We must investigate.


This is interesting and exciting all in one. Now we know that we will visit London and get to see all the distinguished sites that we have seen on television/newspapers/magazines all these years but we will also have the opportunity to have some of the best Indian food in Europe. With an Indian population of about 6.5%, it is even more baffling how this cuisine has taken the lead in the best fare of London. Would we really catch a
cheap flight to London to get the best Indian food vs. English food?? These are only opinions, we may very well get to London and realize this is the best fish and chips we’ve ever had, but we could also find the fish and chips absolutely insulting to our palate and it is good to know that we can redeem ourselves with some good ‘ole fashioned Indian food.

Johnna’s Pick of the Week: Froyo

Losing weight is a pain in the butt. Well, for a foodie. As a person that believes in consuming about 5-6 full meals a day, cutting down the intake was not an easy task. We changed our diet from reds to greens and from vodka to select red wines. Good idea except this leaves no room for trouble and we need some trouble in our diet to keep us satisfied. Good thing we stumbled across Froyo when we did because the diet was breaking us down. Froyo sells soft-serve frozen yogurt and it is delicious (*Typically, frozen yogurt is not our thing…). We have found some good trouble to get into:-)
 
Froyo is the sweet tooth haven for those that are trying to avoid the full calorie count of ice cream. It reminds us of Tasti D-Lite in New York but better because you can actually fix the servings yourself out of self-serving dispensers (*This is the Downtown location, do not know how it works @ the Wisconsin Avenue location). The process: You get a cup (*This thing has to be about 16 oz., it’s huge!), you can mix and match whatever flavors you like, you add your toppings (*Various fruits and cereal. Yum.) and then you pay (*$.39 an oz.). Ok, so we tried to squeeze everything in that one cup because we are determined to discipline our greedy palate.
 
Our favorites for the week include the cheesecake, peanut butter and chocolate mix and the birthday cake is worth a lick. When toppings are offered, we are true to our roots: Fruity Pebbles. Loved this cereal since we were kids and now we are just kids with grown up faces. Next time, we think we’ll try the strawberry and tiramisu with some fresh raspberries and Cap ‘n Crunch…not necessarily in that order but our stomachs request them this week…

 Picture source

Froyo on Urbanspoon