A quick weekend in London

Source: www.lindenhotellondon.co.uk 

London, oh London, you just never disappoint!

Mr. O and I got home late last night after our very whistle stop visit to the capital. We're both a bit shattered today, but we crammed a lot in and had a really brilliant time.

We didn't set off until Saturday morning and arrived in Notting Hill just after lunch. We'd found the New Linden Hotel, on laterooms and, as our only real stipulation (apart from price) had been location, we were pleasantly surprised. Our room on the ground floor was very small, but nicely furnished and perfect for a one night stay. If we could get the same rate, we both agreed it's somewhere we'd book again in the future for another weekend getaway.



Shamefully, I didn't take nearly enough photos of our weekend, but I'd like to think it's just because we were enjoying our time together too much to keep stopping for photo breaks. Suffice to say, on Saturday afternoon, I fell a little bit more in love with Notting Hill, as we explored the last of that day's Portobello Road Market, window shopped for clothes we couldn't afford and skipped lunch in favour of Nutella crepes and our first Hummingbird Bakery cupcakes:

Vanilla for Mr. O and Black Bottom Cheesecake for me.

We had grand plans of a trip to Burger and Lobster for dinner, but after coming down off our sugar highs and trying both their Mayfair and Soho locations, we realised our tummies wouldn't survive the 90 minute table waits. The food at both restaurants looked delicious though and we'll definitely be more organised when we're next in London - my love for burgers knows no limits and I need to find out if these live up to the hype! After lots of traipsing around, in the end we settled for a cheerful plate of pasta each in Prezzo - not quite as exciting as we'd hoped, but hey, we don't have a Prezzo at home either!

Luckily, our culinary adventures on Sunday were a lot more successful. Ever since our Australian travels last year, Mr. O and I have been fans of Bill Granger, so couldn't resist Sunday brunch in his restaurant Granger & Co., located, conveniently for us, on Westbourne Grove. We must have timed our arrival perfectly as we walked straight in to a table, despite worries that we'd have another Burger and Lobster situation on our hands.

Source: www.grangerandco.com 

I've been lucky enough to eat at Granger & Co. a couple of times in the past few months, but this was Mr. O's first visit. The dining room itself is incredibly cool - an understated design that manages to make you feel both relaxed and part of something special at the same time. It really feels very Australian, thoughtful and arty enough that you know it's a spot that takes its reputation seriously, but with a laid back , 'anything goes' atmosphere. 

Playing my trump card that this was brunch and that we might not eat properly again all day, I managed to persuade Mr. O that we should share a plate of sweetcorn fritters to start (which wasn't a problem at all). The fritters arrived looking delicious and we both dived in. I'm not normally big on savoury breakfasts, but these were incredible! The fritters, combined with bacon, tomato and spinach, created the most incredible flavour combination. Crispy and salty, cut through with sweetness from the corn and tomato - Mr. O was happy to report that they tasted just as good as they had in Bill's Sydney restaurants! 

For round two, Mr. O ordered Bill's granola with coconut yoghurt and rhubarb and I went for the ricotta hotcakes (my motto in these situations has always been 'if you're gonna do it wrong, do it right'...). Though the granola was delicious, very light and refreshing after the sweetcorn fritters, my hotcakes stole the show! The hotcakes themselves were fluffy and a great, less spongy, more tangy alternative to your standard American pancake. The accompanying honeycomb butter was plentiful and the banana took the edge of all the sweetness, making me feel slightly better about my very piggy breakfast!

The delicious ricotta hotcakes. Source: www.grangerandco.com 

After such a relaxing start to the day (which included about three trips to the loo, to make the most of the Aesop handwash and lotion...), we decided we needed to stretch our legs for a bit. Setting off in the direction of Kensington Gardens, we made it all the way to the Palace, where we interrupted the sweetest family photo shoot. Standing in front of the golden gates was a small boy named Patrick, who very clearly did not want to have his photo taken. Whilst he groaned and gurned through his mum's best efforts to get a shot, his incredibly cute twin sister smiled sweetly alongside him, princess twirling while she waited. Patrick's 'CHEEEEEEESSSE' is still echoing in my ears and I think the poor boy might be quoted by Mr. O and I for a long time to come!



Outside Kensington Palace, minus Patrick and his sister.

After satisfying my inner Royal geek, we hotfooted it back to the car, frantically typed our destination into the sat nav and set off for Wembley. Well, the weekend couldn't be all eating, shopping and culture could it!?

Meeting up with my whole family, pulling on layers of black and white clothes and piling into the stadium with thousands of other Swans fans made for a very exciting evening. The atmosphere was electric and we felt so lucky to part of such a huge occasion. Lucky for us, the goals seemed to come thick and fast, though it was pretty humbling to watch the opposition's fans support their team so steadfastly, waving their flags and banners for almost the whole of the second half. At one point I found myself watching them more than the game, tears rising in my throat. Five goals secured a Swansea win though and the black and white side of the stadium erupted! We stayed until the bitter end, before jumping back in toour warm car and heading back down the M4. And let me tell you, I was very glad of those sweetcorn fritters and ricotta hotcakes by that point!

Highlights of the weekend: Spending time with the wonderful Mr. O...and the hotcakes.

Additional highlight of the weekend: Walking past Jason Donovan!

New Linden Hotel, 58-60 Leinster Square, London W2 4PS

Granger & Co., 175 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2SB