Busting my London Bridges 🤪🇬🇧

Busting my London Bridges 🤪🇬🇧

When overseas, yes, it’s time to eat all the good food that the destination has to offer. In this list, I visit London which is home to some of the coolest grubs, besides Fish & Chips and Victoria Sponges. Check this list out and see them for yourself! 😛🤙🏽
Zul Latiff
Zul Latiff

[Edinburgh] This was recommended by TripAdvisor when I woke up one morning in Edinburgh and decided that I wanted pancakes. 🥞😋 Wait no. When I decided that I NEEDED pancakes. 🤪

I got here around 9:00am and it was already full house. I couldn’t bear to wait for too long so I took the liberty of having their Blueberry Pancakes with Lemon Curd to go and eating it at a random bus stop. Can you say YIKES?! 💀

Unfortunately, I didn’t find this to be as great as the countless reviews have made it out to be. I like that the touch of tartness (or should I say, tart-ch of it) from both the lemon curd and blueberries kinda perked me up in the cool, early morning.

This was really great value as well, in both numerically and relative sense (i.e. GBP vs. SGD) But otherwise, this left slightly more to be desired as it didn’t exactly satiate me or have my tastebuds dancing as well as Normani on Dancing with the Stars. 😶 (7.2/10)

[London] Time for a throwback! In all the time leading up to my first bite of Dominque Ansel’s trademarked Cronuts (£5), I have to admit - I was quite sceptical. I’ve had several other renditions of croissant-donuts - which had mostly been decent. So, I thought it was as going to be at most good as the ones I’ve tried.

Someone should have slapped me for thinking that because this was actually NEXT LEVEL. To everybody that I’ve shared about this with, I maintain the same opinion – this is the real deal. I don’t remember how it exactly tasted, but I do remember this actually igniting the flame of happiness in me. 🔥

The layers had a markedly delicate texture to them, rivaling that of sponge cakes. The raspberry filling added a balanced tartness that soaked the layers and made this an absolute pleasure to have. 🙏🏼 My only regret is that I didn’t get enough of it! 😭 But next time, we’re getting at least a dozen! (8.3/10) 😍🤣

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[Brighton] The Haddock Fish N Chips from Wolfies of Hove was absolutely divine, for a lack of better description. I wanted to have it in the place itself, but I thought I’d give my English Fish N Chips experience a boost by having it by the beach - and boy was it both the best and the worst decision. 😧

BEST – It was the ideal food for the ideal location. You have this majestic view of the ocean, you’re soaking in the ambient sounds and basking in the sea breeze that liberally sweeps the shore — all while you’re having one of the highlights of English cuisine, and fresh as you can get them.

WORST – The……seagulls……which I only happened to remember about when I started sitting down at one of the benches by the beach. 💀 They’re vicious and are constantly scoping for food for a lock-on! Yikes. 🤧 I could sense the imminent danger and I just KNOW they could feel the tension in me. I had to walk along the beach for another 20 minutes before I found a shaded area to have my meal in.

I don’t know how many feel that tartar sauce suffices as a condiment when curry sauce literally exists. Not like the ones served up in fast food joints here of course - those are way too sweet to pair nicely with this. This is that final boss that the game has deliberately designed for you to not defeat. Whew! 🤪

If there’s one food item that I’ve always stayed away from, it’s fish n chips. I could never find a way to appreciate it, given its uncomfortably soft, almost-gelatinous texture. But the Haddock fish is firmer to the bite, which feels a lot less off-putting and certainly a lot more natural to my palate. And the curry sauce? It amplified it to a level that goes beyond the thermosphere. How can any other Fish N Chips ever top this one? 🐟🍟💥 (9/10)

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[Edinburgh] This could’ve easily been an indistinguishable fare, but the drink offered a deep chocolate flavour and a captivatingly prickly sensation thanks to the addition of chili. 🍫🌶🔥 That’s something I really liked about the food in the UK - there were just no limit to the ingredients you could combine!

Nothing much to write about the cake however, even though it was pretty darn good when in unison with the drink. 🤤 (7.6/10)

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[London] This scores all the aesthetics points it can get with its one-of-a-kind presentation and immaculate swirling of the watermelon softserve. 🍉🍦 Taste-wise though, it proved itself to be more tame, ordinary and predictable than expected - very ‘watermelony’ with a hint of citrus zest, which makes it a refreshing treat to combat the summer heatwave in London.

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[Vegan, London] If there’s one thing that I love London for, it’s that they have embraced vegan food so tightly. Personally, I think vegan burgers are among the finer specimens of this type of cuisine. The Holy Smoke is a 100% vegan-friendly creation from The Vegan Burger Bar that can be found at a pop-up stall in Borough Market. 🌱🍔

From what I can remember of it, this hit all the right notes of satisfaction - just picture the softest pair of buns packing a thick, grilled succulent plant-based patty, a ton of sliced red onions smothered in BBQ sauce, faux bacon, vegan cheese which had the smell and milkiness resembling regular cheese, albeit like a cousin. 🌚🌝

I’m so sure that this is the kind of food that would amaze a sceptic of veganism and rethink about just how delicious plant-based food can actually be. It is pricey, yes, but it deserves one try at least. And personally, I think it was money well-spent! (8.1/10)

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[Vegetarian, London] Smooth like velvet, super flavourful and gorgeously creamy - these were the elements of the Tagliatelle which gave it its marked quality. I’ve honestly never had a better cream-based pasta than this. 😍 Based on this dish alone, Flour & Grape was really worth the wealth of hype it has. (8.6/10)

1 Like

[Vegetarian, London] On top of the Taiwanese Fried Chicken with Hot Sauce that I had, I also tried their Shiitake Mushroom Bao. The bao that enveloped the filling was incredibly moist and delicate. The filling itself – chopped carrots and mushrooms smothered in teriyaki-soy sauce and mayonnaise, and then rained on with fried shallots and spring onions. 👅

Everything paved the way for a flavourful grub that has successfully encapsulated ingredients that are found in Asian cuisine. Yet, because of that, to a jot of an extent, I couldn’t help but think that this somehow felt quasi-oriental. That’s not to say that I think it’s terrible. No. Heck, even if I think it were, my opinions would be far from being heavyweight. You can only take my words with a pinch of salt, because if anything, my opinions take shape from a lifetime experience as a Southeast-Asian Malay. It’s definitely not the same as that from a Southeast-Asian Chinese, a PRC, an ROC or even an Asian diaspora, all of whom have presumably had enough baos in their life to be equipped with a seasoned enough tastebud. 🧐

Regardless of that complex problem which I will leave tackling it to another time, I guess I can still bring myself to appreciate a tasty meal when I’ve eaten one - and this? It was definitely one of them. 🙏🏽(7.6/10)

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[London] Think of this as a much juicier, glorified form of popcorn chicken. Chicken thighs were probably used in Tiger & Pig’s rendition of the Taiwanese Fried Chicken with Hot Sauce, as I remember it being the complete opposite of tough to bite into. It was the first time that I properly enjoyed chicken chunks, be it in this deep-fried form or in a stew. 🍗🍿

This was also quite the relief, much like an oasis in the desert, because I hardly came across anything satisfyingly spicy in the UK. To be honest, this still couldn’t hit the mark for me, but it sure came close because not only did it have a slight spicy zing, but also a zap of acidity to it. A well-executed dish which I’d have again in a heartbeat. 🤤 (7.9/10)

1 Like

[London] This was taken in London’s Honest Burgers when I met up with a friend who was pursuing his degree there. He recommended this place, as an alternative to my first suggestion, which was Shake Shack.

While the Beef Burger with Cheese did do a pretty good job at satiating my hunger pangs, I would say that it was shy of an oomph factor. This could very well have not been the fault of the burger bar, but mine for requesting the beef patties to be done to medium well instead of medium. The considerably beefy flavour that would come coupled with a succulent melty patty was…not there. What was I thinking? 🤪

Some people would argue that it’s safer to eat meat that has been cooked thoroughly, and I won’t get into a tussle with them for that…not everyone’s willing to take a risk and not everyone’s able to appreciate a tastier alternative, and that’s just too bad. ☹️

With that said though, the chips were undisputed in their crispy-exterior-and-delicately-fluffy-interior characteristic. Genuinely good chips can be hard to come by, but when they present themselves, they are absolutely light to the bite and palate, showing no sign of density or chunkiness. That’s how you know you’ve landed the real deal. (7.5/10)

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[Vegan, London] Snowflake’s Avolato was one of the items I’d been meaning to try in London. It may look like your ordinary avocado, but take a closer look and you’ll realise something’s a little off. That’s because it’s an avocado gelato which is made from the fruit’s flesh and then transferred back into the fruit’s shell!

And because putting the stone/seed back in would be a fruitless (yes, this was a deliberate choice of word) move, they’ve instead substituted it with a edible frozen sphere made from peanut butter, flax seeds, almonds, walnuts and soya milk. 🌱

This was slightly refreshing, especially since the avocado gelato had a surprise touch of tartness to it. The spherical, dairy-free gelato added a jab of boldness (or at least a savoury element) to it, as you’ll find that the nuttiness in the flavour is prominent, yet still pleasant to the taste.

With that said though, this sadly didn’t leave an impression on me. I highly suspect it’s because I paid over S$16 for this which was…good at best. It certainly left more to be desired. But still, credit where it’s due - the workmanship and the resulting aesthetics of this are pretty immaculate. Like who wouldn’t be curious enough to try an avocado gelato…IN AN AVOCADO SHELL, am I right?! 🤔🥑 (7/10)

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[London] Found this somewhere in the eastern side of the tourist-packed Camden Market. Naked Dough sells six different flavours of edible cookie dough you can choose from, and I went the safest choice - chocolate chip and added on a softserve (£4.50). I mean, who doesn’t love a good ol’ fashioned ice cream with chocolate chip cookie dough?! 🍪😛

This was a treat. Ever since I read about New York City’s DØ rising to fame for selling various flavours of cookie dough by the scoop last year, I’d been hoping that I’d be able to get my hands on it one day. Well, this obviously isn’t DØ, but I’m glad that I got the opportunity of trying a rendition of it for myself. It’s difficult to put the appeal of cookie dough into words, but I guess I’d say it’s like a chewy candy that has taste properties which resemble an actual cookie…and also, it’s socially acceptable to eat it in larger amounts than a typical chewy candy. So, yay to indulgence! 🤪

If you’re the kind who dreams of going HAM on toppings, you’d be pleased to know that they allow unlimited toppings on your cup. Personally, I like to keep things simple - just a drizzle of chocolate sauce and I was contented. What a great dessert it was for the scorching summer days! 🤤(7.6/10)

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All things good; all things food 🥳

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