London Part 1: Food

The long awaited trip is finally here! First stop is London. I came down a week earlier before the start of my Europe trip as I was supposed to sort out my Russian tourist visa, but there was a few hiccups on the way. I'm just hoping that I would be able to step into Russian soil later on. I'm just hoping for the best. Anyway, I'm in London! A lot of food related entries on the way.

Thursday: Dinner at Koba

Koba is one of the highly recommended Korean restaurant in Central London. After a hardcore shopping spree with YH and Y3, we met up with H for dinner here. The cup which they used to serve my jasmine tea was already enough to impress me.

Guess what this is. Initially I thought they were marshmallows. It came in really compact and the waiter added water to it and it expanded into this. They're towels for dinners to wipe their hands before the meal. I still remember the hesitation when I was reaching out for this. Imagine my dilemma of putting it into my mouth or fiddling to try to unwrap it. Hahahahaha.

Assorted BBQ set which consisted of sliced beef, sweet and sour chicken and pork.

The waiter helped to cook the sliced meat on the hot plate. Initially, half an onion and a few slices of melon were placed on the plate followed by the meat. I was tempted to cook it myself at first, but the feeling of watching others preparing your meal right in front of you was even better. I really enjoyed the grilled slices of meat. I liked how they were marinated. It tasted sweet but the sort of balanced sweetness that was not too empowering. Recommended!

Koba restaurant

Friday: Lunch at Palm Sushi

This Japanese restaurant is located in Whitecross market. One of the best affordable places for sushi that I've been.

We started with Cold Udon or Soba. It was my first time having it and I liked it a lot. My friends taught me the correct way of eating it as well. You have to dip the noodles into the sweet cold broth first before eating it. As I'm typing this, I feel like having some of it now. Oh no! Where to find Cold Udon now?

Our massive plate of sushi. From scallop, prawns, tuna to crunchy yellow fin. They disappeared too fast.

The hungry people

World Barista Campion 2009:

Gwilym Davies from the UK won this prestigious award in 2009 after competing with representatives from all over the world. We visited his coffee stall on Whitecross street and I was amazed by how delicious his cappuccino is! It's really creamy and after sprinkling a tiny bit of sugar, it almost neutralised all the bitterness. You should try it if you're in London. This year's World Barista Campionship is in Olympia, London from the 23rd till the 25th of June 2010. Is anyone interested?

Leaving Whitecross market

Cute little bunnies along the way home.