Everything's Coming Up Roses and Roast

It was a lovely sunny Sunday today, not as hot and humid as yesterday, with a light breeze in the air. Some dark clouds dotted the otherwise clear blue sky but all in all, it was a fab day. The day started, not with food, but with another of my favourite things starting with "f" - FLOWERS!

We went in search of the Columbia Road Flower Market in Shoreditch today. Slightly delayed and hampered by the Northern Line being closed for repairs, we managed to find our way there on Bus 43 from Monument Station with the help of some friendly Brits. We knew we were heading in the right direction when we saw people walking towards us clutching bunches of sunflowers, roses, peonies and all manner of plant life.

As we neared the market, we could hear cries of "Sunflowers for a fiver!", "Roses for five pounds!" and the like from almost every stall holder there, mainly burly men touting their floral wares. It was a feast for the senses.

Hidden behind the flower stalls were quaint little artisan shops selling home wares, gardening tools, stationery, retro sweets and interesting cakes (like this rainbow cake here sold by Pomp De Franc, a bakery run by 29 year old baker, Katie Franklin, who designs ornate and imaginative cakes).

http://www.pompdefranc.co.uk

After scarfing down a piece of one of Pomp de Franc's creations (a rum and ginger loaf glazed with a lime flavoured icing)...

...we headed off to our next destination - a roast lunch at The Pig & Butcher on Liverpool Road in Islington. A lovely little pub on a tree lined street in a residential neighbourhood off Upper Street. Our cab driver seemed rather impressed that two Chinese girls who just got off the plane the day before had hunted down a pub with a roast lunch in that neck of the woods.

The menu was rather interesting with various kinds of roast meats...

http://www.thepigandbutcher.co.uk

Everything looked good but we were drawn to the 35 day aged roasted Aberdeen Angus rump served with a gloriously risen Yorkshire pudding, crispy roast potatoes, creamed leeks and vegetables. See how happy I looked?

After polishing that off, I couldn't resist dessert and while I toyed with the idea of the apple & rhubarb crumble and the Sweet Jersey fool with poached Hampshire strawberries, the friendly waiter sporting a spiky hedgehog hair-do strongly recommended the Parkin with toffee sauce and clotted cream. I decided to heed his advice after he swept by with two examples of the Parkin (surely to tempt me!). I didn't regret it. It comprised a light sponge drenched in a caramelly toffee sauce topped with a crown of clotted cream. It tasted almost like a sticky toffee pudding.

We rolled out of The Pig & Butcher, suitably sated and ready to do work off the calories with some shopping. We passed by the Islington branch of Ottolenghi and was tempted by the dazzling array of cakes but self-restraint prevailed.

We finished off the day sharing a Taxidriver burger from Gourmet Burger Kitchen just round the corner from our hotel. Not a bad burger with American cheese, onion ring, Cajun relish and smoked chilie mayo, though I still prefer the Shake Shack burgers. I also had an Oreo milk shake - burp. Think I am suitably nourished to face Day Three...

NOPI

Dinner tonight was at NOPI - Yotam Ottolenghi's restaurant near Piccadilly Circus. We set off in the rain in a black cab (our feet wouldn't let us take the Tube). We couldn't get a table in the restaurant so we were shown to the basement communal table. I always enjoy coming to NOPI, the food is always different and tasty. The restaurant is also pretty and full of buzz.

We shared the following Small Plates:

Twice cooked baby chicken with chilli sauce that tasted like the kind you get with Hainanese Chicken Rice back home.

Roasted aubergine, feta, coriander pesto, walnuts

Baked cod, squid ink, venere rice

Dessert was unusual. Marshmallow, strawberries, lemon verbena creme anglaise

A happy camper I was!

Return to Borough Market!

Stuffing of face continued in the afternoon at Borough Market. It was packed to the gills! Not particularly pleasant when the weather is warm. So many people that one could barely make out the food stalls. Face first stuffed with a pork belly with crackling and apple sauce sandwich from Roast. Mom would have been proud.

After finishing off the pork belly sarnie, we hunted down the cheese sandwich and raclette stall. 

The smell of melting Comte cheese wafting from this stall is amazing. Although E and I were pretty full, we decided we just HAD to try the melted cheese sandwich. 5 quid for two pieces of melted cheese heaven.  They even use Poilane bread! Not wanting to end up feeling like the Michelin man (though we were close), we asked the 3 Hong Kong girls behind us in the queue whether they wanted to share our sandwich with us. They looked at us like we were a godsend (truth be told, we felt the same way about them!).

Here's E happily holding our melted cheese sandwich.

The Eat Off Begins

My English eating adventure started at 10 a.m. this morning at Kopapa on Monmouth Street in Covent Garden.

Sister restaurant to The Providores on Marylebone Street, Kopapa also has the famous Changa Turkish Eggs. However, as I had already tried them on my last trip, this time I decided to try their Chorizo Hash with fried eggs, rocket and fried shallots. Verdict - not as good as the Turkish Eggs though it was fairly tasty. 

Washed it down with a skinny latte. Beans from Monmouth Coffee so the latte was reliably good (and strong). Latte art could have been better though. The baristas at Strangers Reunion would win hands down. 

E, having eaten the breakfast on the plane (which I assiduously avoided), could only handle the fruit salad (which was pretty granted).