Eating our Fill, continued: London 2024, Part 6

When we arrived in London our hosts (clients? friends? the people who own the house we’re staying in, roll with us here…) did a fantastic job of getting our feet wet, giving us a little tour of a great market street and leading us to some truly fine eats. We were feeling very comfortable in general – plus the house made it easy get cozy – but once they left we still had a little bit of anxiety. Sure we were staying for practically three weeks, but we’re still in London. The options for culture and food and… well, everything are effectively infinite. As in, not actually, but you’ll die before taking it all in so mise well be. Feeling borderline overwhelmed with possibilities we spent a fair amount of time reading reviews and looking at maps, before realizing that there was simply no way to be certain about any of the possibilities, so for dinner that first night we ended up “throwing a dart” – family colloquialism for closing our eyes and picking something on the map randomly. Fortunately, Lisa never totally closes her eyes, and she hit a bullseye at The Life Goddess.

We love Greek food. It took being in Greece and eating nothing but local cuisine for nearly three weeks before we finally said we needed to try something (anything) else. Sadly, where we live now has no Greek food (although there are a ton of similar options in the doner kebab shops, its just not the same). We usually just make it at home, but when we saw The Life Goddess was a short walk, nothing could keep us from trying it. We are so glad we did, it’s a treasure. We started with some of the best hummus and pita we’ve had since Greece. Then Lisa had the beef stew “giovetsi” (braised beef in orzo with cheese and a tomato sauce), and John had a charcoal grilled fish over creamy arborio rice. Portions were generous and — be warned! — they do not do take away. So, if you don’t eat it, you can’t take home the leftovers. (We might bring our own containers next time.) Another restaurant we are looking forward to returning to again.

One of the things L. particularly likes to do when in the UK is have proper tea. Tea, as in high tea. Fancy serve ware displaying tiny sweet and savory morsels, accompanying hot tea, all to be consumed over a leisurely hour or three. This trip, we visited Dalloway Terrace, at the Bloomsbury Hotel. The Bloomsbury is a high-end hotel, but the tea is quite reasonable and makes a full meal. For 48pp you are served four types of sandwich: free range egg salad, roast beef with horseradish, cucumber and cream cheese, and harissa and apricot chicken. The classic sultana scone is joined by an Irish cheddar scone. The sweets layer was made up of an Earl Grey and blackberry dome cookie, lemon and poppy seed choux, pistachio and lemon Battenburg cake, peach melba tart, and a salted caramel madeleine. All of this is accompanied by unlimited tea or coffee. I’m not sure if this is true all the time, but we were offered more sandwiches and a takeaway carton for the sweets we couldn’t consume. In Lisa’s opinion, this was the best tea she’s had in all of her visits.

With our friend, S., we ventured out on a drizzly afternoon to a pub for what we think is the best beef wellington in London. I know, that seems outrageous in a city with (quickly checks) FIFTEEN Gordan Ramsey restaurants (about half of which serve this, his signature, dish). But the last time we were in London (in 2022), Lisa had a craving for it, but just couldn’t swallow spending £80 per person (easily) when she wasn’t sure she’d like it. So she dug around and found The Hemingway Pub.

Once again, this stripped down pub produced a superbly tender, richly flavored, and perfectly cooked filet of beef, wrapped in ham, slathered in mushroom pate, then covered with a flaky pastry crust. So many things can go wrong! Ah, but they didn’t. They don’t skimp on making this, so it’s a full 45 minutes from when you order before you eat, so be prepared to hang out. We shared some crispy pork belly steam buns and the courgette and Halloumi cake with a couple of ciders as we waited. (The menu changes frequently, with dishes reflecting the seasons.) Then the star arrived.

I gotta say,it tasted even better than it looks. Served with sauteed vegetables, hand cut chips, and a red wine jus, this remains one of the better steak moments we’ve ever had. Oh, and it’s £40 for the dish, which easily fed three people.