The Americans are Coming!

Today, my sister is coming in from New York. This means that I have a week filled with fun adventures ahead of me. What to do--lots of museum hopping, shopping (yay July sales!), and eating! R and I have already begun creating a list of restaurants we want to go to while she is here and we've also booked Due South in Brighton for Saturday afternoon lunch.

Here's a short list of the things I definitely want to do with the sister:
1. Thames walking-now that we're so close to the river, I can't wait to take a long stroll down the Thames Path
2. V & A: They've got a Surrealism exhibit that we need to catch before it vanishes into thin air.
3. Tate Modern: On that last note, we need to catch the Dali exhibit.
4. Borough Market: Lots of fatty, British foods that we can't get at home. Yum!
5. Churchill Arms: Thai food here we come!
6. Beautcamp Pilates: To sweat off all of that eating we'll be doing.
7. Harrod's and Selfridges and by this, I mean, primarily the food halls.
8. Roam the lovely streets of Chelsea to see how many famous people with names on blue plaques we can identify.
9. Cambridge
10. Globe Theatre: That is if it doesn't rain. High chance of unlikely.

More than anything, I am just happy to have her here and see what her impressions are on our life here in the big U.K. I also can't wait to show off my left of the road driving skills (or lack thereof).

Today, in preparation for breakfast al fresco, I'm going to continue to clean the garden. I started yesterday and it turned into a much bigger project that I expected. Nonetheless, it's great having an outdoor space. I bought some small citronella candles at Habitat and with a little elbow grease, we'll be ready to go!

Classic British with a Twist - Part 2

5 July (Thursday): Rainy Day Blues Calls for Seoul Food

Just another rainy day in London. It's been approximately 3 weeks of non-stop rain and gloom. R got out of work early because his moving injury was still hurting him and he was still feeling out of sorts because of the pain medication. There is only one thing to cure the rain and pain killer blues...

Korean barbecue at Jin.

Jin is hands-down our favorite Korean spot in London. Sure, we've tried others: Ran, Woo Jung, the Korean-Chinese combos (do those really count?), Arirang. But, Jin has become our favorite place to have hearty Korean food with friends or just the two of us.

Here's why Jin rules:

1. No frills approach: What you see is what you get.

2. Friendly service: The host told R a few weeks ago that he sees him more than his own mother. So, I guess this makes him extended family.

3. On the house treats: Some extra kimchi or a bottle of soju never hurts.

4. Free language lessons: R can now pronounce most of the items we order like a true native.

5. Best barbecue: The meats are always amazing and the portions are more than other places.

6. Location, location: Sandwiched between two pubs, you can always grab a pint afterwards.

6 July (Friday): Wimbledon and the Foxtrot

Wimbledon has had its bad host of weather this year, so at the first signs of no rain (gasp), a friend and I made a mad dash to the southwest of London for this year's Wimbledon tournament.

Wimbledon is a quaint village and posh. The restaurants, pubs, and shops are similar to those you might find in Notting Hill or Chelsea. This coupled with the excitement of the tournament, it was buzzing when we arrived on Friday afternoon at lunch time.

Unfortunately, there were no more tickets for the Centre Court or Court 1 matches for that day, so my friend and I bought an 18 pound ticket to roam the Wimbledon grounds for the entire day. We watched some junior's matches on Courts 18 and 19 as well as some doubles matches. We also caught a glimpse of Richard Williams, Venus and Serena's father, walking about probably to Venus' match against Ivanovic on Centre Court.

We finally parked ourselves on Henman Hill to enjoy burgers and Pimm's and watched Djokovic play Baghdatis on the big television screen. Djokovic finally ended up winning after playing for nearly 5 hours. We also saw some of the Federer versus Ferrero match and Venus versus Ivanovic. We decided to call it a day because our eyeballs were all tennised out.

Returning home, R and I decided to try out our new local: Foxtrot Oscar. After a little internet sleuthing, we disovered that this place is a fave amongst the Royal children for greasy spoon dining but the reviews seemed to be pretty split about the food, so we were curious.

The interior is simple: a small bar, about 10 tables, and a basement level area for larger parties. The waitresses were friendly and could answer all of our questions about the menu We enjoyed an excellent bottle of 2003 Conde de Valdemar Crianza to start.

I chose the fish cakes with a side of mash and a green salad while R chose the Scotch sirloin, medium rare, of course. I can't remember the last time I have had fish cakes that tasted that good: smoky, crunchy on the outside but smooth and chunky on the inside. The mash left me wanting more, but R's sirloin was grilled perfectly and looked like a fine cut of meat. We finished with the chocolate walnut pie and ice cream, which was a perfect combination with the cold ice cream and warm chocolate cake. Yum and 2 big thumbs up.

Note: It came to our attention that Foxtrot Oscar is being purchased by none other than the man himself, Gordon Ramsay. R and I are hoping he won't royally F-word it up. We hope he maintains the small feeling of this place while continuing the simple, great cooking.

Classic British with a Twist - Part 1

I've been busy and without internet connection for the last week and a half. This + being on vacation = blog slacking. I'm going to try and include all the juicy bits in an abridged version of this week's past events.

2 July (Monday): MOVING DAY!

R and I were overcome with "pure and genuine happiness" when saying goodbye to our old neighborhood in Bayswater. So long fried chicken den of hell, so long smells of nail polish from Nails USA manicure salon, so long to the throngs of people loitering on our block's stoop. Adios, au revoir, arrividerci!!!

We had a few mild encounters with British inefficiency at the K & C Parking Shop for our new resident parking permit. But, we arrived in one shape to the new 'hood.

Our new location in Chelsea is perfect. We are right along the Embankment and have views of Battersea Park and its golden Peace Pagoda. Our street was once home to Oscar Wilde and Sir Haden-Guest (physician). London's oldest botanical garden, the Physic Gardens, is right down the street.
But, the cherry on top is our recent discovery that Gordon Ramsay's namesake restaurant is literally down the block from us on Royal Hospital Road. This is the only restaurant in the U.K. with 3 Michelin stars and it's our local! We honestly feel as if we've hit the real estate jackpot. I cannot wait to try the tasting menu.


3 July: Hospital Day

Unfortunately, when you move heavy boxes over a prolonged period of time, rusty sets of pipes might get a little bent out of shape and alas, we had our first trip to the Emergency Room since being on this island. We were pleasantly surprised at the speed with which the staff at the Fulham Road hospital attended to R's complaints of muscular pains in his chest and back. After about 1.5 hours (they were very thorough), they sent him off with some pain killers and doctor's orders of no lifting or smoking for a while.

4 July (Wednesday): Happy Fourth of July

An ex-pat colleague of mine invited me over to her house and I just couldn't resist. I brought an assorted variety of delicious English ales and American beers that R and I have been getting delivered through our membership with the Beer Club of Britain. There are far worse things than having beer delivered to your door, so I thought I would spread the beer love with everyone for our celebration. I met my friend's boyfriend at their house in Battersea (just across the bridge from us now!) and we went to ASDA. Come to find out, ASDA is owned by Wal-Mart (yuck), but that also means it has dirt cheap prices (yay) which is good when you are buying bulk to serve an army of hungry Americans.

We returned home and starting preparing bbq chicken and veg kebabs, hamburgers, and hot dogs. Thanks to a generous donation from a neighbor, we were able to trade in our pathetic one time grill for a proper gas grill. On the menu was lots of red wine, beer, strawberry shortcake (with some of the most beautiful strawberries I have seen) and yummy chips and Whole Foods guacamole.

To top of my dose of American patriotism, earlier in the day, I ventured to Patridge's on the King's Road and discovered their American section complete with Aunt Jemima mix, cake mix, and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers!!!! I bought two packages (1 cheddar, 1 original) and 3 bowls of my favorite instant Korean ramen soup--score!

The night did not quite end standing starry eyed underneath a sky of fireworks, but for this group of Americans in London, we were happy to be together for our Independence Day.