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.
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