London Food – Peyton and Byrne

While waiting for the Eurostar in St Pancras station, I had a small bite to eat at a lovely cafe called Payton and Byrne. It’s tucked away between many other food offerings in the main part of the station so it’s easy to miss – and in fact was pretty empty too, with just one loud and obnoxious woman and her male friend in there when I visited.

The muesli was OUT OF THIS WORLD. So good. I cannot even put into words how yummy this was. You need to try it, though. The apple and cinnamon yogurt was also pretty good, and washed down with some apple juice, it was a great start to my day!

The staff were pretty bored-looking and not very lively, but this was the only downside, I think.

Check out their website here, and see all the different offerings this company has! I’d love to visit more of their shops!

Food in London

 

I don’t miss much from home – I think I have a pretty nice life here in Frankfurt. But when I do go home like I did last month, I really start to miss certain things. The one thing that stood out this time was the food culture in London.

German food, on the whole, is nice. I like me a nice slab of pork as much as the next girl. But it’s not very varied and the supermarkets are packed with the same stuff all the time – aside from a few seasonal things (it was strawberries and asparagus until recently. Now it’s pears, cabbage and pumpkin.) I walked around just a small Tescos in London and there were so many things that jumped right out at me. From soups to pies to cold meats… there was so much I wanted to buy. I don’t feel that inspiration in German supermarkets.

 

Here in Frankfurt we have the indoor market which is arguably the best place to shop for food in Frankfurt. But I was just blown away in London by the amount of street food going on; home made cakes, fresh juices… and pop up food vans too, selling gourmet food as well as icecream, coffee and quick snacks.

 

The range of world food on offer was also truly amazing. I honestly couldn’t eat everything I wanted to try.

 

This place was an AMAZING gluten free and vegan cookie shop in Camden Market. Just imagine – a whole shop dedicated to cookies I can eat without getting sick!!

 

The thing that got me the most in London was the emphasis on home grown, handmade, organic, wholewheat, locally produced food. People care about this stuff back home – *I* care about this stuff! I love love love the sandwich shop Eat. Good wholesome food made by super happy people. Good soups, lots of filling sandwiches, humous and salads. This is EXACTLY the kind of place I wish was available here in Frankfurt. There are bio shops here of course. But that is more catering to vegetarians.

The food in London was just out of this world. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.

Scenes from China Town (London)

 

China Town in London is another must, after Camden Town! I took a short walk through it and saw some interesting things – not enough to write whole posts about. Hope you enjoy the snaps!

 

Sadly they wouldn’t let me take photos inside the shop, but they were chock-a-block with Japanese cosmetics and beauty products. In general, I saw so many Japanese products on sale, in shops and on markets. It seems that people can’t get enough of Japanese face masks, fake eyelashes, shampoo and everything in between.

 

I managed to find some awesome bubble tea in a place with hand made gyoza. I was going to order some gyoza after but the woman was slightly rude and snatched the menu from my hands…

 

Here’s another new thing – purikura. There were real Japanese machines in here. They were pretty expensive to use though.

 

But these guys sure enjoyed themselves!

Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover

 

I saw this being blogged about before I went to London – the Bourjois 1 Second Magic Nail Polish Remover. I paint my nails a lot, so I was really interested in a way to take off my nailvarnish without too much faff. And I find that especially when I layer my nails with cracking varnish, or glitter or whatnot, it is SUCH a pain to get off. Life is so hard.

I found it in Boots when I was back home and had to buy it – it may be available in Germany too. I’ve not checked yet…

The “magic” of it is that inside the tub is a big sponge with a hole in it. You stick your finger in it, spin it around once and then when you bring your finger back out, it’s polish free!

A lot of people have been saying that it’s not taking all of their varnish off, but I have to say that it’s worked 100% for me every time I’ve used it so far. It has almond oil in it as well to keep your nails healthy – though it’s a tad greasy at first, it melts into your skin to make your fingers so lovely and soft!

I’ve used a lot of nail varnish wipes before and hate the smell, the texture and the greasy feeling afterwards. This has none of that. There is absolutely nothing I dislike about this product and I think not only will I buy it again, but I will keep this as my go-to nail varnish remover from now on!

You can find this in Boots or Superdrug (and so on…) in the UK and I will get back to you on whether it is available in Germany!

Breakfast with Jamie Oliver

 

The breakfast in the hotel I stayed in at the end of my London stay was terrible, so I set off each day to find myself some food. One morning, I just happened to come across one of Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, Recipease.

 

I would never have noticed it if it hadn’t been for the absolutely delicious smell coming from the massive glass building. On the first floor there were lessons going on (some girls learning how to prepare fish and some boys learning to bake). Upstairs was the actual restaurant.

 

Little known fact – I love beans. So naturally, I had the bean breakfast. It was pretty spicy, but I scoffed the lot down and it was SOOOOO yummy. This was about 8 pounds.

 

And of course it would be really rude not to have their homemade lemonade. I must say, though, Frankfurt’s offerings are MUCH better. I wasn’t impressed, Jamie! Sorry!

 

Down in the shop they sold all kinds of yummy things, including these baking kits. All you need to do is as an egg and then bake! They looked so yummy.

A lot of people are very anti-Jamie Oliver, but I quite like him. He genuinely wants to improve Britain and he did wonders for the schools. This restaurant was everything Jamie stands for – learning more about food, simple, home grown yummy stuff and super down to earth and friendly staff. Nothing was ridiculously expensive and I knew I was being fed with good food.

I visite the Notting Hill location but there are 3 restaurants over England to go to! Check them out!

Camden Market for Dummies

 

Aged 16, I stood in London with my friend, and gazed around at the people going by and at the crazy coloured shop fronts. We were stood at the station by Camden Market. As we walked towards the stalls, someone offered my friend some magic mushrooms. We bought a tray of Chinese food and sat on a wall to eat it. Minutes later, a big black car pulled up with Sharon Osbourne in it. We were sat outside MTV studios. The sights, the smells, the cheap food, the feeling that we were rebels… from that moment on Camden Market has been my favourite place in the world and no trip to London is complete without a visit.

 

Camden is no longer the lawless place it once was – in fact it’s pretty mainstream these days. But even so, it’s a great place to shop – if you know what you’re doing! Here’s my Camden guide, to help you through the maze!

 

As you step out of Camden Town station, turn right and head down the road. There is one big market on your right. Use this market as a good preview of what’s coming up – but don’t buy from here until the end. The reason being is that the stuff here is more expensive and you’ll see the same items down the road for a lot cheaper. A novice will buy a t-shirt from here for 15 pounds then find it for 7 or 8 down the road!

If you do want to buy something from here, haggle. Never accept the first offer as it’s always overpriced.

 

Along the side of the road there are lots of pretty cool shops. Punky Fish has always been popular here. I was just sad to see they’ve taken their super cool “manga” style mannequins away and replaced them with boring ones. The shops along here are a good place to find cheap shoes.

 

Cross over the road and the markets continue inside a small building by the canal. This is the place to buy handmade jewellery.

 

And outside the back of this, there is some awesome food and nice places by the canal to sit and eat. The tea shop up the top of the building is a recommendation of mine!

 

The last stage of the journey I can’t help you much with – you go into the biggest market at the back of the canal building and just walk until you get lots. There are lots of different areas (like “designers’s row”) but the best thing is to just keep walking and discover amazing stalls. The food isn’t as good round this part (the stuff by the lock is better) but for home made clothes, Korean imports and just general awesomeness, this is THE place to be.

I feel as though Camden has grown up with me. When I was a rebellious (hahahaha…) kid, it was the place that made me feel like I was breaking rules. With the fire that happened a few years ago, Camden has grown and become more mainstream – added Asian fashion, and added to its culinary areas. It’s really the spirit of London, with such unique people and amazing views.

If you are visiting London and like walking and shopping, you need to go to Camden! You can get to it on the Northern Line.

The Photographer’s Gallery, London

 

Just off of Oxford Street, London, through a route you’d never think to look down, sits The Photographer’s Gallery.

I happened to find it after seeing an advert for one of their upcoming events (photos of all kinds of people in London) but it seemed it hadn’t started yet. Luckily, there was another exhibition that really took my fancy – one of Japanese photo books.

 

As I read the intro, and sort of scoffed, thinking that these people don’t know what they’re on about when they say that Japanese people like printed photo books. But then, as I walked around reading the magazines full of photos of a girl traveling and taking photos, or books full of nothing but cat photos, I realised that they were right – Japan is crazy about this kind of thing.

It took me right back to the days when I used to kill time in Village Vanguard (omg love that shop) looking through all the picture books there. They had every kind you could think of – my favourite was the one of the cats sleeping in cooking pots…

 

I even found a little piece of “home” there…

The rest of the gallery was really good, too. It’s amazing to think that places like this are free to look around. I really appreciate the freedom of arts and knowledge like this in the UK.

 

Find The Photographer’s Gallery at 16 – 18 Ramillies Street, London W1F 7LW, just off of Oxford Street.

Barry M Wink Marker Eyeliner

When I was back home a few months ago, I went to Superdrug and just ran round there like it was Supermarket Sweep. One of the things I grabbed was this Barry M Wink Marker Eyeliner.

Now, here’s the thing. I suck at makeup, but in particular I suck at eyeliner. I just can’t ever get it right. I can’t get the thickness right, or the angle at which to hold the eyeliner.

Until I bought this. This changed everything.

This is what “they” say about this product -

“Barry M’s Wink is a liquid eyeliner pen that is set to revolutionise your makeup routine. The thick felt tip nib enables you to achieve varying thickness by adjusting the pressure and the angle of the pen, giving you a professional look”.

I completely agree with all of the above. This is the eyeliner for people who are crap at using eyeliners – ME! It’s so chunky that it’s not totally fiddly or anything, and it’s build-able too, so it’s easy to layer for a more striking look.

I bought this a few months ago and it’s just coming to the end of its life now. Luckily, I’m back in London on business the week after next so I can pick up another one!

Barry M was just starting up when I left for Japan, so I don’t really know many of the company’s products, except for the pots of loose powder. Can anyone recommend anything else I need to pick up from the brand?

 

Korean Festivities in London

 

Now how’s THAT for old school! This is a photo of me from about 5 years ago when I visited Korea for the first time. That was very easily the best Korean BBQ I have ever had in my life.

I love Korea. You will often hear me ranting about how Japan’s had its day and Korea is the way forward. And because of this, I’m always up for Korean-based events – in Frankfurt there is “Japan week” which is actually 2 weeks. There’s a thing about Korea in one of the museums right now, which I would have blogged about had it been any good. Korean culture gets overlooked all the time and it’s NOT COOL that that happens.

BUT in London right now there is a whole bunch of Korean based goodness going on. If you are in the area, I urge you to go and check it out – I would if I could!! Link HERE