Shoreditch

So we all have that deep down hipster that wants to explore all the hip cool places in town. Shoreditch is apparently one of them, full of cafes and markets and a stones throw away from Liverpool Street and London Bridge it is super easy to get to.
My recent hipster adventure took to Albion in Shoreditch, which sells produce, breakfast and dinner.

 Couldn't miss this photo opportunity of the fresh fruits and veggies, and a few tourists looking at us.

 Fresh produce and all the organic and good hipster jars you'd ever need to fulfil that need.

 The seating area and kitchen, this was whilst in the queue and considering the line it went pretty quickly. Even though some people (e.g. us) mope around on the tables reading newspapers, talking, eating slowly!

 The cheapest drinks of the menu. Student Life eh. The usual condiments for breakfast and something a little different, I believe was called the Oxford Sauce, it can be found here at http://oxfordfinefood.com/baron-pouget%E2%80%99s-oxford-sauce.html/. I wasn't expecting to like it, but actually if you love vietnamese food and vinegar like me this is a gem. 

When our breakfast sausage, bacon and egg bap finally arrived. Delicious, so big and so filling. Took forever to eat. The bap especially was delicious!

 Boxpark, little pop up boutiques.

 The flowers in Shoreditch are so pretty, and SO expensive. The paper wrapping and the colour combination of the flowers are so pretty though!

 After walking around for a little in Shoreditch we retired to Pauls. Firstly we tried at Covent Garden, completely packed and waiter even told us he would have no idea what time the table would be ready. So we just went to find another Paul, it's the small wonders of a metropolis like London that makes everything so convenient. 

 The tart was good and the tea so so, but the service was appalling here at the branch near Charing Cross. So if you ever visit a chain bakery/cafe/restaurant probably best to visit the most well known ones, because they are well known for a reason.  

Korea Day 5

The fifth day consisted of a little visit to Gyeongbokgung palace which is surprisingly cheap. A ticket to all 4 palaces is equivalent to around £10 if I remember correctly. Unfortunately I only had time to visit this one palace. The day was boiling hot and humid and the sun beating down, way to go in not bringing an umbrella! The palace ground was huge, now of the buildings that big, but amazing nonetheless. 

The grounds are reminiscent of national grounds in England, full of trees but a little drier. I am sure without all the tourists this place would have been more beautiful, (including me), it was just so difficult to catch any image without capturing tens of others in it.

A teacher was taking around these cute kids, he was so enthusiastic and you could tell he loved his job. I think taking kids on historical trips like this make the job so much more worthwhile.

Palace grounds leading towards mountains, so beautiful away from the city.

This palace consisted of a couple of museums, which had rather strange artefacts and other displays. This museum showed the evolution of birth in Korea, which I guess is pretty cool, but kind of random.

As it hit 12pm, we had just arrived in time for a little ceremony, where the guards march and move around. In this boiling heat I salute them for being able to wear so many layers!

The cute ahjummas!

The youth stone or something along that, walk under it and you will forever remain youthful. The group of ahjummas giggled as they entered. SO CUTE.

More Food

A little weekend trip to Macau meant an opportunity to try more food. Formally a Portuguese colony there is a lot of "western" food to offer. This was the only meal I managed to capture all weekend, but the two other places we visited were just as delicious. One being a buffet restaurant named Bambu in the Venetian. This buffet restaurant had a lot to offer, from sushi to traditional chinese style dishes to a full range of delicious desserts, including creme brûlée. Believe me, the temptation to have another was so strong but I refrained. Perfect place to indulge if you are on holiday. 

Below is a restaurant in the Old Town of Macau, nothing special about the food but it is more for those with a heart appetite, with starters being a larger portion than at normal restaurants. And WHY when there are western dishes with cheese on do the chefs of Hong Kong decide they need to engulf the dish in the cheese. Minus the cheese the spaghetti bolognese was delicious, oh how I've missed it these several weeks. 

 Below is the abnormally large portion of chicken wings that was a perfect portion to share between the three of us dining together. A little on the salty side but delicious and crispy. 

Fried rice in a pineapple, so sign of pineapple actually being in the dish, which works for me considering my dislike of pineapple. It's a soso dish, nothing special, but if you are in Asia, the land of rice I guess it is hard to compete. Nicely presented however. 

Another restaurant, a popular Korean restaurant called JANG on Queen's Road Central, between Central MTR and Sheung Wan MTR, worth a visit but in my opinion not amazingly special. However some did say it is THE BEST restaurant they have tried in Hong Kong, so probably worth a visit. The food was tasty, the Kimchi pancake is nothing I have ever wanted to try but I must say I am a convert, it is delicious. The portion sizes are small so ordering a larger number of dishes to share amongst friends is better. (Waitress adamant we should all do this!) Chicken wings were nice and crispy, and the bimbimbap phenomenal, but it will not ever compare to my favourite korean restaurant in London on Tottenham Court Road (more on that when I return home!). 

The good thing about this restaurant was the free appetisers to snack on, the kimchi, bean sprouts, tofu marinated in spicy sauce, mushrooms, and the potato salad. This was unlimited so it just kept coming, we did not complain. Having come all the way, we decided to experiment with some Soju, probably the weaker stuff but that did not mean that my friend Cryster could handle it. Surprisingly I really liked this brand of Soju, having tried it this time last year in London, the one in London seemed to burn, whereas this one had more of a tasty taste!

As I mentioned earlier, the appetisers for this place were endless. But it was lovely to have them keep coming, because the chef surely did not lack in effort in producing these. 

One of these days we went to another restaurant located in Kennedy Town for lunch. This place had excellent service, despite only one waiter being out front. He was gracious, had perfect english and extremely patient, despite 6 hungry girls asking him if he could hurry a little, and yet at the same time taking our sweet time ordering. It is refreshing when a lot of places in HK are notorious for their bad service. At lunch time, this small little pub like restaurant has a set menu (which is quite broad, serving to a range of dietary options.) For a starter I ordered a salad, not knowing yet again it comes with sauce! DISAPPOINTED, but I should have expected it, others loved it and the apple inside was a nice addition to the salad. 

For the main I ordered a battered pork chop with rice. Again it came with a creamy sauce, so I decided to leave that out! The pork chop was not too chewy, nor to dry and not too moist. For me it was very good, maybe a little too heavy for lunch. The rice was of an okay consistency, maybe more towards the hard side. All in all, an enjoyable main. The service definitely makes up for the dodgy rice. For dessert which comes with the $98 HKD price tag was a cheesecake. Rather small but with that price it was kind of expected and was quite nice. (Lack of a photo for the dessert due to having to basically run back to the office, having already taken too long for our lunch!)

Another photo and another visit to my favourite vietnamese restaurant in Jordan. This time they mistakenly gave us pork chop in the cold vermicelli, still delicious. Anything with vinegar definitely just steals my little heart away. 

Upon our return from Macau me and Cryster were starving so we made a quick little trip to a Japanese restaurant/cafe around the corner from both our flats. This was cheap and cheerful, coming in at below $50 HKD. Jordan is a wonderful place for cheap and yummy food. (I returned here another day by myself when I was in a rush). The service is okay here, not amazingly crappy like many of the other cafes, so it feels slightly more welcoming. The pork chop and duck isn't the healthiest of choices but its delicious and filling. If you are a meat eater and a fatty like me you would love this place!

Traditional chinese? Not exactly, but close enough. Located right in the middle of Temple market it is definitely a tourist aimed restaurant, though still a few locals here and there. The dishes are slightly more expensive than if you go into air conditioned small local chinese cafe (I know, this is outside and is still almost double the price!) but it was good, especially to a westerner, e.g. me!!! The duck was an okay price, but it was a skinny duck, so hardly any meat! But sweet and sour was also a bomb! It was just a win win win, because we were hungry!

Shake Shack London

Lets first appreciate that we actually have a shake shack in England, even if it is out of reach for most people. Unbeknownst to me this shake shack has been open for almost a year. Shake shack is a well-loved and hugely popular burger bar in America. If you are silly like me and love hot dogs, then you will have ordered the wrong thing too. How silly I was to order a hot dog at a burger bar… very stupid it would seem. As my siblings sat there enjoying there burgers, stacked with an array of toppings, bacon, cheese, the full works for my brother. I was sat there smelling a very plastic looking hot dog, which I gave up eating once I’d reach the mid point. The hot dog costing me a total of £5, for what we essentially a nice fried frankfurter, this was a food mistake I didn’t expect to make. I couldn’t carry on and I would definitely not recommend the hot dog. I shall never make this mistake again, however I will be back to try their burgers, and their chips. They were fried to a perfect texture. At £2.75 for a regular portion of chips, it isn’t the cheapest option, however if something is good the price tag won’t mean a thing to you foodies!

As the name would suggest they also sell milkshakes. I can’t say that they were great but they were good enough, I would even go as far as saying that I prefer KFC Krushems, but they are wonderfully delicious.

So if you would like to visit this place, I would suggest giving it a go but avoid the hot dog at all costs and DO NOT forget to order yourself a portion of chips.