park chinois

voyeuring the menu before hand, the park carbonara done with inaniwa udon, uni, pancetta and sous vide egg made it hard to say no to a dinner reso there. dark, subterranean and with clubby music, beautiful moneyed types (arab, russian and asian, typical!) was not my scene and i kept judging us for going there. had to shout to be heard at dinner (not nice) and got annoyed with the general chi chi-ness of the place. because, believe it or not, my taste runs more simple and something without table cloths and where you've to pay before sitting down is increasingly becoming the sort of dining experience i lean towards. but the waiters were attentive, frequently topping up my tap water (so classy, i know) and hm in part that might've been the MSG speaking because darn did my lips sting and boy was i disproportionately thirsty! 

the king crab with home made noodles was even better than the park carbonara and if i were ever to return, it'd be for more of this silken goodness. although i'd need bottles of coke to counteract the MSG.

was overambitious and forgot how my appetite's shrunk now that the little space invader is occupying the space where my stomach used to be. natural gastric band, much! so most of the aubergine with tofu in claypot went to waste :(

santa maria

first foray to santa maria near work was a roaring success and had spied one dangerously close to home. visited at an odd time but it was still relatively busy for tea-time. weirdly there was an old man with younger male (looked like bizniz buddy?) who was openly chatting up one of the sweet young waitresses. am usually not this sexist / ageist but it was really gross and almost enough to put me off my pizza. but hey, why not... maybe i'm just so attuned to safe guarding vulnerable adults / children that his sleaze really got my heckles up. think he was asking her about her boyfriend and if he was any good (presumably at horizontal activity) and i wanted so much to interrupt and ask her if she was ready to take our order. but she did seem to be encouraging him so who am i to meddle. ew ew ew all the same.

self-appointed protector of womankind rant aside, the pizza didn't disappoint and it's hands down better than franco manca and rosso pomodoro which are also in the 'hood. so glad to have discovered it and can see myself going back. oh and the tiramisu (technically contraband with all that raw egg...) was also incredible.

bit of stockholm in london

when C reached out to say she was going to be in london, i very excitedly contacted N and arranged to meet. they're wonderful people i met while in stockholm on exchange many many moons ago when we were law undergrads. "stockholm friends" who aren't really from stockholm are some of my firmest friendships and i'm constantly reminded how amazing an experience being on exchange was. if i could relive any period of life, that would definitely be it. C is from bilbao and lives in madrid (via NYC) and N was born in london but grew up outside perth, before moving to melbourne and is now based in london. last saw C when i was in NYC easter 2012 (!!!) to buy my wedding dress and have caught up with N and his better half L when since they relocated to the +44. 

shamelessly played the last trimester / early bedtime card and had them over for drinks and nibbles instead of going out to dinner. because i'd an inkling that C wouldn't be ready for dinner till past 10 and my (new) bedtime is 8pm. i kid you not. quite accidentally cobbled together something spanish-themed, cheeses and cold cuts, chips and dip, olives, grapes and crackers... all washed down with cava and tempranillo. it was uplifting to catch up, to feel like no time had passed since we last met yet knowing we were all in different (but still good!) places. 

i maintain that the acid test of friendship is how much time one spends in the present, and while we did lapse into stockholm nostalgia momentarily, so much of it was catching up on what we've done since, and what we're doing next. very forward looking! social circles inevitably shrink the older we get but we're fortunate to be as mobile as we are and it's really about making time, and not excuses.

waffles

craved waffles one weekend. tell a lie, craved pancakes but was averse to having to queue. figured i'd chance kings road instead and found these at wanted*man. it was roasting inside - greenhouse effect with blazing sun and glass frontage so not somewhere to linger. but the sourdough waffles were light and crispy, not at all stodgy like they too often tend to be. the peanut creme and jam was a fancy spin on PB&J and being partial to sweet/salty, i thought it went very well together. tried their roiboos latte too which was interesting but gimme matcha latte any time.

bob dylan

passed the halcyon gallery when i was last in the area and clocked the fancy people and waitstaff serving champagne, not realising it was the private screening of bob dylan's art. later realised that it was opened to the public and after a disappointing visit to bedlam at the wellcome collection (so lacking in art and information!) figured i might redeem the afternoon by going to the bob dylan exhibit. nothing life-changing and got the feel that most of the paintings were copied off postcards or photographs but liked his easy, unpretentious style and a glimpse into american at the middle of the 20th century.

maze grill

am without a doubt a creature of habit and justify my beef-eating as defensive diet to avoid pregnancy-related anaemia. 

that said, feel horribly let down by my GP and nhs antenatal care in general. had booking visit at week 8, returned to sg week 9, registered at new practice week 17 and informed them that i needed an urgent referral to local maternity services because anomaly scan (done at 18-20 weeks) was coming up. was reassured by the f2 i saw that this would be done. a month passed and i started to wonder if i would ever see the midwife. rang the GP surgery repeatedly to follow up week 21 onwards (because i thought it was reasonable to wait a month before kicking up a fuss) and was told by various people to 'wait till the end of the week then ring again' if i'd still not heard from the midwives. by which time, i was so frustrated i gave up and paid for an anomaly scan at harley street because, uh, if there's anything wrong with the baby i'd 1) want to know 2) be in time for legal termination. had the scan at 23 weeks (late) and thankfully all good. continued to ring the GP asking why no midwife appointment and finally spoke to a receptionist who took ownership and said he'd personally check with the hospital. turns out the previous referrals were never received (!!!) and he made a new referral at week 25 (!!!), i finally got an appointment for week 27 (thanks) and scan for week 28 (no thanks, way too late!). so i see the midwife week 27 and get put through third degree about why i was a 'late booker' something associated with single mothers, unplanned pregnancy, chaotic lives and general irresponsibility and i swear she's about to call social services on me. she takes another set of bloods (yuck) because they've to be done by their own lab. week 30 comes and i ring the GP practice to ask about my blood results. apparently it takes more than 3 weeks to get results for routine bloods (i wanted to know if there were any abnormalities eg anaemia) and you guessed it, "please keep calling to check". ARGH. what's a girl to do. 

so i decide to take matters into my own hands and comfort eat steak (in addition to making sure my antenatal vitamins contain iron) just in case, you know.

rosa's

it was one of those days where i was desperate for azn food and must've managed to slope off the ward a little earlier than anticipated. also think the waitress was new because she gave me the set lunch menu when it was clearly too late for lunch. so i was opportunistic and had tomyam soup wtih pineapple fried rice for £7 (?) which, while not cheap, is great for thai food in chelsea. however she gave me prawn tomyum which i ate before realising it was an extra £1 (compared to regular tomyam with just chicken!) oh well, can't win 'em all.

maltby street

one of the few things that gets me out of bed on a saturday morning is the prospect of a st john's vanilla cream donut at maltby street. because, of course, they're gone by 1230 and i've narrowly missed scoring one if i hit snooze. have also been the lucky recipient of the last donut more than once, so i console myself with the thought that it all evens out. although my recent maltby street discovery, and hence newfound life hack, is that the st john's wine bar (oops, bad jo!) also stocks said donut and doesn't sell out as fast. but really, getting the adrenaline rush from scoring the last donut is how i get my kicks over the weekend. 

after the donuts, it's a predictable circuit that involves monty's deli and coffee. tried the grilled cheese sandwiches for the first time, and big green egg steak which was a bit blue for my liking and probably why i needed to be tested for toxo :/

santa maria

the GP trainee i've had the pleasure of working with was due to change jobs. suppose that's the beauty / problem with medicine where jobs are transient, 3-4 months and then it's all change. works well insofar as giving the trainees a taster / rounded experience and broad based training but having found a good team and one i like working on, it's sad when people go! as a sort of farewell, we went to santa maria's for pizza because the consultant on the next ward and taken his foundation doctor there for lunch disguised as supervision. which sounds like a pretty good deal to me! or maybe he hadn't but told her about it because he was a self-styled foodie and she'd tried it and verified it was good. i did enjoy the pizza but the service less so and might visit but the one down the road from the flat instead of the one near work.

wagyu sushi

 

so this bump appeared overnight and when i went back to ikeda, my all-time favourite restaurant,  mrs ikeda i.e. boss lady very excitedly asked if i'd a bun in the oven. she conspiratorially whispered that she once asked someone the same question only to be left red-faced when the customer said she wasn't. oopsy! but she was right this time and they very kindly comp-ed seared wagyu sushi to celebrate :) and withheld judgment for all the sashimi i was scoffing. the london foodie scene tends to be fad-y and there's always something new to check out if one can be bothered (i often can't) but there's something to be said for being a regular and knowing that every dish is going to be a winner, as is the case with ikeda. in a perfect world, i'd have almost every meal there. however i only make it there once every six weeks or so, monthly if i'm lucky.

fish porridge

it doesn't look like the most palatable of meals but porridge is serious comfort food around these parts. felt terrible for parents who were stranded in france when the eurostar got broken. incidentally, cousin and cousin in law were lucky to be on the very last train through the chunnel before subsequent services got cancelled. what a nightmare. poor parents (in their 60s! with lots of bags! and not speaking a word of french!) had to make their way from ulu town to paris then to CDG and very luckily got onto the last 2 seats on the last flight of the day to london. well, not london but luton. instead of meeting brother at st pancras at 4ish, having an early dins then moseying to mine where they were gonna spend the night, they landed at luton about 10ish at night and only got to mine past midnight. was incredulous that they'd not eaten since lunch and were in a fairly buoyant mood despite the delay. of course this happened on a day when i was super busy at work and only bothered to check plans with brother about 5pm, to be fillled in about the day's drama. 

brother came over about 9 for dins round 1 (chicken rice) then re-purposed the rice cooker to do porridge for parents ETA midnight. felt like all i did that evening was cook and clean...

coffee&donuts

harwood arms with cousin and cousin-in-law when they stayed with me a couple of weeks ago. they bravely left their stable careers (corporate lawyer-ing and ship brokering) to spend a year at le cordon bleu paris. and now they're on their babymoon, the obvious destination was paris! they broke journey in london and were kind to invite me to dinner at ledbury (which i'd to forgo because i was in the cotswolds!!!) which i would've ordinarily jumped at the chance to go to. haven't been to the ledbury in years but have the fondest memories of the two times i was lucky enough to feast there. dunno why i've not been back sooner, really, suppose being in london leaves one spoilt for choice and i rationalise that the ledbury is always there. 

the harwood arms didn't disappoint and having only just had dinner there with a different houseguest (i swear, sometimes i feel like i'm running a revolving door B&B!) the menu had been updated and i found stuff i liked.

with babies taking up more space than anticipated, we only had the 2 course but i couldn't resist the coffee and donuts so does that count as a third course? :)

sloane square

a couple of sundays ago i met C and her lovely baby L for coffee near sloane square. was a little early and we hadn't pinned down a place to meet at so i sat on a bench and watched the world go by. it was a timely reminder to remain present, to enjoy the immediate surroundings. would be lying to say i wasn't the tiniest bit apprehensive about this surprise baby but grace for the day, eh? and constantly appreciative of good health and a smooth pregnancy so far, things i won't take for granted. because, as always, being in healthcare is a stark reminder of things that go wrong. although i've been chastised for being a tad too YOLO for planning to spend week 36 on the ski slopes. it's about the latest time BA will fly a pregnant person and hm i've been medically cleared by my fantastic prof. not that i'm going to be getting any (downhill) skiing done, mind, but you know. why ever not? hope this reckless behaviour doesn't come back to bite me in the backside. don't quite fancy delivering my own baby, ya know?

pad thai

patara is thai "fine dining" and i usually find it incredibly overpriced. however there is a good value set lunch and i did want something nicer than rosa's / suksan which are also local options. brother had the £14 2 course lunch and i'd the £18 taster menu, both excellent. then we were greedy and threw in an additional pad thai for good measure. rookie mistake. strangely enough i found the pad thai disappointing and lacklustre. it didn't have the flavour i've come to expect (rosa does a much better job!) which was a bit of a let down, really, because the set menus were so good. they also didn't have mango sticky rice for dessert, in retrospect not a bad thing because that would've set us back an additional £9. but, really, a thai resto without mango sticky rice??? thai iced tea was yummy though and when i asked if they did almond milk (my meal came with a latte) i was told quite sullenly "only full fat milk" which suits me fine, really. maybe they're in mourning and not allowed to smile but felt the service could've been friendlier.

shashuka eggs

i relish lazy saturdays when i don't set an alarm and wake whenever i feel like. something tells me it's a luxury i might not enjoy in the months to come ;) but for now, i'll take it! and greedily at that. wanted to change things up a little and eschewed the weekly pligrimage to hally's. truth be told, i woke too late to avoid the queue and didn't fancy having to wait for a table. went the other way and thought to try henry root instead. now i should've known better than to think it'd be fairly priced and my eggs (a brunch item) were £14 (!!!). crass as it is to talk about money, i unfortunately had committed by going in and sitting down before perusing the menu. rookie mistake. wasn't feeling particularly spendy and could've done the sensible thing and gone for the bottomless brunch (£30 for brunch item and limitless bubbles) but hm, responsible mother-to-be thought to abstain. darn. because £14 for eggs and peppers, yummy as they were, is a little hard to swallow. 

but i did have the place to myself for the most part and got some light reading done so that was somewhat redemptive although i made a mental note to check price before entry in future.

monkey's fingers

so i've had the pleasure of being placed on a ward with wonderful people. often hear war stories of nightmare first jobs with difficult personalities but absolutely cannot complain / have asked to be part of a better team. whilst i'm without a doubt the lowest life form and right at the bottom of the food chain, i've an incredible GP trainee, great regs and the worlds' best consultant who i wish i could keep with me for every job after this. it's been the perfect balance of trust where i'm occasionally alone on the ward, valiantly trying to stand between the patients and certain death (i jest) but consultant is always a phone call away. in fact, he's so accessible that the (smart) nurses just ring him straight instead of going through me because they know they'll get an almost instant answer. 

this whole starting my first doctor job in second trimester was cause of apprehension and i cannot ignore that my job isn't the safest. but i think the dangerous aspects of it have been mitigated to the best of everyone's abilities and i try not to be a liability on the ward. i get tons of clinical supervision (which's especially important as a junior!) and am increasingly confident on the ward, running ward round and seeing patients on my own, checking management plan with consultant but am generally making the right calls and exercising sound judgment, or so i like to think!

but yes, monkey's fingers! M and i were done early one day and figured we'd hazard meat liquor outside peak hours for their monkey's fingers. which were incredible and i wondered where they'd been my whole life. because i'd time to kill before an antenatal appointment nearby, i went gin shopping at selfridges and was almost late for said appointment, because, well, priorities. sorry baby!

bleecker street burger

have had a bit of a 'mare getting a national insurance number. let's see if i can summarise this without boring you with my #immigrantwoes. so every month 10% of my paltry salary goes into "national insurance" ie a common pot for NHS and benefits. this is non-negotiable, and separate from the 10% that would go into "nhs pension" if i hadn't opted out. however, the tier4 student visa i'm on, despite 1) not being a student 2) being in full-time employment 3) contributing NI every month clearly states that i've "no access to public funds". so in the event i'm in a position to need benefits, i'm ineligible for them. this is doubly unfair because being on a tier4 visa means i'd to pay a £450 (?) "NHS surcharge" when i applied for the visa in june in case i were to access the health services while i was in the UK. if i were a student and not contributing NI, this would be fair and fine. but if i'm already contributing to NI every month, why on earth am i having to pay the surcharge on top of it??? also, don't get me started on not being entitled to statutory maternity benefits despite being forced into NI payments every month. 

did not help that i met a nasty job centre officer who told me i was on the wrong visa and refused to believe there was an exception for foundation doctors to be on a tier4 student visa despite not being a student. she almost didn't want to help me apply for an NI number (which my employers had given me 3 months to get from the day i started work) but i'd to cajole her into submitting the application all the same and letting the powers that be decide if i should get an NI number or not. honestly whether i got one or not makes no difference to me, personally, and i'm just following employer's instructions to get one. because even without a NI number, 10% of my salary vanishes monthly and i'm not entitled to benefits so having a NI number does absolutely nothing for me. did send my employers an email asking if i was on the correct visa and received a reply telling me to inform the job centre manager that their employees are not in a position to offer immigration advice, much less the wrong advice. haha. you're telling me.

the only upside was that the job centre was near old spitalfields market and i finally got to try the burger. done rare, obvs. and sweet potato fries plus milkshake to drown my frustration.

cotswolds

after a failed attempt to go to the cotswolds after graduation, i was more determined than ever to visit. more sentimental than anything, really, having been as a child with family and brimming with happy memories of the idyllic time we'd. 

however it was different (older?) this time round and i found myself quickly bored of the beauty. felt spoilt and blase, like why do i not like this place anymore? why do i keep comparing it with the north east / scotland which i'm admittedly partial to... it also felt geriatric (sort of like the lake district!) and while i try not to be ageist about these things, there's a limit to the number of picturesque village i'll happily walk around, and number of tea rooms i will visit before losing my mind...

did stop at a cute little farm shop and stocked up for the week which was fun. bought carrots that looked like the sort bugs bunny ate (with the greens still on!) and other goodies which became dinner over the next few days. made a roast pepper soup for when we got back to london sunday night and it was so easy, fresh and flavourful that i kicked myself for not being more proactive about good produce and bothering to 'cook properly'.

also had the good fortune of a couple of great meals - the five alls being one of them.

and argh can't remember the name but this is the pub associated with barnsley house which also has rooms in case the hotel is too fancy.

i'd a discoball in my room, which was sorta funny cos at 7 months pregnant i'll literally what i can get. dancing days might be over for now but a disco ball that scatters light as i drift to sleep? why ever not :)

and what a view to wake to

the spa area was so simple yet well done, the landscapist made something outta nothing. suppose that's the skill, really, to make it look effortless and create value in the middle of nowhere.

and as a trip down memory lane, stopped for lunch at the swan hotel in bibury on the way back to london. was mildly disappointed as staying at swan hotel with the trout stream flowing in front of it was one of my favourite holiday memories growing up but it has been revamped and lost part of its charm.

pizza

without going into too much detail, work is hard. and there are days where i feel ill-equipped and inadequate. had one such day when i tried to convince the med reg to take a sick patient but alas, while helpful and supportive, he didn't want to take the patient. had to go to my consultant with tail between legs, and consultant (bless him!) rang and convinced the med reg to take the patient. patient was then in their care for 10 days. no joke. vindicated, much? when relating this sob story to one of my seniors on the ward, i got this meme in response and it was so true.

turning to food for comfort, you can thus imagine my delight to find the mess fridge stocked with pizza after drug reps had visited the day before.

hawksmoor

one of my oldest and dearest friends was in london after sitting PACES just outside birmingham and of course we'd to celebrate with steak. have heard lots about hawksmoor but never been. suppose there's just so much in london that i'm often spoilt for choice and have an ever-growing list of places to try but am often too lazy / stuck in comfort zone to get round to it. also have the bad habit of being reluctant to leave the 'hood so friends were nice to pick the hawksmoor in the 'hood. teehee :) perks of being pregnant. 

it was fun getting the two families together, 3/4 C siblings were there, with +1 and colleague who also sat PACES in tow, and my brother and i represented our fam. nostalgic how we've grown up together and spent many sunday lunch times together with our folks. it's almost like extended family, really, and there shared understanding and how well we know each others' quirks and foibles (plus embarrassing stories) is something that is very precious to me.

there's loads on offer at hawksmoor but we were el cheapos and went for the sunday roast cos there were 17 (?) left and 8 (?) of us. generous portion and lovely sides but gimme the maze grill sunday roast any time.

hally's

i probably spend more time and money at hally's than i care to admit, especially because they're clever and constantly update the menu so my need for novelty is satisfied and there's often something new i want to try. have brought friends in town, friends from outta town, family etc there but also enjoy going on my own for some head space and time to decompress with a trashy magazine. would never buy grazia but am more than happy to read if it's in front of me teehee. and they've recently changed their matcha latte recipe to not have sugar so i'm an even happier camper. used to need to go to LPQ for my unsweetened matcha latte fix but now it's at hally's too!

on my most recent visit i'd the corn fritters which were delightfully light, with poached eggs, bacon and tomato jam. absolutely delish and i'm such a glut i wanted seconds but managed to restrain myself, just.

steamboat

have said before and will say it again - i'm a one trick pony when it comes to food and the weather's just about cold enough to have steamboat. in fact, i'm immensely proud of a friend who recently attempted their own steamboat after i cooked it last year! but this was steamboat for my brother who was being manja and came round one evening. have had the good fortune of finding an azn grocer (thai, in fact) near earl's court that stocked the stuff i needed, although some of the components did come from chinatown / amazon. it's just so pretty to look at, so easy to do, so satisfying to consume and leaves me with leftover for days.

do find the broth too salty for slurping so mainly use it to poach the steamboat components without actually drinking the soup at the end.

maze and bridget jones' baby

a dear family friend and neighbour was kind to invite me to dinner and a movie! she's always on the go and despite living a few streets away, isn't usually in london long enough to catch up. but she very sweetly wanted to hang when she'd a rare free night in london. she'd recommended cafe society but the timings didn't work out and we ended up watching bridget jones' baby. which i initially thought would require an epidural of its own to sit through but was proven wrong. and as a treat, she also very generously bought dinner at maze grill. now i'm an unabashed carnivore and maze has got to be my all-time favourite steak restaurant, despite being late to the game. it serves steak, and various sushi. how awesome is that? and while i shouldn't have bloody meat, who wants a well done bit of charcoal? sacrilege! the cow would've died in vain. sadly the nhs doesn't test for toxo in antenatal blood tests (they really should!) and hm i suppose it's all risk management, really. wine, too. another no-no but i don't get the whole self-sacrificial maternal instinct martyrdom. to each his (her?) own and i just feel that everything in moderation is a healthier approach than a flat out ban. not condoning risk taking behaviour in the least but hm, gotta live a little. in the alternative, self-deprivation and resenting the baby as a result is probably worse.

harwood arms

is without a doubt my go-to when friends in town want a modern british meal. had a house guest for a week who i casually abandoned over the weekend to venture north but that's the beauty of old friends, eh? low maintenance. also i'm too lazy / uninvested to promise week-long hosting, because, really, i'm only good in small doses. plus with an intense job that leaves me craving sofa / duvet time at the end of the day, the last thing i want is to have to show someone around london. hey, providing RBKC accommodation should more than suffice, no? sparkling wit and charm not included. but i jest. 

said house guest was kind enough to want to buy dinner as a thank you and i suggested harwood arms cos it's sorta in the 'hood and consistently good. don't go often enough to tire of the menu but happened to go twice in a couple of weeks cos my cousin and cousin-in-law also stayed in quick succession. revolving door B&B much! 

had the quail with black pudding scotch egg (above) and sea bream (i think) followed by raspberry souffle for pud. all good and defo worth trying.

st abb's

it's no secret that i've great difficulty leaving the north and jump at every opportunity to head back to the east lothian coastline. maintain it's one of the prettiest stretches of coast and just what i want (need?) after a long week at work. now if only it wasn't so far away! was tempted to escape london this weekend but it's been a packed week and after the cotswolds last weekend, sense got the better of me and i'd a hermetic time instead to get over the self-induced introvert hangover. and fb tells me that the train i would've been on had i needed to return to london this evening has been cancelled / delayed by >10h, with passengers needing to take a replacement train to manchester then change for london euston. cue my immense relief because that could very easily have been me and mega ouch for friends who were meant to travel on the (now) cancelled service.

so there. on to happier things! had an idyllic weekend north and went walking on the coast, which is always therapy. scampered on the scary cliff-y bits against my better judgment because i thought we weren't going off piste and was too lazy to wear walking boots, much good they did me from the car :p then we did go off piste and it was a little oopsy but lived to tell the tale.

stopped for usual chinatown chicken and salted fish fried rice (so bad but so good!) on the way to the station and had an uneventful journey back to london.