Icelandic Adventures: Eating Reykjavik

This weekend I flew to the capital of Iceland with my friend Siu Yen in an attempt to chase the Northern Lights. To cut a long story short, we did technically see them- but we didn't know what we were looking at at the time because they were in the grey spectrum. In other words, they looked like weird flat, thin streaks of cloud. Next year I'll explore another Nordic country in the hopes of catching the Aurora in colour!

I had an amazing time even so, seeing the Strokkur geyser, Gullfoss the golden waterfall, Thingvellir national park in a blanket of fresh sparkling snow and more. Plus I had an awesome girly trip away with my good friend, complete with cocktails and food.

Which brings me to my Icelandic food blog post.

We only stayed for three nights, but we pretty much packed all of Iceland's specialities in to the short trip (apart from Hákarl and Brennivin..!) Fish, lamb, hearty soup, and skyr (technically a cheese but a lot like yogurt) featured.

I highly recommend all of the following!

What: Slow cooked whole lamb shank with root vegetables, followed by blueberry skyr dessert
Where: The Laundromat Cafe, Laugavegur (the main shopping street)

On a side note, I was impressed at how family-friendly the city was in general.

What: Loki Tea (with Icelandic moss), Icelandic Platter III (with herring, egg, rye bread and sweet rye ice cream) and skyr cake
Where: Cafe Loki, Lokastígur (near Hallgrímskirkja church)

What: Mushroom soup served in a bowl of crusty bread
Where: Svarta Kaffi, Laugavegur

(Alas, the picture of the front of the cafe accidentally got deleted).

Featuring my travel bunny Smidgen (I've had him since birth)

What: Rye flatbread with smoked lamb and 11-layer kanil (cinnamon) cake
Where: Around Iceland (that's the name of the store!), Laugavegur

(The picture of the store front befell the same fate).

What: Famous lamb hotdogs (as enjoyed by the likes of Bill Clinton), ordered 'eina með öllu' (one with everything)
Where: Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, Tryggvagata

This place is so popular, there's always a queue.

Bonus: Bubble Tea in Iceland

Look at what I found! This place is on Laugavegur, but never seemed to be open when we wanted it to be open. Still, it seems popular with the locals, and it's nice to know that one of my foodie addictions can be found almost literally all over the world, nowadays.

Piccadilly Circus: Kahve Dünyasi

After a conversation with a colleague at work about coffee and her description of Turkish coffee (very strong with the coffee grounds still in the cup- my kind of coffee), my quest for Turkish coffee in London brought me to  Kahve Dünyasi: a chocolate shop in London that also has a range of delicious cakes.

Score.

Where?

3, 200 Piccadilly, London. Nearest underground station Piccadilly Circus.

What?

A chocolate shop/ café with a Turkish twist, the first thing you notice on walking in is the very, very tempting counter of posh-looking chocolates.

Then there are is the rainbow of macarons:

And then, of course, there is the cake.

Kahve Dünyasi also serves a few light savoury things such as baguette sandwiches, which are great for lunchtime. Or if you really, really want cake and have to drag a friend along with less of a sweet tooth.

During my first visit, since I was after Turkish coffee, this was what I ordered once I had been seated at a table: along with an iced Turkish coffee, since I was curious about what that would be like.

The waitress smiled when I ordered both coffees in one go. "You really like Turkish coffee?"

"It's been one of those days," I joked.

She asked how sweet I wanted my normal (hot) Turkish coffee. I faltered, not really knowing how it was supposed to be drunk- so the waitress said she'd get me one with 'regular sweetness'.

Soon my coffees arrived, along with a chocolate to go with the normal Turkish coffee (to my delight), and a traditional glass of water for cleansing the palate- I found this interesting because this is also an Italian habit.

Take a closer look at the crema on the coffee!

It was like a little shot of heaven. It was strong without being bitter, and just the right sweetness for me. It's served black like an espresso, but with the coffee grounds still at the bottom: so you have to be sip carefully when you approach the bottom of the cup or else you'll get a mouthful of them (I'm glad my colleague had warned me about this beforehand, and the waitress reminded me too). The chocolate was lovely too- mine was marzipan, but I don't think that you get the same chocolate every time, necessarily.

As for the 'iced Turkish coffee', it was quite different- more like a frappé.

It was a pretty hot day that day, so I followed the hot coffee with this beauty. As you can see, it was pretty epic, and laced with chocolate sauce. Yum, yum.

I also noticed a drink called 'salep' on the menu, and vowed to order it on my next visit once I'd done a little research (in other words, once I'd Googled it).

Salep is a hot milk drink traditionally thickened with the root of a particular type of orchid, and is like a thin white custard. Unfortunately the orchid is a little on the endangered side now, so exporting it out of its home country is now illegal- salep anywhere else is now usually a mixture of cornflour and flavouring.

On my next visit, I also ordered a slice of their chocolate caramel cake along with a mug of Salep.

The salep drink came with cinnamon dusted on top, and was served with an adorable chocolate spoon.

As I mentioned before, the salep was like a thin custard, only without the vanilla or eggy flavour. It was very pleasant, although I regretted my choice quite quickly because it was another hot day when I visited, and the thickness of the drink has quite a warming effect. On that note though, it'd be a brilliant drink for chilly winter days.

As for the cake, I want another one. Right now.

Thin layers of fluffy cake, a thick layer of chocolate brownie, a thick layer of creamy caramel mousse and even more caramel on top. This was one decadent cake.

I can't wait to visit Kahve Dünyasi again, and the prices aren't too bad for Central London. They also do some amazing-looking ice cream sundaes, judging by their menu:

Since the cold weather is setting in though, I don't think I'll be as interested. Luckily enough, they have enough cake to see me through the winter, including a hot chocolate one.

Mad Hatter's Tea Party at Sanderson Hotel

An Alice in Wonderland-themed tea party? Yes, please!

 Where?

50 Berner's Street, just off Oxford Street, London. Nearest tube station Tottenham Court Road.

What?

The Sanderson Hotel is a 5* luxury hotel right in the centre of London. The place screamed luxury, and both the decor and staff were dazzling. I could have taken pictures of the interior of the hotel alone, but I wasn't here for the hotel: I was here for their quirky take on the old British classic: afternoon tea.

My friend and I were led out onto a garden quad, where tables were arranged on either side of the garden centrepiece under large canvas canopies to protect us from the glare of the sun. The whole experience from start to finish was magical, from sitting down to the table dressed with riddled napkins, a very old book and crystal vials of teas to choose from, to the magical and perfect food itself, and the 'jelly wonderland' buffet for the final course.

The waitress recommended we tried one of the flavours from the vials, but we were also welcome to choose from a menu of more 'normal' teas, coffees and hot chocolate, and we could have as much tea as we liked. My friend chose mint chocolate tea while I chose rhubarb and custard: we had such large pots that the thought of having any more tea. Also, while the portions looked dainty and manageable, both my friend and I were stuffed by the end.

I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves for this review. All I can say is it's an experience well worth giving a go.

'The more the you have of it, the less you see.'

Three different layers of flavours!

Pop! Mango explosion.

And then I ate the cup itself.

From banana-chocolate to lavender-elderflower.

Fitzrovia- Lantana

I like coffee as much as I like tea, and that's quite a lot. I'm certainly no coffee connoisseur, but I can tell the difference between a good cup and a bad cup, and I do enjoy a strong-but-unburned coffee. My favourite has recently been the flat white from Monmouth coffee. After today's jaunt to try something different, I think Lantana's flat white has instantly become a contender for First Place.

Where?

Fitzrovia, London, 13 Charlotte Place (Just off of Goodge Street). Nearest underground station Goodge Street.

What?

An antipodean café-slash-breakfast, brunch and lunch restaurant. There are two ways of going about it: Lantana Out on the left-hand side for takeaway drinks, breakfasty things and cakes, and Lantana In on the right-hand side for sitting-down-and-eating. One day I will try something on Lantana In's delicious-looking menu, but this morning I opted for a Lantana Out and a quiet perch on the bench outside.

So, I know I quite like flat whites because of their strength without the knockout strength of having it black (the way I understand it, a flat white is alike a short, strong latte- I told you I'm not a connoisseur). Lantana's flat white has been long lauded on the interweb, so I knew I had to order it.

Cute foam art!

Well- it was perfect. It was smooth, rich, strong and not at all bitter or burned. Lantana apparently uses Square Mile beans while Monmouth Coffee uses Monmouth beans. Square Mile coffee, Monmouth coffee- I think they're two independent roasters. No idea about coffee bean origin- again, not an expert. I found Lantana's Square Mile a bit tangier than Monmouth's signature roast, but it was a very pleasant tang. I'm not sure I could choose one over the other.

As for breakfast! I *had* to try a friand.

When I visited family in Australia last year, I saw these things in practically every café: and yet I never tried one while I was there. Unforgivable for a dessert nut like me! Thank goodness for Lantana.

A friand is a small cake made with ground almonds, often flavoured with lemon and sometimes with fruit like blueberries. They had several kinds at Lantana, but I chose plain lemon. It was dense, moist, almondy, lemony and mouthwatering.

I also had a small takeaway muesli pot (which I didn't photo because I made a mess when I opened it): at the front counter they had a table with large bowls of homemade bircher muesli, homemade toasted muesli with dates, thick natural yoghurt, poached peaches and pears and berry compote. When the girl at the counter asked me what I wanted in my pot, I tentatively asked if I could have a bit of everything- which thankfully she was happy to do. She also filled the pot very generously, which I was grateful for (even though I made a mess in my eagerness to get into it!) They even made something as seemingly simple as muesli delicious.

I was lucky enough to have today off work, and I visited Lantana at about 10:30am- so it was relatively quiet (although still quite busy in Lantana In- it's a very popular place indeed). Chilling out outside with an amazing coffee, a healthy and wholesome breakfast and a little cakey treat in peace and quiet was nirvana. I know where I'm going again on my next morning off.

For some reason when you Google Lantana's location it often comes up as being on Charlotte Street: but it's in fact on Charlotte's Place, which is a little side street right off of Goodge Street. Just head for Yaki (which I went to later on in the day and reviewed just before this post) from Goodge Street station and turn left into Charlotte Place.