I often write about the fabulous local coffee shops in London, but Yumchaa stands out for having both great coffee and tea – among other menu offerings.
I discovered Yumchaa after massive hunger pangs struck upon departing a meeting in the Tottenham Court area. Delighted to see whole wheat pistachio scones and an abundance of tea offerings, I was a very happy camper.
When my friend G comes to town, we eat exceptionally well. As a food and travel writer, she always has fantastic recommendations. For this visit, we went to Hakkasan Mayfair.
Founded in London in 2001, Hakkasan now has locations around the world. Upon dining at Hakkasan, it’s easy to understand why it has become so popular. From the atmosphere, to delicious food, dining there was a mostly positive experience.
The only small con was that Hakkasan does give you a set time for your table (which seems to be consistent across many restaurants in London), so if your meal lingers on (like ours did), it can feel a bit awkward to be ushered out after spending a good amount of money. Just ask when you make your booking and be aware. Oh, and if you dine at the Mayfair location, definitely ask for a table downstairs. The ground floor bar area is much more casual and less of an experience in my opinion.
Now, onto the delightful meal. Naturally, we started with cocktails and Hakkasan’s menu is expansive, but we did whittle down our list to the Rhubarb Margarita, Passion Fruit Millionaire and Chinese Mule.
Please allow me to introduce you to a delightful small plates place called The Providores on Marylebone High Street. Specializing in innovative fusion food, The Providores also apparently serves London’s largest range of New Zealand premium wines – aka a homerun in my book.
The Providores has two levels, with the upstairs a more formal dining room and the downstairs a casual walk-in spot that doesn’t take reservations. As a result, you’ll often see people lingering around outside, especially on the weekends for their legendary brunch.
On this visit, we opted for a few of my favorites to share. The first was Laksa, a smoked coconut, a prawn and lemongrass dumpling soup with green tea noodles, crispy shallots and coriander. The restaurant was nice enough to split the portion for us to share.
