London – Day 2

for all my foodie friends, today was a great eating day.  Mmm, here we go:

Slept in a bit because I was up late the night before responding to emails – I knew I shouldn’t have checked, but it was the end of the Seattle work day when I got back from the theater so I wanted to have a quick glance and handle anything urgent before Monday.  I managed to get my inbox back under 250 before going to bed, so I felt better about that.  Once I was ready to go, I caught the tube over to Notting Hill to check out the infamous Portabello Road Market.  A block away from the tube station I saw a woman eating a great looking crepe and made that my first mission of the day – luckily the stand was easy to spot, just after the first block of the market.  I got Nutella and it was a yummy breakfast.

 The market spans several blocks and was PACKED.  I would not want to live in this part of town – it is an absolute invasion every Saturday.  The first big chunk is all antiques and such, the middle section food, and the the last part clothes and newer items, Plus the street is lined with lots of cute permanent stores.  Just after finishing my crepe I spotted one such store – the Hummingbird Bakery, full of cupcakes.  I would wait to hit that up until I was on my way back. 

Ironically the first market food stand that caught my turned out to Ghanaian food.  They had such a nice set-up I had to go look, and then I spotted the sign – foods of Ghana.  I kept walking at which point I stumbled upon Popina, serving food with soul (aka lots of yummy baked goods).  But I was still full from my crepe, so I wandered more hoping my belly would be empty on my way home.  There was also a paella stand with amazingly large paella pots and a really nice cheese and olive bar (not that I like olives.  It was the big bowl of feta that drew me in.) 

Over in the fashion area of the market I bought a crazy bag made of zippers – wait ’til you see it.  It’s pretty cool.  Other than that there were the usual funky fashions, lots of other bags, screen-printed T’s, jewelry, etc.  Heading back to the train station I was still full, but I bought a quiche from Popina and two cupcakes from Hummingbird to eat later in the day.

Since this was my shopping day, I caught the train over to Knightsbridge, home of Harrods with a Zara, Monsoon and H&M nearby.  Harrods was packed as usual.  I was on a mission for Heidi, looking for these little mints she likes but unfortunately I failed and couldn’t find them anywhere.  Zara was filled with lots of pale colored clothes so nothing there for me.  There was one sundress at Monsoon I liked, but given the exchange rate it was more than I was willing to part with.  H&M though, came through as always, though I only bought two things – a sweater and a T.  The exchange rate really makes you think.  Goods haven’t been too hard to justify, but food has been brutal.  To think my lunch at Wagamama cost $20 and my crepe this morning was $7 is a little nuts, so I’ve just had to ignore it and eat what I want no matter the cost.  I figure it balances out with the two weeks of free food in Ghana.

The weather was starting to get a bit cool and rainy in the afternoon, so I headed home for a couple hours to eat my quiche and escape the rainy for a bit.  While at the hotel I caught up on my blog and and researched my dinner destinantion.  Yesterday while walking around, I had spotted a possible joint over by Covent Garden called Wahaca (yes, using the less common phonetic spelling of Oaxaca).  Those close to me know this is one of my favorite words so I of course was intrigued, plus it looked cool and touted “Market Fresh cooking.”  Looking online it turned out to be one of the newer more popular spots in London, so I was sold. 

Though close to me also know I have a keen sense of direction, but sometimes I even astound myself.  Eleni had loaned me her London A to Z map book which was quite helpful, but I also just enjoy wandering around cities to see what you stumble upon.  As I headed to dinner, I had a pretty good idea of where to go and my map book in hand so I wasn’t too worried.  I caught the bus in front of my hotel over to Piccadilly Circus and then walked over towards Covent Garden.  Thinking through my routes from the previous day when I found Wahaca, I walked almost directly too it without ever checking the map.  Nice.

The restaurant is downstairs from street level and the stairs were lined with other folks waiting for a table.  Since I had no schedule I didn’t mind waiting though I had hoped they would have a bar area I could just jump into.  Once I made it to the front of the line I and inquired as such, the host gave me a makeshift spot at their bar where they don’t usually serve people, but since it was just me, it was perfect.  I started with chips and fresh guac, as well as something called Esquites – corn cooked with onions in a broth.  Both yummy and so good after two weeks of not very good eating.  I also had a tamarind margarita and some chicken tacos.  Having sufficiently entertained the bar staff by sneaking my way into their domain for dinner, I also got a second hibiscus maragarita courtesy of the bartender.  I was tempted by the churros for dessert, but I passed knowing I had a cupcake waiting for me at the hotel.  If anyone goes to london soon, I recommend it:  http://www.wahaca.co.uk/

After dinner I just headed home to pack up and organize – and eat my red velvet cupcake