Dishoom London: The Trendy, Budget Friendly Indian Restaurant

Today I thought I'd share with you one of my favourite restaurants: Dishoom. 

Finding somewhere to eat in London is always a stressful endeavor. We all love to explore something new when we go to London, yet so many of us fall into the disappointing trap of sticking to the old and familiar. But I myself will admit it's hard to find a balance between the generic, uninspiring chains and pretentious rip-off gimmicks.

You can spend hours trawling through review sites, and never really find what you're looking for, and I honestly believe the best way of finding out about new places is word of mouth. I'd seen a few people on Facebook talking about this restaurant, so when me and the boyfriend were in London in the Summer for our anniversary, we decided to check it out.

I loved it so much, that when in London on Tuesday with my best friend, I just had to take her there, 

The first thing you'll encounter when going to Dishoom, both in Shoreditch and Covent Garden, is the queues. I see queues to a restaurant as a good indication of how popular the place is. Whether it's lunchtime, a weekday evening or the weekend, there will be queues. But trust me when I say they go down pretty quickly and it's worth the wait. You'll be served samples of they're non-alcoholic beverages in the meantime though: the hot chai is delicious. 

If there's room, they'll send you to wait at the bar with a buzzer until your table is ready. Make the most of this and check out their cocktail menu: all their cocktails feature an Indian twist and are made right in front of you. I would recommend the Chaihito: A mojito with chai spices. Embrace the atmosphere, and before you know it your table will be ready. 

The second thing I'd suggest you take in whilst you're there is the decor. I fell in love with it instantly. I'd describe the interior design as following a strong 1920s Bombay direction, with dark woods, coppers, pastels and monochrome. Vintage Indian portraits and paraphernalia deck the walls, and the whole venue has an exotic yet homely vibe. 

 FOOD. Let's talk about the food. I swear I'm addicted to Indian food. It's my cuisine of choice, so I've tasted a fare few curries in my time. The first time I went, I tried their Dishoom Calamari to start. Being Greek, I've had so many variations of Calamari, but this was by far the most interesting. I don't know what spices they put into the batter, but they made it quite sweet, which was then combated by garlic and chilli. Delicious. 

This time round, me and George (the bestie) got the Chicken Ruby Curry and the Mattar Paneer Curry. I'd tried the Chicken Ruby before after being told by the waiter that it was the best thing on their menu, so I had to get it again. 

Both these curries are soooo flavoursome, they'll put your local curry house to shame. The bowls you can see in the picture look small, but I could barely finish mine. The sauces are rich and fragrant in both. The chicken melts like butter in the mouth, whilst the paneer is creamy and soft and soaks up all the flavours of the sauce. We had a bowl of rice and a plain naan with these. The rice is fluffy, and the naan is thin and crispy and lightly brushed with butter. 

This seems like a really cliche Indian meal, but the subtle twists in flavours and the execution of simple things like the naan bread mean it's set way above your normal curry and rice. To top that off, this entire meal came to £11 EACH!! 

I'm sure you'll admit, for one of the trendiest, most popular restaurants in LONDON, whose food is something you'll forever crave after your first visit, that is an absolutely steal!!. 

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Bohemian Pinterest-Worthy Weddings

There's nothing more grown up than receiving a wedding invitation through the post. This September, I had my very first experiences of that, as two close friends of mine tied the knot at two magical weddings.

     D'Mello - Pearson Wedding

     Ward - Tizzard Wedding

The last time I was at a wedding, I was a gawky monobrowed teenage bridesmaid at the Greek wedding of one of my cousins.  Now if you've never experienced a Greek wedding, you're missing out. Packed full of tradition, it's definitely a service you won't forget. Now with my Dad being one of 8 siblings, I've been to my fare share of Greek Weddings. My Aunt's on my Mum's side was the only British wedding I've experienced, and as a 7 year-old flower girl, I don't remember much. 

So when I received my invitations, I had no idea what to expect from the weddings of my generation. We see on a daily basis the weddings of the rich and famous, and eventually, they all start to blur into one dramatic, empty display of wealth rather than love. Who needs a Venetian boat convoy for God sake? 

However, you only need to go on Pinterest wedding boards to see that the wedding generation of today are leading a bohemian revolution. Now that sounds like I'm categorizing these weddings into one group, but that's the beauty of the word bohemian - it's the complete opposite of that.

Both the Pearsons and the Tizzards are stunning on the inside and out, and value the relationships they have with their friends and family more than anyone else I know. Of course I'm biased here, but my point is, these weddings showed me what it takes to make them one's you won't ever forget. Both of these weddings brought the love of the couple as well as the love they have for their guests to the forefront through personality and character. 

The D'Mello - Pearson Wedding

Set in the rural heritage site of Bromham Mill, nature was allowed to do it's magic on this gorgeous day. As me and the boyfriend walked through an arch in the ground's hedges, we were faced with an enormous Tipi. The surrounding area consisted of a photo booth and face-painting stations for the children which was such a nice touch. It's lovely as a guest at a wedding to feel like you can get involved in the memory making process. 

This was a wedding full of unique touches that made you go wow at every step. The groom's brother had designed a little branded logo for the wedding that featured on the invitations, order of service, bar and favours, whilst the bridal party, relatives and friends had all pulled together to make lampshade lighting displays and floral tokens that hung from the branches of the majestic tree underneath which the head table was placed. 

University friends worked the bar which was made out of a huge wooden crate, serving cocktails in jam jars, whilst dozens of relatives served up their homemade food in a marquee. 

Of course it's not just about the visuals when it comes to a wedding, but having a good time. With gorgeous rural surroundings, during the day we got to walk around the grounds and take in the scenery, but it was at night time when the fun really started. Speeches done, the tree lit up the grassy dance floor, and an acoustic band got everyone up with their own rendition of Clean Bandit's 'Rather Be. ' 

The night was rounded  off with a 'sparkling' farewell, as the bride and groom ran through an arch of sparklers held up by all the guests. 

The Ward - Tizzard Wedding

This was another rural wedding, set in the picturesque village of Elham in Kent. Driving through, it's literally like being in the Peak District.

 I would describe my friend Becca as a bohemian princess, so the style of her wedding wasn't much of a surprise to me, it was more the atmosphere that had everyone beaming from ear to ear. 

Again, everyone pulled together to create decorations in Becca's favourite colours - orange and purple - from the bride's bouquet to the detailing on the wedding cake. 

The view from the grounds of Elham Village hall was like something out of a Wordsworth poem and was a perfect natural setting for pictures with friends and family. It was just so lovely to see that whilst the bride and groom were having their pictures taken, all the guests were catching up and getting to know one another in the midst of this fairy tale setting. 

When it was time to eat, this atmosphere continued, with the food being on a bring and share basis. It gave everyone an opportunity to be involved in the wedding in some shape or form, whether you brought brownies or a salad, you were contributing, and that was such a good feeling to have. 

The tables were in long horizontal rows, which is a simple but really effective touch for a wedding with a lot of guests. There was such a huge community vibe, and with so many people making friends, the day was full of conversation and laughter. 

Again, the favors were really cute. As you can see from board in the picture above, they were little vials of sand from the beach where Jonny (groom) proposed, with a tag featuring a very apt Bible quote. 

When I think about what weddings are really about, I'm so grateful that my first grown-up wedding experiences were these two. It made me realise that wedding's aren't about pomp and circumstance, but getting everyone you invite to feel the love you're celebrating by being as involved in the celebration as possible, whether that means getting hands-on or by making it their own personal, memorable experience. 

Congratulations Gabrielle and Matt Pearson and Rebecca and Jonny Tizzard, you beautiful people. 

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Y SPA at Wyboston Lakes - A Girly Retreat

So yesterday I had my first ever spa experience. At 22, I'm probably a bit behind on experiencing the fluffy towels and complimentary slippers, but I was like a little kid at Christmas. 

A girl at work is leaving, and had organised a spa day for a few of us.We managed to get a group deal that meant if we went in pairs, we only had to pay £27 each instead of £44. This included afternoon tea as well as free reign of the spa (treatments were extra). 

Having never gone to a spa before, I wasn't sure whether this was a bargain or a rip off, and I guess all spas differ as to what deals they offer, but this was most definitely a bargain. 

We started the day off with our afternoon tea. Now afternoon tea has become a major food trend recently, so you don't have to venture to some pretentious tea rooms in London for the 'ladies that lunch' experience. But there's nothing worse than a bad afternoon tea, so I was intrigued as to how nice this one was going to be. I was actually really surprised. Sandwiches are sandwiches at the end of the day, and if you get them wrong you're a bit of a numpty. It's the cakes that are the real test. This afternoon tea came with the classic scones, jam and cream, which were gooey and really filling, Victoria Sponge squares and a strawberry mousse cheesecake which was so yummy. It all looked really pretty and was so filling that I felt I was going to sink when I got in the pool. One of the girls that was with us was gluten and soya intolerant, and the restaurant staff really went out of their way to accommodate her, with her own sandwich selection and some gorgeous looking desserts in cute jars. 

After our tea, we heaved our full tummies over to the changing rooms to adorn ourselves head to toe in fluffiness. The changing rooms themselves were of a boutique design, with individual vanity booths which included a hairdryers that were free to use. 

The spa area itself was quite small, with a salty steam room, a soft steam room, a sauna, and showers dotted around for cooling down. I'm such a wimp when it comes to heat that I could only manage 5 minutes max in each room. The pool area was my favourite though. Again it wasn't very big, but we were lucky that it wasn't very busy either. It was stationed outside and consisted of a hydrotherapy pool, a jacuzzi, a chilled decking area with cozy sofas and a fireplace, and a 'Some Like It Hot' steam room that reaches 85 degrees (I stayed well away from this). The pool was lovely and warm so it didn't matter if it got a bit overcast. Once we were as wrinkled as prunes we had a cheeky glass of wine each by the fire and a lovely catch up. 

I'd say this is a perfect day out for a group of girls, or even couples, and if you're one of those people who can spend a good few hours doing nothing, you'll definitely get your money's worth. Due to size however I can imagine during weekends it will be a lot busier, and it will be harder for you to make the most of it, so if you can weekdays are best. 

Everyone needs a bit of time to relax, and when there's something like this on your doorstep, I say milk it for all its worth! 

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Meat Liquor

Happy Thursday people!!

Now this post is going to be a little bit different. 

Two of my other big passions are food and books. In fact I'd go as far as saying they're my obsessions. 

I would love at some point for this blog to be more lifestyle focused, with restaurant/foodie posts and literature reviews/rants (if a plot twist really irks me) among my fashion and beauty posts. So two weeks ago I went to a restaurant that I've been wanting to go to for months, and you've probably heard about it by now. I loved it so much, that I thought I'd make it my first lifestyle food post. If it goes down well, then I'll create a separate page for this kind of thing! 

The hype over Meat Liquor has grown a lot in recent months. I heard about it almost a year ago, but since then I've seen so many pictures on Facebook and Instagram of my friend's Man vs Food sized trays of greasy delights that when two weeks ago, me, my boyfriend and my friends from uni decided to have a little reunion in London, I suggested we make Meat Liquor our watering hole for the evening. 

  

Arriving a bit early, me and my boyfriend were sure we were on the wrong street. I'd created in my head an image of a slightly garish, stereotypical American diner with neon signs, but a venue of such was nowhere to be found. Instead, the first floor of a very unassuming and reserved concrete car park that we had walked past without a second of acknowledgement happened to be what we were looking for. 

The closer we got, the more we noticed the queue of people before had looked like a group of London office workers taking a fag break. Upon meeting up with another friend, we found out that the restaurant wouldn't let us in to be seated until the entire group was present. This basically helps them reduce waiting times, so we chilled at a nearby pub for a bit.

Once our entire group had arrived, a man at the door took the name of a member of the group, and how many of us there were, and told us to wait at the bar. The first thing that will take you by surprise upon entering Meat Liquor is how dark it is (hense the reddish tinge to all my photos. Flash wasn’t too flattering either), and from reading other reviews, for some people it is a major down point. For me, I love the dark. No matter how sunny it is outside I’ll never open my curtains, so I felt right at home. It’s not pitch black, but the lighting is very dim, and has a reddish tinge that adds to the grungy slaughterhouse-esque decor (look out for the blood stained plastic curtain).

Waiting at the bar, we scoured the Liquor menu, which consists of some scrumptious concoctions. I had the Louisiana Jam, which is Southern Comfort, apricot jam, lemon juice and mint. These are the dangerous kinds of cocktails where you can’t taste the alcohol and you’re half-cut before you’ve even been seated. For central London, Meat Liquor’s cocktails are reasonably priced, with the majority at £7.50, however they do vary in size.

 Once we’d been seated, everyone started looking at the menu, but having known about this place for ages and drooled over pictures of their food, I already knew what I was having. I’d heard Adam from Man vs Food (I’m sure you’ve realised by now I’m obsessed with this show) go on and on about Philli Cheese Steak, so when I saw that Meat Liquor did a Philli Cheese Steak sandwhich, I was sold. Me and the boyfriend also shared a side of cheesy fries. Whilst everyone else spent ages choosing their mix of cheese drenched mains and sides, I sat back and took in the awesome atmosphere, with the sound of American vintage rock music drowning out the buzzing, lively conversations between friends trying sips and forkfuls of each other’s meat and liquor.

As filling as the meal was, I couldn’t get enough. I’ve had cheesy fries before, but nothing was on par with these ones. The chips were so crispy with just the right amount of salt, and the cheese was ridiculously stringy. As for the sandwich, it was the texture more than anything that made me fall in love. It was so soft and gooey and succulent that every time I sank my teeth into it, I just wanted to leave them there.  My favourite thing about it was the pool of soft cheese that ran all the way through the bottom of the hot dog bun. This is definitely not the place for calorie counters.

You’d think that after all that food, there’s no way we had room for dessert. But when we saw the chocolate and peanut butter sundae on the menu, we thought it would only be right. So we got two and shared it between five of us. Honestly, it wasn’t anything amazing, just a typical sundae, but it tasted so good after all the salt, meat and cheese we’d consumed. But it’s definitely the mains you should go there for, not the desserts. 

I'd love to hear what you guys think about this post. I would really like to expand the blog to feature more lifestyle posts, so some feedback would really be appreciated. 

Steph x x x

*All photos taken by myself and Chloe Alexander

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