Islington Pub Crawl

On Saturday night, we went on a pub/bar crawl around our Kings Cross/Islington hood. We stopped at the following places:

1. The Canal
2. The Draper's Arms
3. The Albion
4. Ethiopian restaurant for din din
5. Back to the Canal
6. The Driver
7. Be @ One

We also enjoyed the last few days of summer. The weather was pretty dang beautiful this weekend!

I stuck with wine/cocktails for the night. Occasionally, I snuck in a few sips of beer (shhh!!)

Dinner was at Merkato restaurant. We've been here a couple times and its always been a pleasant dining experience. Unfortunately, we had a few minor hiccups this time around.

We ordered a bottle of their in house honey wine. It's usually sweet with a touch honey but this bottle seemed to have gone bad; it had a vinegar taste to it :(

at least their beer was decent!

The food service at Merkato was unbelievably sloooooooow. I think we had to wait 45 minutes for our food!! They apologized for the slow service but didn't really acknowledge it til we grew impatient. I don't like it when restaurants ignore the fact that their food should have come out 30 minutes ago!!

Thankfully everything was as delicious as I last remembered it. Btw- most injera's are gluten free since they are made from teff flour. I didn't ask if any other flour was added to it because I just didn't want to know! Ignorance is bliss (this time around) :-)

We all inhaled our food, stopping every now and then to remark how tasty it was. I must have gotten lazy after this because I didn't take any more pictures throughout the night. Somehow, our group of 6 grew to 10+.. We ended our night at Be @ One, and this time, I had a better experience and kept my new Iphone close to me!

Side note- the bartenders at Be@1 are super friendly but the free shot of Jose Cuervo tequila at the end of the night was definitely unnecessary! Needless to say, my Sunday was completely ruined.. My bum was glued to the couch for most of the day.

Somehow I was able to peel myself off the couch to make myself a GF lunch. I added in some sauteed onions, chopped up cucumbers and spring onions to Tiger Tiger's gluten free noodles.
http://www.tigertiger.info/gluten-free

Tarek totally spoiled me and brought back bbq from Pitt Cue. It was the last day they were serving bbq from their truck since summer is almost over.
http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/venue/2%3A30101/pitt-cue-co

juicy pulled pork on a bed of coleslaw

I also had some beef ribs- DELISH!

with some eggplant on the side

gluten free macaroons! I think I died and went to macaroon heaven :) Someone please tell me how I only discovered macaroons 2 years ago when I moved here to London- they are so good!

the green tea one was my favorite! I couldn't tell the difference between GF and regular ones.. In fact, I'm not even sure if the regular ones are made with any type of flour. Maybe they're just naturally gluten free?? hehe.. Either way, I'm not complaining!

the sesame one was decent..

hot sauced/ketchup scrambled eggs w. GF toast and it's time for the gym yo!

Eat, Drink, and be Bloated!

Our tour through Belgium, we consumed lots of beer, food and chocolates. It was worth every pound I gained :-D. Aside from the food, Antwerp, Bruge, and Brussels are lovely, beautiful cities.

On our first lunch in Antwerp, we were recommended towards a Bistro right in the city center. Note to self= Never eat at a crowded restaurant in the city center because it ain't gonna be that good! I mean it wasn't bad per se but we felt we could have had a better first meal in Antwerp.

The menu had a bazillion choices on it so I just chose something spur of the moment... The shrimps were drenched in olivey garlic sauce.

the chocolate waffle was amazing!

We stopped to have a beer before heading to dinner at Grill 77.

http://grillhouse77.be/

We started with some fried cheesy croquettes.

I don't quite remember what soup this was.. guess it wasn't too memorable

I had a lot of meat on this trip. This filet was delicious!

mushroom gravy for my filet

mas beer and people watching

although Mcdonalds sounded pretty good after a late night, I managed to grab a cous cous salad for lunch

hearty bread on the side..yum!

Who knew there was a pickles flavored chip! On our way to Bruge...

We watched In Bruge after sightseeing the first night and can I tell you I LOVED it! It made staying in Bruge all the more fun :)

Bruge was such a quaint and pretty town with lots of stores,restaurants, and chocolate shops

sort of broke the cardinal rule of eating right before dinner but I was really craving a pot-o-mussels!

http://www.parkrestaurant.be/

T took me to Park restaurant in Bruge for dinner.

We started w. a lovely complimentary smoked salmon dish

We each ordered the set menu and started with the scallop served gratin style on the shell. All I can remember is that it was full of lots of cheesy goodness!

shrimp bisque- it was a very thin broth but it had a lovely seafood flavor

I ordered the beef filet with potaters and roasted veggies

T had the dover sole

my dessert was really good- chilled nougat with pistachios on a bed of fruit. Yum!!

grand marnier ice souffle

Our last meal in Bruge was at Den Amand

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g188671-d741849-Reviews-Den_Amand-Bruges_West_Flanders.html

We started with some crackers and some type of pesto dip.. maybe aubergine?

Parmesan crackers

I don't know what inspired me to get an Asian dish at this restaurant but something about homemade spring rolls with veggies inside sparked my interest. The portion was HUGE and really tasty

T had the pasta with prawns

chocolate waffle for dessert! Off to the Brewery tour..

http://www.halvemaan.be/

We each had a beer before heading on the Half Moon Brewery tour.

I bought some hazelnut Belgium chocolates before heading out of Bruge and onto Brussels!

On our first night in Brussels I made sure to have the famous "Mussels from Brussels!"

T ordered his gratin style with snail butter and cheese. Snail butter?!? Yes please!

I had a whole pot to myself and boy did I enjoy it :)

Have you seen a happier face?

lord help me! I'm not gonna be able to fit in my jeans..

Our lunch was also recommended to us by our hotel concierge.

They brought out three different sauces- Bearnaise, Peppercorn, and a gravy type sauce.

This restaurant serves you a full plate of food and also walk around and offer you seconds.. more steak? more frites? more veggies? You got it! Needless to say I only had what was on my plate.

Sadly, even though the food was delicious, I felt like such crap afterwards.. Such a heavy meal for lunch!

Towards the end of our trip, I needed some green and fresh so T and I decided to stop by a sushi restaurant for a quick snack. Seaweed salad never tasted so delicious in my life!!

we washed the sushi down w. an 11 euro ice cream treat

I was pleased but my partner wasn't..apparently a 15 dollar dessert is deemed too expensive ;-)

http://www.marcolini.be/

couldn't resist stopping by Pierre Marcolini for their macaroons.

Dinner was an Italian restaurant near the city square. I forgot the name!

pesce carpaccio to start

Pasta alla vongole for ME

trio of pastas for HIM

Well.. it seemed like a good idea at the time..

http://www.deliriumcafe.be/

We stopped at the Delirium cafe to try their some 2000 Belgium beers on offer....I'm sure they don't have all 2000 in stock but seriously?! 2000 beers? Who knew!

Our last meal in Brussels was at this quaint Italian restaurant right by our hotel. Who knew there was good eats right where we stayed!

He had the quatro pastas

Trio of pastas for me!

So happy to be back in London. Call me crazy but I'm even welcoming the rain.

Time to detox!