Whirlwind day in London

We had a very short trip to London a couple of weeks ago. 

After leaving the hotel our first stop was Piccadilly Circus.

From there we went to see Platform 9 and 3/4 at Kings Cross. I didn't bother getting my photo took at the trolley - only cos I didn't want to queue. 

After there we went on the London Eye. We weren't entirely sure we were going to do this on a visit to London because we didn't want to do it if the weather was bad. We were very very lucky and got a glorious blue skies sunny day. As we weren't sure we were actually going to do it we left buying our ticket until we got there. The queue was MENTAL!!!We paid for fast track by booking on our phones instead of going into the queue. Not entirely sure this is worth £34.95 per person but thenviews over London really are amazing!

I wouldn't say this is a must do in London. I think you might be better off booking a bus tour and seeing the landmarks from normal height. 

Started to get hungry so made our way to Selfridges and grabbed some food at the Brass Rail Salt Beef Bar. 

Somewhat of an institution at Selfridges from what I can gather. Came here on a Friday just as lunchtime was starting so we missed any large queues. Lots of comfy seats to choose from. Rather than a sandwich I went for their mac n cheese and added pastrami with a lemonade. It was SOOOOOOO good!!! I ordered the small rather than a large but that was more than enough. The fresh cracked pepper on the pastrami was v nice. 

Also got to try a bit of the salt beef - which was also really good. 

Had a wander around Oxford Street - this display at John Lewis made me giggle...

Spotted some of the BFG dream jars... 

Then went to Choccywoccydoodah and after a wander around the shop I finally got to try the Bar du Chocolat upstairs.

I wanted to try the chocolate everything cake (five layers of chocolate cake with truffles) but they didn't have. I ordered the chocolate cake instead and a lemonade. I then chose to order a plumpie as well (a way better version of a teacake as it has salted caramel inside) 

The cake unfortunately was a letdown. It was dry and I can't believe I have to say this but it was bordering on stale. Such a shame. 

The plumpie however was AMAZING and I still enjoyed wandering around the shop downstairs somewhat in awe at their displays.

I got some chocolate to bring home. It actually survived the heat in London that day :)

After here we went to see the Shard. Loved this view! 

Stopped in at The Bunch of Grapes and had a drink in the lovely sunshine - a great place to try out while on the tourist trail. 

After here had to see Tower Bridge - can't visit London without seeing it really can you? 

Headed back to the hotel for a quick shower and change before going out to dinner.

We chose The Bird in Hand for dinner. We were really lucky to get a table as it got crowded a short time later. I had wine rather than beer and went for Picpoul de Pinet which was v good, Plenty of options on this menu for small plates. They bring them out whenever they're ready and encourage sharing. Got to try lots of different plates and each one was delicious. We tried the smoked haddock croquettes, the flatbread with hummus, courgette flower stuffed with goats curd and honey, trout with chorizo and tuna carpaccio on charcoal toast. We had a watermelon and mint granita for dessert. 

My top three were the tuna carpaccio, the flatbread and the stuffed courgette flower. 

The staff are really nice. Its a dog friendly place so it was really nice to see dogs popping in and out. What a really great gastropub should be!!

Last stop of the night was Brewdog Shepherds Bush. 

We managed to get a seat. I was delighted to find they were serving Lindemans Framboise not just Brewdog beers (no offence but I prefer fruity beers)

Really nice atmosphere with a lot of quirks. Seems to be a lot of the newer hipster pubs in Dublin have pretty much modelled themselves on here. Really really good spot! Also I really liked their glasses and the bathrooms are super quirky :)

A pretty top Friday in London :) 

New Years Eve.

We booked dinner at Delahunt for NYE 2015. 

We got into town a little early so we went for a drink in Pmacs. They didn't have any Lindeman's Framboise but they had the apple beer so went with that. 

Before we went to Delahunt we stopped to see the Luminosity show which was part of the New Years festival and was on at Iveagh House. Theme this year was Irish legends. Absolutely amazing! Don't you just love Dublin at this time of year?!

Then we walked to Delahunt. 

So walking into here is a little like stepping back in time. That's hardly surprising considering its housed in an old Victorian building. 

There, however, is nothing old fashioned about their food!!!

Great selection of wine by bottle and glass. They're not badly priced either. We had the French Cremant to start. They brought out bread which included an extremely addictive Guinness bread.

For my starter I chose the smoked salmon which came with more Guinness bread and pickled cucumber. Delicious. 

I had a glass of Picpoul de Pinet with my starter. 

I also tried some of the Sika deer carpaccio and the toast with bone marrow that Sean ordered.

Onto main course. I chose the pheasant which came with parsnip, sprouts and white pudding. I gave my sprouts away lol but the rest was absolutely fantastic!!!

Sean chose their special which was an incredibly tender beef cheek. 

Dessert is almost always my favourite part of a meal. I went for the chocolate fondant which comes with an incredible salt caramel ice-cream and a praline. 

Sean chose the roasted pear, hazelnut cake, almond milk ice-cream and cardamom custard. Also delicious. We had dessert wine 

The food was outstanding. The only thing I didn't particularly like was the table we had but that was because the party behind us kept banging my chair as they walked to get to their seats. They were entirely unapologetic! Oh well. You can't account for other people's lack of manners. 

We left there and walked to Camden Exchange. We haven't been back since we stumbled upon it on its opening weekend. Had one drink here. I had the Granny Smith spiced apple. Really v nice but I think I might just be over mason jar cocktails! :) 

Our last stop of the night before heading home to ring in the new year was The Jar pub on Wexford Street. 

We were there early enough so managed to get a table. The seats are soooo comfy and there's a very nice feel to the place. 

The raspberry beret cocktail I had was almost too good! And for some reason the Prince song got stuck in my head for most of the night. 

I thought this place was awesome and will definitely be back :) 

What a great way to finish off 2015!