A Musical Afternoon Tea and a Felt Cornershop

I am off to Lisbon in a couple of days, I have never been and I cannot wait, it has been a tough couple of months and to see the sunshine, eat local cuisine and see the sights will be wonderful. Before I go I thought a mini photo blog on my trip to London to see my sister's wonderful Cornershop installation and a catch up over musical afternoon tea plus an evening of drinks and snacks would be a good parting shot until I am back. Firstly I won something, this never happens. I won musical afternoon tea at the Ampersand hotel in South Kensington, where Rich and I stayed for our minimoon, just a little bit quirky but also nice and luxurious too. I decided to take Kathryn with me for afternoon tea as it had recently been her birthday, so on a beautiful day in London we headed on in to the hotel.

The whole Shebang

With champagne, savoury filled choux buns, opera cake, white chocolate chip scones, salted caramel maracons and strawberry mousse cakes this was a wonderful feast too big for even the greediest of girls. Luckily they neatly packed up the rest of the lovely treats in a box for us to take home.  If you are looking for a slightly quirkier afternoon tea in London I totally recommend the one at the Ampersand, a delicious way to spend an afternoon.  We headed onwards to meet Abi in Bethnal Green and the greatest Cornershop that ever was, simply my sister the great artist Lucy Sparrow, is a genius.

biscuits & booze

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Twenty Lambert?

sporting chocolate bars

After a wonderful trip to the shop Abi and I went to meet up for a few drinks with lovely Carla, of Can Be Bribed with Food blogging fame,  for some wine, snacking and gossiping.  Aiming for somewhere close we could get back to Paddington Carla chose somewhere just off Oxford Circus, The Market Place bar, it was warm enough to sit outside so we ordered some drinks and got down to business.

evening snackage

We ordered a selection of squid, popcorn chicken, sweet potato fries, salt cod cakes and chili fries. Nice enough bar but if you find yourself around Oxford Circus looking for a snack just go for the chili fries alone, covered in a beer cheddar cheese sauce and strips of mediumly spiced chili, so creamy and delicious, an amazing dish.  A warm and tipsy journey back to Bristol full of the memories of a great day in London seeing family and hanging with dear friends, it was well needed. If you missed the Cornershop Lucy is planning on taking it to Brighton in October so definitely check it out. Have a great week Bristol I will be back at the end of next week with tales of custard tarts and the sun.