Pinkberry Treats Served in London's Selfridges

It has been a couple months since Pinkberry started swirling frozen yougurt inside Selfridges food halls, but October was the first chance I had to treat myself to a taste.

Fro-yo wasn't a 'thing' in the 90s in London, like it was in the States (TCBY, anyone?), but now it is getting to be pretty popular, with smaller chains opening around the area such as the tartly named SNOG.

Pinkberry is the first American fro-yo chain to grace the city and I'm not one to miss a chance on having Hollywood's favorite accessory after Starbucks (and DUI's).

Hidden in the back of the Selfridges food hall, Pinkberry serves up the same lo-cal treats as in their US stores- even offering Cap'n' Crunch!

What did I swirl? My favorite: watermelon frozen yogurt, Cap'n' Crunch cereal, and kiwi fruit.

VERDICT: Delicious! My husband had a hard time adjusting to the semi-sweet chocolate and frozen yogurt flavours, but I am a fan and loved this healthy(ish) frozen indulgence.

Have you been to Pinkberry yet? What is your favorite flavor to swirl?

Celebrities, canapés & champagne at Bluebird Chelsea's Celebration of British food

Celebrities, canapés and champagne were served up at Chelsea's Bluebird Restaurant British regional menu preview. Londoners favorite summertime brunch hangout and now UK-famous due to repeated appearances on the guilty pleasure show Made in Chelsea,  it is "the place to be and be seen" (as the website tagline declares) on the ever fashionable King's Road.

This October the restaurant is debuting a new rotating regional menu, serving fare from a different region in Britain every month. On Wednesday I was part of the lucky group to try out a selection of the food will be gracing Bluebird tables over the next year.

As a feast of canapés were offered those in attendance, I offer you the photos of what we ate as a feast for your eyes:

Red Mullet Soup from the South West

This tasty creamy fish soup had a nice blend of flavors, though the chopped parsley on top a little over powering. Might be my American palate, as I find parsley to be a much overused garnish in a lot of British dishes.

Smoked Salmon Blini from London

The smoked salmon was served on a blini which complemented but let the fish shine.

Due to stuffing them in my face with glee technical difficulties I managed to not get a photo of my favourite menu item: The Potted Shrimp & Crab from the North. Just imagine a bite of melt-in-your-mouth creamy shellfish with a bit of cucumber that really drew out the flavour. I am salivating just thinking of it.

Welsh Rarebit from Wales

Truth: When I first moved to the UK I thought Welsh rarebit was probably a gristly cut of meat. Thankfully I was wrong!- it is Cheesy Toast and Bluebirds version was mouthwateringly good.

Summer fruit and Elderflower Jelly from The South

Dessert started with a fresh summer berry jelly (Jell-O to Americans). The elderflower keeps it from being too sickly sweet and brings it out of school lunches for a more adult treat.

Apple and Guinness fritters from Northern Ireland

When I first saw "apple fritters" on the menu my heart hoped for Amish apple fritters. Though they were not the same thing- Bluebirds version was an apple fried in a light dough and sprinkled with cinnamon & sugar- they were extremely tasty and deceptively light-tasting. It is impossible to say 'No' to anything served with a dollop of clotted cream.

Selection of British cheeses from around the country

To finish off the night was a good selection of cheeses from around the country, a little cheddar heavy, but it wouldn't be British without cheddar!

Piper Heidsieck Brut Champagne

Accompanying the menu was champagne. "Champagne Thursdays" happened at my house all through university, so I do think champagne is always a good idea. However, it would have been nice to have a British wine to match the regional theme and Bluebird's overwhelmingly local, sustainable menu. Even better- the only way to improve this delicious menu would be to serve it with a flight of regional ales.

The champagne and canapés have been covered- but where are the celebs, you ask? A LONjawn blind item: A certain favorite AbFab-er was spotted strolling with her long time husband in front of Bluebird by me on Wednesday. (side note: How excited are you for the new episodes?!)

So whether you have been featured in Hello! or just want to be wined & dined like those who are- Bluebird is definitely the place to be.

You can try the Red Mullet Soup I sampled until the end of October to get a taste of the South West at Bluebird, before they move on to a new region. For more info visit Bluebird Restaurant website or check them out on twitter @bluebirdchelsea

Have you been to Bluebird?

Anna Mae's Mac 'n' Cheese Moment

The Mayor's Thames Festival took place this weekend and the banks of the river from Westminster to East London were filled with food, craft stalls and performances.

On Saturday I braved crowds and a few rain-filled clouds to try out the Southern street food pop-up Anna Mae's, my second London pop-up in just as many weeks. A London-based company, Anna Mae's serves up the increasingly popular American comfort foods: Pulled pork sandwiches and macaroni 'n' cheese.

Cooked up on location in huge cast iron pans in 'stove top' style, their mac'n'cheese is served with 3 choices of toppings. Though I was tempted by "Kanye Western"-a hotdog & mac combo- I went with the traditional mac with a bit of BBQ sauce.

The cheese blend was a nice flavor, and included Monterey Jack, which is sorely missing from a lot of British mac n cheese dishes. The BBQ sauce was nothing special, I would be interested to try something more flavorful or with a kick, so I would suggest leaving it off of your order. 

Even though I am a Kraft blue box girl at heart, I can attest that Anna Mae's is the best stovetop mac I've tried in London and my eye is on their future events to see when I can try Anna Mae's pulled pork sandwich. Or pulled pork on mac'n'cheese - because that would be amazing.

The other notable foods from the Thames festival were the free Kimchi pancakes from the Korean mini-festival, the traditional ice tea from Pause for Tea, and coconut water straight up from the crazy man who chops the coconuts with a machete.

What is your favorite place for Mac & Cheese in London?

Game Day at Bodeans

 Moving overseas, it isn't always easy to support your favorite US sports teams, especially in the UK, where American football and baseball aren't even played. Some of the big games are shown on ESPN and it is possible to purchase your favorite NFL team's games streamed live to your computer with the NFL game pass. However, for the best "American" sports bar atmosphere in London, I go to one of the Bodean's BBQ Restaurants.

The Tower Hill Bodean's

Bodean's has 4 locations in London, but the best for sports watching are the Tower Hill and Clapham Common locations.

On Sunday I put on my throwback Jackson jersey and headed down the Clapham branch to watch the Eagles' opening game with some friends who were Rams fans. Which was unfortunate for them, since the place was packed with other Eagles fans!

Clapham on Game Day

The Clapham branch features 6 flat screens featuring MLB, NFL and NCAA games listed on their schedule.  They stream the games live, so you get American commentators, music and commericals, which is very exciting for those of us used to the British ESPN presenters.

Get there early on game days, as the seats tend to fill up fast and it gives you a chance to eat some BBQ before kickoff. On days listed with games, you can order their Game Day Special, where you get wings, baby back ribs, fries, coleslaw and a beer for £15!

Pulled pork, chilli cheese fries, A&W Cream soda

Personally, I'd order the pulled pork and burnt ends, as they are both the best I have had in London. They also offer an excellent selection of American beers and whiskeys. If you go to the Tower Hill location try the Rock & Rye and the Cowboy Martini cocktails for something different and delicious.

We spent about five hours at Bodean's on Saturday, sampling the appetizers, meals and beers. The desserts were the only menu items I was underwhelmed by, but the Eagles win was the sweetest finish to the night, anyway.

Have you been to Bodean's for a game before? Is there any other good sports watching locations I should know about?

Dante Fried Chicken Pop-up: Good Things Come to Those Who Ate

My last apartment in Philly was in Fishtown, which I believe now officially classifies me as a recovering hipster. And like anyone in recovery, I am likely to have relapses. So when I heard the words "tacos","pop-up" & "Shoreditch" last weekend, it was into my skinny jeans and back on the sauce.

Dante Fried Chicken, creators of LA's best food truck "Ride or Fry", set up for a weekend at the Prote.in studio to fry up some of their award winning fusion.
Pop up restaurants and food carts are having a moment this year, so it is appropriate that the two would converge in the pretentiously hip area of Shoredich. On Saturday they married their famous fried chicken with tacos.

And much like a royal wedding, there were a ton of people there to watch the magic happen. When we arrived the queue was about 25 people deep outside the place and almost as many people inside. 45 minutes later and a complimentary Becks to smooth out the wait, we finally got our grub!

The hotchata was decent, but would have been nicer with a cinnamon stick for flavor, at it just tasted a bit like some cinnamon powder was dumped into my cup.

I scored the very last fried chicken taco, but it was a little disappointing after that wait. Just coleslaw, on top of fried chicken on top of a tortilla. A more creative interpretation would have been nice. The fried chicken was excellent quality, though, and would go to another Dante pop-up that served just that.
The blueberry beer brisket was definitely a redeemer here, as the brisket was tender & flavourful. Wish I could have had a second, but they were sold out by the time I had finished my first!

I wish we would have known they were serving chicken 'n gravy with american biscuits on Sunday, because I would have been all over them. But unfortunately we ended up meeting friends in the area and did you know that Bar Kick serves delicious, really strong, pear martinis? So yeah, we were in no condition to hoof it back to the NE from the SW that day and will have to wait to try their other food offerings.

So until next time, Dante Fried Chicken. Check out more photos of the event here.

Have any good pop-up experiences or tips? Share them with me!