Skylon, London, England

Last time I was in London, I spent a long day wandering the streets, enjoying every little nook and cranny. It's a beautiful city, even in the rain, with plenty of parks to explore and creative sights to see. But after a day in the town, I was feeling a bit worn out, and needed to retreat from the street. I was meeting a friend for drinks later that evening, and decided to take a quite moment for dinner at the South Bank Centre beforehand.

For those of you who know South Bank, you may be thinking: "a quiet moment?". True - it's a buzzy place, with students chatting, people plugged into their iThings on every ledge, public music and theatre (some hot, and some in my opinion... not), families with balloons and babies en masse, and at this particular time there was a food festival on outside, so there were plenty of 20-30-40 somethings enjoying the afternoon sun with their plastic cups of beer in hand. It's a great community site, but nevertheless, I was in the mood for a quieter place to recharge my introvert batteries.

Skylon's Grill menu had exactly what I was looking for. A nice veggie ravioli with pine nuts and pumpkin, a side salad of kale, and a glass of wine to ease me into the evening. Because I didn't have a reservation, I couldn't sit and try the usual a-la-carte menu, but on first glance the smaller grill menu seemed to have more veggies anyway. The service was lovely, and because it was early evening I practically had the place to myself, except for a few couples quietly chatting. I remember beautiful flowers, and of course a lot of light - one whole side of the restaurant opens up onto the Thames.

This is a gem, right in the middle of one of the most popular spots for weekend festivities and the arts in London. There's not a lot of veg choice, but what I had was done well, and perfectly timed as far as my own collisions with restaurants in the universe goes. I'll be back again.

Add: Royal Festival Hall, London
Tel: +44 020 7654 7800
Web: http://www.skylon-restaurant.co.uk 

Nopi, London, England

A few  months back I heard about this new cook book called Jerusalem.  Not long later I saw a snippet of a documentary about Yotam Ottolenghi walking around the streets of Jerusalem, eating street food from his youth. So the movement had been randomly floating in my spectrum for some time before I found myself cruising past Nopi in London, one of the groups restaurants.

We were on the hunt for a great breakfast. After something nice at the Riding House Cafe, and again something enjoyable at The Wolseley, I was left yearning for a really big blow-my-socks-off veggie breakkie on Darby St in Newcastle. The breakfasts I've had in London are generally 'fine', but feel small and unimaginative. And definitely there is a spot to be filled in the good coffee department. So I was so happy when we eventually happened across Nopi by accident (although the OK-ish coffee was not the distinguishing feature for me)!

Nopi is inconspicuous from the outside - with a big glass window and a simple entrance. However I find most of the placed in this neighborhood are pretty missable from the outside - I think it's a symptom of the weather, where open fronts for outdoor eating seem to be a non-reality. On the inside, it's all white and brass, with birchwood tableware and linen napkins. It feels cool and simple - I think I was expecting a middle eastern themed cave. But Nopi was all clean and lightness. The ladies bathroom in particular epitomizes this feeling with angled mirrors in every direction and soothing cream stone tones. The light is so all-encompassing that there is an "out" sign on the floor to orient you once you're finished!

The breakfast menu was intersting - thank goodness! It's short, but each meal is distinct and several need some explaining. There are cheeses I wasn't sure of, and cooking methods that we needed to pull out google on. It made this experience all the more unique. I started with a rice porridge for the table to share, and then beans and egg on toast for my 'main' breakfast dish. More than half of the menu listings turned out to be veggie too!

I got to taste a little of each of my friends meals - each had some combination of egg, tomato, beans, cheese, and beautiful fresh bread. I had my first-ever mouthful of welsh gritts too, which I was initially sure was some kind of meat, but turns out to be mustard and cheese on toast - unless someone can tell me differently!

My beans were beautiful - al dente and completely filling. For once in London I didn't leave the table feeling ready for lunch already.

I was so pleased with breakfast that I bought the autographed Jerusalem book and now I'm salivating over all the things I can cook! My friends went back for breakfast again the next weekend. I'm still smiling from ear to ear - Ottolenghi has given me a new faith in London breakfasts. And although I was full and satisfied upon leaving, we did see the procession of salad platters rising up from the basement kitchen to be displayed at the front of the dining room (in good view from the front window for passers-by to spy). More inspiration to get cooking from my book!

Add: 21-22 Warwick Street, London W1B 5NE
Ph: +44 (0)20 7494 9584
Web: http://www.nopi-restaurant.com/