Travel Archives - Page 5 of 22

24 hours in Copenhagen: Day Two

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Farrah Kelly

Read Day One here: Torvehallerne, Tivoli Gardens, Parks and Peanut Butter…

Day Two

Mornings in Copenhagen

With such a short trip planned, there was no time for long lie ins or a slow unfurling of the day. Instead, we hopped out of bed and straight into the fresh air, heading for our new favourite place, Torvehallerne. We had to pay a visit to the v. well respected Coffee Collective- recommended to me by Will, the Head of Coffee for Pact (and boy can you trust this guy on coffee suggestions). We picked up a couple of freshly baked Danish pastries and sat sipping our flat whites with Copenhagen’s finest hipsters.

Day in Copenhagen

Unusally for Jonathan and I, we hadn’t been to a single gallery or museum yet. Not wanting to waste our precious minutes on hunting down the further out spots, we settled for the marvellous curved tower in the centre of Freideriksberg, Rundetårn. The entire 17th century tower is built on one swooping ramp that twirls around the core of the building, stopping off at art galleries, historical exhibitions and an observatory, which we dutifully explored.

No trip to Copenhagen is compelte without a saunter down Nyahaven port…

Weekend in Copenhagen

A photo posted by Jonathan Frost (@frost_jm) on Apr 25, 2015 at 7:21am PDT

Lunch in Copenhagen

With a good amount of time to kill before worrying about getting back to the airport, and our minds ever on the next meal, we found refuge in the cosy cafe Big Apple Juices With the super simple, stripped back wood, white walls and artfully strewn dried flowers, this was a great spot to curl under a blanket and fill up.With the chorizo ryebreads on their way, I snapped up the deck of cards and we slurped our juices as Jonathan mercilessly defeated me at each and every game…

It’s a good job he’s handsome, because I’m a sore loser and he’s no gracious winner.

Having been so healthy for lunch, we needed to fix that and sought out a top quality pub to keep us entertained. Enter, the Taphouse.

61 beers on tap, you could sense Jonthan’s giddiness escalating all the way from the ladies restroom. I poked around my gin and tonic while he ‘sampled’ every beer on the list, expertly describing the tasting notes of each as I nodded blankly and tried to place the accents of fellow pubgoers. Would highly recommend.

New favourite pub in the whole world. 61 beers on tap. #taphouse

A photo posted by Jonathan Frost (@frost_jm) on Apr 25, 2015 at 11:45am PDT

And so, unfortunately, to the airport.

Our whirlwind trip- to Copenhagen was perfect. I was worried we’d spend most of our time struggling to find things to do, places to eat, that kind of thing. Instead,. because Copenhagen is so compact and so full of character and of amazing independent places, you can set off in almost any direction and turn a corner to an unexpected gem. Absolutely perfect for a short trip.

24 hours in Copenhagen: Day One

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Farrah Kelly

Valentine’s Day this year, Jonathan and I decided to not bother with presents or cards. We wanted to save the money and maybe go for a lovely country pub instead. But then, all of a sudden, we’d booked a trip to Copenhagen. Oops.

We came up with the idea while cooking breakfast on V-Day, and by the time we’d licked our forks clean, we’d booked a twenty-four hour trip to Denmark. It happens.

Day One

Lunch in Copenhagen

We arrived at the Copenhagen airport at 10am. The airport is SO well connected to the city centre- we took a tram into Christianshavn, which takes 15 minutes and costs 36 krona (about £4)

By the time we walked through town to get to our AirBnB on the edge of gorgeous park Ørstedsparken, jumped up and down on the bed and freshened up a little, our Pret breakfast was beginning to fade into the background and we had our hearts set on some lunch. We stumbled across Torvehallerne, which blew our tiny foodie minds.

While there were plenty of options at this bustling food market, the choice was pretty easy for us. We wiled away our lunchtime tucking into the incredible smorgasboard open sandwiches, watching fresh ones made in front of us by busy hands, and pondered our next move. Of course, we gave the market’s two halls a thorough browse first, and picked up an epic dessert to take on our travels with us.

Afternoon in Copenhagen

We took our peanut butter chocolate slice for a walk round the parks. Exploring the parks and architecture of this city, it’s easy to see Copenhagen’s beauty, even in grizzly weather.

We wandered the parks, got upfront with the lions and marvelled at the regal, smooth style of the buidlings (and the people!). Come mid afternoon, both Jonathan and I were pooped, and being the grannies we are, retreated to our AirBnB for a mid-arvo nap.

Evening in Copenhagen

Feeling like we had a whole extra day in Denmark, we jumped out of our nap and straight into our finest walking shoes to see the city by night. We’d heard so much about the famous Tivoli Gardens, so donned our umbrella (which was suitably useless, I abandoned it after a particularly bolshy gust of wind) and head to one of the oldest active fairgrounds in the world.

Tivoli Gardens are an absolute must if you’re visiting Copenhagen. In the earlier evening you could see very cute Danish familes gleefully spinning around in teacups, and towards the later evening they were replaced with swathes of teenagers and adults enjoying the screamer rides, many bars, and idyllic scenery. The famous Peacock theatre hosts a ballet with the slightly terrifying clown Pjerrot which attracts big crowds, even in the rain. We didn’t go on any of the rides (it was raining- we were going for a nice meal afterwards and didn’t want to show up soaked wet through), but we had a good go on the traditional games- where, instead of winning me a teddy, like all films say he should, Jonathan won himself a toy motorbike. What even.

For dinner, we went to the highly rated TIGHT, where our waitress, Maria, was literally the best waitress ever. For once in my snap-happy life, I put my camera away and didn’t take a single snap- this is a holiday after all…

Read Day Two here: Views, Exhibits, Perfect Coffees and Long Lunches.

STK, London Review

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Farrah Kelly

I may be a million years late to noticing this, but there really is something to be said for a restaurant that does one thing, and does it well. Industry bods might call it a ‘hero menu’, but little old me simply calls it a ‘good idea’.

I mean, I’ve been let down before. Shoddy ramen at ramen restaurant Tonkotsu left me running back to ramen gods Bone Daddies weeping a promise to never leave them again. So it really sucks when you go into a place, scan the three item menu, and they manage to somehow cock it up.

I feel like that’s what happens when tourists go to (shudder) Angus Steakhouse and the ilk for their meat fix. Which brings me to, gloriously, my new favourite steak restaurant, STK.

They do other things- range of starters, few bits for the vegetarians in house- but, as you can well imagine, the main event here is the meat. I popped down to their last blogger evening with some foodie friends for a cocktail masterclass and a steak step-by-step chef experience. Forks at the ready.

After knocking back a lovely, sweet and light Vanilla and Goji cocktail, we headed behind the bar to make our own STK Martini.

Needless to say I was better at drinking them than I was at making them. Though Mary might’ve pipped me to the post on the martini-o-meter, I still think I did pretty well.

Thanks Mary for the photos and for the shake off!

We then snuck past the waiters to go into the STK kitchens. I’ve worked in restaurants before, so I know I shouldn’t still be wowed by them, but they do look impressive. And they’re hotter than the centre of the sun, so half the wow-factor comes from sheer disbelief that anyone could work in there.

Head chef Jared took us through the differences between USDA and wagyu meat, gave us a quick lesson in knife skills and a tour of the kitchen, and spent the rest of his time fielding aggressive questions from us bloggers on why we couldn’t make our Tesco value steaks taste as good as his. He was gracious, funny, and had a corking accent. Nice guy!

Wagyu vs USDA #meatmeatbaby #steak #STKLondon

A photo posted by Farrah Kelly (@farrahkelly) on Apr 14, 2015 at 1:22pm PDT

We’d worked up an appetite watching the orders come and go, so after poking around, chopping, a bit of frying, and bribing the chefs to give me the best cut of meat, we went back upstairs for our dinner.

The steak. It was about four times as much as I would have expected. This is SO much food, and it took a good me a good long while to get through it. Obviously, I ordered rare. I don’t usually like ordering rare because I’ve been burned before by bad steak, but having seen the chefs in action, I felt as though I could trust’em, and they delivered. It tasted exactly how a rare steak should, and the sides were all fab (I didn’t get a look in on the mac n cheese, but the speed the sharing dish went down with speaks volumes)

And finally for dessert, a deconstrcuted STK snickers bar. This was weird and wonderful and I wish I’d ordered about seven of them- not because they weren’t filling (the beef had seen to that), but because if there was any way I could’ve snuck them into my pocket to have one a day for the rest of the week, I would have found it.

After my visit to STK, I feel like charging into the Leicester Square Angus Steakhouse and Pied-Pipering them all the way to Holborn, so they can actually experience London’s best steak, and not just an unmet promise.

STK London, 336 Strand

How to eat cheap in London

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Farrah Kelly

It’s way too easy to be mugged off when it comes to restaurants in London, and you could by all means resort to only eating from Maccy Dees in order to save your pennies. You could, but you’d be miserable (and probably unhealthily fat).

Instead, over the last year or two, I’ve figured out how to eat cheap in London, while not missing out on London’s hottest restaurants. Being skint in London does not mean you have to miss out on the best foodie spots. Listen up and take notes, hombres!

Subscribe to newsletters

Newsletters are an absolute goldmine of cheap restaurant deals in London, and probably where I hear about most offers. Restaurants approach these newsletters to get the word out about their newest menu, opening, or events, and they often sweeten the deal with exclusives. We’re talking free drinks, half off food, or cheeky complimentary courses. I’m signed up to these guys: Sauce Communications ~ London on the Inside ~ The Nudge ~ Hot Dinners ~ Londonist ~ Dojo ~ BarChick~ Hardens ~

Midweek offers

If you want the best of London’s foodie scene, avoid Friday and Saturday. The queues are shorter, and the offers are plentiful. Bog standard Happy Hours are rife, and you can dig out some skint London gems if you know where to look. Try beer and buns at Flesh & Buns on Mondays (£15), the All American Sharing Board at Dirty Bones every Thursday (£15), Sunday brunch at LIMA Floral (£18/£30), and Wings Wednesdays at The Rum Kitchen (£19.50).

Know the dishes

We’re all guilty of food envy, and there’s nothing lamer than departing with your hard earned cash for a substandard meal at a place you were psyched about. Most restaurants have icon dishes- order this. They’re the best sellers for a reason, so do a little food blogger research to find out what everyone’s loving. I rarely eat out without checking recommendations from Clerkenwell Boy, Heroine in Heels, Angie Silverspoon, Hugh Wright, Hollow Legs or We Love Food. Never have food envy again.

Discount cards

Sign yourself up to the right discount cards. If you’re a student, there are surprising (independent) places that offer discount, so check it out. I’ve got a Tastecard (ta, Natwest!) and I also have a Bankside Buzz card. If you work in a big building (like the Shard, Bluefin, or one of the fancy bank buildings) there’s usually a corporate discount card for the local places. If you’re keen on a particular restaurant, check their site for loyalty schemes, like the Dirty Bones Friends With Benefits, or the Meat Liquor FREE SHIT. You may have to schmooze to get the good stuff, but it’s worth it!

Go to networking events

Stop auto-deleting those emails that are inviting you for ‘the chance to network‘ (which means what exactly? Everything is a ‘chance’ to network. I have the ‘chance’ to network with the kids kicking a ball at my window right now. I have the ‘chance’ to network with the bus driver every day. You mean ‘this will be a general social occasion’.) Badly worded though they might be, before you mark as spam, check where it’s hosted. They often have newly opened, cool, or up and coming restaurants as their venue- with nibbles provided.

Launching softly

Keep your ear to the ground for soft launches. This is the trial period before official launch, and is usually 50% off food (or off everything!). You have to remember that many dishes will change, staff aren’t fully trained yet, and there may be a few hiccups along the way. To me, it makes it all the more charming! To find out about them, follow foodie tweeters (like the blogs above!), and follow your favourite restaurants for expansion plans.

Phew! You’re welcome my loves. Go ahead now and tuck in.