Hard to believe but my last taste of Indian food was at the iconic Bombay Brasserie back in June. And, what a meal it was! 😉

Bombay Brasserie in South Kensington has been around since 1983 and is a family favourite. I had my baby shower at Bombay Brasserie a few years ago and since I used to work in the area, I would visit whenever I needed a real Indian food fix.

Bombay Brasserie has just gone through a massive revamp and is looking better than ever with an alfresco terrace and brand new decor. The menu has been reworked too to include some fantastic cocktails and new dishes.

A few weeks ago, Zomato UK selected me as a winner of one of their Twitter competitions. The prize was promptly sent across and included a £100 meal at Pont St, a restaurant at the boutique Belgraves Hotel near Sloane Square.

Pont St – Belgraves is overseen by Sophie Mitchell, Britain’s youngest female Executive Chef. She is also part of the team behind Gorgeous Kitchen at Heathrow Airport and makes regular TV appearances. Sophie has also been a private chef to Claudia Schiffer and Leonardo DiCaprio!

Lunch got off to a great start with some Riesling to whet the appetite.

I try my best to avoid red meat. I’m not a fan of messy food. And, I don’t have the time or patience to queue for food. A few good reasons why Burger & Lobster was always overlooked as a dining option. Until now.

I finally had my first Burger & Lobster experience earlier this week thanks to a friend in town who had the popular chain of restaurants at the top of her London bucket list.

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since my last blog post. A lot has happened and if you were wondering where I’d disappeared off to, here’s some big news – we’ve said goodbye to London life and moved a quick train ride/drive out to Ashtead, a quiet little town in Surrey!

Becks (our English Bulldog) enjoying the new garden.

I’ve been a city dweller all my life so this is certainly an adventure of sorts. As much as I miss the buzz and excitement of living in the best city in the world ;), I’m already enjoying Surrey life and look forward to sharing my experiences with you.

Apologies for my silence the past couple of weeks. I’ve had a lot going on but it’s finally time to catch up on a long overdue blog post.

I was invited to attend the Taste of London Festival held in Regent’s Park a few weeks ago.  Taste of London is an annual event celebrating London’s buzzing restaurant scene. Held each year at Regent’s Park, the festival showcases signature ‘taster’ dishes from some of the city’s best restaurants as well as special cooking theatres and workshops offering Londoners the opportunity to get up close and personal with popular chefs.

I’ll be honest. After a fabulous foodie holiday in Wales, there is nothing I wanted more than some tasty, vegetarian Indian food. Spice was what we were all after and Southall was on our way home.

Southall is located a couple of miles from Heathrow Airport and is home to the largest Asian community in London. The neighbourhood is predominantly Sikh and the streets are full of gurdwaras, temples, shops, and amazing food.  For me, a trip to Southall always includes a visit to the Gurdwara on Havelock Road and a delicious meal at Delhiwala. This is a family tradition that is going strong for many years now.

Havelock Road Gurdwara

Be:Fit is London’s largest exhibition devoted entirely to women’s health, nutrition and fitness. Formerly known as the Vitality Show, Be:Fit London was held over the weekend and I attended the show for a few hours on Friday.

Old Billingsgate Market (the venue) was buzzing with excitement on the first morning and from what I hear, the energy only got more electric as the weekend crowds rolled in.

Here are a few photo highlights from  Be:Fit London featuring my favourite discoveries and moments!

A postcard view of Tower Bridge outside Old Billingsgate Market (the venue).

My only experience of Greek food in London has been at the popular chain, The Real Greek. While I love dining there, I’ve always been eager to explore other authentic Greek restaurants in the city. This  is exactly why I responded to a food tasting invitation from Ergon, a new Greek restaurant in London, with a quick and enthusiastic ‘YES!’

Ergon means ‘vocation’ in Greek and the name simply represents the owner’s belief that everyone should do what they know best and love most in life.  The idea for Ergon was conceived in Thessanoliki, Greece by the Douzis brothers in 2011 and has seen tremendous growth despite the turbulent economy.  They now have 6 restaurants in Greece, their first international location in London and restaurants in Belgium and the United States on the horizon.

Any global foodie will tell you how exciting it is when popular restaurants from around the world cross over to your city.  Balthazar was an old favourite during my NYC days. The French brasserie opened in London almost a year ago and has been on my list of ‘restaurants to visit’ ever since. Finally made it to Balthazar for dinner last Friday with some friends visiting from Hong Kong.

Located in Covent Garden, Balthazar London is an exact replica of the restaurant in New York City. The famous owner, Keith McNally, spent a reported £14 million on recreating the original space – from the huge pillars and mirrors to the sepia lighting that warms the entire dining room making everything (and, everyone!) look beautiful.

Happy International Women’s Day to all the incredible women in my life! Today is all about proudly celebrating our strength and femininity and there couldn’t be a better opportunity to introduce you to an inspiring women’s health and fitness festival coming up in London in a few weeks.

Be:Fit London, previously known as The Vitality Show, returns at the end of March with London’s largest women’s health and fitness event. Be:Fit London celebrity ambassadors include inspiring Olympic athletes  such as Victoria Pendleton and Denise Lewis, supermodel and sports personality Jodie Kidd, as well as Sky Sports News presenter Kirsty Gallacher who will formally open the show.

February has been all about striking a balance between lavish feasts and healthy January resolutions. From Chinese New Year festivities to an indulgent Persian supper club along with my daily juicing experiments,  I have lived up to my blog name this month.

I was invited to the Zomato UK Food Blogger’s Dinner last night held at  Gaylord, one of my favourite Indian restaurants in the city. Zomato is a popular restaurant discovery site from India now operating in 11 other countries across the globe, including the UK.

After months of following the lovely Sabrina Ghayour on Twitter and drooling over her gorgeous food pics, I finally dined at her Persian supper club a few nights ago. Sabrina is a private chef and supper club host with a new cook book, ‘Persiana’ coming out in May.

I had never been to a supper club and  was initially a bit wary of going to a complete stranger’s home for dinner.  Once I was familiar with Sabrina’s Twitter persona and had read some reviews, a bunch of us decided to give it a go.

Kung Hei Fat Choy. Gong Xi Fa Cai.

Wishing all my readers celebrating the Chinese New Year this weekend a very happy and prosperous year of the horse!

Our friends Chris and Emma invited us to celebrate Chinese New Year with their friends over a dim sum/yum cha feast this weekend. The big lunch was in the elegant private dining area at Grand Imperial restaurant in the Grosvenor Hotel. The location couldn’t have been more convenient than literally next to Victoria station – there is an entrance to the hotel from the station itself.

The countdown has officially begun – there is only ONE month till Christmas.  I am still recovering from the big fat Diwali binge and it is already time to eat, drink and be merry. There goes the detox.

Thankfully, I’ve got all the holiday party hangovers sorted thanks to a fresh stock of Prefunc.

If you have spent time with Mr. A & myself recently, you will know how much we love and swear by Prefunc. Our lives have changed (and how!) since the little one and yes, we do still get out and about but as with any parent, everything in life requires planning. Even a hangover!

I attended the BBC Good Food Show held in London this past weekend with my first ever Press Pass for Hungry Aphrodite! This was definitely a milestone for my blog and I was super excited to experience one of London’s largest gathering of food lovers.

A view from the top

The BBC Good Food Show is an annual event held in London, Birmingham and Glasgow. The London show held at Olympia featured interviews with famous chefs, live demonstrations, wine tastings, and a Producers’ Village showcasing some of the best food products and gadgets in the market.

It seems like almost everyone in London (myself included) is down with one bug or another these days. Cold, flu, ear infections and a nasty tummy virus, there is more than enough going around to make a self-confessed hypochondriac like me cringe….eek!

Today’s post is recycled from my early days of blogging as I just can’t think straight AND needed a reminder to stock up on some elderberry syrup for the winter to ward off these nasty London germs. And, perhaps you do too! 😉

Organic Flu-Fighter  First posted on  26/4/2013

Warm scones, pretty cakes and dainty finger sandwiches – what’s not to love about a traditional British afternoon tea? What started off in the early 19th century as an inventive way to ward off royal 4pm hunger pangs is now a hugely popular ‘activity’ enjoyed by  tourists AND locals all around the UK. 🙂

I love tea and scones so when a friend invited me to join in for a birthday celebration at an Alice in Wonderland themed tea party, my answer was a very quick YES!

Here are some snapshots from the lovely Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea at the Sanderson Hotel in London’s West End.

Rayaan and I spent a gorgeous day at Kensington Gardens with our friends who are leaving London in a few days for an exciting adventure in Singapore. Another week, another sad goodbye. 🙁

We had a great day complete with ducks, swans, tributes to Princess Diana, and lobster noodles!

Here are some highlights:

Arriving at Kensington Gardens on a very quiet and peaceful morning.

En route to the Round Pond – it’s going to be a lovely day!

My little monkey chasing ducks at Kensington Gardens.

The London food scene is bursting with Latin American flavours this year. From the Peruvian cuisine at trendy Coya to the incredible fusion at Sushi Samba, we are spoilt for choice with some fantastic dining options.

The latest on my list of favourite London restaurants is Zoilo, a lovely little Argentinian restaurant by renowned chef Diego Jacquet and Alberto Abbate. The duo also run Casa Malevo, another popular Argentine restaurant in London.

I was stung by a ruthless bee outside a Middle Eastern restaurant in Fitzrovia called Honey and Co this past Saturday. Strange but true…and rather painful. Ouch.

However, this post is not about the mean bee. It is about the gorgeous food at Honey and Co. Food so incredible that even a nasty bee sting is almost forgotten.

Honey and Co is all about fresh, simple and delicious food from the Middle East. The husband-wife team of  Sarit Packer (former head chef at popular Ottolenghi/also former head chef at Nopi) and Itamar Srulovich (Israeli chef trained at several eateries in Tel Aviv) took inspiration from their childhood to create the gorgeous, wholesome dishes served at Honey and Co.

El Bulli was probably one of the most imaginative and experimental restaurants in the world. Ferran Adria, the chef that transformed El Bulli, is credited with inventing the concept of nouvelle cuisine and molecular gastronomy.

Located a 2 hour drive from Barcelona, El Bulli promised the gastronomic experience of a lifetime through a 35-40 course tasting menu costing 250€ per person. El Bulli was only open for 6 months of the year and needless to say, it was next to impossible to book a table. Despite 2 million reservation requests/year for 8000 ‘seats’, El Bulli closed its doors to the world in July 2011 due to consistent financial losses.

Wishing my lovely friends and readers from around the world a very happy and blessed Eid!

Eid marks the end of the month long Ramadan fast and is celebrated with family, friends and indulgent feasting, just like Diwali, Thanksgiving, Christmas and other wonderful occasions.

I love festivals and can’t help but think of food today, specifically kebabs and biryani…yum!

The celebrations going on around me have inspired me to finally have a go at a couple of recipes I saw on Rick Stein’s India show on BBC last month.

Chicken & Rosewater Biryani (click for recipe)

Last week’s royal baby frenzy has definitely captured my interest in all things British and regal.

A visit to a beautiful and historical palace, combined with the idea of a picnic lunch in the gardens was enough to get me on a train to Hampton Court Palace while the sun was still shining!

Here are some  snapshots:

Hampton Court Palace was built in Tudor times (15oos), during the reign of King Henry VIII, who is undoubtedly the palace’s most famous and controversial resident.

Yes, it is true! Shake Shack, the upscale fast food chain from the US, has crossed the big pond and opened its first London shack!

My friends in the US are constantly raving about Shake Shack burgers. I had never tried one before so couldn’t wait to see what the hype was all about.

Opened earlier this month on American Independence Day,  Shake Shack has a spectacular location in London’s busy Covent Garden Piazza Market.

Pictured here is the Shack Shack seating area in the middle of the market.

My brother and sister-in-law celebrated their 1st wedding anniversary over the weekend by hosting a BBQ at their home. Not just any BBQ though – this was a Pizza BBQ with a Kenyan twist….and it was oh so yummy!

I had never  heard of a Kenyan Pizza BBQ before and was super excited to try something unique and far removed from the overdone burgers and sausages!

The pizzas are baked in a traditional Kenyan charcoal oven known as ‘Jiko’ in Swahili. Jikos come in various sizes and are an energy saving, eco-friendly way to bake cakes, breads, pizzas and what not?

We got lucky and scored two tickets to the Wimbledon tennis ladies’ semifinals yesterday. Hooray!

Lovely weather, superb ambience and brilliant tennis – you don’t need me to tell you that yesterday was a fabulous day!

Some snapshots…

Cheeky Brunello to start the day….why not?

Pre-gamers warming up at Murray Mound aka Henman Hill. Can’t even begin to imagine the  buzz over here during a Murray match!

Gorgeous flowers everywhere make Wimbledon feel more like an English country garden than a tennis stadium. The prettiest sporting venue I have ever been to.

Wimbledon has begun!  Time for some fabulous tennis, bottomless pitchers of Pimms,  and lots of strawberries & cream!

A quintessential bowl of strawberries topped with sweet cream is an irresistible obsession at the famous All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club AND many British homes at this time of year! No Wimbledon tennis experience is complete without it.

The Wimbledon tradition of eating strawberries and cream dates back to when the championships began in 1877. Strawberries were strictly seasonal then and only available around tournament time. Strawberries and Wimbledon soon began to signal the arrival of British summer!

It is my birthday today!! And I have had too much fun and a shameless amount of dessert over ‘birthday week’ that kicked off with a delicious meal at Sushi Samba London a few days ago.

My American readers may be familiar with Sushi Samba, a popular Brazilian-Peruvian-Japanese fusion restaurant with locations in New York, Miami, Las Vegas and Chicago. Sushi Samba used to be one of my favourite restaurants during my NYC days and naturally, I was beyond excited to finally try out their new London branch.

Imagine your local farmer’s market on steroids. Borough Market is beyond that. It is where both Londoners and tourists come together to experience fresh, delicious foods from Britain and the world. It is a foodie’s paradise!!

My first visit to Borough Market was as a new Londoner back in 2006.  It quickly became a monthly ritual as well as a top ranked British tourist attraction whenever friends and family came to visit.

11 degrees Celsius. Thick, dark clouds, rain and HAIL! Isn’t it almost the end of MAY?? Someone please tell me why I choose to live in London?

The best way to fight this miserable weather is of course, to escape it! But for those of us with no such fun in the sun plans, here are some ideas to make it feel a little bit like summer.

• Host a BBQ – Nothing like freshly grilled corn-on-the-cob, a delicious burger and some Pimm’s to make it feel like summer. Who cares if it isn’t 28 degrees and sunny. You can sit and whinge all weekend OR throw on a jacket, call some friends over, fire up that grill and let summer in!

My mother-in-law is in London for a few weeks and that always means a daily overdose of great food! 😉 We were all in the mood for something different this past weekend: A quick Google search and a couple of reviews later, a table was booked at Asmara, an Eritrean restaurant in Brixton.

My first experience of Ethiopian and Eritrean cuisine was as a college student in Boston. I remember falling instantly in love with the flavours and the unique, communal dining experience. The memory certainly hasn’t faded and the craving kicks in every now and then.

What I love most about living in London is exploring the vibrant cultures and cuisines from around the world. The culinary scene over here is bustling – there are always new flavours to explore and of course, the old favourites that are practically  institutions for some of us!

We had some friends in town from India this weekend and decided to try out Coya, a trendy new Peruvian-Japanese restaurant in Mayfair. Peru is home to a very significant immigrant Japanese community  and we were all very eager to explore the unique fusion cuisine.