Tag: days out in London

Sunday Roast at The Crown, Blackheath by Shepherd Neame

alcoholic drinks, ARTICLE, Days Out, Family Life, Food & Drink, Restaurant

Disclaimer – We have received this item for free or on a loan basis for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Shepherd Neame, the Kent based brewers owned by a local family, have launched some new dining experiences throughout their establishments in Kent and London. We visited The Crown, in Blackheath to sample their Sunday Roast as part of their new dining experiences.

The Crown is situated on the heath of Blackheath’s triangle, sitting at the top of the hill and overlooking the church. Parking is in the side roads of the triangle or there is parking on the hill itself, with the train station a short walk away and the buses stop nearby. There is frequently a circus or entertainment of some sort on Blackheath too.

The pub is recognisable from the large seating area at the front which is frequently full! Food is served every day, and on this particular sunny Sunday, there was seating outside, downstairs in the large bar area and a very picturesque dining area upstairs. The Sunday menu is presented at the tables but the dessert menu is inscribed on chalk boards above your head, so pudding is never very far from your mind as you eat! We opted for the Stuffed Pork Belly Roast, and the Sirloin Steak Roast. The Crown also does the Shepherd Neame Sunday Roast Sharing Experience, which has enough on a sharing platter for two to be able to enjoy, complete with a table side carving.

You can see from the photos that the Shepherd Neame Sunday Roasts provide ample traditions; generous portions of meat, plenty of roasted vegetables and of course, some smashing roast potatoes! These potatoes were cooked in dripping, with a salt coating to give that extra kick. There is also, of course, lashings of gravy too.  We washed down our roasts with a Shepherd Neame Spitfire lager too – they’re most popular lager and one that was being enjoyed throughout the pub.

As for the desserts… there was a selection of locally inspired desserts including Apple, Pear and Pecan Crumble, Morello Cherry Frangipane and there’s a new one on me – Folkestone Pudding. Also known as Kent Tart, it’s a layered tart with a chocolate crust, cream base and chocolate layer on top. It’s similar to a cheesecake but with a rich cream filling that’s similar to custard. It’s the first time I had tried it and it was DELICIOUS! We also had the Warm Chocolate Fondant, which is seen here served with ice cream and crumbles.

I can’t recommend the Shepherd Neame Roasts enough, especially for a lovely Sunday afternoon during the summer. The pork belly was cooked perfectly with a soft, buttery layer of fat and a beautiful stuffing. There was ample beef as well, cooked as requested and tender to the cut. We loved the roast potatoes cooked with a nice thick crust.  We did manage to eat all of it, including the desserts but it was all we could manage for the rest of the day!

The Crown Blackheath: https://www.crownblackheath.co.uk/ 

Shepherd Neame Dining Experiences: https://www.shepherdneame.co.uk/pubs/food/shepherd-neame-dining-experience

The Toll House Chelsea Delicatessen, London

ARTICLE, Children, chocolate, coffee, Days Out, Family Life, Food & Drink, snacks, Summer

Disclaimer – We have received this item for free or on a loan basis for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Nestled on a corner of Cremorne Road in Chelsea, London, is The Toll House Chelsea Delicatessen. Previous incarnation of the original building include a dry cleaners, a garage and before it’s present incarnation, it was empty for many years. The present owners have taken the charge to create The Toll House Delicatessen under the moniker of the building’s original intention; an office which collected the toll for the properties on the private land of Chelsea.

The Toll House Delicatessen is based on a premise of serving the community everything from coffee and pastries in the mornings, home working using their free Wi-Fi and providing treats on the way home from work. The Toll House speciality is their Basque cheesecake. Although she is a doctor by day, Alimah makes the cheesecakes in her spare time. Alimah’s Basque cheesecake recipes include flavours such as Pistachio Luxe, Chocolate Decadence, Lotus Biscoff Crunch and Berry Compote. Of course, there’s also an original Basque cheesecake too! We visited on a very hot Saturday afternoon to find the air-conditioned building very welcoming and Tariq, Allah’s husband, was on hand to talk us through how they had transformed the building and show us the cakes.

It may be a tiny place to visit but it has a big heart! The very Instagramable building has a mural along the outside wall which features three frogs – one to represent each of the families’s young children. Following in the Chelsea tradition, there are flowers everywhere and the branding has a twist on the Chelsea blue colour. The original Toll House Clock still stands on the roof too. Inside the blue theme continues with marble worktops and a high  bench for working. The shop is so petite, it needed bespoke marble worktops, chiller cabinets and cabinetry, which give it a certain Chelsea charm. There’s a very grand coffee machine too, which makes fresh specialty coffee.

As for the cakes and pastries,  you’ll find not just Basque cheesecakes but other locally sourced pastries  and sandwiches and salads which are made on site daily. Anyone visiting for lunch will be able to also purchase drinks, crisps and other snacks.

We were lucky to be able to try some of the cheesecakes. Sitting outside in the sunshine, we shared the ‘Chocolate Decadence’ cheesecake. If you’re not familiar with Basque cheesecakes, they don’t have a biscuit base, they’re just cheesecake filling and then baked. Each Toll House Basque cheesecake is 4 inches wide which is more than enough for two people to share. Eating even half a Basque cheesecake was quite some task! 

At first bite, you realise it is incredibly light and not like the heavy cheesecakes you buy in High Street shops. It’s not so sweet either. I am used to Basque cheesecakes being both heavy and sweet with a richness of cream, but I didn’t feel this with the Toll House Basque cheesecake. It’s light and fluffy and has a texture like whipped cream but without the dairy taste. The flavour is more like a light custard with a slight vanilla taste. You can tell that they are not only home made, but they are made that day because the body of the cheesecake is so fresh. We also took home some of the other flavours; Pistachio Luxe, Lotus Biscoffi Crunch and Berry Compote. I think my favourite was the Berry Compote –  the sweet berry flavour works really well with the creamy filling.

The Toll House make cakes and Basque cheesecakes to order and for special occasions. We think they’d be great at weddings or even a tiered Basque as a fabulous wedding cake!  The property is so cute and so accessible for great photos that I’m surprised it’s not more well known on the London scene. The picturesque corner of Chelsea, with the Georgian houses and enormous London plane trees is an oasis for afternoon treats as well as working from home. Tariq and his staff are so welcoming too, that you could try a different cheesecake every day of the week and never feel like leaving!

https://www.tollhousedeli.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/tollhousedeliuk/

@tollHouseDeliUK

SEA LIFE Aquarium London

Birthday Gifts, Children, Days Out, Family Life, Gifts for children, Summer

Disclaimer – We have received this item for free or on a loan basis for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

When it comes to summer holidays, the weather is always better the week before children break up from school, making it difficult to book things to do! The SEA LIFE Aquarium London is the safest bet yet for planning as it’s completely indoors and therefore weatherproof!

Located on the South Bank, in the old County Hall building and next to The London Eye (giant ferris wheel) there is plenty to do in the area.  Book tickets to SEA LIFE Aquarium online and you can reserve your entrance time and plan your day ahead, including transport.

The SEA LIFE Aquarium starts with the Atlantic section. There are more than 10 sections throughout the aquarium including Antarctica and Rainforests, acting as a tour around the world via aquatic life.  The aquarium follows a path where you meet fish and sea creatures in different tanks with informative digital displays that tell you the fish contained within the tank as well as information about their habitat and how endangered they are. There are all sorts of fish, star fish, lobsters and other animals to look at which the children found fascinating and there was certainly something for everybody. You can read as much or as little about the species as you like, or just watch them swim around. Photos are also possible.

As you travel round more tanks, you come to the main attraction of the underwater exhibition – a huge tank containing sharks, turtles and stingray!  There are ample windows around the tank and seating points for small children as well as adults to be able to sit and watch, or in the case of most children, to sit and point at the animals. The sharks are seriously impressive due to their size and their elegance but the turtles are huge, and look just like Crush in Finding Nemo! The stingray and turtles swim around and come up to the glass to ‘greet’ onlookers which makes for some fabulous photos. Some of the sharks swim too, but there are a couple of basking sharks at the bottom of the tank which you can see up close.

Walking around the rest of the exhibitions, there’s an area with Ben Fogel talking about the habitats of the rainforest, an area of rockpools where you can touch shark eggs and star fish and learn about their lifecycles from a member of staff. We loved hearing about how the turtles in the main display were rescued from a turtle farm and brought to London and got to see a real turtle shell, its skeleton and be able to touch it.

The displays are interspersed with different types of interactions, professional photos, a virtual reality lab and activities for children of all ages. We saw babies being carried forward facing so that they could look into the tanks and toddlers being able to watch the motion of the fish for what must have seemed like hours to them!

For both adults and children, the best display has to be the penguins. A large pool with an equally large area of hardstanding behind big glass walls houses the penguin colony who were entertaining and inquisitive. They didn’t seem to mind the number of people watching them and seemed genuinely nosy and came face-to-face with the public with no fear. We watched for ages as they did dove into the pool, swam for fun, swam for hunting and then hopped out of the water onto the ground. There’s ice being churned out all the time to keep them cool and the viewing window (a globe above ground where children can stand and watch them) was especially good fun. The children loved the antics of the penguins and how close they could get to them and we loved watching them. I could sit there for hours! 

Before finishing, you go through a sea of jellyfish too, which were magical and fascinated the smaller children with their illuminous properties. The SEA LIFE Aquarium finished with a huge gift shop selling all sorts of soft toys, mugs and keyrings as well as more for the grown-ups. You can purchase the photos at this stage too before walking out to South Bank where you are right next to the London Eye and Shrek’s Adventure.

It took us about 2 hours to walk round the whole exhibition with stopping to see the fish in each display, taking photos and roughly reading the information boards. By the end of the day, we were buzzing from all the sights and sounds of the aquarium and being able to see animals and fish we would never usually get to see in London. It’s a fabulous day out!

Tickets available online at: https://www.visitsealife.com/london/

A Scaretastic Time at The London Dungeon

Birthday Gifts, Children, Days Out, Family Life, Halloween, Summer, Theatre

Disclaimer – We received entry to this attraction free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Housed on the South Bank in the shadow of the London Eye, The London Dungeon is a walk-through attraction of some of London’s darker historical moments. Very easy to get to – a tube ride to Westminster and walk across the bridge, taking photos of the London Eye and the Big Ben on the way.

At the entrance you are greeted by ‘decorated’ staff who guide you in, depending on your ticket. There is an opportunity for a nice selfie here, on a throne with a portrait of the King. A few security checks, a bag search then into three staged photo selling areas. The staff here weren’t part of the attraction and are very matter of fact – stand her, hold this etc, so don’t let this put you off the rest of the attraction.

However, then the ‘fun’ began. A jester gave us a few rules – don’t touch, we won’t touch you and it’s dark with light effects. Then we met a Royalist in the intro to the ‘Rotten Royals’, where we learnt about King Charles I and how we were to help rescue him from execution! This part of the Dungeon was quite historical and involved an executioner and a torturer and some wanted (or not!) interaction from the attendees. Then we went into Plague London, Mrs Lovett’s Pie shop, met a helper of Sweeny Todd and finished with Whitechapel and Jack the Ripper. Our final visit was to a judge who sentenced us all to death. Unfortunately, we weren’t hanged as the finale of a ‘death drop’ was closed due to maintenance. Slightly disappointing as it felt the tour had led to this scary ending. Instead we just got herded into the photo room.

Was it truly scary? I think this depends on whether you have experienced these tours with actors before and possibly your age. And whether you like ‘taking part’? We overheard one young girl gleefully talk about her dad being chosen as a prisoner and torture victim. Most of it is in the dark with well-timed light effects and ‘bits’ that move and water that sprayed you in lieu of blood. Very young children wouldn’t like it at all, but teens and family groups would enjoy the interactive nature of it. Rather than read or listen to information, you are addressed by actors who play the parts – an executioner, Mrs Lovett, a Jack the Ripper victim. This is good and entertaining and they try to get you involved and certainly ham it up for all it’s worth. We particularly liked the witch in Newgate prison – very creepy and in the dark with strobe lighting. I was impressed how they could move around in pitch black and jump out in front of the unexpected (me!).

You walk through in about an hour so have to be prepared to be on your feet although there were three rooms where you sat for a while. The tour is in groups so you move from area to area – no time for looking at the set dressing along the way, which would have been nice. And if English isn’t your first language you may have difficulty following all that is said – there were some ripe Cockney accents flying about.

At the very end there is a tavern, with a self playing piano and skeleton. The prices for drinks weren’t at all bad, so this could be a quiet stop for refreshments before exiting.

Tickets are £35 per adult, £29 for children, which although a little steep they do multi-attraction tickets which includes the London Eye, for example, and these work out at much better value, especially for anyone in London for a couple of days. If you are visiting London’s sites I would buy the multi ticket and do the London Dungeon as part of this.

https://www.thedungeons.com/london/