Greenway House & Garden - Agatha Christie’s Vacation Home

We were looking for someplace different to go out in Clapham Junction area and discovered that Sugarcane, a tiki bar, was right down the road! We heard some mixed reviews so we weren’t sure what to expect. We went on a Friday night around 8:30 (you can make reservations, but they don’t hold them after 9PM on Fri/Sat nights). Since it was relatively early it wasn’t that busy, however as the night went on it did get progressively busier, but never felt overcrowded. If you’re going on Fri or Sat night we’d recommend booking ahead.

We loved the music and the decor. We tried out several of the cocktails, they were good, but pricey.

Tropical Sunset sharing cocktail

So we got an e-mail inviting us to the Monkey Shoulder Chocolate Trail. The invite says it involves chocolate, whisky and an egg hunt - needless to say we were intrigued! 

Here’s the deal: Monkey Shoulder Whisky is partnering with the London Cocktail Club and Niko B chocolates to create whisky cocktails paired with some complimenting chocolate treats!

They’ve turned the space into a secret gardens of sorts with the help of Bobby Peterson and Anna Garforth and have hidden Easter eggs throughout. If you find an egg you can exchange it for one of the Monkey Shoulder whisky cocktails and a specially paired Niko B chocolate. 

We found our Easter eggs hidden among some veggies and plants. We sampled two of the cocktails. The Monkey Jam Sour w/ Masala Chai chocolate truffle was our favourite pairing (drink recipe below)!  We also had the Ginger Monkey w/ a lemony chocolate treat! We thought the decor was cool, but it was a little crowded! 

The Monkey Shoulder Chocolate Trail is taking place at 63 Broadwick St, Soho from April 6th-9th. And the cocktail & chocolate pairings will be available at all of the London Cocktail Club locations until April 15th! 

For more information here is a link to their Facebook page.

Here’s a picture & recipe of their Rhubarb & Rose Julep w/ Lemon, Ginger & Cayenne Pepper truffle. 

50ml Monkey Shoulder
15ml Sugar syrup
15ml Rose Liqueur
Dash of Rhubarb bitters
Pinch of Mint
Build in a julep tin with crushed ice.

We hit up the Wandsworth Beer Festival Preview Night Party (£25 for all you can drink beer & cider)! Good thing we went then too because they were running out of beer by Friday night!!

We loved this years’ glass 

Here’s a list of what we tried*:

• Anastasia’s Imperial Stout - Ascot Ales
• Thomas Sykes - Burton Bridge
• J.P.A. Japanese Pale Ale - Downton
• Elderquad - Downton
• Honey Blonde - Downton
• Nelson’s Blood - Nelson Brewery
• Dark Ruby Mild - Sarah Hughes Brewery
• Lifeboat - Titanic Brewery
• Moondance - Triple fff
• Naked Ladies - Twickenham Fine Ales
• Treetops - Windsor and Eton
• Boxing Dog - Mr. Whitehead’s Hampshire Cider
• Devil’s Device - Mr. Whitehead’s Hampshire Cider

*we might have missed some - we tried a lot! 

Here’s their full list

Since the weather has been so gorgeous and is supposed to get worse this week (Boo!) we went for looong walk from Clapham Junction up to Putney and then over to Wimbledon. We stopped off and grabbed a delicious early dinner at the Dog & Fox in Wimbledon on Sunday.

The Dog & Fox is MASSIVE and had a decent menu w/ several veggie friendly options.

We ordered off their Sunday menu and had the:

Goats cheese salad with beetroot, candied walnuts, apples, tomatoes and mixed leaves w/ balsamic dressing.

 Bangers & Mash w/ caramelised onions & gravy

And for dessert we had the Bramley Apple & Banana Crumble w/ Vanilla Ice Cream

We’ll definitely being going back! 

We grabbed dinner at Indian Moment on Northcote Road on Saturday night. The service and food were good, but the drinks were a bit pricey.

Here’s what we had:

Starter: Vegetarian combo including a somosa, aloo chop & onion bhaji

Mains: 

Chicken Korma w/ mushroom rice

Palak Paneer (spinach & cheese) w/ plain rice

We also had some garlic naan, but we dug in before we could get a picture :) 

——

Indian Moment seemed really popular for takeout as multiple people walked in off the street to order/ ordered online. They also do delivery.

Additionally, they have some good deals:

• 50% off Lunch on Saturdays and Sundays between 12:30 and 4:30 PM. 
• 10% discount for ordering online.

I’ve become completely obsessed with the salad boxes from Sunny’s Olive Tree at Whitecross Market.

They’re delicious, healthy, & cheap! I get the small salad box & bread w/ extra chili olives & feta cheese for £3.50!

The small box is enough to fill me up, but they have a larger option too. They mix everything together, but you can add or take away the different options.

We asked our followers on twitter for suggestions for a good place to grab british food in London. @FelicitySpector suggested The Albion in Islington so we decided to check it out. It was a bit of the walk from the tube, but totally worth it. The Albion, situated in a quiet area, is full of charm and has plenty of seating including a large garden area. We were seated in a cute little nook in the corner of the dining room. 

We started off with several types of warm bread & butter. 

We really liked the house white & loved that it was own-branded.

We had the cheddar gnocchi with roasted butternut squash, spinach and walnuts. At first we thought the portion was a little small, but we were wrong! It packed a BIG punch! The gnocchi were not at all we expected, but thats a good thing!

We also had the Gloucestershire Old Spot sausages with mash and onion gravy. While the sausages were good, the mash really stood out. It was quite delicious (and we wish we had more)!

We also tried the triple cooked chips! They were super crispy and chunky— definitely recommend! 

We couldn’t decided what we wanted for dessert so we got two! We had the sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream. 

And we had the rice pudding with Seville orange jam. There were hints of vanilla and it was super creamy. We always have trouble getting the portions right when we make our own rice pudding, but they got it just right! 

Overall, we loved our meal at the Albion. We thought it was a great spot to enjoy a quality pub dinner. The staff were all very friendly and accommodating. We can’t wait to go back this summer to try out the beer garden!

Meter Bar & Eatery just opened on City Road near Old Street Tube Station. They do delicious pizza by the meter baked in a wood-burning stove! We tried out the Uno (tomato, mozzarella, & basil) and the Cinque (aubergine, parmesan, tomato, mozzarella, ricotta, & basil). It was some of the best pizza that we’ve had and we’ll definitely be going back!

Some of their other pizzas include:

• Due: aubergine, capers, olives, garlic, tomato, oregano
• Tre: Spinatta calabra, black olives, tomato, chillies, scamorza
• Quartro: Wild broccoli, fennel sausage, chillies, cream, mozzarella 

Jacobite Steam Train, Fort William to Mallaig, Scotland