London´s only Uzbek restaurant

Buxoro in Dollis Hill is an Uzbeki restaurant in Dollis Hill.  The waiter was very friendly and chatty and recommended which dishes to have which was great since neither my friend Paul nor I knew anything about food from Uzbekistan.

 Manti - dumplings with yoghurt

 Olivie (Olivier Salad)

 Osh sofi - Buxoro plov

 

Baklajanoviy salad - aubergines and tomatoes

Open The Gate

Open The Gate is a an African cultural centre and cafe in Dalston.

The have all kinds of events from film screenings to gigs and they also have a restaurant with a selection of Senegalese food.

I had ackee and saltfish which I've been keen to try since I had some free ackee from work and wasn't sure how to prepare it.

They currently have a photography exhibition until the end of August called Karibuni: Colour and People of Tanzania.

I have a feeling I will be back at Open the Gate at some point during my world tour....


http://openthegate.org.uk/welcome

The Liverpool Street Savanna

I was quite surprised to spot this South African shop in Liverpool Street Station.  Are there a lot of South Africans living or working in the area I wonder? I was in a hurry to catch a train so I didn't have time to stop and find out the story behind this shop.

Nordic Bar

A Nordic themed bar on Newman Street near Tottenham Court Road.  Things I learned about Nordic Bar:

- they order their herring directly from Denmark.

- it can get quite slippy behind the bar itself.

It's a good job I just write a blog (and a badly written one at that) because I learned a lot more than that but these are the only two things I can remember.  Maybe I should start taking notes...

http://www.nordicbar.com/

Hyper Japan

Hyper Japan is an exhibition at Kensington Olympia.  I managed to get a ticket on Living Social for £6 instead of the usual price of £12.

There was a lot to see including:
- a manga drawing demonstration.
- a talk on robotics.
- stalls selling clothes and accessories
- food stalls.
- free sake to taste.
- video games to play
- manga and anime books and posters
- hi tech Japanese toilets on display

Macaroons from www.oncafe.co.uk

 Tiny paper robots!

How to draw manga presentation

www.hyperjapan.co.uk/

Iran on Hammersmith Road

There are several Iranian food shops along Hammersmith Road including Super Masoud where I took these photos.

Current

Current is an art exhibition at the October Gallery in Holborn that will run until 30th July 11.  It features work from artists from New Zealand and Tonga.

The curator told me that I could arrange these 6 metal blocks however I wanted as long as I wore the gloves provided.

Danish Design

Hay are a Danish company who design and manufacture furniture and furnishings.  They have a temporary space on the 4th floor of Selfridges until 31st July.

http://www.hay.dk/#/site/products/new

Candy USA

A selection of American candy (that's sweets to us Brits) at a little shop in Charing Cross.

War + art

I seem to have gathered quite a few countries into my blog via restaurants and shops - partly I supposed because these are the easiest to find online or just passing in the street.

However, I'd like to travel the world in London with more than just my little belly so I'm going to try to make more of an effort to visit other things such as dance or theatre during my travels.

These are two paintings from a series called The Battle for Abidjan by an artist from the Ivory Coast called Aboudia Abdoulaye Diarrassouba. They are on display at the Jack Bell Gallery in Victoria until 1st September 2011.

I found the paintings very powerful and unsettling.  It's hard to imagine how it must feel to not only to witness but to have to live with as part of your daily reality the horror that the artist has captured.

Filipino supermarket

A shop in Earls Court selling products from the Philippines and other Asian countries.

Wok to walk

Wok to Walk is, as I have now discovered, a chain of Asian style fast food places.  However, since the food was pretty tasty and given that there is currently only one outlet in the whole of England according to their website I'm going to keep it in my blog.

You choose a base, a meat (or tofu) and a sauce and then you can watch your food being cooked whilst you wait.

Bubbles bubbles everywhere

Another bubble tea bar in China Town.  Boba Jam is a bit more expensive and less trendy than Bubbleology over in Soho but it feels a bit more authentic in here.

Herman ze German

Herman ze German is a little fast food place on the way to Embankment.  I had currywurst in spicy sauce, and at £3.95 including bread it was slightly cheaper than Kurz & Lang. 

I stood at one of the counters to eat and I noticed that the majority of the customers were English men, who looked like they'd come out of nearby offices on their lunch breaks.  I think that this is either a testament to how well Herman ze German is doing, that they can convince locals to come eat there, or that tourists visiting London don't want to eat wurst.