Europe: Ottolenghi Belgravia LONDON

If you follow my Instagram page (Spunny89), you could probably gather that I was away in Europe for a few weeks and have recently returned back into my natural habitat. Almost everyone asked which country turned out to be my favourite and truthfully, London still wins hands down.

Despite the increased number of pedestrians, tourists and trash floating around the streets, London may seem unappealing to many but to me, it brought back fond childhood memories (I will elaborate further in subsequent posts).

Ottolenghi was one of the places on my list, deserving an early morning visit when I should really be snuggled in bed. As expected, the cafe's front window was immaculately decorated with trays of small cakes and pastries covered in a generous layer of icing, nuts or syrup to tempt by-passers and who, upon entry, are greeted by a freshly prepared salad counter and rows of homemade products such as jams and condiments.

As the cafe is small and can only accommodate 6 patrons at most, takeaways may be an option.

Coffee and hot chocolate - Hot chocolate was rich and not overly loaded with sugar but rather, had a good balance of sweetness to counteract the chocolate's bitterness. I'd imagine this to be a treat when the weather cools down.

Rose pistachio cake - I absolutely loved every bite of this. Not only did it have a good amount of pistachios in it, I found the prominent rose aroma pleasant on the palate. The sister who is not a fan of cakes greedily finished this off.

Shashuka eggs - Having tried a few versions of this in Melbourne, I was blown away by it's overall taste and texture. Ingredient wise, they were fresh and the sauce concoction was very aromatic. Arriving piping hot at our table, the mix of sweet, salty and sour taste was indeed well balanced. A must try in my books, especially when served with freshly made slices of toasted bread.

Scrambled eggs with toast and spinach - the sister prefers to stick to familiar variations and this was one of them. Scrambled eggs were smooth on the palate and well seasoned.