Food to enjoy while travelling solo in London

London, a city bursting with diversity in terms of culture, people and food. In my case, especially food. Having recently upgraded my iPhone camera to the Olympus Pen E Pl-8, I pretty much structured my itinerary around taking photos this trip. The photo you see here is the classic red telephone booth with the under-construction Big Ben in the background. Aside from scenery which might be reserved for another post in the future, travelling solo while Vain Pot works means that I've to find 1 person meals.

Shake Shack

Shake Shack is a fast-food chain originating from New York. Unlike other fast food chains I see in London like Subway, KFC, Burger King and Mcdonald's, Shake Shack hasn't found its way to Singapore yet. Hence, dining at Shake Shack feels like an affordable novelty for me. A beef free diet means a limited selection of burgers I can try from this fast food joint. Beef lovers will have no problems dining here. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my Chick n Shack burger a lot. It's sufficiently tender, fried till crispy without the excessive sauces found in other fast food burger joints. I'm happy the flavour isn't compromised as well. I liked it that I can customize my meal and I enjoyed the classic vanilla shake that I ordered.

Shake Shack (Covent Garden)
Covent Garden, 24 Market Building, The Piazza, WC2E 8RD

Tea Room at Bun House

Tea Room & Bun House are two concepts housed in the same location. On the top floor is the Bun House where it looks like a traditional Chinese Tea House. The Tea Room located on the basement looks really eerie for my first time visit. The green lighting coupled with the fact the place was empty when I was there made the entire experience unforgettable. I made the eerie trip to the Tea Room specially for the Fried Cheong Fun which is new on the menu. The dish met my expectations though some might find it leaning towards the saltier side. I felt that the dish achieved the wok hei taste and the egg with the runny yolk blended excellently with Fried Cheong Fun. Perhaps the owners of the restaurant can incorporate some XO sauce to complete the dish!

Tea Room at Bun House
23 Greek Street, WID 4DZ

Saint Aymes

Saint Aymes can be distinctively identified through its framed wisteria. One of the most instagrammable cafes in London, it stands out also because visitors prefer sitting outside the cafe rather than inside! Such is the popularity of the external tables, the owners placed a 1 hour dining time on them.

During my visit, I had a unicorn cookie, the cake of the day and the unicorn latte. Half the time, I was busier with my camera than pigging on the food. If you have a sweet tooth, this place is perfect for you. If not, you better love photography. I found sitting outside the cafe with delectable food while enjoying a good book (currently reading How to be a Bawse by Lily Singh) to be a very pleasurable activity. Some of the other patrons chose to people watch and simply enjoy some me-time.

Saint Aymes
59 Connaught Street, Connaught Village Hyde Park London, W2 2BB


Chin Chin Labs

Chin Chin Labs are best known for their nitrogen ice cream and hot chocolate with mashmellows. I actually went to Hawker Feast with Vain Pot. So yeap, dinner isn't solo. Still if you are alone and looking to try some street food, I felt that Chin Chin Lab's Hot Chocolate with Marshmellows to be a perfect treat to end the day. In this cooling London weather, Chin Chin Lab's hot chocolate adds a bitter sweet finale to the day. The chocolate has adequate thickness and has a hint of bitterness from dark chocolate. The thick slab of torched marshmellows offered a melted sweetness that blended perfectly with the bitter chocolate. It's an excellent beverage on a cold day.

Chin Chin Lab (Hawker Feast)
Canada Street, London SE16 7PJ
(do note that the Hawker Feast is only available on Fridays and Saturdays after 5pm)

10 Most Instagrammable Shots To Take In London

Every trip I make to London, I get questioned why do you like London so much? Essentially, after being like a tourist for the first trip, London resembles Singapore a lot apart from the weather. I compiled 10 instagrammable places you can actually visit to make your holiday less touristy, more differentiated and definitely memorable.

1. Brown Hart Gardens

Brown Hart Gardens is actually a residential estate and there's nothing much you can do there except take this photo. It's one of my favourite photos in my collection because of its picturesque appearance. You know for sure you are in Europe with this postcard-like image. If you are sporting enough, you can convert your photos into post cards and write cute letters to your friends as a souvenir when you return from holiday.

2. Cereal Killer Cafe

This photo was taken before I bought my Olympus PEN 8 that's why the photo quality will look inferior to the rest of the images. Cereal Killer Cafe has beds in their cafe. How often do you find beds in cafes? The cereals at the cafe are worth trying out too. The article on the food is here.

3. Elan Cafe

Elan Cafe has more than one flower wall which you can take cool photos with. This heart shape wall is just one of them. They have one more flower wall inside with 2 seats available with the words "Coffee is the new black" but there'll be a long line to dine at that table. One more thing to note, the food is awesome but the service will make you feel like they want you gone in a hurry. You have been warned! *For a higher chance to dine in peace, go on weekdays especially if you are on holiday.

4. Leake Street Tunnel 

Not sure if you would consider Leake Street Tunnel to be a tourist attraction. As of now, it's still largely under discovered. Leake Street Tunnel is basically an enclosed tunnel with lots of graffiti art on their walls. The artwork is really impressive and nice. You can take poser shots, jump shots or simply admire the extensive artwork that covers the entire tunnel.

5. Little Venice

Walking along little Venice of London (Maida Vale) is truly enjoyable. The view by the riverside with beautiful boats is somewhat therapeutic. Ever since I started to take more interest in photography, the number of nice photos I can take from this little place can be really extensive too. One thing to note, the sun can be rather annoying in the summer especially when you wish to take evening shots and the sun refuse to set.

6. National History Museum 

This is a tourist attraction. I included it in because of the amazing architecture the National History Museum has. The whale fossil hanging from the ceiling has been a talking point between people who have visited this place. It's a classic. I'm not an arts person and I feel this photo can tempt me to come here simply because of its majestic appearance. 

7. Neal's Yard

There's really little you can do at Neal's Yard unless you work at Covent Garden and want to run some errands or grab a quick bite. It's a hidden street amidst the bustling offices in London's working district. Neal's Yard is extremely colourful, hipster and it breathes life into the boring solemn Covent Garden streets. I've got to say though, only make the trip down if you love taking photos.

8. Regent Street

Regent Street is also considered a tourist attraction because it's the Orchard Road of London. It's nevertheless worthy to join my photo collection because the street decoration always changes. I like this particular photo a lot with all the British flags laid out to commemorate events like their National Day, the Queen's Birthday, Prince Harry's Wedding, etc. It wasn't like that when I was here in December where the streets were alight with wonderful Christmas Decorations. 

9. Saint Aymes

The picture says it all. People come here to take beautiful photos for their grams. The purple wisteria decorated at the shop front is a clear winner among cafe-goers. People queue to sit at the front 3 tables outside the cafe and take display photos. The cafe even has to put a time limit for those sitting on these tables. I wrote an article of the food here. *It's best to visit on a weekday afternoon, I managed to grab a table outside without waiting even though I only had an hour to sit. 

10. Sketch

You are staring at probably the most aesthetically pleasing toilet ever. Stepping into the washroom of Sketch, I got somewhat disoriented. It felt like you got transported to some fantasy world dazzled with egg-shaped cubicles and luminated lights. It's really weird to be in a toilet where you can't find the sink but you see chambermaids (with full attire) walking around and lots of people holding up cameras everywhere. Sketch serves fantastic afternoon tea so not to worry, the toilet is really the icing on the cake.  

*I'm still more into food than scenery but I feel it's important to share awesome holiday venues and enjoyable experiences. For a more regular update of my experiences, visit my Instagram.