Where to spend the day in London Bridge

The London Bridge area is one of my favourite places in London. You have the River Thames to enjoy, Borough Market to stuff your face, numerous pubs to enjoy a beer and landmarks such as the Shard to enjoy. If you can find hotels near the Shard to stay, you won't have to worry about catching the last train home. 

First up on any itinerary should be a trip to the incredible Borough Market. Yes it can sometimes feel like a tourist trap but it is 100% worth a visit. You'll be greeted with some incredible food and will want to go with empty bellies. I recommend heading to Borough Kitchen and sampling some of the food stalls. All under cover, get there early so you can grab a seat and table. You should seek out the juicy jerk chicken from Rudies and have a huge scotch egg from Scotchtails. If you love Spanish tapas than Brindisa Kitchen Bar is perfect for all your croquette needs. 

You'll never be able to sample all of the food on offer in one day so I like to go around my favourite stalls to buy products to take home. Nothing beats a picky tea right? I always have to make sure to pop into Spice Mountain. They do an insane amount of different spices, lots of which you'll never find in your local Tesco! The Brindisa shop is perfect for cured meats and unusual cheeses. If you're a fan of olives then you must take a detour to Borough Olives for a pot. The sweet peppers are also worth trying. It's essential to buy a cinnamon swirl from Bread Ahead to save for later. Controversially I prefer them over their doughnuts!  

When the crowds of the market get too much, sneak down the side roads and make your way to the Anchor pub. Although it looks directly over the river you'll nearly always find a seat as it is pretty big. Take your time to walk upstairs to seek one out. It also has a fantastic terrace overlooking the Thames, a fab place to enjoy a glass of wine during the summer months. Or even the winter months if you're prepared to wrap up warm!

Once you've quenched your thirst and had a wander along the river, no doubt you'll build up your appetite again. Flat Iron Square is a pretty new food market. They often show sports on a large screen so it's great if you want to catch a match. It's filled with a few bars and a undercover selection of food stalls. It's a lot less busy than Borough Market so you should be ok to get a seat. This time we opted to hunt down Mother Clucker for their chicken strips. Make sure you ask for their Guinness gravy. You won't regret it!

Do you have a favourite place to visit in the London Bridge area?

The spending money was gifted by Hotels.com but all views are my own

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Restaurant review: Breddos Tacos, Clerkenwell, central London

Tacos are one of those foods that I don't eat often but when I do, I wonder why the hell I don't eat them more often. For my birthday lunch last week I decided to opt for Breddos Tacos. I had tried their tacos at Taste London a few years back but had yet to visit their sit-in restaurant in Clerkenwell. This all changed last Thursday and now I'm already planning a trip back with friends. Spoiler alert... It was absolutely divine!

We booked a table for 12pm as I had a birthday surprise to look forward too. I would recommend booking because it's an area popular with city workers and the restaurant was heaving by 12.30. You don't want to miss out on getting a table! We arrived pretty hungry and definitely had eyes bigger than our bellies when we finally ordered.

I am a sucker for guacamole so will always, always order that if I see it on the menu. This version came with a mountain of chips and had a slight kick to it. I loved the added extra of the pistachio crumbs to add some texture. It was a fairly big portion and was more than enough for two people to share. Our second starter was the Queso. I had such high hopes for this but it just fell a little flat. It didn't really have any flavour, just a generic cheddar cheese flavour. A bit of a disappointment.

First up were the Baja fish tacos which were insanely good. Seriously I'd go back and order just a dozen of these all to myself. The batter was so light and they certainly didn't scrimp on the filling. The habanero mayo tied it all perfectly together. Next up were the confit pork belly tacos. These were a little chewy but the flavour was on point. I loved the contrast of the fresh cucumber. I'd recommend getting the Masa fried chicken tacos to try. Again with that gorgeous habanero mayo, I loved the addition of the red cabbage. We couldn't resist leaving without trying a burrito. Something we totally didn't need but we took one for the team. Bursting at the seams with spinach, black beans and avocado, we opted for the one filled with tender braised beef shin. It was tasty but not a patch on the tacos we tried. I'd definitely opt for the tacos over a burrito any day and advise you do the same.

Service was pretty attentive and our food came out in timely fashion. It's in a great little location in central London, not too far from the Barbican. It isn't one of the cheapest places I've eaten in London but it was worth every penny. I'd highly recommend anyone making a special trip to that part of town. I'm after the cookbook now to try and recreate those tacos at home!

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Restaurant review: My Neighbours the Dumplings, Clapton, east London

Connor first heard of this restaurant from the Off Menu podcast with Ed Gamble and James Acastor. We've been trying to build up a list of restaurants in London to try with the view to having a day out, just us two, once a month. First on our list was My Neighbours The Dumplings. We chose it because it's based in Clapton and we wanted to scout some wedding locations. It's all getting real now!

My Neighbours The Dumplings is a Chinese dumpling house and sake bar based in east London. They have a separate menu for lunch and for dinner, we opted to visit for lunch this time. We arrived about 12.30 and it was pretty empty but within 30 minutes it really started to fill up and created a buzzing atmosphere. Keen to try as much as we could, we decided to order every dumpling on the menu. Our best decision of the day!

Keep in mind the food doesn't arrive all at once so expect it to be staggered. So what did we order? Juicy lamb and coriander dumplings, fragrant wonton soup with pork and prawn, tasty veggie dumplings and steamed squid and cod dumplings. The lamb and coriander dumplings won the taste test hands down. I could have ordered three more portions! Although we could have eaten more, we left lunch feeling satisfied but not over stuffed which made a nice change! I would recommend ordering a couple more dishes if you're particularly hungry as four portions won't be enough.

My Neighbours The Dumplings was delicious and I'm so glad we finally got to tick it off the list. I thought the prices were a little high but this is hipster land! Service was pretty attentive and we didn't feel like we were being rushed. I don't think I would rush back especially to visit but if I found myself in Clapton again then I would definitely hit it up. I want to try the dinner menu as the crispy pork belly sounds absolutely delicious.

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Restaurant review: Palatino, Old Street, east London

A couple of weeks ago my favourite internet pals and I popped along to Palatino for Hannah's birthday. The reason she picked that place? The £25 deal for unlimited pasta for two hours on a Saturday. She didn't have to ask us twice to attend!

Within walking distance from the Barbican and not as close to Old Street station as it says on the website, the restaurant is in a rather obscure location in the city. It's not hard to find but it's not really surrounded by much so it feels like you have to to hunt it down. You can have the option of choosing to add unlimited prosecco for £14 per person for 90 minutes. We decided to give this a miss this time.

So what pasta can you choose from? Anything from the Primo section of the menu. This includes cacio e pepe, ravioli di zucca, bombolotti romanesco, anchovy and breadcrumbs, spaghetti alla vongole, veal rigatoni and a pasta of the day. They are more than willing to veganise any dish. My favourites included the carbonara which was the special and the delicious rigatoni. The portions looked small but in reality were great sizes for sharing. We all tucked in quite happily!

Service was a bit slow and they wasn't too forthcoming in offering you the chance to order more pasta dishes. It took quite a while before someone even took our drinks order. Luckily we were starting to get a bit full so we didn't mind the waiting. But I can imagine it will get annoying really  quick if you're still hungry. I loved the vibe of the restaurant, it had a great mix of people and lovely floor to ceiling windows, letting the winter sun in. I'm not sure I'd go back but I do think it's a great deal for £25 and I felt like I completely got my money's worth. There are just so many other different places to try in London!

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Four places where you should eat if you visit Birmingham

Digbeth Dining Club
This was a suggestion from Iain on Instagram and I'm so glad we managed to fit it in. If you've ever been to one of the Street Feast locations in London then this is very similar. Digbeth remindS me a bit of Shoreditch. It's pretty gritty and full of street art but lots of hipster bars and restaurants. Boasting numerous bars and street food stalls, Digbeth Dining Club is a great place to hang out for a few hours eating some good food and enjoying some ice cold beer. My friend Jay went for some steamed buns which I can confirm were absolutely delicious. I had some sriracha smothered fried chicken strips which were delightfully mouth-tingling and very addictive. We decided to share a trio of deep fried cookie dough desserts which were just as sickly and delicious as they sound! Keep in mind there is a £2 cash charge to get in but the stall do accept card.

Wayland's Yard
This was a cracking suggestion from Emma via Twitter. Gotta love social media! Located just footsteps from the Bull Ring it's a great shout if you're staying nearby. Emma recommended the eggy crumpets which I definitely had to try as soon as I knew they existed. I loved the cool vibe of the cafe and service was so friendly. I highly recommend grabbing a cronut for the road as they were delicious!

Original Patty Men
This was a suggestion by Roisin who told me I would love it and she was 100% right! Located not too far from the Bull Ring in Digbeth under some railway arches, this burger joint offers five different types of burgers alongside some specials. I opted for the spicy Korean inspired patty with lashings of gochujang sauce. Perfect! Jay and I shared chicken chunks which were more or less giant thighs and a portion of O.D.B fries. A delicious concoction of triple cooked skin on fries topped with an addictive nice mix, house slaw, coriander, lime, sriracha mayo, crispy fried onions and chopped spring onion. They were one of the best fries I have ever had. Such a dreamy combination.

Indian Brewery Co
I read about this place on Time out and it piqued my interest because it reminded me a bit of Dishoom in London. Whilst not as good as Dishoon it was a pretty solid shout. We opted for around four dishes to share between us so we could try a bit of everything. Stand out dishes for me included the paneer roti roll and crispy chicken Bombay bites. Sadly they were in the process of moving their brewery so we couldn't try some of their special beers.

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Restaurant review: Gunpowder, Tower Bridge, London

I am so out of the loop with restaurants in London at the moment. I seem to have really cut down on going into town at the weekends to try out all the new places. But I'm keen to rectify this and start eating out a bit more! A good few weeks ago I finally did try someone new with Hannah and Sarah before we saw the incredible Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge Theatre.

Labelling themselves as a home-style Indian kitchen, the branch overlooking Tower Bridge is Gunpowder's second location after Spitalfields in east London. We decided to opt for the weekend brunch menu and what a great shout on our part. Brunch is my favourite meals and Indian food is my favourite cuisine so I had high hopes for it. Those high hopes were thankfully met. I'm a sucker for any type of baked eggs dish so went for the South Indian style eggs served with sourdough toast and salli. They were delightedly spicy, enough to put hairs on your chest and give you a runny nose! The portion was a great size and went down a treat.  We also opted for a portion of okra fries which were extremely addictive and bhuna aubergine and roast cheese salad which was the star of the show. So much more delicious that I ever expected. The aubergine was A*. I stole a couple of slices of Hannah's chutney cheese sandwich which was so nostalgic, updated with a spicy kick. Made with what tasted like Hovis' basic white bread from my childhood years and endless cheese oozing out, it was amazing and I could have eaten another portion immediately after.

I'm looking forward to going back and trying the evening menu. It isn't a cheap place to eat and prices will add up if you start getting eyes bigger than you belly with the ordering of small plates. But the food was delicious that I have a feeling it will be 100% worth it. Set out over two floors with some swoon-worthy interiors, it's a great option if you find yourself in the area.

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