Piccolino in Mayfair

Piccolino is located just off of Regents Street in Mayfair. We had experienced a long day of traversing London. It was getting a bit late and the sun had set (yes, we saw sun that day). We had ventured around Carnaby Street to find a place to have dinner. Lots of imbibers had spilled out into the pedestrian walkways and everyone was LOUD. We headed to Heddon Street and settled on Piccolino and some traditional Italian fare. We were lucky that a table was available. This place, too, was busy and loud, but we were hungry and really wanted to get off of our feet.

Dinner was very enjoyable, but the conversation from the tables next to us were all the more fascinating. On one side we had two blokes out on the town. They had already had a few drinks. When the waiter delivered their meals, he dropped the dishes. Food and drink all over. Profuse apologies ensued and the manager offered to comp the fresh meals being brought out. These guys proceeded to wrangle quite a few more free cocktails before leaving as well. Brits can drink us under the table. The table on the other side of us comprised of two women who were not able to secure dates for the evening. These gals could chat up a tsunami. We finally realized why waiters in the UK always waited for us to ask for the bill. It's the only way to determine if the dinner party had finally shut up. Part of the conversation revolved around one woman's allowance. Apparently, Daddy had lowered it this year to 120,000 (pounds) and she was having a hard time living within her means. Not sure I can sympathize. She still snagged the entire bill and paid in cash. I kept wondering why her friend came for dinner.

Enough sniping for one blog post. We still had an enjoyable meal and the later it got, the calmer the restaurant became. We liked the classic cocktails (much needed) and the traditional prosciutto, Parmesan,  and mozzarella as well as the calamari. We were a bit surprised that the calamari did not include some tentacles. I appreciated the wood stone oven pizza and the different ingredients available. The porchetta and sage pizza was unusual , but tasty.

Aperol Spritz

A board of meat and cheese - Yum!

Fried Calamari

Porchetta and Sage Pizza

A Little Peek at Holland Park

London has some great green spaces. The parks feature wide open spaces, tall trees, gardens filled with color, and hidden gems. The same holds true for Holland Park. We only covered about half of the place, but discovered sculptures, a chess board, and a Japanese garden. Another plus - the parks have decent restroom facilities, too.

Churchill War Rooms

On a cloudy day we went to the Churchill War Rooms. This was a bunker in Whitehall where Winston Churchill and staff planned strategy during World War 2. In some ways this place was fascinating. The bunker is recreated as it was then. I really liked the vintage items and the signage. Because of the close quarters and the audio guide, it's hard to maneuver around. Attached to the bunker is a fairly new Churchill Museum. This place was dark and hard to follow. Most of the items required a ton of reading, but with the number of visitors, this was tough to do. If we had visited at the height of Summer, it would have been so much worse. To top it off, admission was 17 pounds. Very expensive and crowded. Not sure if it was worth it for us.

I did mange a few snaps of the bunker area, however.

Entry to Staff Sleeping Quarters. The hall was not tall enough to stand erect.

Winston's Office - He also made a few radio broadcasts from here

Remington Noiseless Typewriter

Sleeping Quarters for the minister of Information

Veritys Fan

Window to the Map Room

Durbar

A small Indian restaurant tucked away off of a main artery in Bayswater made for a lovely and not-too-expensive meal one evening. Durbar features Indian cuisine from across the subcontinent. The place was established in 1956 and has garnered various awards and have been visited by a variety of celebrities throughout its existence. The best recommendation was from a couple of Brits walking out of the restaurant after a satisfying meal  - Best in Town.

We both enjoyed the meal and the quiet atmosphere. Entree choices were many and it was very hard to decide. One of the things we noticed with several Indian restaurants around London; the menu options offered beef dishes. While we both ended up ordering chicken, we thought this aspect was interesting.

Durbar Entrance

Kingfisher Beer from India

Durbar - Interior

Onion Bhajee with Mint Sauce

Chicken Makhani - Tandoori chicken breast with a spiced tomato and butter sauce

Lorient Chicken - Chicken with onions, yogurt, tomato, pepper, and coconut

Tate Britain

Tate Britain is the sister of Tate Modern. In fact, Tate Britain was the first Tate. When Tate Modern opened Tate was renamed Tate Britain. Tate Britain focuses on British artists from 1500 to today. Tate Britain is free, except for special exhibitions. We were delighted to see the wide range of offerings. Something that seemed awfully strange: most of the art - oils, pastels, you name it, were framed with glass. The glass had some incredible glare at times. So while we were free to take photos, we had to be very selective. We still have a good time exploring the variety of UK art.

St. James's Park

St. James's Park is the oldest park in London and a royal one to boot. We enjoyed seeing the  birds, especially the pelicans.

Trafalgar Square and the Crypt Cafe

Trafalgar Square is always a must-visit spot in London. Nelson's Column with all of the tourists cornering the lions. The National Gallery sporting art that one can see for free. The entertainers who delight the crowds for tips. The 4th Plinth where some general dude on a horse statue was supposed to be erected, but no one put up the money for the guy, so it was left bare. Now it's open for a contemporary sculpture that changes frequently. Another Trafalgar Square story involves the pigeons (or lack there of). Apparently, the square used to home to tens of thousands of the urban birds. The city got tired of cleaning all of the bird crap off of Lord Nelson and the lions just could not keep up with their grooming. Now the city feeds the pigeons early in the morning and engages falcons to keep the birds at bay the rest of the time. Brilliant!

Trafalgar Square - Not a pigeon in sight

Lions - Tourist-free for the moment

The National Gallery

The 4th Plinth

Man with fire-breathing tuba

Across the street from Trafalgar Square is the little church of St. Martin in the Fields (no field in sight now). In the basement of the church is the crypt which is now hosts the Cafe in the Crypt. And it still is a crypt. We ate over grave stones. Weird, eerie, and something that we had to do. The cafe is a cafeteria that offers soups, salads, hot entrees  and sandwiches.

St. Martin in the Fields

Cafe in the Crypt

Grilled Steak Sandwich

A variety of Fentiman's beverages abounded in London. I really liked the Rose  Lemonade

The fare is simple, but decent.

The Portman

The first night we arrived in London we ate at a pub called The Portman. Pubs can be hit or miss. The food can be dreadful and the atmosphere loud and claustrophobic.  This one was about a block and a half from our hotel (The Cumberland at Marble Arch). Because The Portman was away from the major arteries, I think we were the only tourists that evening. We also arrived fairly early (jet lag was settling in) and we were able to grab a seat before the locals came in to drown their sorrows after work.

The food was very tasty and the staff were very nice since we were not familiar with the routine of ordering at the bar. I would recommend it.

Entrance to The Portman

A right proper bar. Hubby enjoyed the G & T's.

Beer Battered Haddock with Chips and Proper Mushy Peas

The Portman Burger with Smoked Cheese

The Portman is located on Upper Berkeley Street in Marylebone. Upper Berkeley turned out to be a very good street, indeed. We returned twice more to dine at other restaurants along the block.

After our satisfying pub meal we returned to The Cumberland and slept for about 12 hours.