A foodie paradise

Hello, you beautiful people! How are you this fine Sunday evening? Did you get to enjoy this lovely week (#not)? Mine was terribly busy with work, looking for a new place to live and with everything else combined. I am telling you, I will be so happy when everything becomes quieter again! Right now though, I have to focus (come on Sophie, you can do this!) and talk to you about one of the best festivals you can visit in London, which is the Eat and Drink festival. It’s just a pity that it only happens twice per year, every end of March-beginning of April and just before Christmas! I would definitely like to visit quarterly, but that’s quite a dream!

From the first time I visited, I loved it! If you’ve been following this blog, you will know that I have already dedicated two posts describing my experience at the Eat and Drink festival Christmas edition and at the Ideal Home Show. We had such a great time there, plenty of food (I still remember the brownies….), and in general it was lovely there. I only regret that we hadn’t stayed for longer there, but as you will see, the same can be applied to this time!

So, my other half and I met outside Olympia around 11 and there was still a huge queue outside the exhibition centre! To be completely honest I was surprised by that, because it was an hour after the opening. But I wouldn’t complain that much, as you know what? (And I give you permission to feel all envious of me!) I got two free tickets for the festival from Londonist! Have I told you how much I love their site and their work? I’d definitely love to work with them, sometime in the future, but for now we enjoyed spending a sunny early afternoon in London and tasting some amazing food and visiting all the stalls.

At first, we explored the floor where the festival was held and some stalls of the Ideal Home Show that were adjacent to it. There were several stalls that we felt were very compelling, like the one with Toffee Vodka, which was incredibly sweet! I was tempted, my boyfriend not so much, saying “I am trying to get her drunk!” Ah, my life is brilliant! 🙂 We also saw a wonderful pots and pans demo by Neoflan, so much so I am convinced they are one of the best on the market!

After all these demonstrations and visiting around, we were hungry so I chose a spinach and feta pie with two salads – a simple greek salad and a tasty potato salad, with onion and mustard – while he chose a pancake with all the meat and cheese and veggies you could possibly have! The one thing that really made the difference in my opinion was that the pancake was so fluffy you cannot imagine! I guess they had a secret for the batter, but I don’t know what! My plate on the other hand was exactly what I needed, so light and fresh, but substantial at the same time. The mustard was a bit spicy for me, but that’s understandable as it was Dijon mustard, while the pie reminded me of home and my mum’s baking!

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to watch Aldo Zilli cooking and demonstrating, as he appeared just before we arrived and at 11.50, while we were busy watching another demo. However, we managed to visit two tables full of cakes that didn’t look real at all, and a stall with the most amazing cheese ever! Snowdonia Cheese Company offers some tasty cheddar cheese and we couldn’t leave without buying 3 trickles! We selected an Amber Mist, a Green Thunder and a Ruby Mist; I loved completely the first two, the one with whiskey and the other one with garlic, while the third one with brandy and port left me indifferent. The best part is that with the three cheeses we were given a free wedge, so all the better for us! Cheese-lovers unite!

We also stopped at Oddono’s, who have some of the best Italian ice-cream I’ve tasted in London! Their moto is one of the best I’ve seen around “Life’s too short to eat bad ice-cream” and I can get full behind that! We had small cups of ice-cream (I couldn’t eat more even if I tried!) and were served by a fellow Greek! She was fantastic, even if she first thought we were Spanish! Apparently our accent is similar. Their ice-cream is a stuff of legends and I wholly recommend it! If you are ever in Battersea, I’d suggest that you try it.

After a wander around the ground floor, at the Ideal Home Show, we left. I believe that it was a great way to spend our Saturday morning and early afternoon, so keep your eyes peeled for the Christmas edition come November! It’s a fantastic opportunity to gain inspiration for Christmas and Christmas dinner. I will definitely be back then!

Till next time,

Sofia-Maria