It’s been several months since our trip to Europe and yet I’m still feeding you stories of our travels in London. I apologise Dear Reader, I still have some stories on our 2 day stopover in Tokyo on the way back. Arbutus is a 1 starred Michelin restaurant in London, named after the Arbutus tree (another name for strawberry tree) that grows in nearby Soho Square.

The Menu

Tonight, we’re given the menu and we choose quickly as we need to leave early to make the Jack the Ripper tour. I order from the Pre theatre menu (3 courses for £17.50) and my dining companion isn’t very hungry so she orders a la carte. We let our waitress know, she’s lovely as is most of the other staff. They even apologise for it being so empty which they needn’t do. And as requested, my entree arrives quickly.

Pork porchetta with granny smith apple puree (pre-theatre menu)

The pork porchetta is absolutely lovely and soft and very thinly sliced, like the softest, thinnest, tenderest meat you could dream up.

Elwy valley lamb breast and sweetbreads, fresh borlotti beans and sweet peppers £16.95

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The view from outside the Design Museum

For those who think that London is a horrendously expensive city, you’re right. But there are some great meals to be had at a reasonable price here too. Case in point is the Blue Print cafe at London’s Design Museum. Something that you’d assume that because of the view and the fact that it’s in a Design Museum, would cost you an arm and a leg but gladly not. If you just show up prices are higher but if you book through a site like www.london-eating.com you can take advantage of their special offers that get you 3 courses for £20 and 2 courses for £15, something you wouldn’t even find in Sydney.

The Blue Print Cafe, upstairs at the Design Museum

This booking system also lets them know that my sister is a repeat customer so snagging a window table with a view is not a problem. Of course being London, the sunshine is replaced shortly by rain but it’s still a lovely view nevertheless. The service from our waitress doesn’t quite match up to the lovely view and the surroundings. The offer allows us to order anything from the menu below £7 for the starter and £17 from the mains and anything higher is a supplement of £2.50 for the entrees or £4 for the mains.

Binoculars, should you feel like seeing what everyone else is up to

We order our entrees and mains, but no dessert for us as we’re stuffed from an overload of food today. While we wait, there are blue binoculars on the table so that we can make the most of the view.

Beetroot salad, a soft boiled egg, mustard & horseradish £6.00

Our entrees arrive, the Beetroot salad, a soft boiled egg, mustard & horseradish with sweet beetroot and with a strong horseradish flavour which rules this out for me but my husband likes this dish very much indeed.

Chicken liver pâté pickles & toast £6.50

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There’s something grisly sounding yet utterly charming about going to a place called “Lower Slaughter” in the English countryside that is the Cotswolds. I’d only seen pictures of the Cotswolds but never been, so I was very curious to see the various little villages and towns that make up this picturesque area.

Especially something with Slaughter in the name. I recall Borat on the Ali G show meeting someone with the last name Slaughter who framed it as “Laughter with an S”. I suppose he had been asked about it so many times that he had to make a joke out of it. Lower Slaughter was also called the “Most Beautiful village in England” although I’m sure that’s up for furious debate amongst the locals of Gloucestershire.

We drive up to Lower Slaughter Manor, a very English looking manor house, built in 1658 and granted to the Whitmore family who commissioned celebrated stonemason Valentine Strong (whose son later became the chief stonemason for the reconstruction of St Paul’s Cathedral). The Whitmores lived there for 400 years, (lucky things) and now it is a small hotel with 19 rooms or suites.

The gardens are spectacularly beautiful, like something out of a movie set. I expect someone to come out wearing period costume and flounce about at any second. Instead we seat ourselves under one of the outdoor umbrella tables and order Afternoon Tea. Service is friendly and warm but still very polite and courteous, a fine balance given that it could have been stuffy.

It takes a while for everything to arrive but once it does, we gratefully tuck in. The afternoon tea, with a pot of Mokalbarie tea, described as “an extravagant tea, aromatic, full bodied, spicy and malty” has 4 scones, 2 plain with sultanas and 2 cinnamon with sultanas as well as a pot of clotted cream and a pot of raspberry jam. My husband orders a pot of coffee (£3.50).

Afternoon tea: scones and pot of tea £9.50

The scones are warm and the cinnamon ones are particularly good. The tea is delicious and my husband, ever the budget conscious individual looks like he has scored the jackpot “I can get 6 or more cups of coffee from this pot!” he exclaims with delight. Just like his mum said when I had afternoon tea with her last year.

We also visit Boughton-on-the-water, Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Camden, three other lovely places. Boughton-on-the-water is particularly pretty with it’s footbridges and shops and filled with many tourists and senior citizens (I presume the residents).

Boughton-on-the-Water

OK I just think they have funny names for things here

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