The Ambrosia Bistro

Saturdays are great for lunch with friends! Today I did exactly that. My friend the MD of Four Corner Interiors suggested a lovely place for a girls day out; The Ambrosia Bistro at the Verta Hotel in Battersea. It was such a nice place for a relaxed, classy meal. What made it even nicer was the fact that all their menu was halal and they had few mocktails! The atmosphere was inviting and quiet. I liked the interior of the place. It was Chinese inspired in the art works with a contemporary twist in their furniture selection. The service was spot on. We ended up staying there for few good hours. Let the pictures speak for themselves! enjoy. 

The cacti look great on the table! My friend brought them as a gift for each one

The menu! You can get an idea of the prices

Who can resist a virgin Piña colada? 

The mouthwatering starters 

my delicious main

A desert was must after few hours! Their chocolate crème brûlée was one of the best ones I ever had!
Their Darjeeling tea was quiet nice as well 

We headed to the lounge to check out the interior design 

Overall, it was a great choice and we had a very nice experience. I would surly go there again on a special occasion. It's fine dining so it's more of a treat than a weekly affair. 

Alounak Persian Restaurant

Yesterday the weather was very typical London. The first half of it was CRAZY rain, but the second half was full of sunshine! Thankfully, I was out for the second half. I met up with a friend and started the afternoon with a visit to the Leighton House Museum and followed by the loveliest dinner at Alounak Persian Restaurant. It was in Notting Hill Gate. My friend and I were starving by the time we got there and it was such an amazing treat!  

Address: 44 Westbourne Grove, London W2 5SH

The decor of the place was really cozy. You enter and the first thing you see is the traditional bread oven and you get a whiff of the freshly made bread and your mouth instantly water. I loved the various geometric patterns around and on the door.    

The choice of light and ceiling treatments fitted right in, but they were minimal, which made the place feel a little darker than necessary.

The big glass traditional lights over the till/beverages area are really nice and add a very traditional touch to the place. 

The food was GORGEOUS! very delicious and super filling. We had appetisers too, but couldn't wait to devour them and I didn't even realize I didn't take a picture till they were gone in my tummy.  

The place was very comfortable and their service was lovely, which made my friend and I stay there for few hours! I think we were there for nearly three and a half hours. We Had their cardamon and mint tea, which was heavenly. Their desert were also delicious. It was well worth it.   

Beautiful pots. One had the strong tea and the other had the water to lighten it up

I highly recommend the place and will be surly going there again. 

Yalla Yalla Beirut Street Food

It was pouring rain, but I was dying of hunger after class! The plan was to go to an Indian restaurant in Shoreditch with my lovely friend and classmate Aima. 

In google we trusted and kept walking. We figured that we will be on transports most of the trip and with only a ten minute walk we thought we will survive the rain. The thought of curry and fresh naan motivated us. The walk turned to over half an hour of us getting lost and of google lying to us! At the end we used city mapper and that gave us accurate results only to arrive and to get told that it's at least 45mins wait!!

We were so hungry and then there it was! A yellow light guiding us! 

Maybe I am exaggerating a little. We just looked up the closest halal place next to our location and it was Yalla Yalla. 

A lovely little shawarma parlour. I loved the yellow and all of their branding. It was located in a temporary structure -pop up place- that resembled a tent. 

The floor was just small gravel which felt kind of authentic to me. There were other food cart/mini restaurants over there, but my tummy was begging for some halal chicken. 

The menu was really nice very tiny. A small folded up page that opened up. The choices were limited to shawarma, falafel and mezzes. 

Service was good and quick since it wasn't that busy. 

I tried their ftoush, kebah and chicken shawarma. I know it sounds like a lot but I was really hungry lol. I did take the rest home for lunch the next day. The level of shwarma was pretty good. To me it tasted like Beirut Nights, the place everyone is raving about and saying it was the best shwarma in London. I think most shawrmas taste the same :p

Overall, it was a lovely adventure that led to discovering a tasty place. Only issue was the backless seats. A lot of restaurants are doing them now. They are very uncomfortable. The human back needs support lol. Other than that, it's a nice place to get a quick bite in Shoreditch.