Off to France

Last night tonight!!

Flying off to South of France tomorrow!!!

Marseille, Aix en Provence, Montpellier-- Here I come!!

Voila!!

The Green Room Bistro, Colchester

Last Thursday, managed to get another 3 doctors together for a nice meal in town :)
It was really difficult asking people out, I kept having to add that I wasn't trying to ask them out on a date!
And everyone kept laughing at me whenever I said that.

Also when I was trying to put my make up on and I took my glasses off, and after that I couldn't find them.
I was hunting around blindly in my room for them but I still could not find it!
And my friends were calling me as the taxi was coming soon, so I had to go to dinner blind!
C'est drôle!
Anakan said to me stop staring at me!
I told him I can barely see him!

So anyway for starter I had duck liver parfait, plum and orange chutney, and melba toast so this was £5.50.
and for man course I had crispy confit duck leg, root vegetable mash, fine beans and adnams jus- £13.50.
and a glass of wine-forgot what type but it was good.

For dessert, I ate some of Anakan and Zoe's lemon, passion fruit, raspberry sorbet and plum tart tartin with pistachio ice cream. Both were very good!

The meals were delicious but not amazing. I discussed this with my friend the other day and we came to the conclusion that when it came to British food, there wasn't a big difference to buy ready meals aka Marks & Spencer ready meals or freshly cooked in the restaurant. I could easily have bought the duck liver parfait and chutney at Waitrose and still have gotten a perfectly good meal out of it. People here probably go to a restaurant for the ambience and to save the hassle of cooking and cleaning. 

M&S meals are just absolutely delicious and at the time of typing this, I have a shoulder of lamb in thyme roasting in the oven with an assortment of onions, carrots and parsnips with rosemary and I can smell it and it's making me extremely hungry! 


The Green Room Bistro
51 North Hill  Colchester, Essex CO1 1PY

Gerbeaud Cafe, Coffee Houses in Budapest

During my trip to Budapest, I had the opportunity to go to one of the finest coffee houses in Budapest.
Presenting:
Café Gerbeaud
Vörösmarty tér 7., V. district, M1 metro
Open: 9.00-21.00
It is on the end of Vaci Utca, at the moment there is the Christmas market going on as well.
Really marvelous walking there.
Nothing better than walking about sipping a warm cup of mulled wine whilst admiring the beautiful streets and Christmas decorations.

So back to the cafe, I researched it before I went there.
It's is one of the oldest and most famous cafés of Europe operating since the middle of the 19th century.

Anyway the interior is just simply gorgeous, gorgeous chandeliers hanging from beautiful ceilings with marble topped tables and silk ceiling to floor curtains.

Can't remember the name of this drink I had. I think it was caramel latte?
Absolutely delicious with a layer of caramel at the bottom and whipped cream on top.
It beats all the caramel lattes I've had in the past hands down. Better than Costa, Starbucks etc.
This is probably because they use fake caramel syrup in the lattes whereas this place uses real caramel. Delicious!
Anyway this place is slightly more expensive for Hungary standard. I think it cost me about 3-4 pounds. There's also a 15% service tax. I think it's probably catered more for tourists.
Also they have lots of delicious looking cakes there, but I ate too much before and I did not have any space left in my stomach for more cakes, I was also in a rush to catch another opera there, so I could only spend half an hour in that beautiful coffee house.

Conclusion, very well worth a visit!

Hungarian State Opera House

So I am a big opera geek.

First thing I did when I arrived in Budapest, asked my host if I could watch the opera, and he was so kind, he found details on the internet for me regarding shows on and directed me to the place.

So on my first night! Off I went to the Hungarian state opera house

Address: 1061 Budapest, Andrássy Way 22, Hungary

This building is just absolutely stunning. Pictures does not even do it justice!
The architecture is just beautiful, in Baroque, neo-Renaissance style.

Grand staircase, just so opulent and grandiose.

I managed to get seats for Don pasquale in one of the box seats. I paid about 12 pounds, and was supposed to get a backseat, but the three front seats on front of me was unoccupied and I went and sat there instead. So incredibly lucky having the whole box to myself :)

The subtitles were in Hungarian and the singing was in Italian, I couldn't understand half of what was going on, but there was nice Norwegian couple sitting next to me and I was chatting to them and they kindly borrowed me their brochure.

Great performance, and very hilarious! :)