A taste of Calcutta at Paro in Covent Garden

Nearly seven years ago I had the absolute pleasure to review City Spice in Brick Lane. It's still one of my favourite restaurants, and I make sure to take friends to it when they're visiting London. However, it's not very central and I'm not often in Brick Lane these days. So I am thrilled that its executive chef, Niaz Caan, has opened a brand-new Indian restaurant smack-down in the centre of town: Covent Garden. Paro officially opened its doors in October and it's already buzzing.

Chambers: Multi-Dimensional Dining With Gingerline

[AD – invited] Immersive theatre experiences have become all the rage in recent years. From Alice's Adventures Underground underneath the Vaults in Waterloo through to slapstick comedy The Faulty Towers Dining Experience set in an actual hotel, there is something to enjoy for all stagey tastes. One company that has mastered the art of immersive adventures is Gingerline, well-known for their Chambers of Flavours series. They combine an imaginative theatrical journey into the unknown with a surprising fine dining experience.

Honey Bee Afternoon Tea at Dalloway Terrace

My friend Laura from Laura Patricia Rose and I do love a good themed afternoon tea. I think my favourite one we've tried together is still the Autumn Afternoon Tea at Emmeline's Lounge in the Conrad London St. James hotel, but the Honey Bee Afternoon Tea at Dalloway Terrace – a location beautifully decked out in vibrant flowers and buzzing bees befitting the tea's theme – has got to be a very close second.

An Authentic Taste of Italy at Venerdi in East London

Pizza, pasta, panna cotta... Italy gets all of the best foods starting with a 'p', apparently, but you don't have to make the trek all the way down to the sunny south to be able to sample some of these delicious dishes for yourself. Most of us will be familiar with the many Italian chain restaurants London has to offer but while they're convenient for a quick bite, they lack an authenticity that can really transport you to a sweltering hot Mediterranean day. Cosy restaurant Venerdi in East London's Hackney brings the essence of real Italian food right onto our doorstep with the deep flavours of fresh home-made pasta, quality buffalo mozzarella and the most scrumptious white pizza steeped in cheese and truffle you'll ever have.

Dinner at The Elephant's Head in Hackney

Known for its hipster residents and eclectic mixture of shops, Hackney has become one of the most liveable areas in London in recent years. The East London borough han't only had a boom in independent coffee shops and artisan cafes but the restaurants have seen an evolution too. One such a foodie destination is the Elephant's Head – a traditional pub, restaurant and cocktail bar wrapped into on – which after a series of incarnations has recently returned to its Hackney hot spot under its original guise.

Bottomless Brunch at Bounce: Ping Pong, Pizza & Prosecco

I'm a huge fan of brunch (so much so that last week I had a double brunch weekend!), and I love discovering new restaurants that put on a scrumptious spread. Especially if they give their own twist to the traditional brunch, and that's exactly what Bounce has done. They offer unlimited pizza, Prosecco and Ping Pong madness for two whole hours and I had the opportunity to check it out for myself this weekend.

Wyld Afternoon Tea at Mondrian London

I love my themed afternoon teas, having enjoyed an autumnal tea, a Beauty and the Beast one and another in a library in the last year alone. So when my birthday came around last month and it was time to decide on a place to go, needless to say afternoon tea was high on the list. There were a few different location that all sounded great (and I will be checking out this year so stay tuned) but the one we went for this time around was the botanical tea, and it was delightful.

A Tale as Old as Time Afternoon Tea at The Town House

Themed afternoon teas are all the rage right now. Whether you'd like to try something autumnal or a touch of Wonderland, there is an afternoon tea to suit every mood. The latest one to join the ranks is the A Tale as Old as Time afternoon tea at Town House (though this isn't the first one to take inspiration from Disney's Beauty and the Beast I've tried), which was a particularly well-thought out menu with intricate details of the classic animated film reflected both in the food choices and the place setting. We even had the real Mrs Potts and Chip looking on while we tried 'the grey stuff', alongside Lumiere lighting our table and an adorable little edible Cogsworth as a part of the sweets selection.

Autumn Afternoon Tea at Emmeline's Lounge, Conrad London St. James

I have mentioned many a times before that autumn is my favourite season, and with the leaves turning beautifully bright again my friend Laura and I planned a proper autumnal day in London last weekend. I'm posting a blog on all things autumn you can enjoy in the city soon, but one of the things we did was so cool (and photogenic) that it deserves its own post: Autumn Afternoon Tea at Emmeline's Lounge in the Conrad London St. James.

Literary Edinburgh: Afternoon Tea at Colonnades in the Signet Library

It's been a while seen my last travel post because life has been crazy busy, but I am finally continuing with my Edinburgh series! As this blog started out as a book one I always love it when I can write posts with a literary connection and my Scottish getaway was filled with bookish inspiration. One of the first things I discovered during my research is that you can have afternoon tea in an actual library, how cool is that? We of course had stop by for a visit and it was one of the highlights of our trip. Not only were our surroundings in the Signet Library stunning, but the afternoon tea delights on offer were as scrumptious as they were inspired.

Dinner at the Bite Me Burger Co. Pop Up in Holborn

I love foodie pop-ups and one of the newest to make its way to London is Bite Me Burger Co., which opened in Holborn last month in a temporary residency inside Hong Kong café Cha Chaan Teng and will receive more pop-ups across London, including in Soho and in West London, throughout the summer – in addition to offering deliveries and catering. Bite Me Burger is the brain child of award-winning chef Adam Rawson who made a name for himself as the winner of the Slider Decider competition two consecutive years and, unsurprisingly, sliders are front and centre on the menu.

World Burger Tour Launch at Hard Rock Cafe London

Last week I made my first visit to the London branch of The Hard Rock Cafe (well... its Back Room location just across the road) for the launch of their brand new World Burger Tour menu. Offering four unique burgers with flavours from across the globe, and matching cocktails to boot, this is a super fun addition to their existing offerings for any burger lovers who want to try something new and unique.

Brunch at Brownies & downieS in Emmen, Netherlands

I love checking out places to eat that are just a tad different and so on my visit home last week I had to pop into Brownies & downieS, which serves a huge selection of delicious lunchroom and coffee shop food and drinks. The thing that makes them stand out from the crowd (in addition to their excellent food, of course)? Many of the staff members, from waiting staff to the chefs creating beautifully plated dishes in the kitchen, have intellectual disabilities and the restaurant provides training opportunities and jobs for them which are often hard to come by in the hospitality sector. Hence its hugely catchy and fun name.

Trying Healthy Drinks at 42 Juice in Brighton

I've been really into fresh fruit and veg juices lately, especially ginger shots and any combination that has carrot and orange in it. I love smoothies too and I make those at home but for juices I don't have the right equipment (yet). So I'm always on the look-out for new juice places to try out and I heard great things about 42 Juice in Brighton. Not only do they serve a huge selection of cold-pressed juices, freshly prepared smoothies, shots, and alkaline waters, but their interior is super Instagrammable too. ♥

Trying the Gousto Food Box – Is It Worth It?

I love spending time in the kitchen and I cook most of my dinners myself from scratch, but I do sometimes feel I'm making the same dishes over and over again. While I have shelves full of cookery books and I love flicking through them, salivating over the scrumptious imagery within their pages, they rarely inspire me to actually cook outside of my comfort zone right then and there, because I don't have all the necessary ingredients at hand. Gousto perfectly solves that dilemma by not only having enticing food photography on their website and recipe cards, but by also providing you with everything you need to recreate the dishes in one handy box, delivered straight to your door. I'd heard a lot about this foodie subscription service before and I was keen to put them to the test myself. Is cooking with Gousto as effortless and delicious as it sounds?

A Brunchy Lunch at Redroaster Coffee Co in Brighton

Before hitting up Brighton over the last Bank Holiday weekend with the always lovely Laura Patricia Rose, I'd made a list of places I wanted to visit mainly based on recommendations from fellow bloggers and vloggers. One I'd come across was Redroaster Coffee Co, a café and lunch room that with marbled tables and a leafy green interior, provided the perfect backdrop for some very Instagram-worthy snaps, not to mention a delicious brunch to boot.

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience at Amba Hotel Charing Cross

I'm not normally a fan of immersive theatre. I once was 'picked on' with a card trick during a show and I still break out in cold sweat when I go to anything with audience participation and one of the actors locks eyes with me. However, I grew up on brilliant comedy series Fawlty Towers and I love eating out, so despite normally distancing myself of immersive theatre I was very keen to check out the Faulty Towers Dining Experience. And I am so very glad I did, because this is a fantastic combination of a farce, improvisation and a hearty meal in a stunning location.

Dinner at City Spice on Brick Lane

Brick Lane is a vibrant, multi-cultural area in London know for its diverse array of restaurants and shops with flavours from around the world, making it a popular destination for foodies. During the day there are street markets where you can sample the delights from lots of different countries at once, whereas in the evening it's more of a going out and dining destination. I'd not visited at night before and was delighted to do so to try the dishes at the award-winning City Spice.

Beauty and the Beast afternoon tea with Alan Menken

I love Disney. I'm sure I'm not the only one having grown up on the Disney films and going to Disneyland for special celebrations, but even as an adult I still have collectibles around the house, I go see all new films in cinema, and I adore visiting the happiest place on earth. So when I received an unexpected invite for a Beauty and the Beast-themed musical afternoon tea at the Corinthia Hotel to celebrate the new live-action film with legendary composer Alan Menken performing a medley of his most famous songs I felt like I'd won the lottery.

Dinner at Brown's Covent Garden

Situated next to the Noel Coward Theatre in London's West End, Brown's Coven Garden is the perfect lunch or dinner spot to combine with a stagey outing. And as someone who spends many evenings a week in this area of the capital, I loved checking this one out. With a combination of seasonal dishes, well-know dinner fare made to a high standard, and signature cocktails, the menu is perfect for those who want something familiar and homely with an added touch of finesse and a little razzle dazzle, befitting its location.