Crumbs to Crunch

Too long have I been frequenting chains in London for a cup of tea so it was high time to discover some of the tea rooms that London has to offer. When my friend sent me a message saying literary enjoyment + tea room = time well spent as she suggested that we go to the Charles Dickens Museum, I was completely won over. What a fantastic formula! So firstly literary enjoyment: I really enjoyed reading Bleak House so it was incredible to see the very desk where Dickens wrote his many masterpieces. The house was filled with all his books and possessions that I could get a real sense of what it must have been like to live there in Victorian England.  Literary enjoyment check, now for the tea room! The tea room had quite a Victorian feel as they used lots of old fashioned furniture as well as selling ye olde drinks such as Dandelion and Burdocke. More importantly the cakes were simply divine! I wolfed down a gorgeously gooey chocolate and fresh raspberry brownie and my friend ...

Some of the best food can be discovered at stalls on the street as the lovely aroma of freshly cooked food entices you to taste something that you have never tried before. Therefore when we saw a girl in a hut in Vallouise deep frying some pastry parcels, we couldn't resist buying some of these peculiar treats. We found out that these pastries are called Tourtons which are a speciality in Vallouise. They are basically deep fried pastry with a variety of fillings from sweet, such as apple, to savoury. There was so much choice for savoury Tourtons- we bought ones filled with potato and lardons, reblochon (an alpine cheese) and cheese and leek. They were all wonderfully creamy inside which contrasted well with the crunchy exterior. At only 55 cents per Tourton, it was hard to restrain ourselves from buying a whole tray! After tasting this delightful local dish, we are resolved to try out more street food to see what other goodies we can discover!

Summer has arrived at last which means time to go to the beach! If you cannot afford to fly to a sunny beach in Spain then you could go to the next best thing - the great British seaside. For my beach trip, I had a lovely day out in Barry Island which is only a 30 minute train ride away from Cardiff. You may know Barry from the TV series Gavin and Stacey. However, I associate Barry with my friend who is a local and knows an extraordinary amount of fun facts about the town. For example, did you know that... Barry was the largest coal exporter in the world or that Barry has the second largest tidal range in the world? Not bad for a humble British beach resort!  Barry Island Barry Island has a great sandy beach which can get quite crowed on a sunny day so if you are craving a bit of solitude, I would recommend walking over the headland to Jackson's Bay to find a beautiful sandy beach. Jackson Bay However it would not be a proper day out without a stop at a tearoom ...

When it comes to food, you should never be afraid to experiment, you could end up creating something amazing and delicious. Takayangi have certainly done just that. This is French Patisserie with a Japanese twist. At first glance, the cakes look like traditional French fare, however upon closer inspection you notice that they have carefully incorporated Japanese ingredients. These cakes offer a whole host of new flavours, making an interesting and tasty afternoon tea. We had a strawberry and rhubarb tart topped with Yuzu flavoured meringue. Yuzu is a Japenese citrus fruit, and added a delectable tang to the meringue. Even more out there was the black sesame mousse cake topped with a sesame tuile. We're not sure if we've ever seen grey food before, but trust me, this tasted delicious! Also, we tend to associate sesame with savoury, but we might just have to change our minds! We can't recommend Takayangi enough. This patisserie just goes to show that a mélan...

Recently, we visited Marseille on what turned out to be a sadly rainy day. Unsurprisingly, our thoughts quickly turned to our stomachs and the cosy dry interior of a cafe. Cup of Tea fitted our needs perfectly. A cafe cum bookshop, Cup of Tea combines two of my favourite things within its serene interior. We headed up to the mezzanine so as not to disturb the people reading below, and found ourselves face to face with a wonderfully extensive tea menu. We ordered the caramel Rooibos, which smelt delicious and came in a teapot big enough to provide 3 cups of tea, justifying the €4 price tag. The real show stopper for us though was the tart- apple, raspberry and rhubarb, decorated with delicate little almond flakes. This combination was such a winner that we tried to recreate it at home. Somehow it wasn't quite as good, so I guess I'll just have to go back to Marseille then!

As summer comes into full swing, we sometimes find ourselves looking around for a cooling alternative to a cup of tea. The best substitute that we have found is granita. The granita at BamBar, Taormina Originally from Italy, granita is reminiscent of a posh 90s slush puppy. In its most basic form, a street pedlar wheels around a trolley of crushed ice and pours lemon syrup on top. Delicious, refreshing, easy and cheap! On the opposite end if the scale, you have the BamBar granita of Taormina, Sicily. Made with fruit fresh from this morning's market, this local institution draws in diverse celebrities from Italian pop star Zucchero to Antonio Banderas (according to the pictures on the walls). But our latest find was Haden in Pavia. All the fresh fruit is laid out for you to decide on your flavour, Then it is quickly blended up with ice and syrup for instant summer refreshment. For the same experience slightly closer to home, we recommend the College H...