I've been looking for an excuse to re-visit Launceston Place since my first visit in January 2010, so when I got some D&D vouchers for a present, there was only one place I was going to go!
We weren't disappointed on our return trip. The lamb was excellent once again and I loved my apple tart dessert. The staff can be slightly aloof, but apart from that it remains one of my favourite places in London.
My parents were down visiting and we took them on a quick gourmet tour to buy some ingredients for us to then cook for them. First stop was Paul A Young's new Soho shop, where we got a selection of chocs and a jar of salted caramel, which was absolutely fantastic. It's expensive at £7+ a jar, but it has to be one of my favourite sweet things ever. I hid the jar from Grace so she didn't steal it all!
We then went to La Fromagerie to pick up some cheese, before popping next door for some steaks from the Ginger Pig.
In between we popped into Fortnum and Mason for a decadent ice-cream sundae. We greedily had one each (together with the moreish melted chocolate sauce) and all completely devoured them.
Ice cream was a theme for August with trips to Haagen Dazs cafe, Gelupo and Scoop. I'm planning a full post on all these places soon.
I had my first trip to Meson Don Felipe on the Cut near Waterloo with work colleagues and was left slightly underwhelmed after previously hearing ok things about it. This was bog standard tapas, served in a slapdash manner and it just seemed like a place that has seen better days, which is a shame.
The difference in quality to Camino, which I re-visited a few weeks later was huge. The Presa Iberica (Iberico black pig shoulder blade cooked medium-rare) remained a firm favourite.
The other major disappointment in August was having to cancel a planned trip to Roganic, which seems to be picking up plenty of plaudits. Hopefully we'll make it soon.
On the plus side, we had a return visit to the excellent Banana Leaf curry house in Croydon and enjoyed another trip for breakfast to Bill's, although it was the Brighton branch this time.