Glossybox: Six Boxes Later

Just over a year ago, I started reading about beauty subscription services such as Birchbox on various US blogs, but when their UK equivalents started popping up, I held back for a while, partly because £12.95 per month feels like a lot more of a commitment than $10. When the now-defunct Carmine launched towards the end of 2011, however, they offered the option of buying a single box--the element of surprise was removed but I knew that the products I was getting were worth the £8 I paid (with a discount). In fact, the Balance Me hand cream, Trind nail repair and Frat Boy blush from The Balm are all among my favourite products I've received from any beauty box. In the end, though, persuaded by a discount code, Glossybox was the service I picked. When I signed up, I said I would evaluate the service for six months and then decide whether or not to continue. Here are my individual reviews of the boxes I've received so far.

First, on the positive side, I love getting a package in the post tray at work each month and it's great finding out what products each box contains. For this reason, I don't mind so much if the products in a particular box aren't a) to my taste or b) worth much more than £12.95. But on the other hand, £12.95 per month is £155.40 per year, which is a sum of money I could probably put to better use buying beauty products--or other things--I really want, rather than the lucky dip of Glossybox. Another issue is that my cupboards are overflowing with beauty samples. I try to give away the ones that aren't suitable or that I don't like, but others I keep because I know I will use them eventually or because they could be good for travel. Glossybox does seem to favour certain products, such as facial moisturisers, body creams and shower gels, so these samples are queuing up on my shelves waiting for my attention.

Next, I have picked out my ten favourite products, to show the distribution of my top products across the boxes (indigo products are in the top five, lilac in the top ten). My first box, the December 2011 box, has a disproportionate number of favourites, but otherwise, most months yield one or two items I really like.

• Cargo lip gloss (December 2011 - Christmas)
• Murad skin-perfecting primer (January 2012 - Valentine's Day)
• Coco Shambhala shower gel (February 2012 - London Fashion Week)
• Burberry Lip Mist (March 2012 - Harrods)
• Inika eyeliner (April 2012 - natural beauty)
• Deborah Lippmann nail varnish (December 2011)
• Rituals foaming shower gel (December 2011)
• Blink+go make-up compact (December 2011)
• Burt's Bees milk and honey body lotion (April 2012)
• Uniq One hair treatment (May 2012)

My favourite products tend to be make-up items; this might not be obvious from the list because most months Glossybox includes at most one make-up item (if you count false lashes and nails, which I don't). I wish they included more make-up because it's more fun to try out new make-up than yet another shower gel or body lotion. Some of the anti-ageing skincare products are a little more exotic but almost all of the skincare items I have received have been inappropriate for my skin type. Another point of interest for me is that my initial rating of each box hasn't always panned out in terms of how many products I used--I gave the April box 2/5, for example, but it had two top-ten products and another item I really liked.

On balance, I should probably unsubscribe, but there is one more factor: GlossyDots. You can collect Glossybox for reviewing products (up to 100 per box) and getting friends to sign up; I also received some points for signing up to the e-newsletter. When you get 1000 points, you receive a free Glossybox and I have 800 right now. The trouble is that you are billed in the first week of the month, receive the box in the last week and tend not to get your points until the end of the next month. As I'm so close to the free box, I feel like I should keep going--at the end of June, I'll get the points from this month's box, and then at the end of July, I'll be up to 1000. By then I'll already have been billed for the July box, so my free box--and in all likelihood, my last box--will come in August.

I've really enjoyed receiving Glossyboxes for the past few months and although none of them has been as good as my first box (you always remember your first Glossybox...), it's always been fun finding out what I've got each month and testing out products I wouldn't normally have tried. My boxes have always come early on in the expected delivery period and I've never had any customer service issues. If I used beauty products more quickly, I would probably continue to subscribe but for me, nine months will be enough. I'll just have to do more of my shopping online so that I do occasionally receive exciting parcels at work.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Salt Review

Update (June 2015): Salt has closed but has been replaced by a great café called The Black Penny.

After my failed attempt to check out the coffee situation at Salt a few weeks ago, I finally made it there yesterday afternoon. It was such a beautiful sunny afternoon that it was gorgeous sitting under the shade of the awning on Great Queen Street, a relatively quiet thoroughfare at the eastern extreme of Covent Garden. I could almost pretend I was in New York.

Salt Espresso, Covent Garden

I ordered my usual macchiato--bonus points for the barista who asked how I liked it (answer: just a dash of milk and a splash of foam), and etched a little heart on top. The coffee was very good: they use Square Mile coffee and my macchiato was rich, chocolatey and flavoursome. Salt also offers a range of sandwiches, cakes and teas (ed: what is this 'tea'?), but it was too hot a day for me to order anything else. The cookies and brownies looked particularly good though.

The macchiato at Salt

Salt is slightly off my usual beaten track but I'm adding it to The Knowledge and will bear it in mind the next time I need a slightly calmer place to drink a high-quality coffee in WC2, without having to deal with the scrum at Monmouth, for instance.

Salt. 34 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5AA (Tube: Holborn or Covent Garden). Website. Twitter.

For You I'd Wait 'Til Kingdom Come

I arrived in Cannes the day after the Moonrise Kingdom premiere and thought it sounded quirky and interesting, so I was disappointed that if I wanted to see it in Cannes, I would have had to watch it dubbed into French. Unsurprisingly, I decided to wait until I was back in England. The only other Wes Anderson film I've seen is The Royal Tenenbaums, which I didn't like at all, although back then my taste in films was a lot less eclectic than it is now, so I didn't rush out to see any of his other movies. But I liked Moonrise Kingdom so much, maybe I will take a look at his back catalogue.

Moonrise Kingdom is set on a small island off the coast of New England in the summer of '65. Drawn together by their mutual sadness and their love for each other,12-year-old Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) decide to escape their unhappy home lives and run away together. Fresh out of khaki scout camp, Sam, clad in a coonskin cap, has plenty of useful kit and knowledge; the blue-eyeshadow-wearing Suzy, on the other hand, brings her pet kitten, a suitcase full of stolen library books, a record player and her favourite Françoise Hardy record.

Hot on their heels are Suzy's aggressive, lawyer parents (Bill Murray, whose character has a collection of colourful pull-ons to make even Johnnie Boden envious, and Frances McDormand), the glum island policeman (Bruce Willis), and a whole troop of overly militaristic khaki scouts, led by Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton). Sam's parents, it turns out, are dead and the couple in charge of the near-Dickensian foster home where he has been living have decided that even if Sam is recovered, he can't go back there. Oh, and there's also the mean lady from social services (Tilda Swinton), in a pre-Wonka-chewing-gum Violet Beauregard outfit, who wants to sequester Sam away in a "juveline refuge" and administer shock treatments to him. Oh, and there's also a hurricane warning in place and a potentially ill-fated performance of Noye's Fludde.

Being a Wes Anderson film, Moonrise Kingdom is very quirky and funny-odd, but it's also sweet and, at times, funny-ha-ha. Anderson's attention to detail is almost clinical throughout, but the performances are great--the two young leads, in particular, as they play bold, intelligent, idealistic kids, who often act more mature than the adults in the film, but are still ultimately kids. Their relationship is convincing and enchanting. Norton is also excellent and very funny as the scout master who doesn't want to admit that scouting is his whole life, but part of the fun of the film is seeing all the big-name stars in such random, small-town roles.

Overall, Moonrise Kingdom is well plotted, well paced and very well acted. It's funny, strange and compelling, and well worth a watch.

Glossybox May 2012: Now We Are One

This month marks Glossybox's first birthday and it's also my half-year Glossybox anniversary. When I signed up to the service, I said I would give it six months and then evaluate how much value I was getting out of the service, and I will do that in a separate post (spoiler: I like the service overall but I'm definitely wavering).

I'll just do a quick update on the products in last month's box, which was a bit disappointing for me. I have enjoyed using my Iniko eyeliner and the Figs & Rouge balm and I've also been pleased with the Burt's Bees body lotion. I love the smell and feels nice on my skin. Less successful were the two face products. I dislike the smell of the Caudalie thirst-quenching serum and it didn't really work for my skin type. The Monu collagen cream had a gorgeous fragrance but was way too rich for me. After this box, I was desperately hoping for some oily skin-appropriate skincare products (either that or no skincare products at all).

And so to the May Glossybox. As part of the birthday celebrations, Glossybox included a little branded mirror compact, which will be very useful for my desk at work, and a pink balloon. A nice touch, I thought. As for the beauty products themselves, here's what I received this month:

May 2012 Glossybox: a very full box

1. Noble Isle bath and shower gel in summer rising (75 ml). I'm pleased with this sample; I enjoy using my Glossybox shower gel samples rather than having to buy the kind of cheap shower gel I normally purchase (I scrimp on shower gel in favour of skincare). I am not enamoured with the scent--it's slightly too masculine for my taste--but it's fine and I will use this. £20 for the 250 ml full size.

2. Lolita Lempicka in L'eau en Blanc and Si Lolita (2 x 0.8 ml). My Glossybox included two fragrance samples. I quite like L'eau en Blanc, which is subtle and musky, but Si Lolita is too floral and too overpowering for me. Neither of them comes anywhere close to my all-time perfume favourite, Un Jardin en Méditerranée by Hermès, so I won't be switching any time soon. L'eau en Blanc is £49 for 50 ml and Si Lolita is £46 for 50 ml.

Top: mirror compact, Noble Isle shower gel, Uniq One hair treatment,
Weleda facial lotion. Bottom: Lolita Lempicka fragrances

3. Weleda facial cream (7 ml). My product has its name and description only in German and French but I think it is the Iris Hydrating Facial Lotion. Wow! A moisturizer for a) younger skin and b) normal-combination skin! It's a shame it's such a small sample, but I'll definitely give this a go. Thank you, Glossybox, for not sending me yet another product for dry skin. £10.95 for the 30 ml full size.

4. Uniq One all-in-one hair treatment (9 ml). This leave-in hair mask has not one but ten benefits, apparently, most of which are along the lines of protecting, smoothing and improving hair texture. It sounds like a good multi-tasker so I'll test this out and perhaps keep it as my token hair styling product for travel. Again, the sample is a little stingy, but I use hair products very slowly. £13.99 for the 150 ml full size.

5. Let's Go Lashes in temptress (full size). I don't wear false lashes and I don't have the patience to try them out. My own lashes and eyebrows are quite fair so I worry I will end up looking like a drag queen. I will be regifting these (and one of my colleagues has already claimed them). £8.95.

Total value of the products in this month's Glossybox: about £19.84. So, not a hugely high value month, although there is also the compact mirror to consider (I didn't count it in my sums). Also, almost half of the value comes from the false lashes, which I won't use.

Overall rating: 3/5. I'm pleased with the facial lotion, the hair treatment and the shower gel and I will use all three. The perfumes and the lashes were both fails for me. I do think it's a shame that Glossybox doesn't include more make-up items--there tends only to be one per month and if there is going to be false lashes or nails, I would prefer a regular make-up product too.

Wadiya Mean 'Democracy'?

It was hard to ignore Sacha Baron Cohen's presence in Cannes last week. Even though I missed his dramatic camel-tumbling red carpet stunt, the façade of the ever-showy Carlton hotel was hijacked and redecorated in honour of Admiral General Aladeen, Baron Cohen's titular character in his new film The Dictator. Classy it ain't. Still, at least no mankinis were involved. Thank goodness.

The Carlton Hotel in Wadiya Cannes

I probably should have re-read my review of Brüno, Baron Cohen's penultimate movie (excluding Hugo, of course), before electing to go to see The Dictator. Here's the gist: often amusing, occasionally hilarious, but with the same old gags and the same old cringe-worthy moments. As for The Dictator, it's sometimes amusing, very occasionally funny and extremely derivative. The plot, such as it is, consists of Aladeen, the self-proclaimed dictator of the, er, "democracy" of Wadiya, being betrayed by the rightful heir to the helm of the country Tamir (Ben Kingsley, of all people), who replaces him with a simpleton body double who can sign a new UN treaty that will make Wadiya a (real) democracy, and make Tamir rich thanks to his deals with the Chinese and various oil companies. But with the inadvertent help of Zoey (Anna Faris), the manager of a leftie, workers' cooperative grocery store in (of course) Brooklyn, he might be able to sneak his way into the hotel where the signing will take place in time to save his country from a fate worse than democracy.

As I said, The Dictator is quite amusing. I chuckled quite a lot--about half of the times were "well done, very offensive," wry chuckles--and laughed properly a few times. Still, The Dictator was amusing enough that I didn't feel my cinema ticket was a waste of money. The problem lies in the satire, or lack thereof. Or rather, Team America: World Police, which I really enjoyed, already covered a lot of the ground Larry Charles tries to broach with The Dictator, but it did it a lot better. Instead, The Dictator just goes for the low-hanging fruit every time--the lazy, easy jokes and the obvious insults. It doesn't attempt to do anything clever but nor, in 2012, is it very shocking either. Sometimes, it feels like some teenage boys have read the script of Team America and of Borat and tried to do some kind of fanboy mash-up.

I used to like The Ali G Show a lot--not every episode, but there were some great moments. It was creative and fresh and funny. But as Baron Cohen's fame spread, his candid camera filming had to become less, well, candid. A great deal of the fun of The Ali G Show was other people's responses to Ali G; even in Borat, which was a lot more staged, we could all have a good giggle at those dumb Yanks who might well have fallen for the act. With The Dictator, it's a lot less clear what point the film is trying to make. It's entertaining enough, but you'd be much better off spending the cost of the cinema ticket on an Ali G DVD and watching some of Baron Cohen's earlier material.

The Burger Bulletin: Mother Flipper Review

eat.st, N1's most eclectic weekday provider of street food, is now open for business on Tuesdays, as well as the latter three-fifths of the week and last week, I noticed a few new stalls. Beppino's, which sells super-fresh pasta, Mussel Men, which offers moules-frites and oysters, and, most importantly, Mother Flipper. Yes, that's right: there is finally a specialty purveyor of burgers in N1.

Last week, it was cloudy and rainy so I didn't have to wait too long for my cheese burger ("The Mother Flipper"). It was a little too much on the well side of medium for my liking but in my excitement, I did forget to ask for it medium rare. It was still very tasty: meaty and oozing with juices.

Mother Flipper at eat.st

Today, of course, it was 25 degrees and sunny and almost everyone within about a two-mile radius had descended on eat.st and the queue for Mother Flipper was much longer. As we neared the front, some 30 minutes later, we found out that one of the two grills had been broken; not ideal on one of the hottest days of the year so far! The staff are all super-friendly, though, and apologised repeatedly for the delay.This time, I remembered to ask for my burger medium rare but I also forgot to establish the full meaning of The Double Candy Bacon Flipper. I just heard "caramelised bacon" and ordered one. Had I realised it involved two burgers--which should have been obvious from the name, I guess--I might have held off and opted for a cheese burger instead. Still, at £6 for The Double Candy Bacon Flipper and £5 for the mere Mother Flipper, the former is much better value.

Double Candy Bacon Flipper

And today's burger was definitely medium rare. I needed several tissues to clean up the juices, which I liberally dripped all over the floor and--almost--my dress, which is a good sign. The bacon was delicious two, but then I'm a sucker for good, American-style bacon, especially when cured with something sweet and sticky. The bun, a soft, lightly toasted brioche, was also good. The double burger was a little too much even for me, especially with some frites, borrowed from the Mussel Men--not that this prevented me from finishing, of course.

My only slightly complaint is that Mother Flipper doesn't serve fries--you can get them from Mussel Men, but I would prefer a smaller portion included with my burger for an extra quid or so. That said, given the 40-minute wait time today, perhaps the flippers should stick to what they know and just continue to serve flippin' great burgers!

The Mother Flipper menu

Mother Flipper @ eat.st Tuesday lunchtimes (Tube: King's Cross); also at Brockley Market on Saturdays. Website. Twitter.

Rain Has Now Stopped Play

The sun finally came back out yesterday lunchtime, just after The Bro arrived from the airport. We had a quick lunch and then hurried back to change for the beach before we lost the sun. Actually, though, it was a lovely afternoon with plenty of sunbathing and a second swim for me.

In the evening, we strolled down the Croisette to take a peak at the CaFF fun before dinner. Tom Hardy's new film Lawless was on but I didn't spot him—partly because of his shaggier haircut/facial hair, and also because the new barrier system meant I wouldn't have been able to get close enough to take a good picture. Instead, we had dinner at Mesclun (great filet de boeuf, very good fruity-pistachio rice pudding), which was later populated with assorted film types. Not Tom Hardy though.

Pre-dinner posing

Today, the weather was crap. It started raining at about lunchtime and hasn't stopped since. We had planned to go to see Diamonds Are Forever at the Cinéma de la Plage, but although we are British and tough, we suspected the organizers would have cancelled the movie and so didn't bother trekking down the Croisette to find out. Cheryl Cole was braver, putting in an appearance as the face of l'Oréal; let's hope she was wearing lots of Elnett. We wanted to watch Diamonds Are Forever in the flat instead but it was strangely absent from the iTunes store, so we settled for Fever Pitch. Colin Firth was really not hot back then. Give me Easy Virtue or Tinker, Tailor any day. But hey; at least it's a movie.

Rain on the terrasse

Rain Hasn't Quite Stopped Play

I knew that the weather wasn't expected to be great during my trip to Cannes but I was lulled into a sense of false security by the gorgeousness of Thursday afternoon. Yesterday, though, I woke up to rain and wind, although it was still fairly warm. Film festival-related activities for non-ticket-holders aren't much fun in the rain and as a result, I had a rather de-CaFF-einated day. Of course, it's still fun to go for a morning run along the Croisette while the town wakes up, with women in fancy dresses and men in black tie, nursing hangovers, slink back to their hotel rooms after screenings, desperately seeking darkness.

I did a little window shopping on the rue d'Antibes and, seizing a rare moment of sunshine, sat on the Croisette with a baguette and an éclair and soaked up the buzz. Near the Martinez, there is a little stage where last year I saw Jessie J sing a few numbers (not being particularly down with the kids, I didn't know who she was). This year, on Thursday, it was LMFAO's turn, although I wasn't convinced it was really them (it was a tiny stage and they seemed to perform their most famous number, Sexy and I Know It, several times but apparently it was. Now I wish I had taken some photos. Ah well. I didn't recognise the band who was playing yesterday--they sounded French. How very dare they.

Spotted on the rue d'Antibes

Eventually, the sun came out and we went down to the rocks near the beach to watch the Croisette come to life for the evening and to listen to more random French dance music. It looks like Pete Doherty, Asia Argento and Bérénice Bejo, among others, will be there tonight. The one thing the weather can't spoil is eating delicious, rotisserie chicken with homemade mash and baguette on the (covered part of) the terrace in my parents' flat.

My kingdom for a ticket!

This morning, the weather was even more erratic, not that that stopped the hoards from queuing outside the Palais des Festivals with their brollies, hoping some kind benefactor might take pity on them and give them a ticket to a screening. The London Film Festival is certainly much more of a democracy, and if you can't even guarantee nice weather in Cannes in May, one almost wonders what use it serves. As I complained to the apartment block's guardienne this morning, j'en ai eu assez du mauvais temps. She, of course, replied, C'est le Festival. C'est normal. Indeed.

Cannes Film Festival 2012

I can't believe it has been a year since I was paprazzing Brangelina on the red carpet of last year's Cannes Film Festival (CaFF), but but I'm back again for another few days of vicarious movie-related enjoyment.

My flight to Nice this morning was filled with plenty of movie types, including, perhaps, Steve Coogan. In person, the guy looked and sounded like him, he had an entourage and one of Coogan's films is being pimped in Cannes, but looking at my photos I'm now less clear. The guy sitting next to me on the plane had a pretty cool job: designing movie posters. Mainly horror, but with a big documentary at this year's festival. He gets to spend four days partying, boozing and schmoozing clients. Nice!

Queuing up for the best red carpet views

My early flight meant that by 2 pm, I was lying on the beach soaking up the sunshine, and by the time my parents got here, a few hours later, I had also been for a swim, read a book, snapped some photos on the Croisette and done a reccy of the Palais des Festivals. This year is the 65th CaFF and the star of all the posters is Marilyn Monroe, presumably because she died 50 years ago this year. If only a woman director had ever won the Palme d'Or, then she could be the poster girl...

As it is Ascension Day, the épiceries were closed here so we went to dinner at our Croisette favourite, Vesuvio. The pizza was pretty good tonight and despite how busy the place was, it only took three attempts to get the waiter to bring a carafe d'eau.

Le Palais des Festivals

Afterwards, we wandered down the Croisette to get an ice cream. We were too late for the red carpet (it was a French film premiering tonight anyway, albeit one with Marion Cotillard, De Rouille Et d'Os) but we did take a look at the ciné-plage, which was one of my favourite things about last year's festival. This year, there is a Bond theme to the movies shown on the beach, and as we missed the start of Dr No tonight, we will probably hold out for Diamonds Are Forever on Sunday (Jaws, next Thursday, would also be fun but I'll be gone by then).

The Caffeine Chronicles: Foxcroft & Ginger Review

My plan for today was to check out Salt, a new-ish espresso bar and purveyor of lunch and sweet meats in Covent Garden, but silly me decided to trust the opening hours listed on the Time Out review, and when I got over there, it turned out to be closed. Plan B, then, was to check out a café on Berwick Street that has been on my to-try list for quite some time: Foxcroft & Ginger.

The basement at Foxcroft & Ginger

It was almost too nice an afternoon to sit in the main basement sitting area of Foxcroft & Ginger but caffeine needs must. The décor is bright, hipster chic--if you're lucky you can perch at one of the old pummel horses. In fact, the only thing they are missing are a few suitcases with legs. Upstairs is a little brighter but there are only a couple of tables and a few window seats, which are usually full.

Foxcroft & Ginger macchiato

Foxcroft & Ginger serve Monmouth coffee and my macchiato was very good--strong, rich and smooth--although The Bro's cappuccino came with latte art etched into the chocolate topping rather than the foam, which was a little disappointing. Bonus points for the granny chic cups and saucers, though. They also serve quite a few posh sarnies, cakes and other nibbles. The Bro tried the porchetta sandwich, which he said was very tasty. I will be adding Foxcroft & Ginger to my list of go-to coffee bars in Soho, although I am more likely to go there in winter or on days when the weather is less clement and when hiding away in the cosy basement will be more fun.

Foxcroft & Ginger. 3 Berwick Street, London, W1F 0DR (Tube: Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square or Tottenham Court Road). Website. Twitter.

My Top 10 London Restaurants: West End Edition

When Time Out London published a list of its top 50 restaurants in London last year, I picked out some of my own favourites from the list. I thought they might pick a new top 50 this year but so far nothing has materialised so I thought I'd put together a list of my own, which includes the go-to places I consider when organising a meal in the West End. Most of these restaurants are located in Soho and Marylebone; it's probably no coincidence that they fall on an almost straight line from NoMaRo to the BFI.

I've arranged them into two rough categories according to style and ambiance but none of these places requires a jacket; nor are they stuffy or snooty. The list is roughly in order of preference, within the two groups. I tried to include a variety of cuisines, i.e. burgers, ribs and steak. Just kidding, veggies: most of these places offer a good range of vegetarian dishes, although I would avoid Meat Liquor, Pitt Cue Co and Le Relais de Venise if you don't like meat. So, without further ado, here are my favourite ten restaurants in London's West End.


View London Dining Favourites in a larger map

Casual cool to casual chic

• Meat Liquor. 74 Welbeck Street, W1G 0BA (Tube: Bond Street). Website. Twitter. Mini-review. In 10 words: top burgers, great cocktails, cool vibe, long queues. Go now.
• Pitt Cue Co. 1 Newburgh Street, W1F 7RB (Tube: Oxford Circus). Website. Twitter. Review. In 10 words: Ribs, ribs, ribs, burnt-end mash. Worth the wait. Go early.
• La Bodega Negra. 16 Moor Street, W1D 5NH (Tube: Tottenham Court Road or Leicester Square). Website. Review. Upstairs: casual but cool Mexican caff with cocktails. Downstairs: smarter.
• Polpo. 41 Beak Street, W1F 9SB (Tube: Oxford Circus or Piccadilly Circus). Website. Twitter. Mini-review. In 10 words: Tasty Venetian small plates, erratic service, great wine list.
• Mishkin's. 25 Catherine Street, WC2B 5JS (Tube: Covent Garden). Website. Twitter. Review. In 10 words: Polpo's LES Jewish deli-inspired cousin. Salt beef, gin, meatloaf.

Smarter

• Riding House Café. 43-51 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 7PQ (Tube: Oxford Circus). Website. Twitter. Review. In 10 words: cool, friendly all-day dining. Great burgers, yummy puddings, delicious cocktails.
• Le Relais de Venise. 120 Marylebone Lane, W1U 2QG (Tube: Bond Street or Baker Street). Website. Mini-review. In 10 words: perfect steak, frites and salad. Er..that's it.
• Il Baretto. 43 Blandford Street, W1U 7HF (Tube: Baker Street). Website. Review. In 10 words: friendly but stylish neighbourhood Italian. Excellent sharing plates and pizzas.
• Hix. 66 Brewer Street, W1F 9UP (Tube: Piccadilly Circus). Website. Twitter. Review. In 10 words: terribly English, painfully cool. I love the fish fingers.
• Dean Street Townhouse. 69-71 Dean Street, W1D 4QJ (Tube: Tottenham Court Road or Leicester Square). Website. In 10 words: Classy but unfussy. Mac 'n' cheese. Mince and potatoes.

I recently rounded up the best places to eat in the rapidly gentrifying King's Cross, and next on my list may well be an east of EC1 eateries

Istanbul IV: Food & Drink

In some ways, Turkish cuisine isn't a bad choice for me because the main courses tend to be very similar from meal to meal (grilled meat with some combination of salad, grilled veg, flatbread and bulgur wheat), with the more interesting variations coming in the starters or meze plates. Eating out is very reasonable in Istanbul, certainly compared to London, and interestingly, the price of our meals didn't really vary much, even between small, low-key cafes and smarter restaurants. At most places, we paid about 9-18L (about £3-6) for a main course and about 6L (£2) for a meze.

Breakfast was included at our hotel (as it is in most of the hotels I researched), and we were able to fill up on bread, fruit, cake, pastries, salad and yoghurt. I thought I would highlight a few memorable meals, moving through the day from lunchtime onwards.

Lunch. First up is Karaköy Lokantası in the former docklands of Karaköy. This restaurant had a good write-up in Time Out and was fully booked when we turned up on Thursday evening and I was disappointed because with its turquoise-tiled walls and sleek central staircase, Karaköy Lokantası wouldn't have looked out of place in SoHo and it sounded like the food was pretty good too. Luckily, we were able to go there for a late Sunday lunch.

Karaköy Lokantası

We sat at one of the leafy sidewalk tables on the quiet side street--a lovely respite on a hot, sunny day. Having finally reached my chicken limit this trip, I caved and ordered lamb köfte (meatballs), which were delicious. Our meze dishes--something called topik, which was some sort of slightly spicy, slightly fruity potato and onion concoction, and fried shrimp in a slightly spicy garlic sauce, were both excellent. Karaköy Lokantası offers a more formal dining experience than many of the other eateries that we visited and I would definitely recommend it for a slightly fancier dinner or weekend lunch.

Topik and fried shrimp

While we were on the Asian shore, we went for a wander through Kadiköy. Based on the description in my guidebook, I was expecting lots of interesting food shops and market stalls but apart from a few quirky places, the town was actually fairly uninspiring. Faced with a choice between a whole street of seemingly near-identical restaurants, the one we picked, which looked the nicest, turned out to be the one Time Out (and other guidebooks) were recommending: Çiya on Güneşlibahçe Sokak. One of their restaurants has a buffet for its meze, for which you pay by the weight; we ate at the other one, which has a huge list of kebabs and other lunchtime options. I had a kind of minty, yoghurty, beefy, beans amalgamation, which was yummy.

Turkish coffee. On one of the days when the prolonged fog and chilliness joined forces with my tiredness and made me want to just go back to the hotel, we decided to seek warmth and caffeine at Smyrna in the hipster Cihangir area (Akarsu Caddesi 29). With its comfy armchairs and sofas and carefully distressed antique furniture, Smyrna has enough "shabby chic" about it to make every candidate in this year's Apprentice mint green with envy. We just ordered Turkish coffee (Türk kahvesi) because, well, when in Istanbul... Turkish coffee is strong and thick and although I quite liked it, I'm glad to be returning to the smoothness of espresso and Aeropress coffee. We sat and people-watched for a while, before heading in search of a view. Smyrna does also do food and the menu looked pretty varied, so it's definitely worth popping by at lunchtime or in the evening.

Hipster Turkish coffee at Smyrna

Cocktail o'clock. The good thing about a hilly, riverside city is that a lot of places offer great views from their rooftop terrace. We decided to check out the Leb-i Derya bar on the sixth floor of the Richmond Hotel (on Istiklal Caddesi, near the Tünel tram stop). The bar is very minimalist--all decked out in shades of white--because the view is clearly the raison d'être. When we arrived, soon after 7 pm, most of the bar seats were taken but we found a pair with a great view of the city coming to life. The tables, by the huge floor-ceiling windows, are reserved for diners and they were filling up by the time we left, at about 8.30. My cocktail, which involved vodka, red poppy syrup, blackberry juice, lime and basil, was delicious and fruity, and the signature Derya cocktail (green apple vodka, cointreau, lime and mint) was also very good. If you're too cheap to buy a cocktail (which was a reasonable £8ish, including nibbles and view), you can take the lift in the Richmond up to the seventh floor and check out the view from the smokers' terrace. But the view from the bar is much better.

Cocktails with a view

Dinner. My favourite restaurant among those where we ate dinner was probably Antiocha, on a side street near Tünel. It's a tiny place with only a few tables outside and one on the street, which was where we ate. My chicken şiş came with plenty of roast veggies and some flatbread and was really tasty. It was also fun to dine on the street, especially when a very cute black and white cat adopted me. Unfortunately for him, the waiter shooed him away just at the moment when I was prepared to give away a tiny piece of chicken. At least the cats in Istanbul look a lot healthier than those in Marrakesh (not that that stopped me wanting to be able to adopt them all!).

Chicken şiş at Antiocha

We went to a more touristy place on Asmalı Mescit Caddesi on Saturday night. The place two doors down (Yakup 2) was in the Time Out guide and was fully booked so we picked one of its less popular neighbours. The food was good and it was still a nice meal--I even tried a tiny bit of rakı, although it's not really my kind of drink--but I preferred the more casual Antiocha and the more stylish Karaköy Lokantası. Finally, on our first night, we got to the hotel quite late and were in desperate need of sustenance. We found some touristy restaurant in Sultanahmet but the food was actually pretty good--the main course came with lots of bread and veggies and we got various side dishes on the house, too.

[Other Istanbul posts: introduction, getting to know the city, adventuring]

Istanbul III: Adventuring

We were in Istanbul for five days and made two day trips during that time. If we had spent more time in Topkapı Palace, we probably would only have had time to go on one excursion, but the weather was so nice for most of our holiday that we wanted to spend as much time as possible outdoors.

Kınalıada, the small island

The first adventure we went on was a boat trip to the Princes' Islands, a series of nine small islands off the Asian shore of the Bosphorus, of which four can be visited by boat. For the princely (ah hem) sum of 4L, or about £1.30, you can take a ferry from Kabataş (return tickets are also available) out to the islands, which takes between 50 and 90 minutes. We decided to get off at Heybeliada, the "saddlebag" island, which is the second biggest. If we had time, we would then get another ferry to Büyükada, the big island, before returning home. Each island has its own character: Heybeliada is mostly Turkish, for example, whereas Kınalıada, the small island is predominantly Armenian. Although the sun was shining in the city that morning, by the time we got on the boat, a thick fog had descended, which meant the boat trip was pretty chilly and didn't offer a particularly good view. In fact, at some points, we could hardly see beyond the seagulls that were flying alongside the boat.

Welcome to Heybeliada, the "saddlebag" island

The sun was out on Heybeliada, though, and we bought some bread, humus and other picnic supplies from one of the the few shops and cafes on the island's main drag. We walked up the steep hill out of town, past streets filled with crumbling, colourful, wooden mansions, which were faintly reminiscent of the American South or Central America. We hiked through the woods in search of the beach but most of the beaches seemed to be part of the fenced off military zone so we made do with a pontoon with a view of the Asian shore and the Sea of Marmara. We managed the full island tour in a few hours and then recaffeinated with a Turkish coffee at one of the seafront cafes. We decided to go straight back to the city, rather than visiting one of the other Princes' Islands, and the boat was so rammed that we didn't get a seat and had to sit indoors, rather than enjoying the more clement afternoon weather. If the weather is good, I would definitely recommend a trip to one of the Princes' Islands--most islands don't offer a huge range of attractions but if you're happy to walk, hike and, depending on the island, sunbathe, you could definitely do worse than Heybeliada.

View of the Asian shore from Heybeliada 

One of the reasons I wanted to go to Istanbul was so that I could swim in the Black Sea and having done a little research, it seemed the best way to do this was to take a Bosphorus cruise (12L) up to the town of Sarıyer and then travel by bus to either Rumeli Feneri or Kilyos, both of which are villages on the European Black Sea shore. The former has an ancient lighthouse (its name means "European lighthouse") and the latter is more of a fishing village, with plenty of beaches, so we picked Kilyos. Saturday was a gorgeous, sunny day and our cruise up to Sarıyer was much more pleasant than the boat journey to the Princes' Islands. Both sides of the Bosphorus are dotted with grand, colourful houses and small, densely packed villages. It was an enjoyable, 90-minute journey to Sarıyer, where we got the 151 bus to Kilyos, a precarious 20-minute journey through the hills (NB to pay your fare, you either need a travel pass or to find a local who is willing to take your money in exchange for scanning their pass).

Cruising up the Bosphorus

There were no signs to the beach or much evidence of a town centre, so by guesswork, we ended up down by the sea. Kilyos is very high up for a seaside town and finding a way down to the beach proved quite difficult. We had been warned by the guidebook and online research that the beaches were often rammed on sunny Saturdays but the beach club we reached seemed to be closed and the beach was almost deserted. Not that we minded. It was lovely and sunny and the sand was soft and warm. We almost went for a dip in the Black Sea but decided to find out whether we were likely to get any food from the beach club first. Even sitting in the "VIP" area on an unmown lawn, looking out into the sea through a dirty glass pane didn't detract from the faded charm of the place as we ate our sea bass and chicken. Then, out of nowhere, a bride and groom appeared on the beach and took some photos. It was a lovely, if slightly surreal moment, given it was clearly off-season in Kilyos.

Beach wedding at Kilyos

Unfortunately, by the time we got back down to the beach, that darn fog had descended again--surprisingly quickly--and although the sun was still out, it was suddenly much cooler and the idea of swimming in the sea was much less appealing. The sea itself was actually quite warm when I finally went in (not all the way)--all those winter training sessions in the Med have obviously paid off. We decided to walk back along the beach and, in doing so, found a beach that seemed busier and much less windy; we also found the heart of the village, with its little beach shops and restaurants. If you go to Kilyos by bus, keep on walking up the hill from the bus stop in the centre of town (don't go towards the market) and you'll hit the main drag and then the beaches--we went the rather scenic route!)

Actually, the Black Sea wasn't too cold

As there was only one boat back to Istanbul at the weekend, which left Sarıyer at 5.20, we decided to take a bus home instead. The 25E and 25T buses both go very frequently back to the city centre but take over two hours to travel ten miles. We had noticed that one of the stops on the bus from Kilyos was called "Haciosman Metro," which made us wonder if we could get the metro from there back into the city. My Time Out guide, unhelpfully, only gives the transport maps for the city centre and doesn't indicate that the metro lines extend further (a shame given this edition only came out last month). We were able to get the metro all the way back to Taksim, just in time to go up the Galata Tower at sunset. NB: The metro token machines don't take notes over 20L; luckily, someone took pity on us when we didn't have any change and let us go through for free.

The beach at Kilyos

If you only have time for one day trip, I would probably suggest the Bosphorus cruise and visit to either Kilyos or Rumeli Feneri. The cruise is worth doing in itself but visiting the two fishing villages, especially "off season," is a fun if sometimes surreal experience. Kilyos looks like it was done up in the 1980s and hasn't had much in the way of updating (or litter picking since then). Of course, if it's too cold for the beach, you might consider visiting Rumeli Feneri instead, or doing the three-hour full Bosphorus cruise, which gives you three hours for lunch at one of the towns on the Black Sea.

[Other Istanbul posts: introduction, getting to know the city, food and drink]

Istanbul II: Crossing Continents

I didn't have time to blog while I was in Istanbul, so I'm now putting together a short series of posts that highlight some of the things we did. My initial, in-a-nutshell post is here and I will also be writing about some of our excursions outside the city and some of our eating and drinking experiences.

Sunset over the Bosphorus and SoGoHo

Although Istanbul didn't quite represent the same navigational challenge as Marrakesh, the city's unusual geography did take some getting used to, what with its multiple bodies of water (the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn, the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara) and multiple continents. Like Stockholm, the city centre is spread across several chunks of outlying land, and like San Francisco, a variety of different transport options are available for travelling from place to place (ferry, tram, metro, bus and funicular). You need to buy a token for each separate mode of transport but as each token is only about 2 lira (about 60p), it's hard to complain too much. Like both cities, Istanbul is very hilly, hence the two separate funicular routes, which run from the Karaköy and Kabataş tram stations in Beyoğlu (on the European shore of the Bosphorus), up the steep hills to the Galata Tower and Taksim Square, respectively. It took us a while to find the funiculars because uniquely, they are underground!

View of the Blue Mosque from our rooftop terrace

We stayed in the Sultanahmet area, also known as South of the Golden Horn (SoGoHo, to me). The hotel promised views of the Blue Mosque and indeed, we were probably only a few hundred metres away and had views of the Disneyland-like turrets of the mosque even from our first-floor bedroom window, as well as from the rooftop terrace.

Blue Mosque by night

We chose to stay in the area because we thought it would be good to close to most of the sights but we actually spent most of our time outside SoGoHo. That said, it is a beautiful--if touristy--part of town and it was always a pleasure walking back home past Topkapı Palace and the Blue Mosque. We also spent much of yesterday, our last day, in and around SoGoHo. We walked through the gardens of Topkapı but we decided not to go inside, in the end because a) it was such a sunny day and we wanted to be outside and b) there was a long queue. We enjoyed looking at the beautiful building from the outside, though. We did go into the Blue Mosque, although were surprised to see how many women weren't wearing the scarves they had been given by the mosque staff to cover their hair. The building is stunning--a gorgeous design and with lovely, intricate mosaics and other decorations on the inside. It remains a haven of calm, despite the throngs of tourists.

Preparing for prayer

We also visited the Bazaar Quarter in SoGoHo a couple of times, although had we realised that the Grand Bazaar (Kapalıçarşı) didn't open on Sundays, we might have spent more time there on our first visit. After Morocco, the Grand Bazaar felt less authentic--more reminiscent, in places, of smart London arcades, such as the Burlington Arcade. The Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı), meanwhile, turned out to be pretty small--too small for me to find a scarf I liked, although Özer, at number 82, had a really pretty selection.Quirkier, perhaps, was the area around the Grand Bazaar, which was crammed full with shops selling everything from mannekins (very popular, it seems) to hand-held, stapler-sized sewing machines and cheap clothing. Basically, this area is a lot like my family's ancestral home, Walsall. In the end, the only things I brought home were a few boxes of Turkish delight and a postcard with all the letters of the Turkish alphabet, including my favourite palatals, ş and ç.

Egyptian Bazaar: all your Turkish delight are belong to me

One of the other areas where we spent a lot of time was Beyoğlu, which was billed in my guidebook as some kind of ultra-modern, ultra-trendy metropolis and I was picturing Hong Kong. Actually, though, Beyoğlu was an intriguing mixture of old--the little fish market by the shore at Karaköy, the Galata Tower, which was originally built in the 6th century, and the souk-like warren of shops on the hilly streets, all meticulously organized by category (tool shops, fishing shops, musical instrument shops, and so on)--and new (the global chains, such as TopShop and Starbucks, which line Istiklal Caddesi, where shoppers are only interrupted from time to time by the old-fashioned tram that trundles from Taksim to Galata). At night, I thought the area was a bit loud and tacky, although there were some really nice restaurants tucked away in a few of the side streets (it's worth booking for dinner in the most popular places, especially on a Friday or Saturday night).

Galata Tower by night

Finally, we had to visit Asia while we were in Istanbul. Actually, we landed in Asia, at the Sabiha Gökçen airport, but we also paid a visit to Kadiköy on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus. There wasn't a great deal to do there--we had a little wander around the shops and the market and inadvertently picked the best restaurant for lunch on a road of very similar eateries (see my food and drink post, to follow). The boat ride over from Eminönü was quite fun though, even though the Istanbul fog (another similarity with San Francisco!) descended fairly early on the day we visited and refused to dissipate.

The geography of Istanbul

Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

After five days exploring Istanbul and its environs, I got back home late last night. After the gorgeous Turkish sunshine, the cold London weather was a bit of a shock to the system, although not much of a surprise. Despite feeling rather photographically uninspired during my trip, I still managed to take almost 400 photos, and I'll be posting a few photos and experiences from my trip once I've gone through them all.

Istanbul by night, from the Galata Tower

Overall, though, with its similarities to San Francisco, Stockholm, Marrakesh and, er, Walsall (!), Istanbul is a cool, vibrant city that ticks a whole load of city-break boxes--you can see a lot of the city and fit in an excursion or two with a four- or five-day visit. And the sunny weather definitely didn't hurt either.

The Blue Mosque on a Sunday morning

What's in My (Istanbul) Suitcase?

Other than my brief visit to Bristol in March, I haven't managed to fit in much travelling so far this year and it's definitely time for another adventure. And today, I'm heading off to Istanbul, so I can experience two continents in one day, Turkish delight and, of course, the joys of agglutinative languages. I had planned to put together a proper what's-in-my-suitcase post but by the time I escaped from work, it was starting to get dark and I needed to eat dinner. Also, some of the clothes I'm taking needed a wash and aren't yet ready for packing. Instead, I've taken a few photos of some of the things I'm taking for a five-day trip to Turkey, starting with make-up and toiletries:

My on-the-go make-up bag (£3 ish from H&M) is in the bottom-right corner, with (underneath): ibuprofen and my Chanel make-up mirror, and (on top): a spare hairband, Travalo atomiser (containing Un Jardin en Méditerranée by Hermès), Balance Me super-moisturising hand cream (from a Carmine box), Burberry Lip Mist (from the Harrods Glossybox), Figs & Rouge balm (from the April Glossybox) and Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart. In the top-left quarter: Molton Brown Lili Pili hairwash and conditioner, Coco Shambala shower gel (from the February Glossybox), random body lotion, deodorant, TRESemmé heat defence spray and Solton sun lotion. Top-right corner (on my Kate Spade "Eat cake for breakfast" pouch: Clarins night cream (from January Glossybox), Liz Earle eye cream and cleanser and my favourite Philosophy Hope in a Jar [in a tube] moisturizer with SPF. Bottom-right: Bare Minerals foundation and brush, Nars eye shadow duo in Charade, Garnier Caffeine Anti-Dark Circles roll-on, Soap & Glory mascara, Iniko eyeliner (from the April Glossybox), Bare Minerals navy eyeliner and Bobbi Brown eyebrow pencil in ash.

Next: kit. On the iPad (which has got several ebooks loaded on it): camera, adapter, Apple charger and earbuds, memory card adapter for iPad. Jewellery: sparkly bracelets from F21, pearl bracelet from Oliver Bonas, turquoise necklace from Ebay, rings from Kate Spade and H. Samuel (circa 1993). Other things: small Moleskine notebook, iPhone, pen, mini-tripod, Time Out Istanbul guidebook, passport in turquoise Kate Spade cover and purple Longchamp purse with some Euros, travel insurance card, earplugs and a few other bits and bobs.

Finally, clothes. Some of them, anyway; there are still a couple of t-shirts and underthings to add to the mix. Shoes: purple Asics trainers, royal blue ballet flats from Banana Republic, Steve Madden flip flops. Sports kit: running togs, bikini and Hammamas towel (from Turkey, ironically). Skinny jeans, red vest, white tee and turquoise tee. New navy striped J Crew dress, flower-print Top Shop skirt, coral lace dress from Tesco, orange flower-print Tesco dress. Grey Aritzia blazer, heather J. Crew cardigan, royal blue Mango cardigan, purple and grey Top Shop scarf and turquoise French Connection scarf.

Phew! It feels like I'm taking quite a lot of stuff but actually there's plenty of space in my purple spotty Kipling suitcase; there's also a lot of room in the peacock Longchamp Le Pliage tote I'm taking as my carry-on, which means I don't need to worry about not being able to bring back enough Turkish delight!

The Caffeine Chronicles: Ground Control Review

A few months ago, while trying to find a more interesting way of getting back to King's Cross from that no man's land between Islington and Clerkenwell, I came across a not-yet-opened espresso bar called Ground Control. I could tell from the font on the sign that it was going to be my sort of place. Its name was also reminiscent of the wonderful Ground Support in New York.

But it was only today that I finally got around to checking out Ground Control, which is the Ethiopian Coffee Company's "flagship venue." Based on Amwell Street, a surprisingly busy and quirky street filled with interesting independent shops and delis in an otherwise fairly residential neighbourhood, Ground Control is tiny, with only a few tables inside and not much room for perching outside. I tried the macchiato, which was very good, although I prefer my macchiatos to be on the dry side--just a dribble of milk and a splash of foam--but forgot to ask; also my macchiato bar has been raised recently by places like Prufrock, where you get extensive quizzing on your coffee choices. Ground Control does use the same blue porcelain cups as Prufrock, which I really like.

Two macchiatos

They also serve food — "breakfast, lunch and so much more" — and there were two different choices of sandwich today. It's so nice to have a good espresso bar in the vicinity of King's Cross and I'll be going back to Ground Control again soon to enjoy the lovely Ethiopian coffee!

Ground Control. 61 Amwell Street, London, EC1R 1UR (Tube: Angel or King's Cross). Website.