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Food and drink (18 posts found)

Restaurant reviews and amazing food and drink experiences featured in luxury leisure reviews website ALadyofLeisure.com and written by travel journalist Sarah Bridge

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Good taste in every sense at Adnams excellent Swan hotel in Southwold

by Sarah Bridge
added April 17, 2019

It does great food and excellent cocktails, it's got beautiful bedrooms, friendly staff and even has a brewery and distillery on site (it's owned by 147-year-old Suffolk brewer Adnams). Added to that, it's right in the heart of Southwold, one of Brit...

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Curry, bagels, fish and chips and bacon butties on a food tour of London’s East End

by Sarah Bridge
added April 11, 2019

In just four hours I ate curry, fish and chips, stilton cheese, salt beef bagels, bread and butter pudding, salted caramel cheesecake and a bacon sandwich. With ketchup. Why? You might well ask. It was because I had decided to be a tourist in London ...

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A memorable 48 hours on the Isle of Wight including blue cheese, garlic beer, beautiful beaches and charming B&Bs

by Sarah Bridge
added March 24, 2018

'We just fell in love with the Isle of Wight,' said owner David Barrett as he showed me around Haven Hall, one of the newest B&Bs on the Isle of Wight. 'It's exactly like England was, 40 or 50 years ago.' Now this could be a positive or a nega...

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14 wines at dinner and a spa to recover in: a memorable stay at The Vineyard, Newbury

by Sarah Bridge
added March 20, 2018

Halfway through our meal at The Vineyard hotel and spa, Newbury, I was beginning to wonder if I knew as much about wine as I thought I did. Not only could I not guess what grape variety I was drinking or what country it came from, I couldn't even wor...

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My epic food tour of Japan: sushi, sake, puffer fish and bullet trains

by Sarah Bridge
added January 19, 2018

‘Kanpai!’ The cry echoed around the hotel dining room. It was the fifth ‘Kanpai!’ of the evening in our trip to Japan and it wouldn’t be the last. At this rallying cry, the Japanese equivalent of ‘Cheers!’, we all had to stand up and down a shot of s...

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An unscheduled stay at former 18th century sugar house, Hotel du Vin Bristol

by Sarah Bridge
added November 28, 2017

With every cloud there comes a silver lining and the missing of our flight to Cape Verde meant an unexpected overnight stay in Bristol and my first experience of Hotel du Vin. I'd long been aware of the hotel chain founded by Gerard Basset and...

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Noble Rot on Lamb’s Conduit Street, a welcome addition to memory lane

by Sarah Bridge
added May 18, 2016

It is hard not to start off a review of Noble Rot restaurant - as practically every other reviewer has done - with a nostalgic look back at days gone by, spent in the various pubs and wine bars of Lamb's Conduit Street. It seems that every journal...

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Dinner restaurant in Knightsbridge: Heston Blumenthal food for thought

by Sarah Bridge
added April 6, 2016

Turning up to lunch at Dinner restaurant in Knightsbridge - the restaurant from top chef Heston Blumenthal - with a copy of the menu from The Fat Duck at Bray (also by Heston Blumenthal, where my dining companion Simon had eaten just the week before)...

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Balans Soho Society restaurant Kensington- it’s smart, sexy and has its very own tree

by Sarah Bridge
added February 25, 2016

Returning to Balans Soho Society restaurant Kensington High Street was like visiting an old friend who had had a complete image change in the intervening years. My colleagues and I used to come here for a post-work glass of wine of two, sitting squas...

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Sexy Fish: Mayfair’s slice of loud, brash, bling and fun

by Sarah Bridge
added December 8, 2015

Sexy Fish, the newly-opened £15 million restaurant from Richard Caring (The Ivy, Le Caprice, J Sheekey) doesn't actually look very sexy from the outside. It's rather plain and square and dull and looks not dissimilar from the NatWest bank it used to...

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Drinking martinis at the best hotel bars in London

by Sarah Bridge
added July 24, 2015

'Don't worry, you won't get a hangover,' insisted Pleurat Shabani, the maker of Konik's Tail vodka and the host of our martini marathon. 'I've never had a hangover drinking martinis.' [Note: this review of drinking martinis at the best hotel bars ...

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Las Vegas food festival Vegas Uncork’d: it’s an epic Vegas food party

by Sarah Bridge
added May 5, 2015

Note: my article about the Las Vegas food festival Vegas Uncork'd was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date Mention Las Vegas and most people would immediately think gambling, casinos, showgirls, Mariah Carey, the...

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Pisco power! Getting into the spirit at London Peruvian restaurant Senor Ceviche

by Sarah Bridge
added April 14, 2015

Note: my review of London Peruvian restaurant Senor Ceviche was first published in April 2015 and so of the information might now be out of date As a late arrival to the cult of the Pisco sour cocktail I certainly plan to make up for lost time. I ...

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Olivo restaurant in Victoria London: an Italian favourite revisited

by Sarah Bridge
added April 10, 2015

Note: this review of Olivo restaurant Victoria London was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date Olivo, the Italian restaurant in Victoria London, used to be a lunchtime favourite of mine but for some reason I hav...

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El Pirata Mayfair: the friendliest tapas in this part of London

by Sarah Bridge
added April 10, 2015

Note: this review of El Pirata Mayfair was first published in 2015 so some of the details might now be out of date Tucked away behind the grey anonymity of Park Lane's high-rise hotel district which includes the Dorchester, the Intercontinental an...

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Aperitivo in the heart of (rather noisy) Kensington

by Sarah Bridge
added August 27, 2014

'Location is everything' so the saying goes - but when it comes to the afternoon drinks and Italian nibbles at the Baglioni hotel in Kensington, it seems location can be a double-edged sword. I was invited to come along and spend the evening in th...

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Hop pockets, scotch eggs and Shoreditch blonde: beer-tasting just for girls

by Sarah Bridge
added February 20, 2014

It isn't often that you see a man wearing a hessian sack telling a room of beer-drinking women they would make better brewers than men. But Monday's 'Give Boys the Chop - beer dinner for girls only' event organised by Rupert Ponsonby and his g...

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Gordon Ramsay London House Battersea Square review

by Sarah Bridge
added February 3, 2014

[Note: This review of Gordon Ramsay London House Battersea Square is from its opening in Feb 2014] ny business owner will tell you that it's vital to get the local residents on side right from the very beginning to ensure success. And Gordo...

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Food and drink (18 posts found)

Good taste in every sense at Adnams excellent Swan hotel in Southwold

Curry, bagels, fish and chips and bacon butties on a food tour of London’s East End

A memorable 48 hours on the Isle of Wight including blue cheese, garlic beer, beautiful beaches and charming B&Bs

14 wines at dinner and a spa to recover in: a memorable stay at The Vineyard, Newbury

My epic food tour of Japan: sushi, sake, puffer fish and bullet trains

An unscheduled stay at former 18th century sugar house, Hotel du Vin Bristol

Noble Rot on Lamb’s Conduit Street, a welcome addition to memory lane

Dinner restaurant in Knightsbridge: Heston Blumenthal food for thought

Balans Soho Society restaurant Kensington- it’s smart, sexy and has its very own tree

Sexy Fish: Mayfair’s slice of loud, brash, bling and fun

Drinking martinis at the best hotel bars in London

Las Vegas food festival Vegas Uncork’d: it’s an epic Vegas food party

Pisco power! Getting into the spirit at London Peruvian restaurant Senor Ceviche

Olivo restaurant in Victoria London: an Italian favourite revisited

El Pirata Mayfair: the friendliest tapas in this part of London

Aperitivo in the heart of (rather noisy) Kensington

Hop pockets, scotch eggs and Shoreditch blonde: beer-tasting just for girls

Gordon Ramsay London House Battersea Square review

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