lifestyle Archives - Page 24 of 54

bloomzy / June 12, 2015

Where to Eat in London: Sake no Hana

Sake no Hana | Japanese | Mayfair | Website
– reservations available –

One year ago, V.A and I made a promise that we would visit Sake no Hana during cherry blossom season. This year, we kept our promise. For two months of the year, the Mayfair restaurant is transformed into a floral wonderland – Sakura at Sake no Hana. To help celebrate this special occasion several new dishes and cocktails are added to the menu. V.A and I had made a reservation for a Monday lunchtime (bank holiday) and found that it was pleasantly quiet. We both ordered the Sakura menu, which comes with: white miso soup, sesame spinach with cassava chips, sashimi bento box, and a violet risshun cocktail.

The cocktail was served first, and we were instructed to drink it in two parts – the first, a carafe of Jinzu Gin, green chartreuse, grapefruit and lemon juice, shiso syrup and Burlesque bitters. The second is a jug with Belsazar rose vermouth, maraschino cherry, cranberry and lemon juice. The bitter starter was refreshing, however it was the syrupy sweet vermouth based cocktail that I personally preferred.

The miso soup arrived shortly after our cocktail, and it was as good as any other miso soup I have had before. The sesame spinach however was a delightfully unique dish – slightly nutty in flavour, with a myriad of textures. I can’t eat raw fish, so a special bento was made just for me. It is this kind of service that I wouldn’t expect any less of from Sake no Hana. My box contained a variety of sushi, however the ones that stood out to me for their flavours were the: mango and avocado (fresh), avocado and wasabi (invigorating), crab (light), and eel (grilled perfectly).

We decided to order off the special menu for dessert, as the Yuzu Matcha Crème was just too tempting. However we did also order the sakura macarons, accompanied by a pot of sakura tea. It would seem that we have a second stomach for dessert (or as the Japanese call it 別腹 “betsubara”). It’s fair to say that this is the best dessert I have had in a London restaurant. The Yuzu Matcha Crème was a work of art – the presentation however was dwarfed by the sheer artistry of the dish itself. Matcha anglaise hid inside delectable yuzu domes, surrounded by matcha genoise and sour yuzu curd. The macarons unfortunately didn’t impress me much (the ganache overpowered the cherry blossom tea), however I would feel bad for any dish that had to follow that pudding. Finally, the sakura tea – a special blend made specifically for Sake no Hana. Oh how I wish I could have taken even a spoonful away with me. The tea smelt of cake, and tasted even better. It was a light and subtly sweet end to our visit.

Sake no Hana is not just a destination for food, it is a food experience. We paid £55 each with cocktails – in my opinion, it was worth every penny. It is restaurants like this that make my “Where to Eat in London” series so enjoyable. Would I go back? What do you think!

Sake no Hana’s Sakura pop-up is open until the 20th June – you can make a reservation here.

bloomzy / June 8, 2015

Berlin Travel Diary | Neues Museum

Neues Museum | Berlin, Germany | Website

Museum island is a must-visit for anyone in Berlin. As well as this, I’m a bit of a culture nut, so it was obvious it would appear in my Berlin travel diary. If I had been travelling alone, I would have visited every museum in the vicinity. However I wasn’t, and I wanted to be considerate to V.A (as having grown up in Berlin, the museums were known to her). So when she asked me of any “must do” items for the trip, I knew exactly what to answer – the Neues Museum.

Ever since I was a little girl I have had a fascination with Ancient Egypt, and it’s safe to say that my interests have not wavered in adulthood. A friend of mine visited Berlin last year and told me “you need to go, just to see the Ancient Egyptian artefacts”. Then just before our trip to Berlin I read Yasumi & Hiro’s post on the Neues Museum. The history behind the museum is moving; it was bombed during World War II and remnants of this can still be found today in the bullet holes that litter the walls. I was intrigued to see the restoration it had undergone, especially as Berlin is a city that chooses to remember its scars, and not paint over them.

What I received from the museum was so much more than I had been hoping for. The museum is home to Ancient Egyptian architecture and art, prehistoric objects, antiquities, and of course the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti. In fact it would seem that people had come from near and far to view the bust. As proven by one lovely old Italian woman who would comically shout “Nefertiti?” to her husband, every few minutes. The bust of Queen Nefertiti was a must-see on this visit for us also. To finally be stood in front of something I had longed to see since my childhood – it may sound silly, but it was a pretty big deal for me. All I can say is, it was as magical today as it would have been twenty years ago.

You can check out the rest of my Berlin Travel Diary series here.

bloomzy / May 24, 2015

Berlin Travel Diary | Let Me Take Your Bags

Mani Hotel, Torstraße 136, 10119 Berlin, Germany

Let’s start from the beginning. Having never travelled to Germany I had always wanted to visit Berlin. So when V.A suggested a holiday in the capital – with her as my tour guide – I could hardly say no…could I? They say good friends should never travel together, but we were confident that we wouldn’t be screeching at each other by the end of the holiday. So we packed our bags and hopped on a plane to the home of curry wurst.

The Mani Hotel had kindly offered to put us up for our first night in the city, and after a relatively short train journey from the airport, we dropped off our bags and freshened up. The hotel is located in Rosenthaler Platz, Mitte, which just so happened to be the area we had marked down for its variety of restaurants and shops. We explored the area a little (something I’ll go into more detail on in the next post), and it did not let us down. Later we caught up with a friend (and a heavy rain shower) before rushing back to the hotel for dinner.

I don’t usually “do” food at hotels. I prefer to explore the restaurants nearby, but we could hardly say no when the Mani so graciously offered us a dinner and breakfast package. After a 2am start, we were running on only 3 hours sleep, and the idea of only having to take a lift back to our cozy bed was glorious. Luckily for us the food at the Mani hotel is not an afterthought to a room, instead it elegantly compliments your stay. The sharing plates for dinner were a modern fusion of French and Arabic cuisines. However it was the breakfast buffet (which non hotel guests can have for only €15) that excited me most. It was like letting a child loose in a sweet store. The food here is prepared with fresh, seasonal ingredients, and presented beautifully. If I were to visit Berlin again I would definitely visit the Mani hotel and restaurant. In fact I’m considering catching another flight back asap just for those breakfast meatballs!

You can check out the rest of my Berlin Travel Diary series here.

bloomzy / May 10, 2015

A Minimalist Haven at Home

Moving home means many things, but probably the most exciting is making a fresh start. I’ve always loved bright open rooms, but unfortunately our last apartment was small and dark. So when we were looking for a new apartment we kept this in mind. Luckily for us we found something pretty special. That meant I was finally able to decorate with one particular item that I’d always wanted, but never been able to justify – a ladder shelf. I’ve always loved how chic and minimalist ladder shelves are. They offer a space to display some of your more decorative pieces, without making things look cluttered.

Being able to see something in-store is far better than viewing it online, obviously. So I popped by Dwell’s Westfield store to see the shelf, and a few other items:

Escala Shelf White (£149)
Marble Vase (£29.95)
White Table Lamp (not currently available online)
Espresso Cup Tower (£24.95)

I picked up the lamp, vase and espresso cups in-store, although I was told I would have to wait for the shelf unit, as they are kept at the warehouse. The ordering process with Dwell was pretty easy. I did it right there and then in-store, and arranged to have it delivered to the same location that week (home delivery is also available). When the delivery day came I received a call stating that there were problems with the truck, and that it would be in by the end of the week instead. Sure enough I received a phone call on Friday evening to say it was ready for collection.Even with the small hiccup, everything went smoothly. I’m incredibly happy with our new space, and we’ve had so many compliments on it from friends and family. Slowly and surely our apartment is turning into the minimalist haven I have always dreamt of.

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This post is in collaboration with Dwell but all views, photos and words are my own.

bloomzy / May 9, 2015

A London Life… at The Barbican Conservatory | Part 1

The Conservatory @ Barbican Centre | City of London | Nearest Tube: Barbican

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View more of the ‘A London Life…’ series

bloomzy / May 5, 2015

Time for a Spring Clean

Spring may be my favourite season, but I don’t enjoy the inevitable small talk topic of Spring cleaning. I dislike clutter so I spend most of my year tidying up and keeping things as minimal as possible – I truly believe that it helps keep my head clear also. However after starting my new job last year, I’ve found that I don’t have as much time as I used to. I knew that the move to the new apartment was going to be a great excuse to do a big overhaul of all our stuff. Of course that also means investing in new pieces. Luckily for me, George at ASDA offered me a small budget to deck out our new bedroom with.

Honestly George isn’t the first brand I think of when I want to buy new homeware. However after browsing the site I realised that they carried a lot of on-trend products (like these copper items), for very reasonable prices. Soon enough I had chosen everything and it was on it’s way. Here’s a quick rundown of what I ordered:

George Home Palm Springs Stripe Duvet Range (£12)
George Home Memory Foam Pillow (£12) | George Home Soft Pillow – 2 Pack (£6)
George Home White Pillowcase Pair (£3) | George Home White Fitted Sheet (£5)
George Home Temperature Control Duvet (£25)
George Home Desk Lamp (£20) | Jones Alcot Alarm Clock – Bronze (£7)
Homemake Silver Silky Shaggy Rug (£120)
Lowell 6 Drawer Chest of Drawers (£79)
George Home Triangular Print Candle (£7) | Yankee Candle Large Jar – Soft Cotton (£13)

The main items were a dresser, lamp and a rug, with some items of bedding, and several decorative bits to scatter around the room. The dresser wasn’t the easiest to put together, but thankfully the rug and lamp did their own thing. The bedding was all very good quality. We went for the full shebang: duvet, memory foam pillows, soft pillows, bed sheets and a duvet cover set (I couldn’t resist that green). As for the decorative items, well they just look great anywhere. The Yankee candle smells lovely, and the one we popped next to the bed is scent-free – so no sniffling during the night!

I have to say that we’ve been sleeping really well, and I am usually a very light sleeper. I’ve also found myself sneaking away to the bedroom to blog, whilst I lounge on the bed. I think it’s fair to say that our bedroom has now become a bright, attractive space for us to relax in. Mission success!

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This post is in collaboration with George at ASDA but all views, photos and words are my own.

bloomzy / April 28, 2015

Tutorial: DIY Marble Table

It’s been a while since I did a tutorial post; but what’s more of a shock is that this time it’s a homeware tutorial. Yes, you may have noticed by my incessant Instagram posts that I too have jumped on the marble bandwagon. However I knew that at some point decorations would no longer do. That eventually I would turn into a decor-obsessed monster. Well that day has come ladies and gentleman, and I knew I had to do something about it. No I will not be aimlessly wandering the streets of East London, rambling about marble and Pinterest tutorials to anyone who will listen. Instead I remembered something from my childhood – the old style marble contact paper/vinyl you could buy in homeware stores (que horrific memories of being dragged around B&Q by my parents). So I got on eBay and decided I would finally spruce up the table I use for my product photos…and here’s my resulting tutorial: How to create a marble table for under £20, in only 5 steps!

What do you need?
Table – I bought mine from Argos (£14.99)
Marble Contact Paper – eBay (£4.99)
Soft clean cloth
Scissors
Ruler

How to make it:
1. Clean the surface of the table.
2. Use the ruler to measure the diameter of the table.
3. Use the grid on the reverse of the contact paper to measure and cut to size.
4. Peel off some of the back paper and put it along one edge of the table.
5. Use the soft cloth to gently apply pressure to the paper. Slowly peel off the rest of the paper little by little, continuing to apply pressure as you go along.

The great thing about contact paper/vinyl is that you can always peel it off if you make a mistake (or if decide that you don’t like it). You could also use the leftover to cover your laptop or phone case…or anything else you can get your hands on.

Good luck!