Brixton Village

The reason I wanted to head into Brixton today was to check out the Farmer's Market I was given a flyer for last week. I was pretty curious and intrigued to check it out, however when I got there with my friend it was just along the street by the Brixton Recreation Centre, a few stalls selling vegetables, plants and a few food stalls - quite disappointing in my eyes, should have headed over to Columbia Market instead. 

 As my friend Di was going to catch up with some girlfriends in the area for lunch, I tagged along, though we had 2 hours to kill beforehand. So we took a walk around Brixton Village. Di has lived in Brixton for over 10 years and has only recently discovered this gem with me, this little hub is so quirky with many independent eateries and boutiques. Brixton is slowly getting quite upmarket though there are still the typical shops selling meats, fish, fruits and veg, especially on Electric Avenue 

We wanted to find a place to sit for a drink to keep us warm as the winds were so cold today >.<" but we were so attracted to this eatery where the tables had a big toaster where people toasted their bread, so it's fresh and warm. We decided to try it out, small brunch snack of DIY toast for £2.50 with 4 slices of different flavoured breads from normal white to a bit more fancy olive oil and mixed herb bread and many condiments to choose to spread onto the toast -^.^- there was also the option of having breakfast things such as scrambled eggs, bacon etc to go with the bread for extra cost.

Very fun quirky place for Breakfast - Brunch and the environment is so relaxed and not too expensive

Once Di and I met up with the other girls and had a little wander, we got hungry again and headed back into The Village for more food, this time for some Japanese Okominyaki, Japanese savoury pancake with vegetables and assorted fillings you can add into it with a slightly sour sauce, mayonnaise and flakes of Dashi and seaweed (-^.^-) Di and I had been craving it hehehe!

This little eatery was so lovely with simple retro Japanese decorations, and I was obsessed with playing with this wooden toy with a ball that was on the table, quite a difficult game to play with limited space! The food was very yummy and so filling, only £10 PP can't complain ^.^

Need to try out the other restaurants in the village now!!

Jazz, Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll

It started out last Sunday when spontaneously a friend of mine asked whether I was up for lunch at Ronnie Scott’s in Soho for her birthday as there was a spare ticket. I didn’t bat an eyelid to say no to the opportunity!! Very spontaneous, fortunately I was up from an evening out the night before and the clocks rolled forward!!

Was quite interesting and different in a good way to attend a Sunday lunch event in a Jazz Club; the venue is very dark, cozy and intimate plus the tickets are cheaper compared to a Friday or Saturday night (yay!).  Elaine Delmar with Brian Dee’s Quartet was the act for the afternoon; her voice is amazing, and easy listening. A very impressive songstress for 73 years old!

Near the end Elaine actually forgot the words to a song and shouted, “oh shit!!” absolute lol though I suppose accidents happen to the best of us! Fortunately there were no kids! This was my first time attending to a live Jazz gig, and personally I prefer the more up tempo tunes, the more slow soulful numbers were too smooth, I was drifting >.<

Next was Saturday night just gone, my good friend Mimi came down to London for the weekend. She wanted to go to a Jazz venue, I told her that these kind of venues are very niche and involve tickets in advanced for the gig, there aren’t many pop in sit in venues, (well I haven’t found any yet). I suggested this Blues club I keep passing on the way to work in Camden called The Blues Kitchen.

We went in with an open mind, only £5 entry after 9pm, which I find is quite reasonable, there’s a live band that plays covers, and DJ playing a mix of Blues, Soul and Rock “n” Roll. It was very fun, we all had a good time, drinks were not extortionate compared to Mayfair and good deal they had, Jagerbombs 3 for £10, Happy days!!! ^.^

Dancing the night away, with an eclectic mix of people and doing the twist, though Mimi said I danced like a Hamster (-.-“) oh well, I was having fun!! I was impressed with the band, with their lead guitarists rift solos and the Jazz player; very talented bunch

I would definitely recommend this place as a somewhere different away from the typical clubbing scene, a bit more relaxed and cheaper on the wallet!