Did you know you can get trains to London for as little as £16.50 return?? That’s £8 there and back!
I once found a single ticket for £7 from Birmingham New Street to Euston on a Friday afternoon so I booked it and went down to go try Cornerstone, a restaurant by Chef Tom Brown, one of the winners from Great British Menu!
This little restaurant is tucked away in Hackney Wick, just a five minute walk from the Overground, in a cute corner next to PEARL, a rather hipster bar (pictured to the left.) The menu celebrates seafood and comes out in small plates made for sharing. We had the taster menu which was amazing value for money at £45.
It included:
- Pickled oysters to start
- Mackerel pate
- Cured gurnard
- Potted shrimp (on a crumpet)
- Hake
- Blue cheese and honey cake
- Rhubarb pavlova
We had a lovely white wine to accompany our meal and the service was quick and attentive! The stand outs from the meal were the hake, which was perfectly cooked I didn’t want it to end, and the cured gurnard!
The kitchen is completely open so you get to see Tom and his team at work which was an incredible experience.
Fast forward two weeks and I returned to London, this time for lunch at the new Kanishka by Atul Kochhar. I didn’t quite realise the company I would be in until I got there which included the likes of Atul Kochhar, Pierre Koffman, Aktar Islam, Fergus Henderson and Valentine Warner to name a few.
The interior is colourful and the staff are so attentive and friendly, providing a warm welcome into the restaurant. For lunch we started with (my favourite) chicken tikka pie and some Gangtok momos (similar to a steamed gyoza) followed by goat curry, chicken tikka, dal, potatoes (Angoori Hing Aloo) and basmati rice!
The food was flavourful and perfectly spiced… you must try ‘Atul’s Chicken Tikka Pie’ if you visit, it was very tasty!
You can grab a set lunch of two courses Monday-Saturday for £24 and three courses for £29!!
More pictures from my two little London adventures can be found on my food page @MisFFood on Instagram, but definitely have a browse of available tickets to London as you can get them for so little – perfect for escaping Birmingham for the day!