(Seriously though, wouldn't that be fun?)
This evening, my dad and I returned to Harrod's for dinner. When we were in the food hall yesterday we noticed a tasty-looking Italian restaurant and wine bar called Dei Frescobaldi, so we decided to try it out.
The restaurant was almost empty when we arrived at 6, and we later realized that while the rest of the store closes at 8, this particular place closes at 7. For that reason, we found that our service was kind of rushed- while the waitress was polite, she definitely wanted to get out of there! To start, I had a glass of Prosecco sparkling wine.
My favorite drinks all have bubbles: beer, champagne, seltzer and soda. I love fizz!
For my entree, I chose the baked whole sea bass with fennel, spinach and tomatoes.
I was expecting the whole fish to be filleted at the table, but this thing was plopped down in front of me, head and all.
Here's the thing: seeing dead fish really does not bother me. I'm of the belief that if you're going to eat something, you have to be okay with how it's made and where it comes from, and while that's one of several reasons I choose not to eat meat, fish and crustaceans are different to me personally. However, beheading your own meal and picking out the bones in a nice restaurant kind of ruins the dining experience. Thankfully, the taste of the fish made up for it! And I loved the vegetables, especially the fennel.
My dad went the vegetarian route, with mixed grill vegetables with goat cheese and basil pesto.
A basket of bread was also demolished.
Overall, the meal was pretty good taste-wise and by no means bad, but it was probably my least favorite dining experience in London thus far. You win some, you lose some.
That being said, Harrods totally redeemed itself through dessert.
We went to the crowded Morelli's Gelato bar, also in the Harrod's food hall, and ordered a Baci sundae: vanilla, chocolate and hazelnut ice creams, served with a dark chocolate cup filled with Nutella, sprinkled with hazelnuts, drizzled with melted Magnum chocolate, piled with whipped cream and finished with a chocolate swizzle stick, a chocolate-hazelnut truffle and a wafer cookie.
Oh. My. Gosh. Let it be known that I am far more a baked dessert girl than a frozen one, but this was insane. HUGE, creamy, rich, decadent...I could go on and on. Interestingly, the simple vanilla ice cream was my favorite flavor, especially with eaten with the whipped cream and Nutella cup.
Can you just think about this for a second? A dark chocolate cup. Filled with Nutella. Eaten with ice cream and whipped cream. Yeah.
My dad and I didn't leave a single spoonful, and I couldn't have been happier. I can't even remember the last time I had a real, old-school ice cream sundae, so this was long overdue.
Clearly, I've been eating differently on this vacation than I would on a normal day to day basis, with more animal products and treats. I've made healthy choices for some meals and gone all out for others, and to me, both sides are worth it. Sometimes balance means shifting a bit more to one end of the spectrum than the other, and that's totally okay. You only live once, and while I want to respect that life by taking care of my body, this trip is too short to worry about sugar consumption or saturated fat!
Speaking of short, I can't believe tomorrow is my last full day in London. I better get to sleep!
When you go on vacation, do you eat similarly to the way you would at home, or do your habits change? For me, it kind of depends on where I am! On some trips my family purchases simple meal items at the grocery store, but in big cities we tend to eat out more. I'm lucky that my parents love good food almost as much as I do!
