Memoirs of Bee

Rozay Lounge, West Hampstead  A few key things to note about this very pink and cute restaurant/hookah lounge and bar.  - The kitchen is not open all evening and closes around 10:00pm. Therefore, if you wish to dine, it is advisable to arrive early.  - The bar also shuts an hour before the venue closes. This is usually at midnight.  - The location is a little bit smaller than expected with 4 dining tables on the inside & double the amount of tables outside for shisha.  - The shisha part of the restaurant is outside with an inside feel as it is covered. It is quite snug but maintains social distancing between diners.  The aesthetics are Instagram worthy, with cherry blossom on every corner and pink lighting beaming throughout the venue. The chairs are pink, the teddy bears are pink and even the signature drink is pink too!  Each table is already dressed for each diner and is adequately equipped with hand sanitizer. The menu has a variety of opinions...

Skylon, Southbank  This restaurant is based within the same location as the Royal Festival Hall. It is right next door with a side entrance which leads you upstairs to Skylon Restaurant.  It is imperative to note some key things before trying out this restaurant: - Personally, without asking a stranger or prior knowledge, this restaurant is hard to notice. The entrance is a side door at the side of a building with no striking logo or sign. - There was no step-free access methods of getting to the higher level from what I can recall. Just stairs and stairs and more stairs. This was particularly uncomfortable after spending precious moments trying to locate the restaurant in the first place.  - The food is not all that fancy or extravagant. It is basic dishes for Sunday brunch with a bottomless Prosecco option.   We were not ‘wow’ed by any of the dishes and were quite disappointed as ‘foodies of London’. I’ll insert some photos of our experience at Skylon for Sunday Br...

Kai, Mayfair This restaurant oozes with refinery and ultimate luxury from the very moment you set eyes on its front doors. Kai Mayfair has a 1 Michelin star rating and definitely provides the food, atmosphere and experience to match. Gaze deeply into the exterior features and you can see how much thought has gone into setting a relaxed but indulgent feeling at this location. The chairs remind me of warm evenings I’ve spent at Monaco’s dockside. The flowers and greenery provide a very spring feeling even in August!  On arrival, I was greeted by the hostess and had my temperature taken and appropriately prompted to sanitise my hands. I was shown my table and seated within minutes of the reservation time. A welcome drink was offered and the menu was explained - a QR Code as many restaurants have implemented. For a starter, I opted for the salt and pepper tofu which was so tasty. The tofu was lightly coated and seasoned with a soft mushroom-like texture. It was served hot in a very Ka...

The Ivy Chelsea Garden, Chelsea Firstly, I would like to commend myself and my dinner guest for making it to this restaurant. On this very day, it was 36 degrees in London. Whilst there are cabs with air conditioning, mini handheld fans, ice cold drinks and even the rare cooler feeling tube, the heat was unbearable and really tested the formulation of my fave cosmetic brands. On arrival, we was greeted with friendly smiles and appropriately temperature checked and issued hand sanitizer.  All the front of house staff wore red dresses which was very handy to spot help! My guest did not want to sit outside so we was moved to a table inside with no issues. On a cooler day, it would have been lovely to take photos in the garden. I definitely plan to go back once the Ivy restarts its afternoon tea menu again.  So, how was it? Well, I’ve been to a few Ivys now and this is probably the nicest one. The decoration is very Instagrammable and whilst fairly full, the restaurant doesn’t fee...

Boundary Rooftop, Shoreditch/Hackney  During the short-lived heatwaves we had in London, I managed to get myself to a rooftop bar with a few friends. This rooftop bar is lovely and a lot bigger than it seemed from pictures. The service was fantastic - the recommendations on drinks were so good and we had a blast taking photos under this flowery beamed arch.  My guests and I each got a cocktail from their menu. We have sweet tooth’s so we did end up going for very similar cocktails ha! All the cocktails were classically garnished, with a soothing but balanced taste. Each cocktail was between £11-13 so average prices for drinks in the city! Perfect for summery days and great for giggles and catch ups.  I couldn’t resist as I’ve not had oysters since the beginning of the year! Lockdown really had me dreaming of oysters and fresh seafood. So, it was a must to try! Each oyster was priced at £3 with a minimum order of 4. At £12, this was a no-brained decision and it was really...

Bafarat  This bakery/cafe is a true must see as it combines all things luxury and refined into pastries, sweet treats and small bites for a very affordable price. Bafarat is one of the many places which took part in the ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme. Therefore, our total bill was reduced by £20.  Despite this, this cafe is affordable with an afternoon tea priced at £25 per person. A perfect location to chat, catch up with friends or loved ones or even just have a quiet space to work. The interior is simple, sleek and modern with social distancing markings keeping everyone safe. My guest and I had made reservations for a late afternoon tea. This can be done via DM on Instagram or WhatsApp.  We were promptly seated and handed the menu in which detailed the wide variety of drinks available. We choose, Iced Green Tea & Iced Americano with Hazelnut Syrup. Both drinks were included in the afternoon tea price.  The afternoon tea menu was explained throughly to us by the ...

  Sunday catch-ups with friends can sometimes be very difficult to plan. People have various household tasks like cleaning, food shopping and getting ready for a new working week so, brunches usually get put on hold or cancelled amongst my friends. Oh and not to mention, my pals who love a booze-filled Saturday night and don't attend any plans before 6pm on a Sunday! But on a rare occasion, a good friend of mine decided to turn our Sunday walk into a pub brunch.  Big disclaimer - I don't have anything against pubs but they're not my usual go-to for anything social. If anything I was tricked, I had my Dolce & Gabbana trainers on, ready to get these steps in and talk out my life's worth of annoying and mind-boggling moments in the last 3 weeks by the Riverside. But, it was a lovely catch-up regardless and a short bus ride from home. As pictured above, I opted for a Pink Gin & Tonic with fresh strawberries and ice. This drink really got me through some of the undes...

Tavolino As a foodie and restaurant enthusiast, I am extremely excited when I find out a new restaurant is opening up and it's right on my doorstep. London Bridge has lovely views and is very local so I was patiently waiting for the doors of Tavolino to open up. This restaurant participated in the 'Eat Out to Help Out' scheme which removed a total of £20 from our final bill. For two people, I would say before any offers or schemes, this restaurant is affordable. It is key to note that we also shared majority of the dishes because the portion sizes were generous. Backwards but necessary, my favourite dishes were the desserts. This was the  Amalfi lemon meringue priced at £8. This meringue was fluffy, soft and not to sweet that you felt sick. Coupled with the tanginess of the lemon curd and crunch of the biscuit base - I felt like I had touched cloud 9 with Timberland boots on and a 'I can do anything' attitude. In basic terms, I was extremely pleased as the dessert w...