Five Cool Places to Eat in London

Jess, who's 13, writes: Having lived in London my entire life, I have definitely had the chance to eat at some great places. These days when we hear about somewhere we think sounds interesting, we sometimes look up where it is and travel there for lunch! Here are five places that serve fantastic food, and are really exciting to visit:

Cereal Killer Cafe

[caption id="attachment_1741" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Outside the Cereal Killer Cafe in Camden Stables[/caption]

The Cereal Killer Cafe is lots of fun to visit, and is located in Camden Stables and Brick Lane. As the name suggests, it serves a variety of cereals, as well as fruit, toppings, milks and pop tarts. Mum and I visited the store in Camden, and both had no idea what to choose from the menu. Eventually, we both decided on different "cereal cocktails" - bowls of a few types of cereal with toppings and milk.

[caption id="attachment_1747" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Mum's "Mint Choc cHipster" cereal concoction![/caption]

I chose the "peanut butter jelly time" concoction, which was peanut butter cap'n crunch, reese's chips and strawberry milk, while mum picked the "mint choc cHipster". This consisted of chocapic, wheetos, mint aero bubbles and mint milk...

Both of our cereals were utterly delicious, and I really want to go again. I loved trying reese's cereal as I had never even seen that before, and there are so many more cereals I want to try. It is also an awesome place to visit, as the shop in Camden Stables has old merchandise on the walls, video games and even actual beds which people were sitting on!

[caption id="attachment_1739" align="alignnone" width="1200"] There were so many cereals to choose from![/caption]

I would definitely recommend the Cereal Killer Cafe to anyone in the area around Camden or Brick Lane, as it was lots of fun, the food was scrumptious, and it was a really different place to visit.

The cost of cereals vary depending on which country they are from and which size they are. Small American cereals are £3, medium sized ones are £3.70 and large bowls are £4.40. Milk is free, and toppings are £0.60. Cereal "cocktails" range from £3.70 to £4.80. 

Melt Room

[caption id="attachment_1743" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Outside Melt Room[/caption]

Melt Room is found in Soho, and serves mouthwatering grilled cheese, as well as salads, soup and breakfast. Mum and I visited for lunch, and both tried grilled cheese sandwiches. While I had a portobello mushroom sandwich, mum tried tuna bean salad. These were both incredibly good, and we loved dipping our melts into the relish we bought.

[caption id="attachment_1742" align="alignnone" width="1200"] A delicious portabello mushroom grilled cheese sandwich[/caption]

It wasn't too busy, and we were able to get our food really quickly. The music was quite loud, but the grilled cheese was so good that it didn't really matter.

Melts from Melt Room cost between £3.50 and £5.00, and the Classic cheese Melt is £4.00.

Chin Chin Labs

I always visit Chin Chin Labs when I am in Camden with my friends, as everything tastes brilliant and it is really exciting to see your ice cream being made in front of you. Chin Chin Labs serves delectable ice cream that is made in front of you, using liquid nitrogen. In fact, it is "Europe’s only Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Parlour"...

[caption id="attachment_691" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Chin Chin Labs is in Camden, North London[/caption]

The ice-cream bases are prepared in liquid form and the nitrogen is added to freeze it straight away. The shop is like a chemistry lab, and there are clouds of steam billowing everywhere. It is always a really exciting experience, and the ice cream is always super.

[caption id="attachment_690" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Watching the making of the ice-cream is quite an experience[/caption]

 

I have tried flavours ranging from fig jam doughnut to Christmas tree, and the flavours change every week. There is constantly chocolate and vanilla on the menu, as well as two interesting flavours. One of these is always vegan, meaning that we can take Robert along too!

[caption id="attachment_1750" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Delicious ice cream served with scrumptious toppings - my favourite is the grilled white chocolate.[/caption]

It is so much fun to go to, and you should definitely give it a visit if you are in the area. I wrote a review of the shop here.

Ice creams from Chin Chin Labs are either £3.95 or £4.95, and come with a topping. 

Boba Jam

I'd never tried bubble tea before I visited Boba Jam near Leicester Square, but I was surprised at how delicious it is. Boba Jam is my friend's favourite shop for bubble tea, and she says that she has drunk a lot of it over the years!

[caption id="attachment_1752" align="alignnone" width="1060"] With my green apple bubble tea[/caption]

Bubble tea is essentially a flavoured drink with tapioca balls that you can suck through your straw. It is absolutely delicious, and Boba Jam has so many different flavours. My favourite is green apple, but passion fruit is also really good. Boba Jam also serves lots of different desserts which look fantastic, but I have never tried one.

It is about a five minute walk from Tottenham Court Road Station, meaning that it is really easy to get to. My friends and I normally go there after we've watched a film in Leicester Square.

Regular bubble teas from Boba Jam are £3.60, and the shop also sells dumplings, main meals and desserts.

Wahaca

Wahaca is my favourite place to eat in London by a mile. Their main restaurant can be found near Piccadilly Circus, but they also have stalls in other places, such as by the Thames at the Southbank. Wahaca serves delicious Mexican food, and everyone is lovely and friendly.

There is such a large variety of food - tacos, empanadas, quesadillas and dips all feature on the menu. My favourite things to eat are the pea and mint empanadas and the broccoli in green goddess dressing. Every single time we have been, the service was fantastic.

The desserts are delicious, and it is fun to share lots of different plates with the rest of the family!

Sharing dishes at Wahaca are generally around £4.00, and we tend to share four or five dishes between two people.

 

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Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream: A Delicious Treat At Chin Chin Labs

[caption id="attachment_690" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Watching the making of the ice-cream is quite an experience[/caption]

I have wanted to visit Chin Chin Labs in Camden Lock for ages. After all, who wouldn't want to go to Europe's only Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream Parlour?

Consequently, I was very excited to visit the shop yesterday with mum and a friend, and couldn't wait to get stuck in to a mouth-watering tub of ice cream. First of all, we had to actually find the shop - Camden Town is a busy, bustling mecca of shops and stalls which is incredibly difficult to navigate! We walked through a market full of amazing clothes, went past a countless amount of vegan and health stores and marvelled at some hanging mobiles which looked spectacular in the wind. Camden is a brilliant shopping destination, as there are just so many shops and something for everyone.

[caption id="attachment_691" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Chin Chin Labs is in Camden, North London[/caption]

We finally stumbled upon Chin Chin Labs, and spent ages deciding on which flavour to try. The shop has two regular flavours - Pondicherry Vanilla and Valrhona Chocolate - and two specials which change weekly. When we went, these were Tonka Pineapple and Fig Jam Doughnut (£3.95 each with a sauce/topping included). Something else that looked delicious was called the Brown-Wich, which is their vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two brownie cookies (£4.95). The store also makes coffee, hot chocolate, juice and sells toppings in bags, such as honeycomb and caramelised pretzels.

[caption id="attachment_692" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The ice-cream bases are prepared in liquid form and the nitrogen is added to freeze it straightaway[/caption]

Our ice creams were made right in front of our eyes, which was incredible! The shop is like a chemistry lab as the basic liquids are taken and liquid nitrogen added to freeze it quickly. There were clouds of steam billowing everywhere, and I felt as if I was in a science fiction film. The liquid was churned to an ice cream consistency with a mixer in seconds, and the experience was phenomenal. It's the kind of thing they do in very posh restaurants, but I don't get to go to many of those, so it was entirely new to me.

[caption id="attachment_693" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Doughnut ice cream with fig jam, and dairy free Tonka pineapple sorbet - both delicious![/caption]

Soon enough, the freshly made ice cream was scooped into a cup, ready to eat. I had chosen Fig Jam Doughnut flavour, so my ice cream tasted of doughnuts and was topped with a delicious fig mixture. Both my friend and mum chose grilled white chocolate to top their Tonka Pineapple and chocolate flavour ice creams, and we soon  got stuck in.

I honestly had some of the best ice cream of my life - the flavour was so unique and different and there were no ice crystals as it had been frozen really quickly. I would absolutely love to come back another week and try out some of the new flavours.

[caption id="attachment_694" align="aligncenter" width="940"] We scraped out all the ice-cream we could find![/caption]

Overall, Chin Chin Labs is an amazing place to visit and you should definitely give it a go if you are in the area. Seeing it being made right in front of us was just amazing, and the ice cream was fantastic. Yes, it is expensive, but the experience and quality of ice cream more than makes up for it. I will definitely be bringing more of my friends in the future!

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