Abeno Okonomi-yaki restaurant, Museum Street in London

One of the perks of living in London is all the free museums and exhibitions. My favourite has to be the British Museum with it's futuristic ceiling juxtaposing the Greek revivalist facade and artifacts from all over the world. I spent a lot of time here when I was studying for my Masters' at SOAS, so it feels almost homely to me. If you are visiting the British Museum, then I have to recommend Abeno Okonomi-yaki, a Japanese restaurant close by, on Museum Street, for it's delicious Okonomi-yaki of course (a Japanese pimped-up omelette), cooked right there on your table by the friendly waitresses.

And if you fancy trying something quite strange and full of goodness, then natto might just be your thing. It's sticky texture puts some people off but I couldn't get enough of the stuff. When I crave something like that, I always conclude that my body must be needing it, especially when it's something that's usually absent from my diet. Natto is full of probiotics, something that I've found to cure most things in my life (this is just my opinion). Some say it's the secret of longevity in Japan, but above all it's a great little side dish to your Okonomi-yaki, complementing it perfectly!

Red amaranth, enoki mushrooms, cashewnuts and black quinoa on a hot hotday

London is sizzling. No, I don't mean 23 degrees C going down to 10 at night, I mean a proper heatwave. Though they do say we'll be going back down to our usual, civilized 23-with-showers in the coming week. Thank god. That's not an ironic "thank god" either - the pregnancy means I'm really sensitive to everything and massively overheating. It took three tries to get into my lido. I'd trundle up there like a man in a desert only to find my cool oasis swarming with hipsters, forming an unmanageable queue. I finally managed to get in yesterday after getting up early, but it was still much busier than usual, even at 9.15am, a lot of idiots, a lot of road rage. Not your usual, calming "isn't this nice?" atmosphere at all. Luckily, in this weather I am not craving sausage sandwiches but things like this...

This was a particularly attractive and successful version of the kind of dish I usually throw together; a combination of whatever I have lying about my kitchen cupboards and whatever I pick on my way home. I stopped off at my favourite Vietnamese supermarket on this occasion and bought fresh red amaranth and enoki mushrooms. I cooked the black quinoa separately and used a wok to toast the cashewnuts slightly before adding the amaranth, enoki mushrooms, light soya sauce, a little bit of oyster sauce and Ghanian shito paste (basically a chilli oil).

After all my moaning about the heat, I leave you with what I love about London in the summertime. The luscious, wild nature all around. Now, if I could just get wild flowers to grow in my garden...

Hackney Mess - the coolest summer dessert

I have spent the last two months playing with my food and writing. I've been taking forgotten Polish recipes and reworking them into a modern context; researching the origins of dishes that I've known since childhood but never thought twice about; and tweaking old family recipes. It's a dream come to true to be able to do this, and yet even living my dream has its difficult moments. This is absolutely OK,  because even though somehow society conditions us to think there will be a happy-ever-after, this is not life. Life is supposed to be challenging and as long as each difficult moment is taken as an opportunity to learn something then we're in a good place. Some days the writing doesn't flow for me and if I force it I risk putting myself off for the next day, so I'm learning to treat myself gently. Guilt trips do not work, what I need to do in this situation is find my inspiration. Other days, I've found it hard to cook, because I can't find ingredients I thought would be easy to come by or I don't feel like eating what I've planned to cook - through this, I'm learning to be flexible and adaptable. I have the added complication of having fallen pregnant at exactly the same time as my book deal happened. This was not ideal timing, but I definitely want this baby, so my partner and I are working it out. Through this added complication (blessing though it is) I'm learning to be more open minded. Perhaps I do not want to shoe-horn myself into someone else's home that isn't suited to me or have someone squeeze themselves in on top of me in order to have the traditional set up in time for the baby... I'm also learning that sometimes the best action is no action at all. Every day I am grateful for my beautiful, cosy flat, which gives me a feeling of much-needed security; the amazing opportunity to write the book of my dreams; my supportive family; a partner that is prepared to work on our relationship and wants this baby as much as I do; the little string bean that is growing into a human being inside me; and a host of other things. I'm also enjoying eating whatever I want: some of it is healthy and some of it, not so much. For the first time since childhood, it really doesn't matter. I am allowed to get fat. How liberating. I've been meaning to make this Hackney Mess for a long time -  a dessert idea that's been floating about my head, based on the traditional Eton Mess but a more colourful and flavour packed version.

The meringue is chocolate - whip up some egg whites with a pinch of salt. When they have formed peaks, start adding the sugar until the mixture thickens, finally add the cacao powder. Bake in a pre-heated over at 200 degrees C for 10min, then turn the oven off and leave them in there to cool. The fruit I used were juicy cherries - so of course you need to take the stones out first. Whip the whipping cream until fluffy then add the icing sugar and matcha powder, bit by bit, until you achieve the desired, light green colour and sweet flavour. You put the three components together in layers. And yes, Hackney Mess must be served in a jar.

Ingredients

2-3 egg whites

150g sugar

2 tablespoon raw cacao powder

150ml whipping cream

50g sugar

1 teaspoon matcha powder

Lots of cherries

Spelt pancakes with stewed vanilla strawberries

I love Ridley road market with it's African fabrics, cheap food stalls and fishmongers. Even the sheeps' heads add a little "je ne sais quoi" to the atmosphere. This is where you come to get cheap fruit and veg in east London. Unfortunately, it's not always the best quality. Yersterday, I was walking through Ridley Road when a torrential downpour started. This wasn't your usual London drizzle, it was like  monsoon had hit us. Fortunately, it was still warm and somehow all the people caught in it - like yours truly - were in good spirits. The market stall holders were trying to get rid of all their produce as quickly as possible and pack up, so I got 2 big bowls - one of cherries, one of strawberries -for £1.50. The cherries were delicious, but the strawberries were a bit squashed by the time I got them home. I ate the solid strawberries whilst contemplating what I could do with all the squashed ones. Half of the squashed ones went into a healthy shake with yoghurt, almond milk, maple syrup and maca root. The other half were made into strawberry and vanilla sauce that went on top of spelt pancakes this Sunday morning, for brunch.

I won't lie to you, it was divine. I simply  simmered the strawberries with a teaspoon of good quality vanilla essence, a tablespoon of brown sugar and 3 tablespoons of water. I won't patronise you with a detailed description of how to make pancakes because I'm sure you know. I just whizzed all the ingredients down there together and fried each ladlefull in little knobs of butter. I also added a dollop of mascapone and a drizzle of maple syrup for that American brunch feel. This will make 2 pancakes.

Ingredients

50g spelt flour

1 egg

150ml almond milk (aprox)

15g butter

Large handful strawberries, chopped in half

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Dollop mascapone

Maple syrup to drizzle

Hoxton 100, probably the best place to eat in East London

Hoxton 100 the best restaurant in Shoreditch? With all the up-market restaurants in east London these days that's a big claim. I'll explain my reasoning point-by-point.

1. I can't actually pick a favourite dish. Every single dish we ordered was superb.

2. They have an amazing early-bird offer that includes Saturdays and means you get 5 sharing dishes for £30, and it's enough food for a satisfying meal. We were both full.

3. Happy hour with amazing cocktails at the same time - winning.

4. Friendly service and a relaxed atmosphere. Un-pretentious.

5. I can't wait to go back there.

So this is why Hoxton 100 is  my new favourite Shoreditch spot and if your rating system is anything like mine, then you should check it out.

La Bodega Negra, Soho, London

Life changes suddenly. Just a month ago I was waking up some time before midday, working at a lazy pace for a couple of hours on whatever I felt like working on and mostly had no idea which day of the week it was. Now I wake up at 7, commute to Paddington and have no time to do my laundry. I'm tired and a little stressed, yet I'm enjoying the change of pace. Many people are frightened of change, but for some reason I enjoy it. Even when it's crazy, scary, destabilising change, there is still a part of me that thrives on it. So now that I'm working flat out I'm predictably going out much more, consuming more.  I can even go to places like La Bodega Negra on a Monday night if I feel like it...

With a cancellation policy of £25 per head if we fail to cancel by 5pm, this is not somewhere I'd go when strapped for cash. I thought this was a bit harsh and off-putting until my friend pointed out that since it looks like a sex shop from the outside, people aren't just going to drop in. Nevertheless, for somewhere so well hidden and so early in the week, it was heaving. This also explained the slightly unattentive service and lack of the tap water I asked for. The sexy waitress explained later that they weren't expecting so many people and were short-staffed, so I'll give them a break.

The food was absolutely delicious. We had a few different tacos, corn salad, beans, guacamole and quesadilla. I have two favourites: soft shell crab tacos and and the massive, crunchy corn salad. I can't fault my spiced pear margarita either. The atmosphere was great - buzzing yet romantic, full of life, glamorous. Kind of what I like to imagine Mexico itself feels like. We all paid under £40 per head with drinks, which is less than I was expecting after the scary cancellation policy.

Andina in Shoreditch, London

I take pleasure in the passage of time. Some people lament loosing their youth and feel like their best years are behind them in their 30s - I'm the polar opposite of that. There is nothing I miss about being younger. I prefer my body now,  know how to handle my personality better (I can be a handful at times) and feel much calmer and wiser. That weird, empty void that used to torture me when I was younger now feels like a warm, cosy hiding place, and I have finally struck a balance between being open to new friendships and an appreciation of the old ones. While new people bring excitement and adventure, there's an easiness that comes into friendships with time, which is very relaxing. Anton, who I came to Andina with a dew days ago, is one of these old friends

The restaurant was great, when we finally got in - we were on the waiting list for about 2 hours. It could have been a result of being ravenously hungry and therefore grumpy, but one woman at the front of house seemed annoyingly passive aggressive. However, all the other staff made up for this, as did the food. Having worked in restaurants I also know that she could have just been having "one of those nights", so let's give her the benefit of doubt. The food was amazing! I've never been to Peru, so I can't say whether it was authentic or not, but the produce was great quality and the flavours interesting, yet not over-complicated. We ate corn cakes, spicy ceviches, lamb and cassava chips washed down with Pisco sours and Peruvian beer. The bill came to £55, which felt very reasonable. In the future, I would always book ahead

Warm winter vegetable salad with jerusalem artichoke

This warm Winter vegetable salad was inspired by the one I ate on a fun evening out at Bedford&Strand. In actual fact, I can't remember much about that salad apart from that it was absolutely delicious and that it contained a vegetable that I hadn't eaten for so long that I didn't even recognize - the Jerusalem artichoke. You will be seeing a lot more of this little fella now I promise you...

Ingredients

Golden beetroot

Chicory

Jerusalem artichoke

New potatoes

Olive oil

Lemon juice

Garlic salt

Pepper

Capers

1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard

1 teaspoon mayonnaise

Boil the potatoes, beets and Jerusalem artichoke in salted water. After 15min, remove the potatoes, after 20min the Jerusalem artichoke and after 25min the small golden beets. We want all the vegetables to still have some bite, so don't overcook them. Peel the beets and Jerusalem artichoke once they have cooled slightly. Chop the potatoes in quarters, the Jerusalem artichoke in bite-size chunks, and the beets - slice finely. Place everything artistically on top of the chicory. Meanwhile, chop the chicory and make the vinaigrette by combining the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic salt, pepper, mustard and mayo in a jar and shaking vigorously. At the end, add the capers. Pour over the still warm Winter vegetables and marvel at your work - so simple, yet so elegant!

Jamaican Summer beer cocktail

This is the most refreshing cocktail I've ever had, perfect for a Summer evening, or even afternoon. It is only beer after all (with the tiniest bit of rum). I adapted the recipe from the one I tried at The Rum Kitchen a few weeks ago, which, incidently, is a really fun place for a night out in West London

Ingredients

1 part ginger beer to 2 parts beer (Red Stripe is obviously ideal)

1 teaspoon (or more) Spiced Rum

Few drops of Angostura Bitters

Lime juice (about half a lime per big glass)

Anchor & Hope in Waterloo

The table at Anchor & Hope looked as if it was set for a Medieval feast - figs with parma ham, slices of what I believe was wild boar with grapes, cod roe and my favourite - chicken liver and fois gras parfais. This was followed by that fish down there, sticky rabbit ribs and runner beans with almonds (another favourite)

And yet this is the only photo I have. And it wasn't even taken by me, as mine was too dark (I really need a new camera). I've read crazily mixed reviews of this place. The funniest one I read was the guy who talked about waiting for an hour for a table and approached "a senior-looking member of staff who was idling his time away talking to a cluster of peasants about some table they were waiting for... Amazingly, I was IGNORED until he had finished his conversation", he signed his hilarious review "a regular" and gave the place the full 5 stars. The thing is, even if you know someone who works here, you always have to wait for a table. So just have a pint or two and enjoy your (presumably lovely) company until they are ready to sit you. If this is going to stress you out, then don't come here. But you will be missing out because the food is fantastic and very reasonably priced, and the place is just a bit special. Not in a pretentious way, like some random person who you bump into on the street and starts a monologue on a Chekov play they happen to be working on, but in that real, confident way where the quality speaks for itself and needs no gimmicks

Matcha (green tea) and maple ice cream

Finally we have Summer in London! This means beers and barbecues, dinners outside on pavements, leisurely night-time strolls and plenty of ice-cream. At least for me. I don't have an ice-cream maker, so I just stir. It's still the simplest thing in the world

Although it's made from clotted cream I would still argue that this ice-cream is reasonably healthy since it contains no sugar and really good quality green tea powder from the Japan Centre. Incidentally, this is one of my favourite shops in London. Every time I come I get stuck in here for at least an hour, so I have to remember to never attempt to "pop in" on my way somewhere, because I will be late. This has happened more than once, the place is a time warp

I blended the pot of clotted cream with a tablespoon of matcha and about 4 tablespoons of maple syrup. I put the mixture into a plastic box and into the freezer. Then, you just stir every half an hour until it's ready, more if you feel like it, for about 4 hours

Keeping it real at FEAST Food Festival, London

I know I should be writing about Sardinian food right now, but yesterday I went to the FEAST food festival on St. Thomas' Street in London Bridge and it kind of changed things for me

I ate delicious Ceviche from The Last Days of Pisco, which reminded me how much I love the stuff and how simple it is to make

I also ate snails-on-a-stick and rabbit from Anchor & Hope, where my friend Petey works

And spiced lamb with hummus from Morito

The atmosphere was great, everyone smiling and chatting, like a proper festival without the messiness. We ate, we drank. My friend Petey suggested that we do something together, something life-changing. I said yes. I will reveal all once the project has wings, but I will give you a clue: it's nothing to do with babies. It's good to take your time with big decisions. They say that you only regret the things you didn't do, and not the things you did, but I beg to disagree. If you have my tendency to make rash decisions, then you'll know what I'm talking about - sometimes the timing is wrong, sometimes you can do things for the wrong reasons and other times it's just a plain, old bad idea. You need to know that you are really ready to commit to something before you actually do it and be sure that everything is as it should be. That doesn't mean being flakey and indecisive, as that's the other extreme and can be just as destructive, just keeping things in perspective. Oh, I think I have just inadvertently understood the meaning of the hip-hop phrase "keeping it real"

Menemen at the Z Cafe, Kingsland Road

...Is the best brunch I've ever eaten. No that's a lie, Eggs Benedicte and a Bloody Mary somewhere in New York is probably my favourite ever, but this comes a close second

It's a combination of eggs, tomatoes, sausage, feta and peppers. The description said there was spinach in there, but the taste was definitely that of sorrel, which I adore. Sitting outside and people watching with LT was really fun too. I may have said that it was the best thing he's ever shown me. Don't think he took that as a compliment

Boho Mexicana, Spitalfields

While we're on the subject of going out, here's a great little place in east London. I came here with a few international girlfriends last week to eat dinner, drink Blueberry Mojitos and discuss life. It made me think about how much I love interesting women. By interesting I don't mean mysterious, hyperactive, weird or aloof - I sometimes think that these qualities disguise the fact that someone isn't particularly interesting. I mean people with a strong sense of themselves, who grow and develop like characters in a good book. Women who can be both kind and supportive, yet at the same time challenge my way of seeing the world. They're priceless and always I try to keep people like that in my world, because with them you will never be lost for long

Boho Mexicana was a lot of fun. The Blueberry Mojitos were criminally more-ish. I would not, however, recommend what I had to eat - the tamal de frijol bean thing. Unlike my company, it was lacking in something... Magda had a delicious, spicy baby squid dish (up there) that she shared with me - she'd made the best choice. The leche cake our charming Venezuelan waiter suggested did not disappoint. Price-wise I would put it in the medium bracket - aprox £35-45 with cocktails. The atmosphere is fun and fabulous, ideal for a girlie get-together, though probably not terribly romantic, what with the flirtatious south-American waiters and all

Evans & Peel Detective Agency/ Cocktail Bar

It's been a sociable time for little old me recently, and I've discovered some cool new spots, which I would like to share with you (of course). Last night a few of us went to Evans & Peel. A small, old-fashioned door off the Earl's Court Road leads to a staircase and down to a proper old-school detective agency. Have your cover story ready!

Once you get past the guy on reception, you go through to a wonderful, 20s-style bar. As you can see from the quality of my photos, it's very atmospheric. You'll need to order a little bit of food, as that's something to do with their license. We ate a warm pretzel and a smoked cheesecake, washed down with exciting new twists on classic cocktails. It was quite expensive at £9.5 per drink, but no less than what you'd expect from this kind of classy joint

Pizarro in Bermondsey Street, another great restaurant in London Bridge

I've told you about Jose on Bermondsey Street in London Bridge, which I love. Jose is teeny tiny, so the same people opened another restaurant about 5 months ago, just down the road. It's called Pizarro and we went there yesterday, because waiting 45min for a table in a room the size of my living room (which isn't big) with lots of people constantly trying to get past, isn't much fun. We had to wait for a table at Pizarro too, but there is room to stand and have a drink here

We drank those lovely wines down there. The first one was smooth and oily almost, the second really flavoursome and flowery. Both were beautiful and reasonably priced

The menu here is more like a normal restuarant menu with starters and main courses - I guess they wanted a point of difference between the two restaurants. But we still ate it tapas-style by ordering three starters and one main course between us, and asking for it all as it came - that's whenever the chef chose to make it. It's a nice, relaxed way to eat, and cook too I presume, as the chef doesn't have to worry about timings

To be completely fair, as we always try to be in our family, my brother, myself and my dad all chose one starter, then we agreed on the larger dish together. We then proceeded to have a lengthy argument about vodka. We ate prawns with razor clams (that's it up there half eaten, testimony to how tasty it was), cod tongue, lamb's tongue (I think, it may have been calf's) and pig's cheek. I have no idea what the cod tongue actually was, as I presume that cod fish don't have tongues, and if they did they would be the size of pine nuts, and not the large slices of tender fish we had. Perhaps it means gills... I do recall having this thought process at another time, and it did have a positive conclusion, yet I forget what it was... but whatever we ate, it was delicious. All of it. I highly recommend coming here if you're ever in the area. The bill for three people came to just under £100. The vodka argument was resolved with the promise of a blind vodka tasting. A set of rules has been agreed, as was the place and the date - late September, Eastbourne. Watch this space

Brunch at the Hoxton Hotel

...Is a really good idea

My mate Mike's girlfriend organized a surprise birthday brunch for him last weekend and we had a brilliant afternoon

There are three brunch options - an English one, a continental one and a massive one. We had the continental, with the addition of waffles (which brought it up to £17 per head plus drinks). Another one of  Louise's amazing ideas. I wish she was my girlfriend

We washed down the pastries, fruit salad, bagels and waffles with Bloody Mary's and Prosecco. The birthday boy had a Porn Star Martini. Of course

Gourmet San on Bethnal Green Road

Ok, there is no way I can spin this to make it seem like a part of my detox. But in my defense, when someone invites you to dinner at Gourmet San, you don't refuse

Especially if they're one of your best friends and a Hong Kong national, who knows exactly what to order. Not that this is HK cuisine, this is Sichuan and there is nothing else like this in the whole of London

The menu is extensive, so you need reliable tip offs. My favourite thing on the menu, and perhaps my  favourite Chinese dish of all time even, is thousand year eggs with tofu. Don't worry they're not really that old. But they are green

We also had lamb with cumin, Japanese tofu with prawns and some greens (Chinese broccoli with scallion I believe it was), all washed down with tea. See, no alcohol, no pudding, so I haven't veered too far off-course 

I can't tell you how much it cost as it was a treat, but Gourmet San isn't expensive. It's a dispensable paper tablecloths and super quick service kind of a place, with fantastic authentic Sichuan food. Perfect for a mid-week catch up with your mates

Cha Ca La Vong - Catfish at Little Hanoi

I just have to tell you about this dish I ate at Little Hanoi (147 Curtain Road) not long ago, because I've never had anything like it and my mouth still waters at the memory! It's called Cha Ca La Vong and it is a well known thing apparently, with some restaurants in Hanoi specializing in cooking only this. And what it is, is a sizzle-in-front-of-you, melt-in-your-mouth-delicious catfish - a great starter for 2-3 people, though you may want to wait until you've eaten it to decide what you want to follow, as it is filling. The owner recommended it to us, and from now on I plan to seek him out to recommend other stuff. The thing with Vietnamese restaurants is because the menu is so extensive and the choice so large, I often wonder if I'm not missing out anything. It turns out that I have been...

Buen Ayre on Broadway Market

I can be such a bad friend sometimes. When I have a guest visiting me, I use it as an excuse to do stuff that I really want to do. Instead of trying to find out where my friend wants to go for dinner, what they really feel like eating on their rare trip to London, I give the impression that I'm asking, whilst making sure that the place I want to go seems by far the best option. And after a few months living with the resolution to limit my meat intake, I was dying to go to Buen Ayre on Broadway Market. I've never been here, you see, because you can rarely get a table if you pop in - it's very popular. And now I know why. The meat. And the wine

I completely forgot about this beauty from the Gougenheim Winery. A couple of years ago this was my favourite wine - all the memories came flooding back as if I'd just sat down to a meal with someone who had once meant everything to me but I hadn't thought of for a long time. Which actually happened later on this weekend, but that's another story. However, while revisiting old relationships isn't usually the cleverest idea (I should know, I've done it enough times), going back to old wines is precisely the opposite

We shared the marinated ox tongue to start, with a side salad, and we both followed it by the smaller of the sirloin steaks. There's not much to say about that, because it was perfect. And we all know exactly what that tastes like. If you don't, then you'd better get yourself to Buen Ayre pronto! The staff are really friendly too, flirty without being obnoxious or sleazy. It was weirdly smoky when we went in, due to the indoor grill but they managed to sort that out pretty quickly. Pricewise, I'd say it's kind of average, £35 per head including wine