ldn 2026 trip part 2

This February, Kat and I spent another week on holiday in London. We loved our last trip there so much we’d been plotting reasons to return. Luckily, a stage version of The Killings at Badger’s Drift announcement gave us reason to return. Once again, I want to log the trip here so we can relive the trip in digital form.

Be sure to check out part 1 if you haven’t already.

Tuesday

Tuesday was another big day, and followed the same general format as Monday - breakfast, museum, shops.

Tuesday’s breakfast was at The Breakfast Club in Seven Dials (South Kensington → Piccadilly → Covent Garden). We sat at the counter, and I enjoyed a flat white and the Veggie Spoon (vegetarian greasy spoon). Very tasty, and very fun sitting at the counter on a gloomy London morning.

Then it was off the to the British Museum. We didn’t get advance tickets, but we arrived right around opening so we didn’t have to queue.

The museum was gigantic, and like the Louvre there’s simply no way to get through it all in one go. But we made a good effort and hit a lot of the highlights. We saw the Rosetta Stone, all sorts of ancient artifacts from Egypt and Greece (including bits of the Parthenon), the findings from Sutton Hoo, and the famous Reading Room.

Seeing all this stuff from all over the world in one place is amazing. But it also brings to mind the fact that the Empire stole a lot of this stuff. It does make you think, and I think it’s worth thinking about and feeling a bit of guilt/discomfort while viewing. Did I appreciate seeing all this stuff? Yes. Do I think this stuff should be returned to the people it was taken from? Also yes. Complicated things to think about for sure.

Then it was off to do some shopping. We made a return visit to Present & Correct - got some stickers, paperclips and a stamp - and the store is so curated and amazing. We popped in to Kiltane where Kat and I both picked up some Scottish scarves, and they were well utilized for the remainder of the trip on damp, cold days in London.

We stopped in to the Barn’s new (and first) London Cafe in Fitzrovia, where I got another Flat White and a bag of beans to take home (the first of the trip). I’ve followed The Barn for years on social media and have always wanted to visit a cafe since they’re so highly rated. But it was never an option because all their cafes were in Berlin. Until now. It was really cool to visit a cafe and try their coffee and beans.

After the break it was time to make our way over to Selfridges. We decided to walk, though in hindsight a bus might have been a better idea - it was a long trek in misty, damp conditions. We checked out the food hall at Selfridges…which was less a bunch of places you could get food and sit and eat (like at a mall), than a place to buy food and eat…somewhere else. There were like 10 seats to sit at, and all were occupied. Slightly disappointed, we ate our sandos outside under an awning, and weren’t the only people doing so.

Across the street was an M&S Food, where we were able to find Colin the Caterpillar - we got some Valentine’s themed minis with Connie the Caterpillar included. Sadly, still no Pip & Nut was found.

We took the bus back to the hotel, going around Hyde Park and had a bit of a rest before heading out for dinner.

Dinner was at The Tamil Crown - we couldn’t resist returning as it was our best meal last time we were in London. South Kensington → Piccadilly → Kings Cross → Northern → Angel, and then a short walk to the Crown. We had a table in the bar area this time, and it was incredibly cosy. Kat and I sat next to each other looking out into the room, and got to watch all the guests arrive for the private party upstairs trickle in - it must have been like 30+ people, steadily arriving throughout our time there. The food was excellent, as expected. I think we got the same food as before: samosas and bel puri as starters, and the aubergine curry with roti to split as a main. As incredible as we remembered. The bel puri was super light and had lovely pops of brightness from the pomegranate seeds. The aubergine curry was so smoky and smooth and went amazingly with the roti. Their gin highball was a lovely cocktail, sweet (but not too sweet), with a nice lime flavor. Went perfectly with the strong spices in the food. I was unsure at first going for a cocktail vs a beer, but I definitely made the right choice.

To round out the evening we returned to King’s Cross/St. Pancras (Angel → Northern → King’s Cross) to do some shopping and desert. We got some goodies at the Fortnum & Mason outpost, and had Merveilleux at Aux Merveilleux du Fred. Lovely way to end the night.

King’s Cross → Piccadilly → South Kensington, then back to the hotel with a stop at the Little Waitrose along the way to stock up on some Weetabix. Still no Pip & Nut.

Wednesday

Wednesday was our big trip to Brighton by the sea! Luckily the rain decided to let up for a day and we make it through the trip without getting wet.

We started the morning with breakfast at the hotel. I don’t know why it surprised me, but the buffet had all the ingredients for a full English breakfast - eggs, hash browns, streaky bacon, even baked beans!

We took the Gatwick Express to Brighton¹, which departed from Victoria Station. A quick District line jaunt (South Kensington → District → Victoria) got us there. Train stations in Europe are a bit different compared to the US, where there’s a common area with food and shops and whatnot, but you can’t get to the tracks and trains until like 10 minutes before departure. And it’s so high frequency, your train arrives, passengers disembark and then almost immediately is ready to reload fresh passengers and head back out. Once the train is ready, you have to scan your ticket and hustle to find a seat. It just seems to add some additional urgency, which I actually feel as an outsider. There was nothing to worry about though, the train was mostly empty and therefore had no issues finding seats.

It was about an hour long trip down to the South Coast. A slow beginning winding through South London (I put on some Dry Cleaning, it felt appropriate), then we picked up some speed after Gatwick when we hit the countryside. Apparently there was a train derailment that morning and they apologized profusely for the delay, though we only arrived ~5 minutes after our scheduled time of arrival.

Brighton was more hilly than we expected. Not as hilly as San Francisco, but the streets did undulate. This was probably our first run in with proper hills in England.

From the train station, we made our way into town in search of coffee. We stopped in at Loam, a lovely little cafe on Gloucester Rd. We got a table near the back; I had a flat white and Kat had a matcha. It was a nice hang out, and Kat overheard some interesting dental conversation.

Afterwards, went for a mooch around the shops - Rural Simplicity, Pen to Paper, Bert’s Homestore, and an antique shop. I was very tempted to pop into one of the many tattoo shops, but our time was better spent exploring. Lunch was a Kokoro - they had Japanese style curry bowls - Kat had the crispy tofu and I the chicken. They were really good, and it was a ton of food.

Afterwards, we made our way down to the seaside! Just a short walk down (downhill, actually). We got down by the water, watched the waves roll onto the pebble-y beach. Saw the famous pier, but we didn’t feel the need to walk out onto it. It was very neat/bizarre to be on the coast after only an hour’s train ride from London. Plus with clear skies, sun and 50+ degree weather - a big difference from the gloomy capital.

We headed back into town, and has a bit more of a mooch. Found a neat homeware store called &Halt, but as much as we liked the wares didn’t want to have to schlep it back home. We split a slice of carrot cake at Flint Owl Bakery. Good cake, but the espresso was a bit tart. It was a nice cosy space, and a nice place to chill for a bit.

Then it was play time! We made our way to the Theatre Royal Brighton for The Killings at Badger’s Drift. There was a massive queue to get in, and we realized we were the youngest people there by like 30 years. But I guess that’s what you get with an in demand play on a midweek matinee. Pensioners galore. And it was a sellout crowd, too.

The play was fantastic, and was true to the original. It was so great to see the original Sgt. Troy all grown up now playing DCI Barnaby, it really came full circle. My hope is that this is a testing of the waters for a change in the TV show where Daniel Casey would return as DCI Troy to replace the new Barnaby. Wouldn’t that be great?

The sun had set by the end of the play, and we had a few hours before our train back to London, but Brighton was still well lively at night. We first popped into the Tesco’s, then trekked west to hit up the big Waitrose in search of Pip & Nut - finally, a success! We’re saving it till we get home, but we’re very excited to finally try it. We stopped in the Churchill Square mall…it was a mall. It had an IKEA though!

We dined at The Pond pub. We had walked past it in the morning and thought it looked good. Our instincts were right - it turned out to be our favorite meal of the trip! They specialize in bao buns (not something you’d expect in an old english pub, est. 1908) and they were fantastic! I had a pork belly and braised mushroom, and Kat had a cauliflower and prawn buns. We split some fried oyster mushroom. They had some delicious local brews, with a really good NA option on tap! We sat by the window, cosy and warm inside watching life go by on the street and the pub gradually fill up with locals.

After that, it was time to head back to the train station and make our way back to London. Brighton →Gatwick Express → Victoria → District → South Kensington, hotel.

Full day, lovely day.

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