No nose and no tail

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I'm in Europe for a week on business, and landed in London before sunrise this morning.  I haven't stepped on UK soil since 2006, so lots of things have changed... specially the dining scene.  There are many, many places that have popped up since my last visit, and I was determined to hit a few of them.

It was too early to check in to the Athenaeum Hotel, so we dropped our bags off and went strolling around the area.  We crossed into Green Park, then ran into the Royal Parks Half Marathon circling around the three parks in central London.  it's amazing how clean and fresh the air is in London, compared to Hong Kong...

Lunch time rolled around, and I went to scratch and itch that had been around for a long, long time.  St. John needs no introduction, and Fergus Henderson has long been considered an iconic chef in this country.  I just had to come here.

Roast bone marrow and parsley salad - BUT OF COURSE I had to order this one up!  The dish that has been copied by so many chefs.  Plus I LOOOOOVE bone marrow...

I do have to say, though... that it took some serious effort to dig out the marrow from inside the bones.  A sprinkle of the coarse salt, a little bit of parsley, and it's just perfect on toast.  So, soooo good.

Devilled kidneys on toast - these lamb kidneys were so fucking gamey.  There was a good amount of black pepper and spices to try to mask the gaminess.

Gingerloaf and butterscotch sauce - wow!  This was really, really awesome.  Too bad I didn't have enough stomach space to finish it.

My friend tried out Dr Henderson Ice Cream, and was told by our server that he was "a very brave man".  Apparently inspired by Fergus' usual hangover cure, this was made with Crème de Menthe and Fernet-Branca.  I had a small taste, and besides the obvious minty freshness, it definitely tasted like Chinese medicine...

I picked out a bottle of white for us. Nothing fancy...

2018 François Crochet Sancerre - nice and dry overall, but there was some ripeness on the back end.

Very, very happy that I finally made it here.  Gotta come back here more often!