More on the Food :)

We really have been good about cooking most meals at "home" for the trip and enjoy it a lot. Yesterday I decided to go hog wild by not even packing snacks to carry in to the city with us, just eating an English breakfast before we set out.  In order to cook it, I had my own adventure finding the fuse box for some pre-dawn electrical repairs.  Raawrh!

Part of the point of eating-in so much is to save up the budget and health costs for really special experiences.  This was a day full of memorable ones.   After much great site seeing, we refueled with a late lunch/early tea time in the Crypt Cafe of St. Martin-in-the-Field Church.  The tweens went for soup-and-sandwich 'real' meals followed by samples of tea cakes.  I had the full plate of scones, treats and tea.   The headstones nearest us were from the mid 1700's.

Later, following lion climbing and street performers in Trafalgar Square, we popped into a French bakery for croissants, Apple Snapple and espresso.  Then a cool 3D movie (How to Tame a Dragon) with no junk food had to be rewarded with delicious Italian Gelato eaten in chaotic Covent Gardens.  More people watching and a little shopping prepared us for the LONG walk to a special dinner.

I had planned and pre-purchased a voucher for this event long before the trip.  Some resources I used for reviews, cost-savings, ideas and research: Tripadvisor, My City Deal, Money Saving Expert.  These were the  most useful coupon and idea sources for museums, transportation, free coffee, free grocery delivery and movie discounts too.

But for this once in a lifetime experience at Archipelago, I found the idea and reviews on tripadvisor and a 20 GBP (about $30) coupon on mycitydeal.  The restaurant is hidden far out of the way, is very tiny and very beautifully decorated and serves VERY ODD food.  We were semi-cautious and went with Kangaroo for me, Ostrich for both tweens and shared exotic cheeses and chutneys for dessert.  Take a look at the other options: http://www.archipelago-restaurant.co.uk/