Holiday Inn Express, Breakfast and Bar, England

Holiday Inn Express
London Road
Slough SL3 8QB

When we went to London, we stayed near the airport.  It was less expensive; it was convenient to the airport; and it allowed us to see things that most (if not all) tourists will never see.

The first perk of the hotel was that it offers a nice breakfast.  It was a buffet with a traditional English breakfast of eggs, sausage, and beans.

It also had coffee (instant), tea, cereal, toast, French bread, croissants, and chocolate croissants.  The chocolate croissants were perfect. I also enjoyed the sausage.  I don't like beans very much, but since it is tradition, I tried it.  

Our last evening was spent at the hotel bar.  Due to our flight and everything, we said Happy New Years's here.  The bartender was friendly.  My New Years beer was called "John Smith's."  If you notice on the picture, it says "extra cold."  Apparently, the idea of an extra cold beer is more American, than British.  Sometimes I saw taps that had a choice of regular or extra cold.  

This hotel was an average Holiday Inn.  It was nice to get a full breakfast everyday, especially since it saved us some money.  It also allowed us to see Slough and other things that most tourists wouldn't see.  

Trolley Stop Market

Trolley Stop Market
704 Madison Ave
Memphis, TN 38103

Trolley Stop Market is a great place to eat.  They also have a store with local and organic items.  They are open for lunch and dinner.  In my head, they're more of a casual lunch place, but they are open.

Last time, I went I took my mom for her first time.  She ordered the caesar salad with chicken.  She loves this type of salad and gave it two thumbs up.

I had the grilled three cheese, tomato, and basil sandwich with a side of potato salad.  Both items were great.  I ended up taking the crust of the bread so that I didn't miss any of the cream from the potato salad.  

The decor is colorful and will inspire you to keep a smile on your face.  

I know that they also have desserts, milk shakes, pizza, and local beer.  This is an awesome place, so if you haven't had it, you're missing out.

National Coney Island

National Coney Island
2500 World Gateway Pl McNamara Terminal, Gate A24
Wayne, MI
(734) 955-1733

I was at the Detroit airport with plenty of time to spare.  I got there exactly 2 hours early and made it through check in and security in record time.  It was 6am, and I was starting to get hungry.  I didn't want to spend too much money.  I thought about a sausage biscuit from McDonalds, but of course they don't have the dollar menu in airports, so everything seemed a little high.  Then I found this little diner.  They had a breakfast special for only $5.99, so I decided it was worth it to have a sit down meal.

I chose the breakfast special, which comes with two eggs anyway, choice of bacon, sausage, and ham, hash browns, and toast (white, wheat, or rye).  

I also got a cup of coffee.  It was somewhat better than a typical diner.  

They serve wings by the pound rather than by the wing.  I thought that was odd (maybe that's just me).  

My meal was good.  I got wheat toast, two eggs over easy, hash browns, and sausage links.  Everything was good.  It was typical diner food, and typical diner quality.  It was a good deal, especially since I was in an airport.  

Hungry Tasty, England

Hungry Tasty
Hounslow
United Kingdom

This place is a buffet that serves Indian and Sri Lankan food.  It is in Hounslow, near London.

When we went to London, we stayed off the beaten path, so we were able to try restaurants that no tourist would ever stumble upon.  

Honestly, I do not know what we ate.  The buffet was not labeled.  The food had been sitting out for a while, but as soon as we arrived, the cooks made fresh everything.   

Some of the dishes had a spicy version and a mild version.  Their was a yam dish.  I don't like yams, but I liked everything else.  There were lots of vegetarian options and a few chicken dishes.  They brought hot fresh bread to our table.  The only other things that I could positively identify were a green bean dish and a spinach dish.

I can't say which was Sri Lankan and which was Indian, but everything was good and fresh after they made more.

I would like to find another Sri Lankan restaurant, so that I can really learn about the food.

Panda Express

Panda Express
585 N Germantown Pkwy
Cordova, TN
(901) 751-1370

So.... G always raves about Panda Express, so a group of us all went to the Cordova location.  We just recently got Panda Express in the Memphis area.  Now there are two:  one on Winchester and one on Germantown Parkway.

I chose the two meats and one side option.  I got fried rice with sweet fire chicken breast and Beijing beef.

I enjoyed my meal.  It is also tons of food for cheap.  If I happened to be near one, I would go back.  However, if I'm going to eat fast food Chinese, I'd rather go to the place in Oak Court Mall.  

Serendipity

Serendipity

225 East 60th Street

between 2nd and 3rd Avenues

New York, NY 10022

The first time I heard of this little patisserie was while watching the movie Serendipity.  I watched it back and college and have been wanting to try it ever since.  The movie has John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale in it.  I was obsessed for several years.  

I tried to go my first time when I was in NYC, but the line was atrocious.  However, upon my second trip to New York, I was finally able to visit this gem.

The decor was cute, but also elegant.  

My entree came with a delightful salad of field greens.

G ordered a coffee drink. 

He ordered a meat loaf with mashed potatoes.  His meal was really good (better than mine).  

I ordered the fried chicken and fries.  It was average good.  I didn't actually realize that they had entrees here until I came.  Portions are humongous.  We could have split an meal and left full.  

Finally, the highlight was the dessert.  We split a humongous frozen hot chocolate.  It was delectable, delicious. 

I am so glad that I finally got to come here.  It lived up to all the hype.  They do take reservations, so if you are in the area, try to make them first.  We got there about 30 minutes before opening and were the first in line (barely).

Ruben's Fried Chicken

Ruben's Fried Chicken
1806 Lamar Ave
Memphis, TN 38114
(901) 207-3069


Ruben's is a small newish restaurant on Lamar and McLean, not too far from my house.  If I need some fried catfish or some fried chicken from a local establishment near my home, this is an awesome place.

I have been a few times.  One time I got the catfish with cole slaw and fried squash.  The fish was the highlight of the meal.

The next time I went I got fried chicken with okra and mac n' cheese.  

All of the food that I have ever had here has been great.  I love the convenience of it being close to my house.  The prices vary based on how much you want.  You can get smaller meals or larger ones.  The prices are $10ish.  If you like fried food (and I do), this place is great.  It's a nice place to get a meat and sides.  

The restaurant is fairly unknown by a lot of people.  In fact, I couldn't even find any other reviews of this place.  It's not even on Yelp.  The area of town that it is in is typical Memphis borderline.  It's not a great neighborhood, but it's not far from a nice one.  

I noticed that they also have turkey burgers and regular hamburgers.  These are on my must try list.