Visiting the London Dungeon

I recently went to the London Dungeon where I had a great time while learning about some of the scariest moments/characters of the history of London –it now makes sense why this place is considered amongst the iconic London attractions.

I particularly enjoyed the Jack the Ripper ride, as they introduce the subject with loads of facts about the infamous assassin to then take you to the pub where it is believed he used to pick up his victims. The Sweeney Todd show was also very interesting and the final moment unexpected and terrifying, a good laugh overall.

Qype: Sabor Restaurant in London

London - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - Latin American - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - International


Sabor is simply my favourite South American restaurant in London! The ingredients are top quality, the dishes very creative, the vibe is just great and the selection of Argentinean and Chilean wines perhaps one of the most complete in London. I normally go for the ceviches, followed by Argentinean steaks, and never missed a classic caipirinha or a pisco sour and an Argentinean Malbec. Finally, as Colombian I should also point out that this is not the traditional Latin American restaurant, but a very well thought and vibrant concept.

Check out my review of Sabor Restaurant - I am juancvargas - on Qype

Qype: Ruby in London

London - Eating & Drinking - Cafes & Coffee Shops


Ruby is always full -a very good sign of quality/value for money. For a fiver you can get massive sandwiches –it’s hard to make up one’s mind as the beef, chicken and chorizo sandwiches are all very good, and my colleagues also say the pastas and other dishes are equally good. Strongly recommended!

Check out my review of Ruby - I am juancvargas - on Qype

Qype: Me-N-U in London

London - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - European


Go to Me-N-U on a weekly basis for take away lunches, and I'd say it's one of my favourite places in the area. For a fiver you can get a decent portion of pasta, a pizza or a daily special, plus dessert or drinks. Bread is also free! They also do breakfasts and sandwiches but I haven't tried them yet. Honestly, a must in the area.

Check out my review of Me-N-U - I am juancvargas - on Qype

Fri (25/07/2008) - Windsor castle

Met up quite a few friends on Friday, Panos, Luisito and Cynthia, it was kinda nice as they also came along with some other friends. Had a couple of pint at the Champion and Panos realised how difficult picking up Spanish is, only thing is the Uruguayans were speaking extremely fast. Panos left and so we did. Diego suggested the Winsord Castle and the atmosphere was fab, though it was extremely busy. Nice selection of beers, hot girls a great chat about San Fermin with Luis’ mate. Two more beers with the Mexicans in a depressive pub by the tube station and finally a kebab. Worst thing, fell asleep in the bus on my way home.

Sunday (06/07/2008) - The snooty fox

Had Uriel, Eva and Vlacho round on Sunday afternoon, who were keen to see the Wimbeldon male final so I took them to my local, the snooty fox. The excuse was the match and Vlacho's visit, but we ended up talking about the latest Colombian news and also made some predictions on the sake of the protagonists of those news, Ingrid, Uribe and the guerrilla. Nice talk, great company, fantastic place. Then dinner at Little Bay, Eva's joy for another Spanish achievement and another farewell.

Sunday (27/01)

I don’t understand why I hate so much Camden Town, it’s always busy on weekends due to the market wich makes wandering around almost impossible/unbearable. I went there to meet up Luis & Emy in order to discuss some facts related to my legal status; we had first a cup of tea in a beautiful place, cannot remember the name now but I'll make sure to update my notes for future reference… Then later we headed towards the Hawley Arms; well, it was just another pub, packed with wanna-be rockstars. There were loads of pictures on the walls on sale signed by regulars such as Pete Doherty, etc. A week later it caught fire and ever since it has been closed.

Friday (18/01)

Vanessa organised her birthday party in a jewel, the Prince George in Hackey; and although we did not have much of the chance to catch up, I really enjoyed seeing her and meeting her friends. On my way to the pub I hesitated because the road seemed to be very residential, but then once inside you get caught by the great atmosphere amongst a very stylish crowd. Rare beers, I can remember what everyone was drinking but it was a Czech lager, I was doing ales as I am into that these days. I ended up talking about the Colombian conflict with Faghma and then we moved on to racial issues. The pub itself is not that big and gets quite busy; what is more, getting served turns out to be a nightmare. I will definitely come back!

Sunday (06/01)

I met up Luis and Emi and what really impressed me out of seeing them is the fact that they look very tranquil and happy. I was helping them to get a new laptop so we studied a few models before carrying out the purchase. Then they took me to this Mediterranean restaurant called Little Bay which I found extremely good and at a very convenient price. I started with some pig cheeks and then had the salmon, all very well presented and extremely tasty.

A three-course menu before seven o’clock is just £9.50

Friday (7/12)

The King’s head, on Upper Street, has become one of my favourite places to have a beer and meet friends. At first glance this Victorian pub seems to be smelly and dirty but by the time you have had a couple of house ales, your perception would have dramatically changed. At the back there is an entrance to a small theatre and there are some pictures of the people who have performed there. What I really like is the fact that on a daily basis, there are bands playing live and for free! Reasonably good service, although at certain times, it is quite hard to get served. Love the voice of the blues singer who performs on Sundays.

Monday (29/10)

This year, Sabor’s staff party was earlier than normally, but we also celebrate different other things, Laurent's birthday and Roberto's official farewell. Esnayder & Tim picked this stunning Asian restaurant by Camden Town, Gilgamesh, which is beautifully decorated with traditional artefacts that make you feel as if you were somewhere else in the world. Although the food was rather interesting, the portions were a bit too small and I have got the impression that the bill did not represent what we factually had. On top of everything, it was a rather pricy and the service was a bit too pushy, which makes it hard for you to enjoy the night. Despite everything, I did enjoy and had a good laugh.

Tuesday night (9/10)

On Tuesday night we visited Cubana, a Cuban restaurant by Waterloo station, thanks to one of my ex-classmates; I had some mixed feelings based on the comments I have come across on the Internet about the place but at the end I thought we should give it a go. A great location, always full, decent prices and the perfect occasion to catch up with my former MBA mates; it was nice to hear from each of them, after a long while and I am glad they all are doing very well. Mona’s father seems to be quite ill and we hope the best for him, she was done after all the partying she has been on. Kary was the most punctual and I must say the one who drunk the most, did not stop talking about her City job and the things you see in that stressful environment and Ale, although a bit late, was a bit down because of his girlfriend’s absence. I enjoyed the drinks, we had five jags of different cocktails, and I would say the food was OK; at the beginning I had an argument with of the waitresses because of the table’s location but at the end we were reallocated to the nicest one.

Saturday (03/09)

Last I met Francisco and Stefanie we dinned out in an authentic German beer-garden in Richmond, Stein’s –near where they live-. The food was good but what really stands out is the size of the beers, huge jars filled with Paulaner -which you can have when eating something. We spoke about many things, prospects in our lives, jobs, trips and that sort of boring topics. Anyway, it is nice to see good old friends doing very well!

Friday night (24/08)

Haven’t been to a cool place for a while, so finding the Dalston Jazz Bar was a great thing. I used to live by the area and always wanted to pop in but tiredness or penniless stopped me from making it. OK, I admit, it is quite small and was extremely packed, it takes you ages getting the loo, is located by one of the dodgiest corners of London, but the music is cool and although there are hundreds of these wanna-be-artists-Hackney dwellers, you will find real characters to spend a moment with. Kascha was having some drinks with her colleagues there so Roberto and me decided to pop up and have some fun, in fact, Ro got so carried away that he barely remembers a thing about that night. Funnily someone pointed out that I resemble a British comedian and I was telling her that I’m fed up of people saying that I look alike to this or that. Anyway, look forward to the next time.

Thursday Afternoon (23/08)

Went to see my dissertation tutor last week and met up some classmates, we all were worried about finishing the dissertation on time; despite that, we ended up having a drink in the jewel of the area, ‘The George Inn’. This lovely pub is a bit too small and gets really crowded but used to be frequented by Shakespeare and Dickens; what is more, someone said Shakespeare used the premises to set up some of his plays. The funny thing about that day is that we talked about the weather -a very traditional English topic- but just because the hurricane Dann, just passed near by Mexico and Trinidad, where Oscar and Greg come from respectively.

Friday night (17/08)

I haven’t seen my friend Panos for ages and as it was his Name Day last Friday we found the perfect excuse to catch up. He’d reserved a table in Apollonia, a Greek restaurant by Tottemham Court Road, but we came to know at the last minute that they’ve moved from there a while ago. Anyway, we ended up in Elysee, another Greek restaurant where we were also promised some Greek customs such as smashing plates and live music. The food was fine, the wines acceptable, the service a bit too pushy, smashing plates is extremely funny, the live music very nice, so overall we had a good time. Then we headed towards Freedom in Soho where we had several rounds of ‘mojitos’. Esnayder and Maria took control of the dancing pole and we just had a laugh out of it. I’m really glad Panos and Maria are staying in London for another year and so is Zicos… look forward to Panos’ birthday in a few weeks’ time.

With regards to the Greek custom of smashing plates, I was told it hasn’t happened in Greece for the past 20 years, and used to be an expression of men’s pride and wealthy after the dictatorship’s times.

Monday night (23/07)

Went out with my friend Camilo yesterday, we met up by China Town where I got me a chilli chicken ramen and an Asahi beer in a Japanese restaurant. Then we wondered around looking for a place to have a beer or two, all the bars in London were strangely empty apart from the long queue at Walkabout (which I had promised myself never go again).
So we ended up in one of my favourite places in central London, ‘ain't nothing but…’ the blues bar on Kingly Street. It feels quite different now that the smoking ban is running, though I enjoyed the night and the vibe. I had some ‘red stripes’ while I was listening to these blues tunes, my friend on the other hand was most interested in the chicks and pulling them. After that we headed towards 'Ruby blues' and 'Metra' where he finally make it which an Eastern European beauty, I was shattered at the end so made my way home at about three o’clock. I would not mind having stayed at the blues bar as the bands were quite good yesterday, next time.

Thursday night (03/05)

It has been a while since I last went to the Embassy, even though it is opposite to the restaurant. However last Thursday I felt like having a beer so popped in with a couple of my colleagues and met -by chance- Andy and Phil, they told me they’re leaving the pub soon so it will not be the same once it happens. Phil is going to spend some time with his family in France during the summer brake; Andy on the other hand is fed up with the job and wants to do something different. Anyway, we’re going to miss the good times when we used to have shots on the house and obviously the glorious binges.

Wednesday night (25/04)

Met up Uriel and Eva on Wednesday afternoon in the Woolpack in Bermodsey, it was a lovely afternoon and the place was packed, I suppose not only because of the weather but also the football match, Liverpool vs. Chelsea. I had a Staropramen by the bar -as usual- while waiting, and once they turned up, we went to the garden where we struggled to find a place.
Time to catch up on what we’ve been up to; they seemed to be quite busy organising their moving out whereas I was tied up with the lectures this week. We reviewed some pics and vids from their last trip to France, they crossed the channel in car and was such an experience.
Bicycles, books, iPods & podcasts were among other topics we talked about. Eva left, we went for food and more beers, for the record, the vegetarian burrito was ok, nothing outstanding. The garden was closed at 10.30pm and we got carried away to the point to get us few more beers, obviously I wasn’t in the state to cycle back home so I made up my mind and stayed there.
I deserved this time off after all these busy days!

Sunday night (15/04)

Another terrific night at Sabor; Tim and Esnayder were celebrating not only another anniversary of the restaurant but also of them together. The party was held at the restaurant premises on a sunny Sunday where the food was to lick one’s fingers: paella, suckling pig, red snapper, etc, the drinks as usual fantastic, from the cocktails -passion fruit daiquiris, margaritas and pisco sours- to the nice selection of wine, mainly some Chilean J. Bouchon and Argentinean Luigi Bosca. To heat up the atmosphere a Colombian trio performed Latin music just after the dinner. We all -around 100 people- enjoyed the party and obviously the chance to catch up with the others, I spent most of the time talking about jobs, travelling and living in London with Panos & Maria, Ean & Anita, Morten among others who I haven’t seen for ages. See some footage on Youtube here.
Things have changed a lot since the restaurant was opened and events like the one held yesterday made me think about the way I have evolved becoming part of this family. Cheers!