Herbs in the City

So this evening I decided to start a mini herb garden in my very ungreen surroundings. I don't have any form of garden, nor do garden centres seem to exist in the square mile, but I discovered how surprisingly easy it is to obtain a plant pot and compost in the city! A very nice florist in Angel advised me to go to (of all the places) a cheap pound store at Angel, where I got a big terracotta coloured long plant pot and compost, and I popped next door into Waitrose and bought some herbs - in half an hour I had created a lovely herb garden. Now I do not claim to be much of a gardener (any tips would be appreciated) but my herbs would always die in the pots from the supermarket, or I'd use them up too quickly, so I figured I'd try this out. I'll keep you posted - I hope they continue to grow and replenish! Can you tell what herbs are in the pot in the photo? I just made some fresh mint tea with the leaves, and it was so delicious. I'm pretty sure mint tea is really good for the digestive system too, as well as tasting nice.

As well as some new recipes, I have a few other reviews to give and recommendations of places to try. First of all, (this will come as much of a surprise to you as it was to me), but I bought a latte from a cafe at Reading station called Tutti Frutti, and I could not believe how good it was! And I am without doubt one of the fussiest coffee drinkers. The cafe also sold very nice looking chocolates, and amazing looking gelato (ice cream). I just had to take some photos:

I realise most people's average day would not include a trip to Reading out of choice, and you can get equally good coffee and ice cream, in fact better, in London - so fear not!
Marine Ices at Chalk Farm is an Italian place that has been making ice cream for something like one hundred years, and its amazing. There is also a restaurant, which is really quite simple (called a Trattoria in Italian - for your vocabulary to impress people) and its brilliant. Its just opposite the Roundhouse.
If you ever find youself in Oxford -G&D's is the local gem of an ice cream/coffee parlour - there are a couple branches (Jericho, Cowley Road and just off the High Street).
Anyway, back to London - so for coffee here in London, that will have to be a whole separate entry on its own - but for now, try Monmouth Coffee in Borough Market (there is a queue in the morning, thats got to be a good sign most of the time). I think it would also be a crime if I didn't mention Manon cafe, an amazing cafe in the city on Fleet Street. There is a branch at Bank too, on King William Street.

This isn't a particularly long entry - but more to come tomorrow. I plan to make something with my herbs! And also I'll include the recipes for the chicken and the salad.