London Travel Diary-A Charming Arrival and First Day

After a 10 hour sleepless flight, I arrived in London. I instantly gravitated towards the charm of the city as it became my adrenaline and kept me awake and functioning for the rest of the day. The weather was absolutely gorgeous as I was blessed with mild temperatures and not a cloud in the sky. I lucked out as I'm in London during one of the yearly two weeks of rain-free weather. My ego believes I brought the California sunshine with me.

My first meal in London was room service was at my hotel, The Zetter Townhouse. I don't know why people complain about food in London as I haven't had a single bad meal here. In fact, every meal has been rave/blog worthy. The Zetter Townhouse is simply charming and reminds me of a Georgian style French cottage. It sits in the middle of a quaint cobble plaza near the Shoreditch area. The lobby blends into the restaurant/bar and is filled with eclectic furnishings and antiques collected from all over the world. I felt relaxed the moment I walked in-like I had just entered an indulgent rich aunt's guest house.

My charcuterie and cheese plate "snack" was accompanied by two delicious cocktails from the hotel's award winning bar menu. The Pomegranate Kir Royal and Les Fleurs du Mal were sweet, smooth, and royally tasty. Come to think of it, perhaps it was the drinks that kept me awake the rest of the day. In any event...

an "antique' radio/iPod player

On my first night in London, I had one of the best Indian meals of my life at Cinnamon Kitchen Soho, a Carnaby Street treat where executive chef Vivek Singh has created modern Indian fare that's thoroughly delectable. It's so modern that in lieu of menus, guests view and place orders directly via iPads.

a bottle of rose to get the night bubbling!

The haleem (mutton) with saffron pao was aromatic, spicy and fragrant. The sweet bread made for a great dipping accompaniment. I was kind of hooked on the restaurant after this dish.

The stir fry shrimp with curry leaf and black pepper was mild but full of flavor. The freshness of the shrimp offset with the slight sweet and sour sauce made for a perfect appetizer.

I loved the lamb biryani. This pipping hot rice dish was easily my favorite of the night. The ratio of fluffy rice to melt in your mouth lamb was decimal point perfect! This was a hearty dish but I managed to devour the entire bowl.

The prawns with curry was sweet and light and made for a refreshing main course.

You must get the carrot halwa roll with cinnamon ice cream for dessert! I've never had anything like it before and am already feigning for more. The filling tastes similar to carrot cake but it's folded into a flaky and crispy shell. The cinnamon ice cream adds a dash of exotic flavor to the dessert.

The chocolate cumin cake with pistacho ice cream also got a lot of "yums" at my table. I didn't get to try it as it was already devoured by the time I reached in for a bite.

Aside from eating, I spent the rest of the day exploring the city. For my first day, I opted to wear something light, comfortable but still presentable as I knew I'd be doing a lot of tourist walking. I really shouldn't have had any pictures of me taken as my eyes were incredibly puffy from the plane ride so please just focus on the clothes.