Now that she is almost 8 months old, I am finally able to start resuming some sort of normalcy in my blogging, emailing and FB’ing. I know I keep saying it, but stay tuned.

Here is a photo I snapped in Canary Wharf the other day:

West India Quay Marina / Canary Wharf / Isle of Dogs

Send me a note! editor.lfw at gmail dot com.

It’s been a few months since I’ve posted but I’ve had some new projects come up that have taken me from this site. Fear not: I am still here and doing well, making the most of this “summer” in London.

(comic by dagsson)

People are outside, drinking and smoking, as if they haven’t been able to do this in months! And they haven’t. This is when London is at its best.

Images above and below are the post-work crowd in Canary Wharf , London

If you’re like me, you don’t really talk on the phone much and don’t worry about getting hit with surprise roaming fees. But if you’re a normal person and use your telephone to call other normal persons, you should take a look at this post. It covers the subject of roaming fees and offers tips on how to avoid them.

Honestly, if I ever called anyone outside of the UK, or used my UK phone while abroad, this would be really helpful!

Bullet points are the easiest way to express my feelings about Nando’s.

• Nando’s is a big chain. Chances are you will live near one and you always know what you’re going to get.
• The prices are cheap so you can come here often: for lunch, for dinner or for takeaway orders.
• The service at various Nando’s is not consistent. The service at some Nando’s is god-awful slow and incompetent. This may turn you off from certain Nando’s locations. Just remember other locations are perfectly decent when it comes to service.
• But many are TERRIBLE when it comes to service! Just don’t have high expectations or be surprised, is all.
• I usually order a half chicken–hot–with chips (fat fries, very good) and corn on the cob. Or just a lot of chips, because I really like them here.
• Other stuff is good, too, such as the salads (fresh), sweet potato mash (mmm, buttery) and the wraps.
• Don’t be afraid of the “medium”, “hot”, or “very hot” versions of the peri-peri sauce. I prefer “hot” as too hot just ruins my tongue and I can’t enjoy anything. Try them out and see. You can always order “medium” or “mild” when you order your chicken and then top it up with hotter sauce at your table.
• Here is a media review of the Nando’s chain which should give you more background info.

My husband and I went there recently on the recommendation of another American expat who is from Dallas. Apparently there are multiple locations of this restaurant in the states so you may already be familiar with it.

The tortilla chips were served warm and fresh (and not at all oily!). We ordered the “top shelf guacamole” which was prepared table-side (kind of cheesy, but fine, if they must put on a show). The guac was amazing!

I ordered chicken enchiladas which, in addition to fabulous flavours and spices, was topped with crispy tortilla strips. These weren’t taqueria enchiladas so they weren’t drowned in sauce or oozing with cheese, which I would not have complained about. Instead, it was very fresh, seasoned, shredded chicken and crumbly cheese.

My husband ordered a steak (I think it was skirt/flank steak…) that was topped with little bacon-wrapped prawns. I was skeptical of this one but it was actually really good! Again, very fresh tasting, warm with nice crispy, salty accents…so good.

Mexican rice side dishes are typically a letdown in London and there isn’t much to recommend it here, either. It wasn’t terrible but I suppose I’m just used to a certain type of Mexican rice.

I had a couple of non-alcoholic drinks from their cocktail menu that were delicious and well-prepared. The husband had a pure and basic margarita (just tequila and lime, I think) which he enjoyed.

Service was great as our hostess and server were very nice. The food came to our table very fast–so fast I was wary before eating, thinking it would be lukewarm or stale. Not so! The venue is nice as well and in a great location.

All in all, we would definitely come here again and recommend it to people from the states that are looking for either a Mexican food fix, or a nicer dinner out.

I should mention this place is considers itself  ”gourmet Mexican” so don’t go in expecting low taqueria prices. I think our total bill came to about £80 for two. (If you are looking for lower-cost Mexican food in the area, try Wahaca. We go to the Canary Wharf location often because the food is good and the prices are right. But I may soon start pestering my husband to  take me back to Cantina Laredo, for the quac and non-alcholic drinks alone!)

If you’re wandering around Ryman or a Staples in the UK and you are looking for hanging file folders (the ones that swing seamlessly in your file cabinet), you want to look for “suspension files“.

I just spent about forty minutes trying to find these on the Staples.co.uk site searching under “files”, “folders”, “Staples files”.

Sigh.

Ok, back to living life now.