A Catalog of Every Physical Item I Purchased & Misc. in London 2024

A haul by Isabella Pinzon.

May 07, 2024

Cafe Lulu! Cafe Lulu! Reporting for Duty! Hello Cafe Lulians. I’ve just arrived from the UK three days ago and I have much to report.

First Order of Business

My cousin Daniela got married to her husband, making herself the first of the eight cousins in the family to get married. Daniela also became the first of the cousins to marry a white guy. All of my adult cousins, with the exception of my brother, are or were dating a white guy — including myself. None of them are subscribed to Cafe Lulu but I’m BEGGING for one of them to drop their White Boyfriend™ please! It’s not gonna be me! Group therapy sounds like it might be expensive so I would like to propose a Survivor-esque competition where one of the White Boyfriends™ will win the title of the only White Boyfriend™. Thoughts?

Second Order of Business

The UK was much nicer than I remembered. I first went there in 2019 and stayed mainly in the English countryside which was stunning and then stayed a couple of days in London. This time, my trip consisted of several suburbs outside of Leeds and a longer-stay in London. I sort of get the hype now. I think it’s a very enjoyable city if you have nice weather and do a little bit of research. However, prices are comparable to New York and it won’t be a cheap trip.

Third Order of Business

I dined at a lot of great restaurants in both London and Leeds. In total, I dined at two Indian restaurants, both of which I was invited to and therefore don’t know the names of the establishments. BUT, both won a Curry Award so I think it’s a big deal! One was in Bradford, UK and the other in Brick Lane in London. I limited myself to only making ONE reservation on a trip which is rare for me since I’ve had to limit the reservation addiction because I was actually banned on OpenTable over a year ago for too many no-show reservations. I have an addiction and maybe I can get that sorted during the cousins group therapy session if we ever get the chance.

The Black Pig’s “*The Best One*” — Slow roast free range pork shoulder, honey truffle mayo, salsa verde, fennel & apple slaw with 30mo-aged parmesan & peperoncini s'ott olio on toasted ciabatta

The one reservation I did make was at the Mayfair Chippy in Mayfair, London. This place had a a crazy line…I mean queue….but Pookie (Patrick) and I skipped it because I made a reservation weeks prior at 4:30 AM EST because I’m smart. Pookie ordered the cod and I ordered the haddock fish and chips combo which included a curry sauce, gravy, tartar and mushy peas. All were excellent and the chips were actually good! But I would say that the star and underrated item on the menu were the Fried Oyster Mushrooms. My other restaurants picks would be Plum Valley in London’s Chinatown and the Black Pig food stall at Borough Market.

Fourth Order of Business

I am considering retiring the ‘Bug’ pet name for Patrick and I have been beta-testing ‘Pookie’ over the past week. We have created new iterations of ‘Pookie’ with ‘Pookington’ ‘Pooksworth’ ‘The Duke of Pook’ — all very proper-sounding names because we were in the UK. Once again, asking for your thoughts.

Now that we’re all caught up. Here is a catalog of all of the items I either purchased or received for free during my trip to the United Kingdom.

🇬🇧 Purchased Items

4 Colman’s Shepard’s Pie Seasoning Sachets
1 Bottle of Colman’s English Mustard
1 Pair or Tie-Dye Tights
1 208g Portion of Pancetta
1 Haribo Starmix Bag
1 oz Container of Halfway Kitchen No. 2 Seasoning
1 50g Bag of Comte Grey Black Tea
1 Mauve AllSaints Shirt

4 Colman’s Shepard’s Pie Seasoning Sachets

💷 £5: I was introduced to Colman’s Shepard’s Pie sachets by a very evil man. I like a Cottage Pie more because ground lamb is a little harder to come by in the US. However, if you add this seasoning sach to the ground beef with some vegetables, plus a little S&P with chopped-up fresh rosemary, you can create a delicious base for this comfort meal. I enjoy topping up the ground beef with mashed potatoes and white cheddar cheese.

1 Bottle of Colman’s English Mustard

💷 £3: I fucking love English mustard. One time I applied too much on a sandwich and I went blind for thirty seconds. Also purchased it in the UK because it’s way cheaper and probably fresher than US English mustard. Love you horseradish <3

1 Pair of Tie-Dye Tights

💷 £20: Pooksworth and I went to Waste, located in Hackney, a very cool and hip neighborhood located in London. I’ve only ever heard of Hackney because of Girl by Jamie xx and I was pleased to find out it was a real place. Waste is a cool store with a bunch of zines and clothing items from small vendors. I recommend the trip!

1 208g Portion of Pancetta

💷 £10: Pasta Carbonara is my favorite broke meal at home. It’s just eggs, parmesan, parsley, and pepper but the hardest thing is finding pancetta that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. I purchased this fatty pork meat at a stall in Borough Market and I will report back next week on its taste!

1 Haribo Starmix Bag

💷 £2: “Kids and grown-ups love it so….” is the tagline of Haribo. Weird ass tagline. I love anything mini and I purchased this right before leaving London at bodega or whatever the Brits would call that type of store.

1 oz Container of Halfway Kitchen No. 2 Seasoning

💷 £10: Haven’t tried this yet because I can’t open the container..grrrr…but mainly purchased it because of the packaging.

1 50g Bag of Comte Grey Black Tea

💷 £7: Nepalese black tea with bergamot essential oil. Very good.

1 Mauve AllSaints Shirt

💷 £10: There was a random sample sale happening in Mayfair and my first instinct was to skip it but we had a couple of minutes to kill before a dinner reservation. Honestly, everything here was extremely shitty except this AllSaints section where I found an amazingly comfortable shirt for work and casual wear. If you’re looking for more on fashion writings, check out ISO by Gabriella Melo on Subtstack.