Who knew that I would have quite the dining experience in Surrey? The English are not exactly known for their culinary skills but it certainly helps to have friends who know the right addresses. From burgers to cakes and the best cocktails in town, here’s some hotspots to check if you ever wind up in Surrey.

Guildford

Turtle Bay
This Carribean food and drinks joint is unassumingly located beside the American bar giant Hardrock Cafe. What makes it stand out though are its blue facade and bright lights, exuding the the island of the Carribean.

We came an hour before happy hour ends, when you can still avail two cocktails for the price of one. I think we all went for the rum-based mixes. Mine was with dark rum and passion fruit. It was so good that I drank it faster than my brain could determine the amount of alcohol I was guzzling so I felt drunk and dizzy when it finally did. About 30 minutes after the cocktails was served.

Thankfully there was good food. For starters, we ordered Jamaican chicken and calamari, both amazingly spicy. For mains, I went for a pot of goat curry while Robin ordered Trinidad chicken curry, both served with Caribbean rice and peas. I made a silly mistake of putting extra hot sauce (just half a teaspoon), which made my dish fiery hot. Robin on the other hand, left his order as served, a lovely hodgepodge of chicken, spices, mango, sweet potato, carrots and coconut bits stewed in coconut milk. The chicken dish was so good that we were using our data roaming to search for the recipe of the Trinidad chicken online. If you have a recipe of this dish, please send it to me.

Turtle Bay Guildford,
Dolphin House, 1 North Street

Don’t be fooled, that’s full of rum.

Tudor Antiques
Have you ever had your cocktails on a tea cup? Probably not. But in this speakeasy bar located in an obscure alleyway in Guildford high street, behind an actual bar, you can have your cocktails served in a tea setting, dainty cups and all. But you need a code and the only way to get in is by appointment. Reserve way in advance because it can get busy especially on a Friday evening. And don’t forget to follow the house rules or they’ll kick you out.

Tudor Antiques
3 Milkhouse Gate

Jamie’s Italian
Perhaps many will be raising their eyebrows with this one but I have a good excuse. We just arrived on a delayed flight, it was past lunch time and we were famished. So I chose a restaurant that looks familiar. Please don’t judge me.

To be fair, the burger was delicious. My prawn pasta (more like shrimps actually) was cooked properly but not really exceptional. And they have Vermentino de Sardegna and you can’t really go wrong with that. So we had a nice meal albeit expensive. If we had time and if we weren’t so hungry, I would have hunted for a better place.

Jamie’s Italian
13 Friary St

Godalming

Cafe Mila, Yoga cafe
Our friends live in Godalming so that means dining in. So we only went to one place here for tea. Cafe Mila was full of yoga moms when we stopped by at 3PM for tea, coffee and cake. I could imagine this to be a cosy address for a meet-up with girlfriends or when you want to drown yourself in calories then try to lose it with yoga.

Cafe Mila
Collingridge House Angel Court, High Street

Shere

The Dabbling Duckling
I think it would improper to visit England and not have an English breakfast. For our first and only, we went to The Dabbling Duck where cyclists and weekend-ders also hang out during breakfast. The cafe’s wall was full of quotable quotes mostly about women empowerment and spite for men. One order of their Duck breakfast and you’re set until afternoon tea.

The Dabbling Duck
Middle St

Grayshott

Applegarth Farm
We did a lot of nature walking and naturally we would stop for tea every once in a while. Our last stop was the Applegarth Farm in Grayshott where the “twee” (English slang, either cute, posh or too perfect) crowd go for their afternoon tea in the weekends, at least according to a local.

But here you can also have a moist and insanely yummy chocolate cake, with big pieces of chocolates in it and carrot cake with bits of real carrot. However the coffee was “English” and the scone was apparently very chewy. They also sell all kinds of organic and home-made stuff which thankfully didn’t appeal to me that day.

Applegarth Farm
Headley Rd

In November last year I extended a business trip to a weekend trip in Liverpool. The weather was just starting to get very cold but there was no rain and the sun was shining most of the time. It was a good weather to explore the city.

And because it was almost Christmas already, the city centre had a big open-air market that comes alive every night, with colors and lights that will you back to your childhood (think colored candies, warm soup on a cold night and colorful lights).

Shame that I was not able to explore the city as much as I wanted to because I got sidetracked by the many beautiful products laid out for my eyes at the market, Primark and Liverpool One shopping centre (I am a girl after all – I love shopping too).

But of course when in Liverpool, one cannot NOT visit The Beatles Museum  which has an entrance that can easily be missed. The museum is actually called The Beatles Story and it is located in Albert Dock. (http://www.beatlesstory.com)

Prior to visiting Liverpool I don’t know anything about the Beatles except that they were behind some classic hits and that they earned the ire of some fans because of comparing themselves to Jesus.  Three hours of staying inside the museum and I had new idols, four musical geniuses who are too young to handle success and the life that comes with it.