england – Blonde Rosie Blog

If you’ve ever found yourself daydreaming about strolling through London — popping into a cozy pub, ordering a proper pint, and pretending you understand British slang — but then remembered you live in Philadelphia… I have very good news for you.

Let me introduce you to The Dandelion — aka a tiny slice of London tucked right into Rittenhouse.

And when I say tucked, I mean tucked. Walking in feels less like entering a restaurant and more like discovering the chicest townhouse in Notting Hill that just happens to serve fish and chips. When Jake and I are missing London, we head to the Dandelion for a pot of tea – because that’s a thing there – or for some of our favorite British meals. One of the times we were there for a late lunch, we were enjoying our scones and tea listening to a family next to us complaining about the food. Why, you ask? Because the food wasn’t American and didn’t taste the way they were used to. Jake and I chuckled because its authenticity to British food is why we love it so much.

Jake has spent more time in London on work trips than me, but as soon as you walk in, you are transported to a British pub. With the dark paneling, vintage portraits, dark wood furniture, and candlelight, it feels lived in and homey.

Don’t want a full meal? Then sit at a stool at the bar and hang out with a friend with a pint. Philly has sooo many options to grab food or drinks to choose from it can be overwhelming at times because there are too many options. But when we are out running errands in the area, and Jake suggests Dandelion, it always makes me smile and say yes because when we go there, the restaurant vibes encourage you to just slow down and enjoy each others company over a pot of tea or a pint of beer.

Highly suggest getting the cheese board and trying their British themed cocktails! Came for the pub vibes, stayed for the scones & cocktails 🍸

It’s proof that sometimes the best trips are the ones that don’t require a passport. Just a reservation.

If you haven’t been yet, consider this your sign. And if you have… you already know.

Cheers. 🥂

By day eight, we were exhausted from the time change and all the walking we had been doing. So we stayed in bed and ordered room service to the room. We had such an amazing hotel suite so I wanted to enjoy a slow morning enjoying it! When in London, you must have an English Breakfast at least once!

With a slow morning, we enjoyed our brekkie and some coffee before getting dressed for a full day of sightseeing. Be sure to pack layers because the weather is constantly changing! One thing that made this trip so eventful is we had our full itinerary planned in advance so we could fit so much into our days without feeling rushed to do everything. We tried to do one big thing a day and made time to walk around the area before heading to dinner. It also helped that Jake had been to London in the past and he knew what to do in a day to make sure we do a lot but not too overwhelming.

We walked to the Tower of London, a famous London monument, that was on our list of places to visit. In our heads, we had planned to be there for two hours max for some sightseeing before going to our next stop. We had no idea the property was so large with so much to see that we didn’t even see everything. The Tower of London has a lot of historical significance which is why I originally wanted to go but there were a lot of other exhibits; torture, weapons, jewels, etc. to see.

We left the Tower of London with plans to visit again because we could spend hours walking around the large property. Next on our itinerary was dinner at the Sherlock Holmes pub that everyone includes on lists of things to do in London. I hate to be that person to pop that bubble, but it’s fun to walk past and walk in to see the decor, but I found it not worth the hype. The wait was too long for a table to sit and eat and I was secretly relieved. We grabbed a beer at the bar and decided to walk around to find another pub to eat dinner at. One thing I LOVE about London is there are so many pubs with amazing decor and themes to choose from. It seems like everyone after work goes to a pub to grab a pint with their friends and I wish we had that in America.

Since we were hungry but not starving, we decided to walk through the neighborhood, Covent Garden. The neighborhood is appropriately named because just like other parts of London, there are parks every few blocks. Whenever we found a park, I would insist we walk through it to enjoy the greenery because I love how neighborhoods are developed around green spaces. It’s something I also wish we had more of back at home because it was so lovely to walk through. Jake had been to a restaurant in this area on his last trip so we took the long way to do some sightseeing and see The Royal Opera House. Next trip I hope we can find a reason to go inside!

There are plenty of amazing restaurants the challenge is which one to pick. After a week of pubs, we got dinner at an Italian restaurant, Cafe Concerto, and it was such a fun vibe! I love the pubs but it was nice to get some pasta and a cocktail. They had my new go-to, Pornstar Martini on the menu so I was a very happy girl! Some days we had dinner reservations but my favorite dinners were ones we just walked around to sightsee and picked a place when we were hungry.

With a full belly, we made our way to Trafalgar Square, another must-see when in London. The city was alive at night it was hard to walk back to our hotel even though we were both exhausted. There’s so much to do and by now I was starting to be able to walk around and still find our hotel. Luckily, to find our hotel you just needed to find Big Ben since our hotel was next door. A part of me wanted to stay out and grab another drink, but I was happy to get comfy in our hotel room because we had a busy day planned for the next day too!