Golders Green

Geoff and I set off on Sunday morning to explore a suburb area just to the North of us – Golders Green.  Sundays in London aren’t known for being terribly lively, as most businesses don’t open until midday.  However, Golders Green is an area that is quite densely populated with Kosher eateries and shops, so the place was quite busy, even before 11am.

We had read the Time Out guide and had a plan.  First stop was to stock up on provisions for lunch, and the (long and arduous) walk home.  We hit up Carmelli Bakery (the first Time Out recommendation) and bought biscuits, which are sold by weight, and bagels heavy with smoked salmon and cream cheese.  There were some delicious looking salads, but not particularly portable, so we stuck to the sandwiches. There were a number of kosher bakeries and delis, and most impressively a kosher Korean BBQ restaurant!

While on the high street, we wandered into a fabric shop – an unbelievable mix of glitter eyelash yarn, African wax print fabrics and the most vibrant display of embellished ribbon.  I will need to make a trip back here!

We walked over to the secondary high street, past a fairly impressive Catholic Church, St Edwards the Confessor and sat down to an unfortunately mediocre coffee at Piacare (a Time Out recommendation).

Our walk home, through the West Heath, started in Golders Hill Park, which is also home to a funny little zoo (yet another Time Out recommendation).  We saw kookaburras, a giant owl, birds that looked like small emus, donkeys and deer.  Also in the ‘zoo’ were some giant dinosaur sculptures.  The park smelled like Spring, and certainly looked it with daffodils blooming all over.  We ate our bagels, obeying the signs not to feed the animals. In summer I think this part of the Heath would be very busy, as there is a great childrens play area there as well.