Tiptree Farm Jam Museum and Tea Room - Jam history at its finest...and yummiest

Situated in Tiptree, Essex, this museum, shop and tea house is well worth the drive if you are a tea and jam aficionado.

For 125 years, Tiptree's yummy conserves have been gracing breakfast tables around the UK and beyond.  It was back in 1885 that Arthur Charles Wilkin joined with two friends to form the Britannia Fruit Preserving Company, creating a jam free of glucose, colouring and preservatives.

For those out there with an interest in quirky museums and/or the history of jam-making, the Tiptree Museum is an educational and feel good day trip for all ages (not just grannies).  And along with the adorable museum (keep your eyes peeled for the random taxidermied 3-legged chick born on the Tiptree farm), there is a lovely tea room for drinks and nibbles. Here you can indulge in the special Tiptree Strawberry Conserve with home made scones and fresh cream, served tea.  The sandwiches are equally fresh and tasty and come with a variety of Tiptree chutneys.

If you don't get your jam and chutney fix with lunch, you can also visit the Tiptree shop, where you can purchase your own jars of Tiptree yumminess, including black cherry conserves and hot gooseberry chutney.

Tiptree Farm, Wilkin & Sons Limited, Tiptree, Essex, CO5 0RF

www.tiptree.com

Tai Veg – Tofu in every imaginable form served at this cheapie buffet

Just across from Angel tube is where this Chinese vegetarian restaurant can be found. Hungry passerbys are lured in by the fantastic £3.50 takeaway buffet offer, where you are given a choice of two boxes (medium £3.50 or large £4.50) that can be filled with whatever tofu and vegetable creations you fancy. The buffet includes “duck”, “beef” and “chicken” tofu and even has an odd textured “prawn” tofu. Meat eaters be warned, the tofu tastes nothing like meat, but with all the yummy spices, sauces and vegetable accompaniments you won’t be too bothered. Along with being tasty, the buffet at Tai Veg is incredibly greasy, so it might not be the healthiest vegetarian option in town. But for £3.50 and at least two of your five-a-day, me and my belly are happy.

Tai Veg, 11 Islington High Street, London N1 9LQ

Dolce London – Exclusive, expensive and not as sweet as its name suggests

This Piccadilly private members club might be able to entice, but is exclusivity and a fancy cocktail list enough to last in London? Once you confirm your private membership or VIP status with the no-nonsense doorman, you pay a hefty cover charge (exclusivity is expensive) to access the over-hyped gaudiness that awaits. There is a fine line between extravagance and strip club and Dolce hovers back and forth with their luxurious furniture (adorned with plush “Dolce London” embroidered pillows) and red strip floor lighting. Tipping the scale towards the latter, an awkward glowing platform of stairs is staged in the centre of the room, becoming an awkward dancing podium as the night progresses and the revelers let loose with the effects of liquid courage.

The cocktail menu looks scrumptious, but the bartender that served me didn’t have all the key drink ingredients or the appropriate glassware. One of their signature cocktails, La Dolce Vita, shakes tequila, mint, passionfruit and gomme and is crowned with champagne. Although it tasted lovely, it was mistakenly served in a wine glass, which disappoints when you are paying ₤14 a pop.

Dolce London has already bagged some of the glitterazzi for private events, including Paris Hilton and Rihanna. Despite the famous clientele and exclusive reputation, this little blogger won’t be going back anytime soon.