Great selection of books and very friendly, helpful proprietor; it's a lovely spot a few steps off…read morethe main market road where you can find books on just about anything cooking related. I would definitely recommend allowing yourself some time there.

Ever scoured sites such as Amazon to find that perfect cookbook? Ever been disappointed when you…read morecan't find an out of stock cookbook that has the pumpkin pie recipe to end all pumpkin pie recipes? I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this store, it's a foodie's paradise. There are some 8,000 recipe books filling the shelves from floor to ceiling on all manner of topics related to food: history, nutrition, art, chemistry and so much more. But here's the real attention grabber - at the back there is a reasonably priced cafe dishing up different treats from the 'test kitchen' which is devoted to trying out the recipes from the books themselves. Upstairs, too, they run cooking classes. So if you want to be the next kitchen big shot, look no further.

At Le Cordon Bleu in Bloomsbury, there is a café/bistro inside this French catering academy and I…read moremust say, Le Cordon Bleu's coffees, teas and other hot beverages including sandwiches and cakes are always worth purchasing and I know the prices are expensive and wallet denting but anything that is branded and made by Le Cordon Bleu is always worth the purchase. Le Cordon Bleu also has a shop inside that stocks the company's branded corporate merchandise.

Obviously to anyone in the food industry, the name itself evokes immediate reactions…read more I have a few friends who have studied for the Pattiserie or the Cuisine diplomas and some ambitious and hard working ones among them have even attempted the Grand Diploma which is a combination of both. I even considered a diploma course for myself, but I realised that with the way we relocate every other year, I'm never going to open a restaurant or cafe of my own and I wouldn't really be able to "leverage" a diploma from here. The diploma courses are expensive and what you are paying for is the brand name and the alumni network. From what I have heard, the teaching is very good, but the advice I received was that: if you aren't looking for a hard core career in the food industry and don't need the advantage of a "brand name" you are better off doing cheaper courses at some of the other institutes around London. It's pretty easy to get into the short term courses or single semester course. If they have a space and you have the money and time and a good command over English and a valid visa, you can get in quite easily. The other options are of course their short term courses which could last anywhere between half a day to a month. The great thing about them, is that if you are not sure about whether you want to join or commit to a diploma, they have open days once a month alternating between Pattiserie and Cuisine when you can sign up and attend. They give you - a tour of the facility. - An introduction to Le Cordon Bleu and their courses. - an interactive demo instruction - a question answer session This is really helpful if you just need a little bit more information before taking the plunge

I have just completed the Advanced Professional Chef Course with the Academy and I can honestly say…read morethat taking the course was the best decision I've ever made. I've always had a passion for cooking but never thought I would be able to develop a career out of it. The course took me from the very basics to all kinds of new and different advanced techniques and skills. I worked in some amazing fine dining restaurants, but the real highlight was working in a Michelin star restaurant kitchen which is something I never though I could possibly do. I am very happy to say that I am starting my new job as a chef in a restaurant in Central London next week and can't wait to start. Thanks to all the staff at the Academy who were so welcoming and friendly, we must meet up for that drink soon! You've helped me achieve my dream, thank you!

I worked on the Pastry Course. The chefs were great and to a taught to a high standard. Looking to…read moredo another course with Chef Academy soon.

I've been baking breads for quite a long time now, but I haven't been able to be very consistent in…read moreterms of producing equal quality loaves: sometimes my dough fails to rise; sometimes it rises too much; sometimes it's underbaked when I cut into it and sometimes the flavour is off. I was looking at my favourite foodie-website here in London (Edible Experiences) and there I cam across Maria's Baking Lab. I spent some time browsing the website and then signed up for one of the bread baking classes: The fundamentals of bread baking. The class was lead by Emmanuel Hadjiandreou, an artisan baker from heart. I really enjoyed his teaching style, which is hands-on and very informative; each step in the baking process is explained and he tells you exactly why you do this and what the processes behind it are. The course lasted from about 6pm to 9:30pm and during that time we baked a wholemeal bread, some wholemeal bread rolls and a soda bread. For me, most of the stuff that we did wasn't anything new, but what I really enjoyed was learning some good (kneading) techniques that will make sure my future loaves will be of better consistency. I can recommend this class to anyone and I'm now also eyeballing with the upcoming sourdough classes...my sourdough bread baking attempts have been even less successful and I'd really love to get a handle on this technique. (I grew up in Germany and sourdough breads are just a fundamental way of living there.)

Anything that has food involved in it makes Shrim a very happy girl, although I am not too sure…read moreabout the lab bit (hated chemistry in school :p). The Baking Lab hosted a team building workshop for us where we had to bake our own bagels and pizza (woohoo). Located in a very mysterious building where you literally need to walk through an alley way and then walk up some old stairways, it almost made me feel like I am on the sets of a James Bond film! We went in and were greeted very warmly by the chef there who was teaching us how to BAKE! :) We were taught how to knead pizza dough and bagel dough which was something very new to me, there are so many things that we think we know but in reality we don't! For example I had no idea that if the dough starts sticking all you need to do is leave it for 15 minutes and then get back to it instead of adding extra flour to it. There are so many techniques of folding the dough as well which were very interesting. I also had absolutely no idea that Bagels need to be boiled in water before baking and that is what gives it the texture and guess what boiling the bagels was so therapeutic, could do that for hours! I am not giving out anymore secrets because you should try it out yourself -- go get down and dirty and covered in flour! Verdict : Absolutely loved it and can't wait to go back again to learn some new trade secrets!

Kitchen Queen is a great way to take cooking classes. The classes are both a lot of fun and very…read moreconvenient! I absolutely loved the class itself with a great teacher and believe there are currently no other cookery schools that not only come to your house to deliver the class but also let you specify any dishes you have always wanted to know how to cook. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would always highly recommend the service to anyone!

Kitchen Queen is such a wonderful idea. Booked a lesson really easily via the website…read more(http://www.kitchenqueen.co.uk) . The lesson was completely tailored to our needs (we have a fussy family so this was great!) & very quickly we given a lovely list of recipe ideas to choose from for our lesson. The lesson itself was great fun & very informative.....have already booked our second lesson & also considering buying gift vouchers for certain friends who could use a little help in the kitchen. Wonderful stuff!

I have been always interested in taking a cooking class at La Cucina Caldesi…read more A- as it is very close to where I live B- the school offer a great selection of cooking classes and cuisines C- the classes are very 'very' reasonably priced compared to other cookery schools D- there is always a chance to book a place unlike other 'extremely popular' cookery schools where you have to book months in advance! So for all of the above reasons and because I had some free evenings in December, I attended the festive course of pizzette & cocktails @£55 And I enjoyed it It was very relaxed, organized and the chef was so engaging Th cocktails were another story- very friendly mixologist and everyone was in festive spirit The food was served in large serving plates - and the polenta cake was extra delicious (I baked it) I also enjoyed the Italian banter between the guys at the cookery school although I understood nothing - it was fun time

Not quite the same as when it opened. I asked where I could buy something that was on the display…read more The shop was empty and I clearly didn't look important enough so he waved his hand and said, 'downstairs'! Went in there to get some glassware. Everything was dusty and filthy and my palms were black with dirt from handling items. Told the shop assistant and he said something along the lines of, 'this isn't Harrods. Why do you think I wear these? (he was wearing latex gloves)'. He also mentioned they were on a main road and things get dusty. Why then is the neighbouring Skandium immaculate? I love this store but stick to the Marylebone High Street branch. It's much more lovelier and awesome and you don't leave wanting to take a shower! Yuk!

Pure kitchen romance. This is where love affairs with things like copper pots and French cooking…read moretechniques start. The store is *gorgeous.* If the store's warm wood-floored interior and enticing shelves filled with decadent kitchen appliances doesn't seduce you into joining the snobbish ranks of high-brow cooking and epicure - I don't know what will. I *love* this store. I can spend copious amounts of time browsing each and every corner... admiring the unique dishware... inspecting the waffle iron... contemplating the varieties of saffron. And unless you want to spend the entire afternoon in the shop, don't even let me go downstairs where they keep piles of the most fantastic cook books. This is also where they hold their classes - expert instruction on everything from Chinese cooking to Whiskey tasting... but if you want to sign up, don't procrastinate... they book up quickly... most of January's offerings are already sold out.

Disclaimer: unlike all the ladies who reviewed this place previously, I went there as a student…read more(short-course facial course) for 6 weeks - not for a treatment ! so I am not reviewing LCIBT as a beauty parlor but as an educational place. I have to say that the quality of teaching is impressive- I was trained by two ladies and both of them worked hard to make the hardest bone names and muscles sound easy and familiar ;-) * I have tried couple of other beauty colleges around London, and trainers there are just freaky ---but that's another issue I had a hand-on experience there (obviously on customers and on other students) which gave me confidence and pinpointed at areas I should work on to improve. so the two good points in this place are (1) quality of teachers, (2) the hand-on experience you get while you are training the not so appealing point was the price.. the course was over £600 which is why I can't afford to sign up for any other courses there- although I desperately want to try couple of other short courses. these prices might not apply if you are diploma student (talking with another student, I noticed she paid nearly nothing for 2-year comprehensive beauty course!)

I visited for an Indian Head Massage, on my budget pursuit to get rid of the pain, tension and…read moreaching in my neck and shoulders. Since ten minutes at Walk-In Backrub didn't seem to do the trick, a more lengthy student therapy was the next on my list of things to try. The salon is located in a posh listed building just south and east of Oxford Circus tube station on Upper Marlborough Street, and is rammed packed full of teenage learner estheticians dressed in white (the crowd of them at the reception counter where I needed to sign in was five deep, no joke) in the mani/pedi room at the front of the building. Once I did get signed in, I moved to the relative quiet of the waiting room, which offered quite comfortable plush settees. My trainee massage therapist came to get me after a while, offered me a cup of water that she already had in her hand (nice), and led me upstairs to the massage therapy room. The area where she seated me looked much like an A&E examination room, but I was somehow unbothered when I considered the £15 I paid for the service upfront. The massage began, and I felt as if the trainee was just touching me rather than massaging. I personally like a heavy massage hand. This said, I've never had an Indian Head Massage before, so I don't know if that's what it's supposed to be like. At one point when she leaned my head back to massage my neck and face, I was dreadfully uncomfortable, as I was slouched up with my neck craned backward simultaneously, so it was sort of the antithesis of a relaxing experience at that point. I left a little disenchanted by the entire experience, but I couldn't get upset when I only paid £15 for it. But then, later that night, I realized that the pain in my neck and shoulders had abated a bit. More so than it had when I had a woman manhandle me for a ten-minute rub elsewhere. I will probably go back for other treatments, because, well, it's so damn cheap. P.S. Book ahead.