B & K Salt Beef Bar restaurant and take away

 B & K in Hatch End, in north west London is the foodie heaven I used to dream about when I lived in Singapore. We went there in November 2025 for lunch with friends.

Starters - or main courses.

Smoked salmon. Add mixed salad.

Our starter choices included chicken soup with noodles and a dumpling. That is a dish found in Poland and several other European countries.

The service was attentive. When we started to share the soup the waitress offered us a second soup bowl without being asked.

Smoked salmon.

Mixed hors d'ouvres.

Latke (grated potato, like hash brown or roste) slightly too well done for me.

End with lokshen pudding (noodle pudding). Or apple strudel.

End with the bill which is sweetened by a foil wrapped chocolate.

The restaurant is Jewish style but not kosher. The place is run by a family of Christians. maybe originally Greeks I believe. We have been going there for years, at least since the year 2000. 

At least two generations have been running the original smaller, busy Edgware branch.The slightly more spacious Hatch End branch is sheltered from passing traffic by the slip road where you can park and pay. 

Like many restaurants, they don't take American Express.

My Favouite Kosher Food At Aviv restaurant, Edgware

 

They have a main menu, a takeaway menu and a children's menu.

The first page of the menu tells you that the restaurant can seat 170 and is the largest kosher restaurant in Europe.

Chopped chicken liver served with chopped hard boiled egg. 

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Chicken liver pate starter.

Mixed grill and chips.

Green Thai curry. Not spicy. Wonderful.

Hazel nut parfait dessert. Watch out for the tooth-cracking solid sugar oblong which looks like a biscuit. I sucked it. The teeny bits of nut it it were good.

A very satisfying meal.

The name Aviv means Spring. Tel Aviv, the city in Israel, and the name means hill of the springtime or freshness. 

The prices do not look cheap. But portions are generous. The staff packed up my leftovers, and I ate two tasty main course snack meals the next day.

Useful Information

Aviv Restaurant

87/89 High Street

Edgware

HA8 7DB

Tel 020 8952 2484 /020 8381 1722

Useful Websites

www.avivrestaurant.com

https://www.federation.org.uk/kf-

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B & K salt beef bars, Edgware, Hatch End and Potters Bar

Salt beef sandwich with egg and thin latka. Hatch End branch of B & K. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Chocolate cake. B & K. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Chocolates with the bill. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

 A family favourite. When he was single, my son used to go there, to the Hatch End branch, once a week and buy half a dozen sandwiches for lunch each day. 

After my mother's funeral, we stopped there for a filling, comforting meal with my widowed father on the way home. That was way back in the year 2000. So we have been patronising their restaurants for more than 23 years. They know us. We know them.

I was so pleased when my beloved son phoned and said, "Are you free tomorrow? We thought we'd eat at B & K. I wish they would open in Mill Hill." 

So we recently went back to Hatch End

The parents of the B & K family run the Edgware branch. One of the next generation runs the Hatch End branch. He told us they'd just opened a branch in Potters Bar. They have run out of family members to run it so it's a bit like a franchise. Other people are running it, with food supplied by the B & K family.

What's new on the menu at B & K in Hatch End?

I tried the salt beef sandwich with egg and thin latke. I didn't need the egg. I was already overdosed on calories. We had chips to start to keep the granchild busy whilst waiting.

The latke gets lost inside the big sandwich. Next time I'll  save calories by not having the egg and instead go back to the original salt beef sandwich with a separate, proper, big potato latke.

My two year old grand-daughter cannot yet speak, but she pointed to the chocolate cake and with a lot of pointing and asking and nodding it was clear that was what she wanted. It was very good. With a modest extra payment of one pound for vanilla ice cream we had enough to end the meal for all four of us. 

Useful Websites

B& K

https://www.bksaltbeefbar.com/

Edgware

Hatch End

Potters Bar

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Tasty Turkish Food At Izgara Restaurant, Hatch End - what to order

 You can't miss Izgara with its wide frontage by day, and at night jumping flames. It evoked imperial Rome come to life, all excitement. My family already liked their branch in Edgware and were keen to try out their Turkish food in Hatch End.

Seating, Warmth, Welcome & Atmosphere 

The sign at the door said wait to be seated, but our group included a mother was not willing to wait outside in the cold with baby.  The manager in charge of seating rushed over to intercept us, to seat us and perhaps avoid crowding at the door in Covid-19 times. He was welcoming and immediately understood mother's concern about cold. He selected an indoor table far from the open sided front. The waiter who took the order was Greek and also engaging.

I loved the purple inside.

Interior at Izgara.

Five of us wanted a table late on Sunday night when it felt like Saturday, bustle and brimming with people, couples, foursomes and a jolly party at the far end. They laughed so much I wanted to rush over and ask them for ideas for my humorous speech contest. They were taking selfies and laughing at the results. Maybe that's the secret. Take selfies of yourself pulling funny faces and show the pictures to your audience - after they have had a few drinks from the cocktail list.

Cocktail Menu

The cocktail menu included cocktails but we went straight to the food. (The Sprite ordered by our table turned into Fanta, and though the Fanta was sent back it appeared on the bill as Fanta.)

The wine glasses were clearly marked with the measures. 175 ml. 250ml.

The four month old Baby on her back patiently waited for her bottle of milk, whilst being entertained by her grandad who asked her if she liked Turkish food, and did she want the fish or meat? She responded to his raised eyebrows with lovely smiles. This kept all of us amused.  

Food - Starters

The food was faultless, almost. The yogurt and bread was a great way to assuage hunger pangs of one of our members, mother. And as everybody knows from the film title, if Mother ain't happy, nobody's happy. 

The yogurt was just right for counteracting the slightly too spice red something or other.

We asked for the starters and main courses served together. We were hungry and in a hurry. (To get the baby home.) 

My chicken liver starter was perfect. The liver was slightly breaded. The ensemble was enlivened by cooked onions spiced up with some kind of herb. 

Main Courses

 Two sorts of fish, salmon and another, suited the pescatorian (who eats meat at home but keeps kosher). 

We picked and mixed. We were full and had enough food to take home.

No desserts

I never saw the coffee or dessert menu. I think that Covid-19 regulations mean they must reduce the tables and space them, and reduce staff, so the menu is limited.

Take away boxes

They spotted that we had stopped eating and I was holding a plastic lidded box  They brought up four silver foil take away boxes and a brown paper bag with handles.

The bill was 86 UK pounds sterling for four, including service. We had no coffee, nor desserts, nor alcohol.

Baskin Robbins

 However, we crossed the road to Baskin Robbins for ice cream cones. (Described in the next post.)

 I chose pistachio. A large scoop in a conical wafer, enough for two.

A day later I rediscovered the delights of the Turkish food in the take away boxes. (Americans say take out.) The liver was perfect. On a par with my other all time favourite in Hatch End, B & K. (B and K best for take away, kosher style European food and an unpretentious lunch for twosomes  and foursomes at tables for four. Izgara is ideal for a fun evening meal in a big place, more glamorous, for larger groups, at higher prices, two, four or more.)

The next day I was back to the Turkish takeaway of my leftovers and could not believe how good it tasted. Huge chunks of chicken kebab. Aubergine, yummy. Vegetables to tempt those who don't think of themselves as liking vegetables. Yummy. Yes, would I go back. Yes, yes, yes.

Given the oportunity, I might try the baklava, the mango dessert, the lattice apple tart, the figs.

Useful Websites

Izgara in Hatch End

https://www.izgarahatchend.uk/

https://www.izgarahatchend.uk/Izgara-Ala-Cart-Menu.pdf

Izgara in Edgware

http://www.izgararestaurant.co.uk/

Edgware Desserts (when available)

http://izgararestaurant.co.uk/desserts.pdf

About the Author

About the author of this travel blog

Angela Lansbury is British born and bred but has also lived in the USA, Spain and Spingapore and visited countries around the worl

She is a semi-retired teacher of English language and literature.

About the Teacher/Tutor/Trainer

She is a member of Toastmasters International and five clubs, Harrovians in the UK, three in Singapore (BHA and TCA and Senja-Cashew), a club coach for Nee Soon South, and a member of online only club, Singapore Online Dynamic.

 To find a club go to Toastmasters International Find a club or look on Facebook. 

BHA meets the first Wednesday evening each month, login 6.45 for 7 pm start Singapore time (SGT), which is noon in London UK, during British summer time, until clocks go back the last Sunday in October when the UK reverts to Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

Tags of Holocaust Children at Sobibor and recalling Prince William and Kate meeting Holocaust Survivors on Holocaust Memorial Day

Books are still being published about recent discoveries of Holocaust vctims who were lost, items found buried, and descendants feeling compelled to try tracing those lost from their family tree. At Sobibor, the camp where a revolt took place, tags of children were discovered and a book has just been published about it.

UK

In the UK Holocaust memorial day's events included Prince William and Kate meeting survivors who they had met previously. 

I had not heard of these survivors before. 

Anne Frank's Family

I had heard of Anne Frank's father living in Edgware, north west London, postwar, WW2. Edgware was where I lived as a child and teenager.

If you are intersted in Jews and Jewish history in the UK, look at the websites for the Jewish Museums in London and Manchester. Also Jewish people such as Anne Frank's posthumous sister (daughter of Mr Frank's second wife,) who lived with her mother and step-father, in London.

Jews Of Postwar Eras

You might also be interested in the websites for concentration camps, cemeteries, and Jewish entertainers around the world such as Amy Winehouse.

Sites To Visit When We Can Travel - and now on the internet

I have visited Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam, Jewish museums in the UK, the Netherlands, Prague, Poland and the USA.

Interesting Websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp

https://holocaustlearning.org.uk/learning/untold-stories-for-key-stage-2/

 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9192831/Survivors-Britain-escaped-Nazi-Germany-mark-Holocaust-Memorial-Day.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9189127/ID-tags-children-aged-6-12-murdered-discovered-Sobibor-Nazi-death-camp.html

See next travel post on Auschwitz.

About the Author

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

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Edgware: what to see, do and eat, where Handel and Anne Frank's Father Lived

Disraeli said, I have travelled widely and have seen more than I remember and remember more than I have seen.

Statue of Disraeli in Parliament Square, London.

What Disreali said applies to me and Edgware and probably to you and your home town. Let me take you on a trip around the London suburb of  Edgware, where Handel and Anne Frank's father lived. Notice the spelling, that Edgware has only one e, at the end. 

Edgware - The Stanmore Side

First, why Edgware? I know it well because I was brought up in Edgware. I lived here for two decades, first at one end on the Stanmore side, in a typically English, typically London, semi-detached house with a gable and bay windows with a front and back garden. 

I would walk past the church, St Lawrence's Church, Little Stanmore, containing Handel's organ. Handel wrote a sonata to a harmonious blacksmith, believed to be William Powell, who was buried in the graveyard.

What brought Handel from Germany to England? Handel had worked for Prince George in Germany and the prince then became king of England.  Handel wrote music here. His later works included Handel's Messiah and music for the Royal Fireworks. (You can also visit Handel's house in Mayfair, central, London.)

St Lawrence's Church

Plaque on St Lawrnece, Whitchurch, from Harrow Heritage Trust

Near the church is the park leading to North London Collegiate School, whose old girls included actress Eleanor Bron.  Her parents were friends with my parents. I remember Eleanor's tall mother, who had a booming voice, telling me, "Stand up straight!"

Later, Eleanor went to Cambridge university where she read languages and performed in the universtiy's amateur theatre company, Footlights, which stood her in good stead for a career as an actress.

Meanwhile, when I was a child in Edgware, my family had Christian neighbours on one side and Jewish neighbours on the other side.

Usually we went away for Christmas to a hotel which always had a Christmas tree. I remember one year in December we stayed home. I wanted a Christmas tree. I was too young to understand that it might annoy a Jewish neighbour or cause unnecessary expense.  

My family, for the first and only time had a Christmas tree in the front room. Then a rabbi came to call. He probably wanted to wish us Happy Hannukah, and maybe ask us to visit the synagogue, and/or to give us a small Hanukah card and gift. Then to ask for a gift of money for a Jewish or multi-faith charity. 

Before inviting him in, my mother whispered to me,  "Quick - shut the door to the front room!" That was where we had the Christmas tree.

I went to the front room while the rabbi talked to my mother. I came out, leaving the door open behind me, as the Rabbi was leaving, on the doorstep. My mother thought I had succeeded in my mission of concealment. 

But the rabbi heard the living room door open and turned and smiled at me over my mother's shoulder and said to my mother, "Goodbye. Thank you for the tea, Mrs Lansbury. Lovely Christmas tree! Happy Christmas."

Later, my family upgraded to a  larger detached house near the library and the by-pass to Hendon, Brent Cross, Golders Green, Finchley Road and central London. 

We now drive through Edgware regularly, between west London and London's West End.

Edgware, which is now very cosmopolitan. Edgware and North West London have always had a large Jewish population with synagogues and restaurants and delicatessens and kosher food in supermarkets. 

Anne Frank's Father

Anne Franks' father, Otto Frank, lived in Edgware after World War II. 

Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank, who lived in Edgware after WW2.

He lived in Edgware with his second wife, and step-daughter, Eva Schloss. (Schloss is German for castle.) Not surprisingly, after years in hiding, and losing his wife and two daughters, in WW2, he kept such a low profile that few, neither Jewish nor non-Jewish, realised he was nearby.

Eva Schloss, author, right, and her mother (left) who married Otto Frank, father of Anne Frank, the WW2 diarist.

Eva Schloss, the author.

When I lived there my second home was the library. I used to hurry past the library along the high street to catch the train to Euston station to go to University College, London. I did my homework in the libary. On one occasion, our German au pair girl, Hnnelore, answered the phone to a friend of mine, and she, Hannelore, ran down the road to the libary to fetch me home to answer the call.

The Central Station

Edgware station, in the middle of the high street (main street to Americans), is the end of the Northern line. The large station has a huge car park and is a busy bus terminal with a large Sainsbury's supermarket hidden behind the Broadwalk shopping mall with an entrance from the car park behind. 

Along the road in the high street ia a cut price shop.

Broadwalk has lost Marks & Spencers and Dorothy Perkins but has Boots, and Smiths and Poundland.

One year at Hanukah, the station displayed a hanukiah.

In Wikipedia it is misleadingly captioned as a menorah, which is the seven branch candlestick used for the sabbath throughout the year. The hanukiah is used for the eight days of Hanukah, (lit on the evening before, as days start at pthe preceding day's sunset, like Xmas Eve) the festival of lights, and has an extra two candlesticks, nine in total, for the eight days and an extra one to light the others.

Edgware's busy High Street can boast of restaurants of several nationalities.  If you want to drive through or walk about, you will see a whole variety of other restaurants such as Nando's chicken, an Italian restaurant.  

Jewish Restaurants and Shops

You will also notice an assortment of Jewish interest businesses, Met Su Yan restaurant, a deli, a supermarket, my favourite smaller everybody restaurant cum deli, Jewish style B & K, a Jewish book and gift shop.

The Stanmore Side

The Aviv Restaurant and B & K are at the Stanmore end of the high street.

The landmark mock Victorian black and white gabled building was previously the Railway Hotel.  

Opposite is a fine church, St Margaret of Antioch.

The Library Side of Edgware

At the opposite end is Met Su Yan and the libary. Synagogues are nearby, plus a chance to see the orthdox Jews wearing fine hat on a Saturday. Every day you might see the ultra Orthodox Jews, every day of the week wearing the traditional huge circular black fur hats and long black coats which originated in Poland in the cold snowy winters before the days of central heating.

Stop to Eat (Alphabetically)

Aviv restaurant.

B & K for salt beef sandwiches. 

Leave room for lokshen pudding. (Noodle pudding.)  It is cut into slices like a cake. But can be eaten hot or cold. It has sultanas and lemon juice. Dee-lish! get one to take home, with an extra sandwich, and maybe some fried fish balls. You can get the sweet and sour fish balls. I marginally prefer the fried fish balls. Good value. (I just corrected a typo. I called it God value.)

Now, one another foodie attraction, a bit pricier, for special occasions, is Met Su Yan restaurant, which is kosher.

Met Su Yan

For an account of Met Su Yan's duck, and desserts with banana or chocolate, see the previous post.

Useful Websites

Edgware in Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgware

https://www.canonsparkfriends.org/a-full-history-of-canons-park.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Lawrence%27s_church,_Whitchurch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel

https://handelhendrix.org/

https://handelhendrix.org/

Restaurants and take away food

https://www.facebook.com/bksaltbeef/

http://www.metsuyan.co.uk/MesuyanEdgwareTakeaway.pdf

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1646063-d3981477-Reviews-Met_Su_Yan-Edgware_Greater_London_England.html

Travel

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/social-media-and-email-updates/

If you get to Germany, you could visit Handel House, his birthplace, in Halle, Germany.

Handel House, Germany (German: Händel-Haus) is a cultural site in Halle in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

About the Author

Angela Lansbury, the author, (not related to the actress) is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Delightful Duck and Desserts To Try At Met Su Yan Kosher Chinese Restaurant, Edgware

 

UK flag

I have had a celebratory meal at Chinese kosher restaurant Met Su Yan in Edgware, North west London, England, and take away food from the other branch. If you are interested in Chinese food, or kosher food, or a restaurant in North west London, or somewhere for a birthday or anniversary, here are two places to consider and the dishes you might enjoy.

Met Su Yan, according to the restaurant staff, means delicious in Chinese. The walls have three large pictures, two of Chinese buildings, a third shows Chinese writing. The seating is a combination of  banquettes and separate chairs. Tables can be pulled apart to create tables of four to comply with Covid-19 regulations. Hand sanatizer is at the entrance. Serving staff wear disposable masks.

I asked the manager if the two restaurants were related. He said they had started out as a partnership, but separated amicaably, with each partner taking over the restaurant nearest their home which cut down travelling. 

Hors D'Oevres (Starters)

My recent take away food at home came from the more central branch and started with the mixed hors d'oevres, which was delicious. Everybody enthused over the (lamb) ribs in sauce. (Why lamb? Pork is not kosher.)  

This good experience prompted us to make a booking at the Edgware branch. I had forgotten which dishes I liked.

I looked at the menu online in advance. I could then work out that I had previously liked the ribs. For my own benefit, I am noting here what I was keen on. Others liked the sesame toast, but my preference was for the lamb ribs. 

Pricewise, there are two set meals, for three courses or four including the Duck. I thought it made things simpler to choose the set meals. You still get a chance to have the duck, and choose rice or vegetables (one of us chose rice, the other vegetables), and portions are generous enough for us to share.

Birthdays

 I asked in advance what they do for a celebration. For a birthday or anniversary they bring out a candle on a dessert, not just a little blow out wax candle, but a dramatic flaming candle.

Duck

We were all familiar with what we in the UK call, 'Peking duck', served English style. Unlike China. I have been to what is supposed to be the best resaurant in Beijing for Peking Duck, served to the locals with just the skin, no meat. In Singapore, too, you must specify if you want your Peking Duck Western style or Chinese style. 

The way we like it is with ultra-thin white flat pancakes kept warm in a bamboo lidded steamer. Help yourself to a spreading of thick plum sauce (which looks like thickened soy sauce). On top add finely shredded spring onion. Then thin sticks of cucumber, like finger long chopstick thick piece of cucumber. Finally, shredded duck. 

Chicken

For my main course I chose chicken with cashew nuts. I had looked at the menu online the evening before. I saw Chicken 'Poh'. I was going to ask what Poh meant. Then I noticed the star which indicated spicy, so my decision was made, stick to the straightforward chicken dish. If I were ordering two portions at home, where it is easy to try out dishes with different cutlery wihtout the risk of somebody else dipping their fork or spoon in your plate, I would order one of each.

Desserts

Desserts were toffee banana, nothing like toffee which to me is soft. On the contrary, banana coated in solid, crunchy sugar glaze.

Met Su Yan Restaurant, London, England, chocolate dessert. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Chocolate Dessert Surprise

For me the best dessert was the chocolate bombe, which has melting chocolate in a solid-looking case.  In the restaurant it was served with white ice cream which was topped with a sprig of mint. If you want to reproduce this at home, search around the internet for the recipe. 

At home you could imitate a birthday or grand restaurant. I have seen a chocolate bombe served with the candle on top. You could serve this under a dome with music to anounce the entrance. You could do any varitation of that at home for a birthday or anniversary or religious holiday.

At the restaurant we had too much to eat. The restaurant packed up everything to do except white ice cream which would have accompanied the chocolate dessert.

If you are stuck at home anywhere in north or central London, you might like to hold a party at home using their take away service. Add your own candles on the dessert or cake, your own ice cream, birthday hats, badges and banners.

If you are not Jewish, but your guests include one or more Jewish visitors and you are wondering what you can safely serve them, a Jewish or kosher restaurant might solve your problem. Note that Jewish style food from a restaurant is not necessarily kosher. If you want kosher, this place fulfils the requirement.

Drinks

In October 2020 the choices included Champagne at 75 pounds sterling, red or white wine by the glass, a chablis at 28, an Israeli rose wine, at 22 a sweet Muscat at 18 pounds. There is a 12 per cent service charge when eating in. I ordered a bottled Cranberry juice at 3 pounds. 

Note that in a kosher restaurant you will not be served milk (not in ice cream nor in a coffee) after a meat meal. At home when serving to religious guests you might need to serve a non diary creamer or wait some hours to elapse. 

Up To Date Prices

When ordering from the menu or in the restaurant, check the online menu and enquire about the latest prices.

Parking

You cannot park outside because there is a double yellow line which means no parking any time. When we visited we could park at night for free in streets nearby. If you have a lady in high heeled shoes or it is raining, you could drop somebody nearer the entrance.

Useful Websites and information

www.metsuyan.co.uk

http://www.metsuyan.co.uk/MesuyanEdgwareTakeaway.pdf

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1646063-d3981477-Reviews-Met_Su_Yan-Edgware_Greater_London_England.html

https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/social-media-and-email-updates/

Their business card says Glatt Kosher under the supervision of the Federation of Synagogues. We were unable to make a booking during the Jewish holiday of Sukkoth, so keep your eye on the Jewish holidays if you are planning an event or making a booking.

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. You can read other posts and blogs by Angela and link with her on LinekedIn and Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. Also speak to her at meeting of Toastmasters International, where she is a member of five clubs. Please share links  to your favourite posts with your friends and family.

Edgware - my memories including Handel's Organ

Problem
How do you spell Edgware? With an e at the start and an e at the end but no e in the middle, only e on the edges. The letter e twice is e-nough. Somehow the middle e got dropped from Edgware.

The Edgware road runs from Marble Arch north through London to Edgware. This was the old, straight, Roman Road. Watling Street, if I'm not mistaken.

Driving north from Central London you will pass Brent Cross shopping Centre and maybe get stuck in traffic in the middle section. Finally, you reach Edgware.

You pass the Premier Inn on your left and reach the crossroads.


To your left is small B & K restaurant.

Premier Inn, Edgware.

 Ahead you have some medieval timber buildings. Drive further on and you will notice some art deco blocks of flats with the flat bay windows but curved edges. An indian girl recently asked me, "What's art deco. This is art deco. parallel lines and curves. Flat rooftops. Long, flat bay windows. Strips of horizontal panes of glass. Like a ship.

Art deco flats. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Turn right at the church and on your left is the biggest building but sadly in disrepair. It's not that old.

By car, this is what you see. What wonderful twisted brick chimneys. 

Waiting at a bus stop, with those horrid seats too narrow to sit on, and likely to tip you off, designed to discourage rough sleepers, a view of the adly descrepit old pub.

B & K is small and moderately priced. For somewhere larger, try the Aviv restaurant. Aviv means spring. 

Look more Medieval style black and white buildings in Edgware.

Edgware has a busy, too busy centre. The best parts of Edgware, the old parts, are hidden and you have to look for them.

The Pond
For example, as a child I would be taken walking along an elegant private road,  Canons Drive, past grand Tudor-style houses to watch the ducks on the pond.

My family knew the Brons, whose daughter Eleanor Bron became a well-known actress.

St Lawrence's Church and Handel's Organ

Take the bus along Whitchurch Lane, or drive, and you will reach the park leading to North London Collegiate School. Alongside is St Lawrence's church which has Handel's organ.

St Lawrence's Church, Whitchurch Lane, Edgware.

You might do a search on the church and find that it is listed as technically in Little Stanmore. However, if you measure the distance along roads, it is 1.15 km to Edgware station and 2.6 km to Stanmore station. I should know. As a child I used to live almost opposite and walked into Edgware nearly every day.

 I belong to three branches of Toastmasters International, one in Singapore and two in London. Harrovians Speakers Club meets in St Lawrence's church hall behind the church. The minister gave us a talk on the church and Handel and the school.

Do an image search and you will see lots of great pictures of the inside of the church.

My favourite place to eat is B & K, unpretentious, but filling food, chicken soup, salt beef and latkes and lokshen pudding. I have written several posts on B & K branches in Edgware and Hatch End.

B & K salt beef on rye bread with chips.

http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/handels-church-in-england-st-lawrences.html

On Handel in Edgware and central London:

http://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/handel-sights-in-edgware-and-england.html

visitbritain.com

visitbritainshop.com

Author, Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

The Mystery of The Mystique of Mill Hill - One Up On Edgware, Where Anne Frank's Father Hid

My friends who live in Mill Hill need to move home because the husband can't cope with the stairs. But they are loathe to leave Mill Hill. What's the attraction of Mill Hill?

Mill Hill school, listed building, from Wikipedia (creative commons).

Around the corner is the prestigious Mill Hill School. As you drive or walk past you can see the entrance to the historic school, founded in 1802, in a grade 2 listed building, with a grand columned entrance, and exotic plants.

Famous former pupils of the school included Dennis Thatcher, husband of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Sir Norman Hartnell, dress designer to the royal family who designed clother for the Queen Mother and HM Queen Elizabeth II's coronation robe, and Sir Richard Dimbleby, TV commentator.

You can hire the school for a wedding, barmitzvah or other occasion.

But if you don't have children at the school, what had and has Mill Hill got to boast about?

What you will see driving into Mill Hill from Central London is the observatory on your left. I was once taken inside it by a boyfriend who wanted to ompress me.

University of London observatory.

By now you will have passed the church where Sir Stamford Raffles was buried. Not much to see, but I was really thrilled to be there.

Other notable residents of the area were the aptly named racing driver Graham Hill. Much earlier Sir Stamford Raffles left London to established Singapore, and then returned to London. He is buried in a church nearer Hendon.

Mill Hill's High Street is medium length, providing lots of restaurants and a few shops, a supermarket, a station. I have described Hudsons in detail in my previous post.

Lovely moist beef.

The motorway is on your doorstep. The RAF (Royal Air Force) museum is along the road at the station end.

Social Life
The U3A, the worldwide University of the Third Age - is the place where you can gather with like-minded retired people, or, as Americans say, Seniors. They teach each other culture in small or huge groups. In Mill Hill the U3A meets in a hall near one of the three churches which group togother (Methodist, Catholic and Anglican). The hall also holds yoga classes, including yoga for those who are seated, in wheelchairs or at desks. Once my friends went to learn Canasta. It was a long session, three or four hours.

The Mill and The Hill
That's indoors. What about the outdoors? I don't now what happened to the mill. I think the remnants of it must be somewhere uphill. Every now and then we drive around looking for it. The hill is across the motorway. If you want old world England, it's just up beyond the school which is on the lower slopes of the green hill, and Garden Centre, the other side of the big roundabout.

Mill Hill is a good place to live, out of London in the green belt, but conveniently close to busy Hendon and bustling Golders Green. Mill Hill has s station so you are near enough to reach central London by train - or by car.

When I was a child, Mill Hill was the impressive area. You talked about Mill Hill when you drove from the Hendon Way north to Edgware, past Mill Hill, but never drove into it. You mentioned that somebody lived in Mill Hill. Really - Mill Hill! Mansions are spread out along the motorway.

However, the big elegant houses near the shops are now falling into disrepair, being sold off by elderly owners. At a local musical, I met a retired music teacher and his wife, also a music teacher. They had a house in Mill Hill which looked modest outside. Inside, the huge living area was lined floor to ceiling with books, surrounding a grand piano. I remember they were trying to fix the gutters, paint the outside, and sell at a reasonable price, for months. Any chance of buying a bargain house?

One side of the road of once elegant houses has come down in value because of the noise from the new motorway behind. I remember when Mill Hill was so smart, I was scared to go to eat in the High Street. The gigantic Good Earth Chinese restaurant is still known to my once affluent retired friends as a place with great food but dauntingly high prices.

Edgware
Edgware is just along the motorway from Mill Hill. Crowded Edgware. Anne Frank's father lived in Edgware. Very few people knew. I didn't know until after he had died. I remember reading Anne Frank's Diary when I lived in Edgware in the nineteen sixties.

I read about how the Frank family lived hidden in Amsterdam. You can read a book written by his step-daughter, Anne's posthumous step-sister, Eva Schloss. It is a paperback. I bought it. I had no idea Anne's father was hidden for the rest of his life in Edgware. (The book by Eva Schloss explained that her mother and Anne Frank's father saw each other regularly when they went to read the Red Cross lists of people who had been traced, both hoping their respective spouses had lived.)

Anne Frank's stepsister, Eva Schloss. For more details see Wikipedia.

Wikipedia further explains that Eva and Anne and their families had both lived in the same apartment block. (On another family's wedding video, found years later, Anne can be seen briefly, leaning out of a window watching a bride set off for a wedding).

I bought Anne Frank's diary in W H Smith's in Edgware, on my way home from school. I remember reading it late at night, and my mother coming in and finding me in tears. She said, "Why are you upsetting yourself? It happened before you were born. It's not your problem!"

I remember when Mill Hill was one up on declining Egware. My late mother moved from Edgware when the Almond Tree tea shop closed and McDonalds moved in. It was, my mother said, "The beginning of The End!"

Speaking of ends, when you look at the map of London's underground 'tube train' lines, you can see Edgware station at the end of one line, the Northern line, and Mill Hill, and Mill Hill East. Now you know more about them.

Useful Websites
https://www.millhill.org.uk (About the school)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Schloss
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Evas-Story-Survivors-Step-Sister-Frank/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_They_Came_for_Me
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Hartnell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mill_Hill_School

https://www.visitbritainshop.com Official site. 'Everything you need for your trip to Britain'

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Hurray for B & K - Salt Beef, Kneidlech - Now Four Branches! See Soho and Holborn!

B & K, Hatch End branch. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
B & K - for the Best salt Beef and Kneidlech, where are they?

Answers
If you want somewhere that's open on Sunday, go to Edgware or Hatch End.

Beef with mustard. B & K. Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Mixed hors d'oevre at B & K. Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Salt beef on rye bread. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

If you want to try somewhere new, in the centre of London, try their branches in Wardoour Street and Leather Lane, called Tongue and brisket.

What's brisket?

I don't know. But try it.

I just had their salt beef sandwiches and mixed hors d'ouvre and chicken soup. You do not go hungry.


Whilst there, the rest of my family bought food from the take away deli counter.

Their grandfather started the Edgware branch. Their two uncles now run it. In the Hatch End branch you might find Bobby and Mario, busy serving, and occasionally John. They are always happy to chat.

Can you have any leftovers wrapped up to go? Of course, you can!


B & K Salt Beef Bar
353 Uxbridge Road
Hatch End
Pinner
HA5 4JN
tel: 01923 518693.

Tongue & Brisket
SOHO
199 Wardour Street
London WIF 8JP
tel: 0203 784 2273.
Open Monday 8 am- 6 pm; Tuesday to Friday, 11.30 to 6 pm.

HOLBORN
24-26 Leather Lane,
London EC1N 7SU
tel: 0207 404 5353.
Breakfast 7.30-11 am. Lunch 12-4.30 pm.
Also deliveries by Deliveroo.

Translation
kneidlach - matzo balls or dumplings

www.bksaltbeefbar.com

http://www.tonguebrisket.com

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I have several previous posts on B & K, plus reviews on TripAdvisor.