The Food Diaries: sketch

A very over-due review of sketch London but what better day to review the pink restaurant than on Valentine's Day?! 

When I was planning my trip to London I was on BuzzFeed {what a surprise} and I came across an article that talked about the best bathrooms in London. If you know me I have a strange obsession with public bathroom design so I immediately was intrigued. There was this one, in a restaurant called Sketch, that had pod bathrooms. I knew I had to visit.

But I didn't want to take just anyone and I knew it had to be a special occasion. So why not one of the last nights Hannah would be in London? I promptly made a reservation the first week in June for the second to last week in July {because the place fills up FAST}.

We met up at the Oxford Circus tube station and walked to sketch. The entrance doesn't seem like a restaurant, there is a doorman and it is so wide it seems like an office building. I was really concerned we weren't in the right place but after a few steps inside the magic starts to happen.
Sketch has three separate restaurants the Gallery, the Lecture Room & Library, and the Parlour & Glade. We opted for the Gallery because of that pink furniture and those pod bathrooms.

Walking into the dining room is like walking into what you would imagine a restaurant classy Barbie owned. The chairs look like fingers from a hand and are really comfortable. The menu is 3-D and everyone in attendance looks fabulous.

I had a non-alcoholic drink and I cannot remember the name of it to save my life. But it was delicious and pink and so cute! I do remember not knowing what to get because their drink menu is extensive but that I wanted it to be pink so I guessed and voila! It was! 

The ceiling has a massive sky light in the center and there are cotton-like-lamps on the edges of the booths. 

I had read online that the "Bread and Butter" was a must get. It is homemade Marguerite white bread with Irish Abernethy salted butter. I had no idea the bread would come in the shape of a flower but oh my goodness isn't it pretty! I was in love. Bread is my favorite food and put it into a shape, you've made my day. Not to mention it was DELICIOUS. This is why I read people's reviews before I go somewhere, they always give the best advice on what to order.

The butter had a face pressed into it that had a line for a mouth, so not mad, sad or happy, just meh. Plus it was served in a "Food" dish that I thought was cute.

Hannah had the "Sketch Fish and Chips" with pollock, matchstick potatoes, coleslaw, greenapple, mushy peas and sketchup. The way it was served was very different. It was chips with a side of fish...but Hannah liked it. Mushy peas are a huge thing in England so if you're not into it, be glad they put it on the side.

I had the pan fried sirloin of Black Angus beef which came with potatoes.The steak was really good and the butter-sauce was the perfect compliment. The only complaint I had was that the steak was a little fatty in places and I hate that. And can we talk about the adorable plates? 

The potatoes were even better than the steak. Honestly. I know that I am a sucker for potatoes but these little guys were to die for. They were so light that they melted in your mouth. 

I could not stop taking photos of the restaurant. It was just so me, so pink, so pure.

For dessert we both had a variety of macarons. I would have to say this was the weakest point of our meal because they weren't super crunchy. But they weren't bad. They were interesting flavors and worth it for the photos. I also might have just been super-duper full at this point.

Ironic but funny sketches (I wonder why?!) cover the walls. This one was a personal favorite of Hannah and I:

Now onto the best part of the whole restaurant {I kid you not}. To get to the bathrooms you walk out the back of the pink dinning room and up the stairs on the right side. When you arrive the pods to your right are the women's pods and the ones on the left are men's. Each pod has its own toilet and there are communal sinks around the outside edges of the room.The ceiling is a mosaic of colorful tiles that add extra light {even at night}. The whole room has a purple-ish hue,

It seems like everyone takes a mirror photo in this iconic bathroom so here are our's. 

Even the lights are cool! 

I have never seen more people casually taking photos inside a bathroom before. It was a magical experience for me because I always get weird looks for it. But here we go, you will be totally normal to take photos of you peeking out of these pods or with the colorful ceiling. This is the place for you to take as many photos as you want. 

Overall I would say, go to sketch. It is the perfect place to go when visiting or to take your friends if you live in London. After you've been once though, I'm not sure you need to go again {maybe for the bread + potatoes}. It is kind of expensive and getting in is difficult. I think the food is a little bit of an afterthought to the atmosphere which is killer. So go once, see how you like it, take a ton of photos and then decide if you want to go back.
They do afternoon tea so if I am in London anytime soon I want to go back for that!

Pineapples: