Few will argue that there's nothing to do in London, but I've found it hard to discover things that won't leave me meandering around crowds of tourists and locals alike.  I've only been in London for a few months, but if you're looking for some slightly but not completely beaten path activities, here's what I've found.

Hyde Park Boot Camp and Midnight Runners - Start off your Saturday or Sunday at Hyde Park with an hour of butt whipping with Coach David Evans (RSVP for free | Facebook).  Alternatively, if you're a night owl, join the Midnight Runners on Tuesdays for a 10km run, interspersed with body weight exercises at London landmarks, around the Thames.  Did I mention they carry backpack speakers that blast music to inspire and jiggle? Oh, and it's all free too (Facebook).

Magnificent 7 Cemeteries of London - What better to complement the ever dark London weather than with a trip to London's cemeteries?  Originally created in the 1800s due to the limited space in London to accommodate all the extra bodies, the Magnificent 7 will take you through suburban London (for more history and details, check out Insider London's post).  Start off with Highgate Cemetery, the resting place of Karl Marx.  It's also located right next to Hampstead Heath, so take a stroll up to the top of Parliament Hill and get yourself a view of the London skyline.

Cable Car from Greenwich - For £3.50 on an Oyster card, you can find yourself on the Emirates Air Line crossing over the Thames.  It normally takes 10 minutes to do the crossing between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks, but if you go after 7PM the cars slow down so you have a few extra minutes to enjoy the night landscape.  It's not the easiest place to get to, but then it wouldn't be off the beaten path.

Maltby Market - I hesitated to put Maltby on the list as it's becoming just as crowded as Borough Market. However, since it's open air, if you toughen up and head there when the weather's ominous, the crowd will be minimal.  From German sausages to indulgent brownies to craft beers, Maltby will have whatever you need to get your weekend fix (Facebook).

Cross-posted: Huffington Post

Texas is known for going big or not going at all, and so I wasn't all too surprised when I saw signs for buffets all over the city. I had the gluttonous pleasure of trying out some of these all you can eats, including sushi, Korean BBQ, Mediterranean, texmex. Here are my thoughts on them:

Gui (2719 McKinney Ave, Dallas)

On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, Gui offers an all you can eat deal - $20 for regular rolls only or $25 for regular plus specialty rolls. This is by far the best value, especially if you order primarily the specialty rolls, which are normally ~$8 a roll. We (two people) ordered 21 rolls, which would have likely cost us ~$150 had we ordered each a la carte.

The caveat is that you have to pay for anything that you don't eat and you can't be shady and eat everything but the rice.

Terra (5910 N Macarthur Blvd, Irving)

For less than $13, Terra's Mediterranean lunch buffet offers a plethora of meat options, with even more salad and vegetarian choices. Anyone looking for dessert, however, will have to look elsewhere. There are only fresh fruits and rice pudding that fit in the sweets category.

Sura Korean Bistro (2240 Royal Ln, Dallas)

Sura offers about a dozen selection of meats ranging from chicken to brisket, but no fish. There's a small selection of self-served vegetables that include carrots, mushrooms, onions, etc. More salad and kimchi are provided when asked, although sometimes you have to ask multiple times to finally get it. The price tag was ~$24.

Full disclosure, my stomach did get sick immediately after eating this and also the following day. My dining mate didn't, however.

Blue Mesa Grill (7700 W NW Hwy, Dallas)

For $20, the Sunday all you can eat brunch was an okay choice. I have to give Blue Mesa props for the initiative to put some, but not all, of its nutritional info online.

There's a decent selection of food from enchiladas to an omelette station to taco fillings to salads and grilled fish. With the exception of the grilled fish, I found everything else to be a bit at or below average. A lot of the food is soaked in no trans-fat oil, but the oil doesn't seem to add to the dishes' flavor. The dependency should be on the spices for the flavor, not the oil.

I shouldn't forget to mention that the price includes unlimited mimosas, coffee, tea, and soft drinks. The coffee is made with a boatload of cinnamon (which I liked, but be forewarned).

Rouge
205 S 18th St
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Neighborhood: Rittenhouse Square

On a cold windy night, we found our way in Rouge on Rittenhouse Square.  Having walked by this place many times, I was never really impressed with their front, but inside, the atmosphere is warm and cozy.

The first dish that was served up was the French onion soup with gruyere and provolone.  I didn't have this, but word is it was good.  I had the King Salmon - a nicely cooked filet of salmon laid on top of a mixture of kale and red quinoa.  The salmon was delicious, but the kale and quinoa were mediocre at best with little to no flavor.  I asked for the dish without the honey-mustard sauce since I'm not a fan of mustard, so that may had altered the intended flavor profile.  I did ask if they could substitue the mustard sauce with something else, but was basically told there wasn't a substitute.  I had a bite of the Seafood Risotto, which tasted fresh and flavorful, unlike my kale.  We also shared the truffle parmesan pommes frites - come on, you know nothing with truffle oil can go wrong.

My delicious salmon paired with some bland kale and quinoa

Seafood risotto that needed a little mixin' to get the heat going

And the fries!

For dessert, we had the olive oil lemon cake served with vanilla gelato and cherry (?) spread.  We didn't taste much of the vanilla in the vanilla gelato, but this only made the flavor of the olive oil lemon cake stand out even more.  We also had the ice cream sliders - two of which were light and delightful, the third one (peanut butter) was the unwanted third wheel with no contrast in flavor and heavy to the palate.

Olive oil lemon cake with vanilla gelato

The sliders

Overall, the food was great; however, there were a couple misses.  First, we each had a small plate and a butter knife, but no one brought out any bread.  After the French onion soup was served, we had to flag down one of the waiters to bring over the bread.  Second, the outer layer of the risotto came out cold, and needed to be mixed up to distribute the inner heat out.  Third, it would had been great if the kitchen tossed the fries and truffle parmesan first, rather than just sprinkling the parmesan on top (which means by the time you get to the fries at the bottom, they're just plain old fries).  So, no big mistakes that can't easily be fixed.  In the words of a terminator, I'll be back.

Matyson

37 S 19th St

Philadelphia, PA 19103

Neighborhoods: Rittenhouse Square, Penn Center

We came here for Sunday brunch, which apparently is a relatively new development for Matyson.  As a spoiler, it was a great brunch!  We started off sharing the Shaved Tuscan Kale - a delicious mixture of quinoa, butternut squast, pepitas, parmesan, and oregano.  For a salad, this gave quite the buzz to my taste buds and felt very light.  Great way to start it off.  

Next up, we shared the Brisket Egg & Cheese with cheddar and a fried egg sandwiched between sesame brioche.  This sounds like a pretty heavy dish, but it was surprisingly very light as well  - all without losing an ounce of flavor.  

Still hungry, we split the Chicken & (scallion) Waffles - drizzled with Korean chili sauce and accompanied with a fried egg.  Again, this sounds like a heavy dish, but the chef pulled another Houdini and made the heaviness disappeared from the fried chicken.  If you order this dish, I'd suggest asking to have the chili sauce on the side - it's a bit spicy but also quite sweet.  So, unless you like your fried chicken sweet and spicy, get the sauce separately.  

A little hungry still, we asked to see the dessert menu.  Unfortunately, the pastry chef wasn't in so our options were limited. We went with Apple Crisp topped with vanilla ice cream.  Yes, you guessed it, this was pretty light as well!  Nothing paired with vanilla ice cream can go wrong, unless the vanilla ice cream is bad.  This was good. 

The Belgian Cafe
21st & Green St
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Neighborhoods: Fairmount, Art Museum District

We hit up the Monk's of North Philly for brunch. Located in a residential neighborhood, The Belgian Cafe is a nice hangout spot similar to what Rx in West Philly used to be for brunch.

Let's get straight to the food.  I ordered the Eggs Benedict with two poached eggs laid on top of a Liege waffle alongside some Lancaster ham and a healthy dose of hollandaise.  Of the three of us, my dish came out last.  I was thus really baffled when I ate my first bite and my eggs were no longer runny and was borderline between lukewarm and cold.  The waitress stopped by to ask how we were enjoying our food...so, I told her how I was not enjoying it.  She promptly apologized and offered to replace my plate.  I agreed, and she came back a little later with a warmer dish.  Kudos.  The food itself was okay - nothing spectacular.  I prefer Hawthorne's.  When the waitress brought us the check later, she told us she had comped my Eggs Benedict.  Kudos again.  Free brunch for me!  Unfortunately, my brother left his wallet in the car, so I had to pay for him.  Negative kudos.

I also managed to get a couple bites of the pommes frites, which came with either their bourbon mayo or smoked ketchup (I couldn't tell which).  Yummmm.  I would come back just for the fries.  This spot also has a pretty extensive list of draft beers, wine, etc., but since I don't drink, you'd have to refer to your resident alcoholic for a review.

Located next to Chifa, Morimoto is giving Jose Garces a run for his money. Unlike most restaurants, Morimoto is not dimly lit, and you can actually see the person sitting across from you. Although, there is an awkwardly placed artificial candle/light at the center of the table that can't be moved. As a result, shared dishes have to be put near the edge of the table and diners can't look at each other without being blinded by the light. The food, on the other hand, is enough reason to return. We started off with the 10 hour pork 'kakuni' - a braised pork belly served with hot rice porridge. The pork belly was cooked perfectly, with the meat flaky and the fat pure decadence. Next up was the angry chicken - a nicely marinated organic half chicken with roasted finger peppers and spiced chicken jus. The chicken was cooked just right, moist and tender without being overwhelmed by the sauce. Then there was the kobe beef ishi yaki bop - a rice dish prepared tableside in a hot river stone bowl. The kobe beef cooked evenly to medium-rare, and the flavors blended in a perfect fusion. Finally, the deserts. First came the black sesame moussecake - a silky smooth cake with layers of goma mousse, sea salt mousse, flourless chocolate cake, and dark chocolate ganache. Each bite was a bite of heaven. Then there was the irish coffee jelly parfait made up of coffee jelly, coconut sorbet, suntory 12 year yamazaki, and a dash of cinnamon. There really aren't that many words to describe this - you'll just have to go and find out. http://www.chaseminhchau.com/subpages/restaurants/morimoto.html