The Champion: Our favorite burger for the travel-weary

This post is the fourth in our “England 2015”:/news/category/travel/england-2015/ series.

Our arrival day was exhilarating, but exhausting. After sleeping minimally on the plane, we landed at 8:30 am England-time with the intent that we would power through until bedtime in order to beat jet lag.
Ready for take-off.
Fresh-faced and ready for take-off.

The girls did admirably. We settled into our home-away-from-home, took a walk over to Buckingham Palace, and then caught Bus 148 bound for Notting Hill.
The Boyds glimpse Buckingham Palace.
Fighting jet lag in front of Buckingham Palace.
On Bus 148.
On our first double-decker bus.

We sought refuge for dinner, hoping to find somewhere that was English enough that it would be fun, familiar enough that the girls would eat some food, and comforting enough that it would soothe the cracks of travel.

The Champion was a winner — just what we needed. Ale for Jon, ketchup with chips for the girls, poutine to share, and fantastic burgers for all. Our waitress, Sivan, somehow looked just like our dear friend Emma from home. She recommended the sticky toffee pudding to wrap up our meal — and she was right.
Scalp massages at The Champion.
What is this, some kind of salon?

After a fabulous meal, the girls started to crash. They had been amazing all day, keeping up without complaint on only a few hours’ airplane-sleep. But as they started to slip into food-coma, Jon got up to quickly pay the bill and I gave them scalp massages to help stimulate their brains. I’m not sure if that worked, but their hair looked awesome.

We remembered The Champion so fondly that we returned there for dinner a few days later — and we got to thank Sivan for making our first day in London so pleasant.
The Boyd ladies with Sivan.
A snap with Sivan, our favorite waitress in London.

We’re already looking forward to our next burger experience at The Champion!

Read the next post in our “England 2015”:/news/category/travel/england-2015/ series: Perfecting Fun in Quiet Desperation: A lesson from the London Eye.

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