Thursday 2 November 2017

Berners Tavern | Fitzrovia | London

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be treated to a date night with Jack to Berners Tavern. We had meant to go a few months ago, but when our reservation came round I'd had an allergic reaction and was feeling very sorry for myself and was struggling to eat. So we re-booked and went on a Saturday night.



For those who have not heard of Berners Tavern it is a stunning restaurant attached to the London Edition Hotel in Soho and is Led by Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton. It has become one of London’s most sought-after restaurant reservations, famous for a space that marries historical charm with modern sophistication, it offers all-day dining with a menu of seasonal, contemporary British cuisine - also known as a bloody nice place.


We had a 5pm reservation (as we are really oldies at heart and don’t like being out too late) and had booked through Opentable we had a confirmation call a few days before our booking which made a nice touch. When we arrived I was blown away by the impressiveness of the restaurant, there were these incredibly detailed and intricate high ceilings, with the walls covered in paintings and art work it was really a sight to behold and so much to look at. 


We were taken to our seats, our coats were taken and menus brought over. We were then brought the Champaign trolley (I need one of these in every restaurant I go to!) and were offered a ranges of glasses of bubbly. We had a glass each of a very delicious Brut while we perused the menu. We both ordered some cocktails, I had the Rum crumble which comprised of rum, apple sherbet, biscuit foam, gingerbread bitter, rum and apple sherbet mixed with spiced biscuit foam. This has got to have been the best tasting cocktail I have ever had it also looked impressive. Jack went for the loggers camp, which comprised of whiskey, blueberry shrub, grape must verjuice, cranberry, bacon flavours and berries, and again this was so delicious. 


Onto our meals, for starters I had the Pork Pie, which came out as a whole log where the waiter cut off a slice and then dressed it with an assortment of pickles and condiments to make it possibly the best dressed pork pie I have ever seen. Jack chose the beef tartar and they were both delicious, and came out in a good amount of time. The pork pie was so tasty with such a good quality pork used and a lovely pasty (there was not a soggy bottom in sight). Jacks Beef Tartar was a lovely rich, rare beef complemented by hazelnuts and horseradish. Once we had finished the table was cleared promptly. 




For mains Jack chose the Mac and Cheese with the Beef Blade. This came out looking huge, there was so much tender beef and the mac and cheese used big pasta with such a creamy cheese sauce! It was comfort food heaven! I went for the Highland Partridge which was so beautifully presented. The meat was so flavourful and the bacon ragout made such a difference to the meal. It was super tasty and we cleared our plates in no time. I always think the mains is a good place to discuss the service. The service we received was top notch every waiter was so nice, polite and attentive, all smart and uniformed, but also not rushing us or being too present it was the perfect balance. 



Finally onto desert we decided to share and have the chocolate and hazelnut flaming Alaska which was more than just a desert. This was a show in itself. The waiter came out with all the ingredients, Poured the flaming alcohol onto the Alaska before pouring on the crumble and custard. Now this was incredible. I have always been a dessert person, but this was another level. It was like every little aspect added to the overall experience with the crumble being a particular favourite of mine. We managed to polish the dessert off pretty quickly. With dessert we ordered the recommended desert wine each and these were very nice, not too sweet and perfectly complimented the desert a great recommendation.



Now onto the final aspect of our experience, the bill. This is an expensive place to eat and we were aware of this before booking so it wasn’t a shock when the bill came. of course a few pounds cheaper and it would have been a whole lot more enjoyable, but this is the kind of restaurant that unless you are some kind of millionaire a visit is likely to be a planned occasion so you will be aware of the price range. You are also paying for so much more than just the food and for the whole experience the price was worth it. Despite that though the whole evening was very delightful and I would highly recommend a visit to Berners tavern to anyone and we would love another visit sometime in the future. 



Have you ever been to Berners Tavern? Let me know your favourite London restaurants as we are always looking for new places to try. And would love to hear some of your recommendations. 

Make sure you are following this blog for a new post every day during November at 10am, you can follow by subscription or follow me on bloglovin. You can also keep up to date with what I’m up to over on my twitter and Instagram profiles, or if you fancy come and chat over on my Facebook page. 

Until next time

Emma Jayne

xxx


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Monday 5 June 2017

Sticks 'n' Sushi | Wimbledon | London

So this review is one that I have been meaning to do for ages and it's actually from my favourite restaurant - Sticks 'n' Sushi. I have now been to the Covent Garden site, Canary Wharf, and most recently, and the time this review is based on, in Wimbledon. Jack and I went to celebrate my new job starting and we had a lovely evening out. We booked a fairly early dinner at 5.30 and after having a few drinks elsewhere in Wimbledon we headed in and were greeted and lead to our table by the lovely man on the host desk. 


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Monday 29 May 2017

Warner Edwards Rhubarb Gin | Harrington

As the sun finally starts coming out and we start seeing warmer days (this week its been hitting 29 degrees!) it’s time to get yourselves to the pub or out in the garden with a drink in hand enjoying those rays of vitamin D. If you know me you know that I’m not a particularly big drinker as in I don’t enjoy going out and getting smashed every weekend and I certainly don’t enjoy the hangover that come with that. So you could say I’m much more of a light casual drinker having a drink every now and then, and with that I therefore like to enjoy my drink a lot more.

Usually in the summer my go to alcoholic drinks are either Malibu or Cider as they have a very distinct taste that I love. This year however I had tasted a sample of a different brand rhubarb gin and couldn't get the delicious taste of it out of my head. As I couldn’t remember the name of that brand I scoured the internet and started to sew photos of the Warner Edwards Rhubarb Gin online. This then led me to ask for it at every occasion in bars (not very many stock it), then realising I love the the taste, and that it's not stocked in many supermarkets. I however planned to buy it online until I saw it in Waitrose this week and stocked up immediately.

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Monday 22 May 2017

Bread Centrale Brunch | Wandsworth | London

As I’m sure you all know by now I love a good brunch and have been reviewing the places I go. This review from a few weeks ago was when we went out for a late lunch to Bread Centrale.

We had been wanting to here for a few weeks and finally found the time so walked down the river – which was also really nice, and headed in. first impressions are that this isn’t much of a place with it not being obvious from the outside and then the décor inside being slightly dated, but this didn’t put us off. The menu is good and I was drawn to the ‘build your own brunch’ as in this you can put together your perfect brunch with a range of breads, eggs, meat and sauces. I went for sourdough, poached eggs, bacon, sausage, and avocado. Jack however decided to go for a BBQ Asian Chicken pizza as we did go pretty late for brunch terms.

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Monday 17 April 2017

Rules Restaurant Review | Covent Garden | London

Rules Restaurant is the oldest restaurant in London having been opened in 1798. It is on Maiden lane (Covent Garden) and serves a range of traditional British cuisine and game. It has a strong claim to fame having a staring role in Downton abbey and James Bond Spectre! (How exciting!). I was lucky enough to be taken here for my 25th birthday meal and was so impressed I just had to write a little blog post review about our time there. 


We booked a table for 2 about 2 weeks before our visit on the 30th March and even then they were nearly fully booked so we had to have an early dinner at 5pm, this was perfect for us as we wanted an earlier meal so wasn’t an issue, but of you are hoping to eat a little later I would suggest booking even more in advance. 

When we arrived it was lovely, there was a very smart and kind doormen to let us in and then the host greeted us and took us to our table. We were sat in a corner by the window, a lovely table and I was immediately in awe by the décor. Now the rules interior won’t be to everyone’s tastes but as someone who is a fan of the National Trust and tradition I LOVED it! There were an array of impressive deer heads and antlers, multiple photos as well as huge silver trophies and a beautiful ornate mirror. Everything is a deep dark red with very traditional patterns. 

The Interior 

The Menu while we were at Rules


Once we were seated we both ordered a cocktail (special occasion and all), I had the Kate Middleton’s ‘Royal 29’ a very strong Gin and vodka based drink while Jack had a Black velvet served in a silver tankard – a nice extra touch! The waiting staff were all really nice, friendly and very professional and were on hand at any moment. We ordered fairly quickly and everything came out promptly and we didn’t feel that we had to wait particularly long for anything.


Kate Middleton's 'Royal 29'

To start, we had an oyster each which were great! – I have only ever had one before and this was a significant improvement! I then also had the Duck Rillette, a pate style starter while Jack had the Sea Trout Gravadlax special. Both were so flavoursome and very much enjoyed! 

Duck Rillette

Sea Trout Gravadlax


Now to mains, I wanted to have something a little different so went for the Rabbit leg while Jack stuck with the seafood theme and chose the seared Diver Scallops. Both were again delicious and I can honestly say there was so much flavour in the rabbit dish that I was so impressed by it – I would highly recommend this if you ever get the chance to go. With our mains we also decided to have some wine and went for the Volnay 1er Cru Robardelle, a very smooth fruity red. We really liked that there was the option to have certain wines by jug as a bottle can sometimes be a bit much!
Seared Diver Scallops


Rabbit Leg

Now onto the dessert we both had the Chocolate Tart with Vanilla Brulee Centre and this was honestly a showstopper! There was GOLD on it! GOLD!!!! Not only did it look amazing it was delicious too! While on the topic of dessert as we had already gone all out we thought hey let’s get some dessert wine, so we did! I had a glass of the Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas and Jack had a glass of the Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos Patricius and this has got to have been the only thing in the whole evening that I got a little bit of food envy for - after trying both wines I did prefer the one Jack had picked, it was slightly sweeter, lighter and tasted like melted honey, much more up my street than the darker one I had picked – but don’t get me wrong they were both delicious!! 

Chocolate Tart With Vanilla Brulee Centre

Now We have talked about the food I wanted to quickly chat a little about the atmosphere as it was really relaxing and calm, the other patrons were of a variety of business men and friends catching up over dinner, so we did not feel out of place. I did notice that we were some of the youngest in there, however this didn’t make any difference, it was just something that I did notice.


Once we had finished it was time to pay, and this is my only little warning about Rules, we knew the price range going into this meal so were not surprised that a 4 course meal with cocktails and wine (and the gratuity charge) came to £250. So this is an expensive place to eat, however we had a lovely time celebrating my 25th birthday and I could not recommend Rules highly enough for a special occasion or as a more luxurious place to eat. We would love to return to Rules in Grouse season as neither of us have ever tried Grouse. Rules have their Grouse season from August - December so I'm sure we will find an occasion to visit during this time as we really enjoyed our visit. 



You can book a table online on the Rules website or by calling +44 (0)20 7836 5314. 

Let me know your thoughts on Rules in the comments below. Have you ever eaten at Rules? What would you order? Also let me know your favourite restaurants in London, I am always looking for new places to try. 

Make sure you are following this blog for a new post every Monday 10am, you can follow by subscription (put your email in the box on the left hand side) or follow me on bloglovin. You can also keep up to date with what I’m up to over on my twitter and Instagram profiles, or if you fancy come and chat over on my (new) Facebook page. 

Until next time

Emma Jayne

xxx

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Monday 20 February 2017

Fume | Dubai | UAE

Welcome back all! Today's post is probably one of my favourite types – FOOD!! I love eating out and have put a little mission on to blog about more of the places I go to let you all know my thoughts and if you should also check it out!

So while I was in Dubai for Christmas Jack and I escaped family life and headed out to Peir 7 at the Dubai Marina to eat at Fume. We arrived for an early dinner at about 5.30 and were taken to a lovely table overlooking the Marina. Were were given plenty time to decide on our drinks and meals before the waiter came back. I picked the spiced Pina Colada type drink and Jack had an 'Ultimate Gin and Tonic.

Jack with his Ultimate Gin and Tonic

Me with my Pina Colada

The food didn’t take long to come, we started with what is described as ‘Sourdough Bread with Smoked Butter and Lava Salt’ - sounds fancy right? So we were little shocked when some standard toast arrived (I think we were expecting fresh rolls), however is was alright. 
Onto mains I chose a huge Angus Rump Burger and Jack had a Beef Cheek Rendang with Pitta Bread and both meals were lovely. Once we had finished however it look a long time for anyone to clear our plates and at times it felt as though there were no staff at all while others were not being observant and clearing our table. 

The Angus Rump Burger

However, once we had finally had the mains cleared we went in for dessert. The dessert choice was great, possibly the best part of the menu! I went for a Banoffee Parfait and Jack went for the Foot-Long (YES FOOT LONG!!) Nutella éclair. Now these were easily the showstopper portion of the meal, both were beautify presented as well as tasting amazing and we finished them off in a matter of minutes.

It again took a little while once the desserts had been cleared for the bill come (we asked for it when the waiter took the plates) so that was a little disappointing as we were ready to head back home, however as Jack and I enjoy each others company it wasn’t the end of the world.
The Banoffee Parfait

The Foot Long Nutella Eclair

Now onto the price. Fume is reasonably priced for Dubai standards with a main meal costing between 55-85aed (~£12 -£20). The desserts were also reasonable (for Dubai) with each coming in at around 35 aed (£8). We were lucky enough to have a ‘The Entertainer’ voucher that took the price of one of the main meals off bringing the whole cost of the meal down (YEESSSS!!!) making it very palatable and pleasant.

Overall I think I was expecting a little more from Fume with it being in the prestigious Peir 7 complex, however it was very much a no fuss eatery with good wholesome food and a lovely location. I would recommend for a easy eat with family, but possibly not for that special event or occasion.

Let me know in the comments below if you have eaten at Fume and what your thoughts are? Also where are your favourite places to eat in London (we are back home now) – I am always looking for recommendations.

Make sure you are following this blog for a new post every Monday 10am you can follow by subscription (put your email in the box on the left hand side) or follow me on bloglovin. You can also keep up to date with what I’m up to over on my twitter and Instagram profiles, Or if you fancy come and chat over on my (new) Facebook page. 

Until next time

Emma Jayne
xxx


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