Twas the start of a cold winters night and a handful of hungry lasses and I found a spot by a crackling fire inside a very unassuming building somewhere in Clerkenwell. And when I say unassuming, I mean we had to walk through a large estate and take a left down a small side street to find this place.
I'd only ever been to the Bourne & Hollingsworth basement cocktail bar in Soho so this new venue was a rather pleasant surprise. When you go in, the first thing you see is the BEAUTIFUL bar that stretches across the front half of the venue.
We sat at the bar for a little while waiting for the rest of our party to arrive and of course entertained ourselves by testing the prowess of the very friendly and enthusiastic bartenders. You rarely go wrong sitting by the bar, especially on a quiet evening like this one.
Slow evening + knowledgeable bartenders = impromptu complimentary rum tasting :) Happy Lumes.
These guys really know their stuff and produced some real winners from the cocktail menu.
We tried quite a few more..you know just to really put them on their toes *ahem*. Potency was not an issue. My God. Smiles all round ha.
Eventually everyone arrived and we moved our drinks over to our table...what was left of them anyway. I was delighted to be so close to the fireplace!
For some reason, the menu for this place isn't available on their website so we really didn't know what to expect from the food. I have to say, it did not disappoint. So much so that the gang couldn't bear to wait for their plates to be photographed. I did what I could though so you'll hopefully forgive them their hunger.
Starters included the gross looking but very delicious rabbit and hazelnut terrine.
And the roasted baby artichoke flanked by a perfectly poached egg.
Followed by some very fancy fish and chips...
The lamb rack with the potato gratin...
And the curried grilled chicken with crunchy rice.
And of course, no meal is complete without afters - yes, even breakfast. You heard me.
We were pretty full up after all the loveliness so far so we ordered a couple of desserts to share.
I made an unsurprising beeline for the caramel fondant with peanut brittle and ice cream. Doesn't look like much but my God, you guys. This will change your life. It was over way too fast.
We also tried out the cheese platter and the apple crumble souffle.
The cheese platter was fine but the souffle was rubbish. Honestly, it was a whole apple poached with a little bit of the souffle bit on top. General consensus was that we would have preferred a regular apple lol.
The rest of the food however I absolutely cannot fault. This place is a gem smack in the middle of almost nowhere. Perservere through the journey though and you will not be sorry. I hear they even have a garden area that's gorgeous in the day. Oh and if you have some time, check out their bathroom!
Took all my willpower not to get inside after that hefty meal haha.
I'd reccomend this restaurant if you're in the neighborhood and are looking for a gorgeous, cosy little venue with awesome food (skip the souffle) and cocktails.
Great for dates and even a wee bit of celeb spotting (enter 12 Years a Slave's Chiwetel Ejiofor).
Winning.
xxs