Feeling a bit hazy today? Thumping head with a craving for bacon sandwiches and full fat Coke?
Well, I'm guessing you're fully on board with the whole Wednesday's the new Thursday thing then... As my friends, am I... And one particular Wednesday a couple of weeks ago, I decided to go the whole hog with Berners Tavern in the diary for a client lunch...
...followed by Chiltern Firehouse that evening for dinner with the girls...
Talk about spoilt princess with a capital 'S' and 'P' - I almost felt embarrassed telling people it sounded that over the top!
Everyone who’s anyone is flocking to celebrity hot spot, Chiltern Firehouse, right now, and us Mice are no exception to the rule! We'd had the table bagged for months and had been counting down the days, hours and minutes until our reservation. Lindsay Lohan, Kate Moss and Lily Allen were all fireman lifted off the premises the night before so we arrived eagerly anticipating the A-list Wednesday turnout.
Poser snaps captured, we very quickly turned to the perfectly formed menu popped under our noses signed by none other than chef Nuno Mendes himself...
To start, we opted for small plates to share. We had heard fantastic things about the slider-like signature crab filled doughnuts which we can report were crazy tasty and the cauliflower head-down florets in spicy truffle sauce which quite literally made us weak at the knees...
You would think that after that feast, we'd be bursting at the seams and in need of a lie down and while that was partly true, when the food is this good, it would be criminal to turn down a pud. So we didn't. Instead we ordered up two! So it was double strawberry sundae with milk ice cream and caramel to share - delish...
The door to the boozy terrace - I couldn't agree more with the lipstick scrawled note on the mirror!
A few rounds of Champagne, St. Germain liqueur with a twist of lemon later we were happy, giddy and ready for our beds. We left the Firehouse to find a pack of rowdy paps waiting - I took one look at them and announced 'I'm here - snap away' and was greeted with the response of 'we're waiting for Lily Allen love, walk on' ... oh dear!!!
For main course, two of us ordered spring lamb with minted broad beans, radishes and goat's curd and the other pair monkfish cooked over pine, puffed barley and fennel with a side of mind blowing maple-bourbon sweet potatoes - glorious flavours and presentation...
You would think that after that feast, we'd be bursting at the seams and in need of a lie down and while that was partly true, when the food is this good, it would be criminal to turn down a pud. So we didn't. Instead we ordered up two! So it was double strawberry sundae with milk ice cream and caramel to share - delish...
We polished both portions off in record speed and were then very quickly asked to vacate the table by our waitress and ushered towards the toilets to finish our wine! Woah woah woah - was my first reaction but very quickly I understood why... A. we were getting shooed away and B. why the loos were the place to be. First things first the shooing - James Corden, Michael Mcintyre and their wives were waiting to be seated at our table! Understood. Then the toilet hot spot was all to do with the basement bar being located down the stairs and through the loos! Understood again. So off we trotted, wine in hand and satisfied with both explanations...
We couldn't resist a few bathroom snaps en route to the outside terrace - you know us...!
The door to the boozy terrace - I couldn't agree more with the lipstick scrawled note on the mirror!
And we were in...!
What a night. Chiltern = class in every sense and the hype shows no sign of slowing with rumours that the next available reservation is now October! I'd say book it, or regret it, but that doesn't seem fair or realistic so instead I'll say ... call the reservation line on the first day of every month and keep your fingers and toes crossed for an opening - it really is worth the wait and every penny.
