Last month, I ran a mini series of reviews in one of my favourite areas of London – The Seven Dials, click here to have a look: Part 1 and Part 2.
Today I am writing about something rather special; the Seven Dials area is holding a dream evening for London shoppers, presented by MasterCard’s Priceless London and in association with the London Evening Standard. The area is known for its high-class clothing outlets, top restaurants and charming independent brands, and on Thursday 26th these establishments will be opening their doors for an evening of fun, shopping and laughter.
For one night only, between 5pm and 9pm, Seven dials will welcome shoppers and diners from across London to enjoy a shopping experience, with an exclusive 20% discount. This includes over 120 beauty and grooming salons, cafes, restaurants and bars. Additionally many of the participating stores and venues will be hosting in-store activities such as DJs, live music, makeovers, gifts plus complimentary food and drinks to make it a truly memorable shopping experience.
ALSO, the first 200 shoppers to spend over £100 on their MasterCard card will receive a free luxury goodie bag to be collected on the night. But that’s not all! During the evening St Martin’s Courtyard will be hosting a pop-up bar serving complimentary drinks for shoppers with a voucher, and 100 shoppers selected at random will be presented with a golden ticket entitling them to a gift worth £5 to £150 from stores within Seven Dials and St Martin’s Courtyard.
I am absoloutely gutted that I cannot attend this amazing event, as I know what delights lay in store, so I urge you – do not miss out on this fantastic night out!
To qualify for the discount, shoppers need a ‘Seven Dials and St Martin’s Courtyard Shopping Voucher’ which can be downloaded for free one month in advance of the event at Sevendials.co.uk along with a list of participating stores and venues. You can also get updates on the event at Twitter @7dialsWC2 & @smccoventgarden, and Facebook facebook.com/sevendials & facebook.com/StMartinsCourtyard.
Firstly, let me say this, the Booking Office is one of the most relaxing, beautiful and atmospheric restaurants in London. It can be found in St Pancras station’s original ticket hall and it is quite spectacular. With high ceilings, original wood panelling and deliciously dark décor, the restaurant makes a perfect setting for any meal. As you enter you are struck by the height of the ceilings, a feeling of warmth and the sight of a sweeping bar, which stretched this iconic hall.
According to the bar menu: “The bar team expertly mixes punches and cocktails recreated from long-lost Victorian recipes such as ‘Soyer au Champagne’, which was served at the original hotel in the 1800s.” Keen to see if this was the case, we tried many of the cocktails on offer and our favourite was the gorgeous Orchard Sour. The Orchard sour is a fine blend of citrus flavours; combining Apple gin, Elderflower liqueur, apple juice, fresh lime, sugar syrup and egg white. It was quite simply delightful.
In addition to an extensive drinks list, a selection of bar snacks are also served late into the night (the bar has a 3am licence), some of these include Haggis Bonbons, Truffle & Parmesan Chips and Pigs In Blankets.
The dinner menu is a whistle stop tour of some British favourites; taking influences from the Midlands and Yorkshire, the cuisine celebrates the best dishes from the Victorian era. Highlights, such as Gressingham duck leg and the freshly caught Catch of the Day, which make for a plethora of hearty English fare. In addition to this hearty feel, the food has style, panache and class.
To begin we all went for the scallops with chorizo and chorizo oil, and boy, we were impressed. The scallops were tender and cooked perfectly, they were then perfectly complimented by a wonderfully flavoursome, yet not overpowering, chorizo oil and chorizo. It was certainly one of the best scallop starters we have ever had, and all three of us were agreed on that.
We then moved onto a fabulous Rib Eye grass fed Yorkshire steak – it oozed with flavour and taste. But the best dish we sampled was the slow cooked belly of Tamworth pork with Parsnip puree and luxurious caviar lentils. The pork and its accompanying lentils were rich and bursting with flavour. Furthermore, the dish was perfectly balanced and all of the flavours were allowed to stand tall.
Deserts are also a Victorian affair and a particular mention goes to the Rhubarb crumble with a sublime honeycomb ice cream – it was the perfect way to end our British feast. Furthermore, the service was impeccable and we were at ease as soon as we walked through the doors.
To make your booking, click here: http://www.bookingofficerestaurant.com/
Tibits is a leading London vegetarian restaurant. Early March saw the launch of their new Spring menu, which I went along to sample.
Tibits restaurants were originally launched as a family business over 10 years ago in Switzerland and then in the UK 2 years ago, by three brothers, Reto, Christian and Daniel Frei, together with Rolf and Marielle Hiltl, of the oldest and most famous Hiltl vegetarian restaurant in Zurich, Switzerland, established 100 years ago. So with this experience in mind it is no surprise that the likes of chef, Gordon Ramsey have been spotted in here. It is also popular dining choice for celebrities in general and has played host to Beverley Knight, Bianca Jagger andSir Ian McKellan amongst others.
A warm Friday evening in late March had diners and drinkers packing the pubs and the restaurants around Soho. Just off Regent Street is Heddon Street, a small bustling pedestrian area of bars and restaurants. 23 Heddon Street was recently in the news as it was here that Ziggy Stardust (aka David Bowie) was first photographed 40 years ago for the cover of Ziggy’s iconic debut album.
Read more...
Posted by Hayden Allen-Vercoe on Tue 10th April 2012 at 02:05 PM, Filed in
Sudocrem are offering one lucky family the chance to win a week in Mallorca, staying in their own self catered luxury villa, including flights and transfers (subject to competition terms and conditions). This is certainly set to be the top holiday competition 2012.
All you have to do to enter is the following:
Step 1 – Go to www.facebook.com/SudocremMousse and Like the page
Step 2 – Complete your details and answer 3 moose (as in the animal) related questions correctly
Step 3 – Get your bags packed and hope you’ve won!
So if you fancy jetting off for a luxury week away just click here: Holiday Competition 2012. But hurry as the competition ends on monday 4th June!
Do not miss out on the top Sudocrem holiday competition 2012.
I recently had an early flight out of Heathrow and wanted to be closer so that the early morning wasn’t as harsh as it might have been. I was looking for a luxury hotel near Heathrow airport and found the on-site hotels were lacking. Looking slightly further afield, I came across the Runnymede on Thames.
The newly refurbed Runnymede turned out to be an absolute jewel, best luxury hotel near Heathrow airport it wins hands down. The Runnymede on Thames is up there as one of my favourite hotels, with the emphasis on customer’s relaxation being obvious from the start.
The Runnymede is a four star hotel and is all the better for it. If you want a hotel that is a little stuffy and pretentious, go and stay at the hotels on the Heathrow complex – there’s a few to choose from. If you want a hotel where you can feel at home and recharge, stay at the Runnymede. The location takes advantage of its natural beauty and the overall ambiance is relaxing enough. If that doesn’t do it for you, the hotels excellent luxury Spa will leave you in a higher state of calm….trust me!
The décor is modern yet not in your face. The lounge area has been divided up into sections that could resemble your living room. The rooms are spacious and comfortable. The bath was generous in size and I spent far too long in it!
This is a forward thinking hotel, a breath of fresh air for the hotel industry. This hotel should in fact be used as a business model for any other aspiring hotels whose desire is to service the customer, not their own egos or balance sheet.
We ate in the Lock restaurant, which again does away with the flashiness. It just delivers what you need – great food in comfortable surroundings. I had the ‘meat board’ to start, followed by a steak with big chips. For me, the perfect meal! The open kitchen was fascinating to watch, with each dish perfectly and effortlessly executed.
The Runnymede on Thames has flashes of fun dotted everywhere. The new logo features a rubber duck, the reception has a vast collection of rubber ducks to admire too (Including a large duck signed by some real A listers who have stayed at the Runnymede including Whoopi Goldberg – I bet she loved it here). By not taking itself too seriously, the Runnymede allows us to unwind. Why go to a hotel with airs and graces when you can really kick back and enjoy yourself. This, for me, is the future of hotels.
The staff were attentive and everywhere. Always someone floating around, again reinforcing the notion that this hotel’s number 1 priority is the customer.
The Runnymede on Thames is in a tremendous location and takes full advantage of this. Forget the grey concrete of Heathrow, this hotel is right by the Thames and when the sun shines, the Runnymede really comes into play.
The best luxury hotel near Heathrow airport passed the early morning test too. I ordered a wakeup call at 05.00, with breakfast to the room between 05.00 and 05.15. The call was punctual and the breakfast arrived at 05.01. I imagine this was all planned – just enough time to put the phone down and wake up.
Clearly a very ‘kid friendly’ hotel, there is a brand new outside splash pool and lots of activities to keep the little ones amused. The Children even get their very own rubber duck when they check in! My only regret when staying at the Runnymede on Thames was I had left the kids at home….next time, little ones – I promise!
Out of all the hotels I have reviewed this year, the Runnymede on Thames is a clear winner at the very top of the list. Fun, funky and faultless.
And I do mean faultless. After an hour or so, I thought this was all too good to be true and started looking for faults. I found absolutely nothing negative about this wonderful hotel on the river.
