To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, Grosvenor House’s next Literati book club event will be hosted TOMORROW by acclaimed Royal writer and broadcaster Hugo Vickers. Vickers will discuss The Queen and the Coronation, celebrating the life and reign of a much-loved monarch on the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne.
Taking the traditional book club idea one step further, Grosvenor House has collaborated with a number of leading authors for the Literati book club. Rather than just bringing people together to discuss a book, Literati hosts a regular stream of authors who lead a discussion of their books.
Diamond Jubilee Literati book club with Hugo Vickers - Thursday 17th May
6.30pm for a 6.45pm start
Tickets priced at £20 which includes a copy of one Hugo Vickers’s books to take away as a souvenir
Welcome drinks and canapés.
To book a place or to find all the latest information on upcoming Literati events held at Grosvenor House, please visit the Literati Book Club website, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call +44 (0) 207 499 6363.
A mile’s drive down a little lane by the Surrey-Sussex border lies a stunning country retreat of fairy tale magnificence.
Langshott Manor is a luxury 16th century boutique hotel surrounded by three acres of private gardens and an ancient moat. It is a grand Elizabethan building, architecturally stunning and packed with original features.
There are genuine oak beams round every corner and splendid thick oak doors welcoming you into almost every room.
As I walked into my bedroom, I was hit by the ‘wow factor’ of. A four-poster bed stood proudly in the centre of the room, boasting beautiful ornate carvings. Beyond the bed was a door to a private decked balcony, hanging over a moat. What a perfect way to start the evening, a glass of champagne while watching the resident ducks take a lazy dip in the moat. When I checked the bathroom, I was momentarily in disbelief as I noticed the four-poster bath. Yes, a four-poster bath!
Read more...
Dorsia is one of London’s newest and most exciting private member clubs. Sat opposite the natural history museum is a club which offers top class drinks, a fantastic décor and a dining to boot. Dorsia is made up of three floors; the top being a fine dining experience, with a concise, yet tempting menu. If you go one floor down you will find the bar and lounging area – this is a great area for mingling with friends, sampling one of the cocktails or for wooing that special person in your life. Thirdly, the bottom floor is home to the Dorsia Nightclub, where you can let your hair down and enjoy the beginning of the weekend. Dorsia is open Monday-Saturday 6pm-3am and Sunday 6pm-12.30am.
From what I could tell, you also have to be highly attractive and not too old, in order to get a membership here; I couldn’t see many people who I would describe as over middle age.
The Cocktails
The cocktails menu offers some classic blends and some Dorsia twists, including a Daiquiri Section, Margarita Section and a few contemporary twists.
As we were visiting Dorsia, where else could we start, but with the Dorsia Island Iced Tea? (£8) The cocktail is a blend of Bacardi, Absolut Citron, St. Germaine elderflower liqueur, Cuervo Tradicional, Kammerlings with fresh lemon juice topped with peach juice. The peach juice and elderflower liquor form the most interesting part of this take on a classic; they are delightfully refreshing flavours which work well with the citrus vodka, furthermore, the peach juice is a gorgeous twist on the standard coke finish of the Long Island Iced Tea. This drink will open your eyes to iced teas - forget the coke topped Long Island versions you remember.
Everybody is a Daiquiri lover, am I right? Well I certainly am, so I next I tried one of the “Light” Daiquiri’s. Sold with the tag line of “Float like a butterfly, sting like bee”, the simple ingredients of Bacardi, lime and sugar, make for a light, refreshing and perfectly balanced tipple. I would be hard to find anyone, even the most adamant t-total, to not enjoy this cocktail. There are various strengths of Daiquiri’s available; you can go all the way up to a “Nuclear”, although it is not for the feint hearted and its absinth base means you can only have one per customer. Unfortunately, I wasn’t brave enough for one of these!
Now to a classic, the Mojito. Originating in Cub, this cocktail mixed Bacardi eight years old, lime, sugar and mint topped with soda. This is one of the finest Mojitos I have ever tasted. The Barcadi cut through, but did not over run, the mint flavour, therefore making for a deliciously balanced blend of flavours. I thought I was back in Cuba, on holiday!
But my favourite drink, and by quite a long way too, is the Porn Star Martini( £10). The drink is a wonderful concoction of Absolut vanilla vodka, passion fruit and vanilla sugar with Moet & Chandon on the side. I absolutely adore passion fruit in cocktails and this was perfect. The ability to move between Moet and the sweetness of the passion fruit was a joy. I would recommend having these all night.
Another drink that includes Moet is the “Bateman is a Shot” (£8). The drinks is composed of Grey Goose, pomegranate, strawberry and crème de mure, topped with Moet. This is a drink that combines sweetness with a stern vodka undertone – lovely.
One cocktail that we did not find at all pleasant, was the “Violence” – it certainly did conflict with our taste buds! It is a blend of tanqueray, violet sugar, lemon juice and apple juice… Just give it a miss!
Bearing in mind the decent value of the cocktails on show, the long drinks sold at Dorsia seem contrastingly pricey and begin at approximately £8 for a single Absolut Vodka and Coke. In short, go for the cocktails, because of their great taste and fantastic flavours, they offer much better value and are far more satisfying.
Downstairs at the Dorsia - The Night Club
As mentioned previously, Dorsia has three floors and we were lucky enough to venture downstairs, to the lower ground Night Club. For us, this was a mixed bag…
On the positive side, the downstairs area can hold 100 people, and carries on the glamorous and lavish feel of the upstairs bar area. A narrow set of Carrera marble stairs sweep down to the club, where you can find black granite floors a bar constructed of solid lit onyx. Visually this is a fabulous area for a dance, a chat or even parties. The music is also fantastic; an in-house DJ also nestles within the club and played some great tracks from all genres. In short, good music, plush finishes and an array of dazzling decorative flourishes. In the night club you can also purchase a great selection of spirits, mixers and beers, if you are so inclined.
On the negative side… there were a couple of very rude members of staff downstairs; we were sat in one of the seating areas when, without any explanation, we were asked to move from the seat without being told why. This was a shame, as the rest of the evening was highly enjoyable and we were a little shocked by this.
http://thedorsia.co.uk/membership/
Dirty Martini is one of the most unique, enjoyable and fun cocktail bars around. The drinks were beautiful, the décor is beautiful and the people are also… well, beautiful. It is located in the heart of fashionable Mayfair, nestled between Oxford Street and Bond Street and surrounded by top end restaurants.
Open till late most evenings, Dirty Martini’s can be found in both Hanover Square and Covent Garden, although, the latter is currently under refurbishment.
The members of staff are really good value for money; their cocktail making and bar skills are mesmerising affairs and make for a nice touch. This made for quite a nice distraction from a queue at the bar.
Dirty Martini describe their décor as an “Aladdin’s cave”. I would have to agree. Small booths make pockets of comfort, where couples can cuddle up and feel alone. In other areas, the décor is dazzlingly bright and is a feast for the eyes, making for a fun and buzzing environment. In others, it is seductively dark and intriguing. There is a place for everyone, where they can feel comfortable and at ease, whatever the mood!
The drinks!
The cocktail menu is a relatively concise exploration of cocktails old and new. There offering is a satisfying blend of sweet cocktails, sharp cocktails and cocktails which have that extra punch. There is also a wide selection of wines, beers, champagnes and other delicious tipples.
I tried one of my favourites and an all-time classic - Long Island Iced Tea. You can often tell how good a cocktail bar is by who it does the classics, so I gave it a whirl. The cocktail was well balanced, kept it’s refreshing flavour and cleansed the palate after dinner. I would say that it needed a little extra oomph, but that is just me. On the whole, it was an almost perfect tonic to a hectic London day.
We also tried the New York Dandy which contained the following: elements 8 rum shaken with apricot brandy, fresh orange, lime juice and then topped with prosecco. The fresh fruit elements perfectly complemented the rum and made for a gorgeous drink. One criticism I would have is that there seemed to be a lack of prosecco, but that is probably down to me being greedy!
You may also be interested to hear that Dirty Martini hosts events and singles nights throughout the year, so there really is something for everyone. For more information click here: http://dirtymartini.uk.com/
You can find Thai Square just seconds away from Trafalgar Square and it is the perfect place for a tasty lunch, a candle lit dinner or just a lovely bite to eat. Serving authentic Thai food across London, and other parts of the UK, Thai Square is a fabulous collection of yummy eateries. We left feeling full, satisfied and eager for more.
The décor is in the style of the orient, without being overly tacky and stereotypical. Additionally, the service was very attentive and not too intrusive - a perfect balance. The restaurant had a comfortable and inviting feel – we spent over 3 and a half hours there on our visit, so we must have felt at home!
We tried one of the starter selection platters, filled with classic Thai delights, such as: prawn toast, thai dumplings and satay chicken. This is a great starter for prawn lovers, but steer clear if you aren’t! Aromatic duck and many other oriental delicacies can be found on the menu, but we were very happy with our choice. To complement the mains we also tried two of the soups on offer; one a spicy chili soup, the…, the other a coconut soup with a light chili undertone. Both were packed with flavour and they acted as the perfect bridge between the starters and the mains.
So, to the mains…
My main, named “The Weeping Tiger” was to die for. I want to go back every day and try one of these again, and again, and again. The weeping tiger is a sliced sirloin steak with an oriental twist and it was delightful.
Also, my partner sampled the Massaman Curry and this was a really generous and flavoursome dish. A rich blend of spices enclosed a sumptuously soft lamb shank, making for a really powerful dish. It was so gorgeous, that I finished it off for her! Both mains cost well under £15 each – a bargain!
To drink, we ordered a bottle of the house Sauvignon Blanc and one of the non-alcoholic cocktails. One criticism I would have is that the non-alcoholic cocktail we tried, the Forrester, was far too sweet and it was a very disappointing.
I would easily recommend this Thai Square to anyone looking for some flavoursome, honest and filling food. Furthermore, its great location leaves you no excuse not to visit, so give it a go!
For more information: http://www.thaisquare.net/
