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!
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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/
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/
The food at SUDA Thai is beautifully fresh, flavoursome and loveable. I would go back to SUDA again, and again, and again. Furthermore, the restaurant is located in the fantastic St. Martin’s courtyard, which is just a stone’s throw away from Covent Garden, all of the top London theatres and the buzzing Leicester Square. We visited on a busy(ish) lunch time and the external excitement transferred from the London streets, to SUDA’s serving floor. Honestly, it was a fabulous place to eat.
Drinks at SUDA are a real treat. The drinks menu consists of super fresh smoothies, for the healthier among us, and lavish alcoholic cocktails, for the slightly naughtier. We found the mix of beverages to be eclectic enough for all tastes and palates.
I tried the Signature SUDA passion -Rum with fresh passion fruit muddled with bitter lemon and sweet oranges topped with soda. This cocktail really packed a punch and was a great way to kick off the meal. And it was a bargain at £6.50! My partner tried one of the “Non Dairy” smoothies – a blend of apple juice, coconut milk, with banana and fresh Thai ginger, and it was gorgeous. Again a bargain at £3.50!
Starters are a modestly sized affair; we were served these smaller dishes that are perfect for sharing and perfect for everyone around the table to begin their journey into SUDA’s Thai cusine. I would recommend picking a few of these dishes and swapping them around, this will ensure you get a complete feel for the fantastic food on show.
We went for the Signature SUDA wrap, a fresh rice wrap with braised duck and Thai herbs. This was utterly delicious and stunningly fresh – a real delight. We also went for the more generic option of satay chicken skewers, an extremely tasty traditional dish. In short, the starters menu is extensive, exciting and packed full of flavour. Next time we may go for a few more than one each – they were simply that good!
For mains, we tried the infamous and delectable Massaman curry, a Thai favourite, which oozed warm, fulfilling spices. It is one of the tastiest curries in the world and SUDA does it beautifully. I could eat a bowl of it right now!
I would also recommend the fabulous coconut rice – unlike some types of cocunt rice, this is lovingly steamed in coconut milk for maximum depth of flavour. This side really added another dimension to the mains. Other tasty options are available, such as traditionally steamed jasmine rice and wok fried rice.
The location is fantastic, the food is scrumptious and the overall feel of SUDA is just perfect. I can’t wait to go back! If you are looking for a light lunch or an exotic meal, then this is the place for you.
To make your booking, click here: http://www.suda-thai.com/
The Cuckoo Club is a swanky, secretive and hard to find spot, just off Regent Street. It is an exclusive club that also serves up some top notch food. Our visit to the Cuckoo Club was a truly enjoyable one, with fantastic music, drinks and service.
The only way of noticing the place is to spot a tiny plaque on the wall and a massive pair of bouncers to boot. This really gave the Cuckoo club a feeling of exclusivity and mystery – an intriguing start to the evening.
Having undergone an extensive redesign by Biba founder and iconic designer Barbara Hulanicki, the club’s look oozes a glamorous rock and roll feel, which is both dark and seductive. We also really enjoyed the great selection of music whilst we ate – brilliant! It is the perfect spot for a hot date, a bite to eat before going clubbing, and on the night we visited, it seemed to be a great spot for a lavish birthday parties. To accompany the beautiful look of the place, we were greeted by the most beautiful staff I have ever known, and that goes for both men and women. To be honest, we were in danger of developing an inferiority complex!
The Drinks
The vast choice of beverages on offer is more than large enough to cater for anyones needs and desires. We found the cocktails particularly to our taste and the pick of the bunch, in our opinion, was the no education, a refreshing blend of citrus flavours– best part of £15. The wine list was also extensive and catered for all price ranges, it also boasted bottles of champagne reaching tens of thousands of pounds. This is certainly a haven for the sophisticated drinker; however, we weren’t completely convinced by the food.
The Food
The starters were fabulous and, in our opinion, were the highlights of the food menu. In particular, I would recommend the scallops, with a refreshing apple salad, due to its depth of flavour and for the simple fact I wanted more! Another great starter is the oriental duck salad, finished with pomegranate seeds. The portion was hearty, but the flavours were light and rich.
The mains section of the menu is made up of a selection of dishes which are designed for sharing, and this certainly made for a fun and interactive dining experience. The look of each dish was beautiful and the presentation was, on the whole, excellent.
I tried the trio of mini Wagyu burger (£25), we found them a tad dry and a little underwhelming, but, it must be said, they did pack a lot of flavour. Maybe, from such a fabulous cut of meat, I was expecting something spectacular, but they just fell short and I was left a little disappointed.
In contrast to the burgers, the fillet of beef, simply named “Beef”, was beautifully tender, wonderfully cooked, perfect to share and a really love cut (£25). Presented on a rather fashionable piece of slate, the dish was a little picture of perfection, and it tasted so too. Also, I should add, the inventiveness and flavour behind the sides were lacking slightly; the chips seemed nothing more than basic French fries and the wilted spinach was slightly over seasoned.
In short, for me, the food was a mixed bag. However, we only sampled a very small part of the menu and I am sure there are many other excellent dishes to sample.
I would certainly recommend The Cuckoo Club to anyone looking for a sophisticated drinking spot with a great atmosphere and wonderful cocktails, and I would also recommend certain things on the food menu, as some of them were of very high quality.
For more information click here: http://thecuckooclub.com/
