Friday 7 March 2014

My 50th birthday - pancakes and the most Romantic restaurant in London.

Having been treated to Afternoon Tea at the start of my birthday week things just got better and better.

My birthday dawned blue skied and full of sunshine with my husband and sons treating me like a princess. As it was Shrove Tuesday my man cooked pancakes for breakfast and I shrugged aside my healthy eating to enjoy a pancake with lemon and sugar - complete with candle!!


I went to work and was greeted by my friends who had draped the door of the classroom with a 50 banner and provided fizzy non alcoholic drinks. They sang me Happy Birthday, made me laugh like a drain and generally made me feel brilliant!

Mid morning and a huge bouquet of flowers arrived from my husband and boys. How very lovely!! Apparently it was because I was worth it!!


Early evening and I headed off to London with my husband to the restaurant voted Most Romantic in London 2014 - Clos Maggiore.
We waited for our table in an ante room surrounded by crystal bottles of fine brandy and whiskey.


We chose our starters of scallops for me and crab for my husband ... and they were delicious!!



For our main courses we chose slow roasted belly of veal, which was to die for and my choice - guinea fowl. This was served with savoy cabbage and bacon and dauphinois potatoes - simply yummy! I have to admit that at this point I completely forgot to take a photo as we were enjoying both the food and the wine - chosen expertly by our sommelier!
Luckily I remembered to take photos of the pudding. I don't usually go for dessert, but I could not resist chocolate fondant with roasted pears, pear puree and pear and saffron sorbet. Scrumdiddlyumptious!! My man chose mille feuilles with ice cream.




At this point I was comfortably full and feeling blissfully happy. We ordered coffees which came with petits fours served on a slate.



The restaurant lived up to its reputation as the most Romantic Restaurant in London, but not in a naff way. It was cosy and welcoming and not just full of canoodling couples!! Our table was private and the staff were discreet, but friendly. In the main part of the restaurant there is a glass roof that opens up in the summer for al fresco dining. In the winter a roaring fire crackles in the hearth in the middle of the room. All of this creates a lovely ambience.

From here we strolled across Covent Garden to the Royal Opera House ...  and I will tell you about that in my next post!!











8 comments:

Selena @ Oh, the places we will go! said...

Happy Birthday, Sarah!! I wish I would have known... we would have toasted you properly on Monday. xx Selena

Unknown said...

What a wonderful birthday, many (belated) happy returns!

Caroline said...

Happy birthday!

It's lovely to read a couple of nice posts after your PND post. It will show anyone still struggling that life is worth living to the full. Looking forward to reading more.

Caroline
xxxx

Urban Cynic said...

Those desserts look divine...

Morgan Prince said...

That food looks amazing! Sounds like you had a fabulous time. I hope you had a great birthday. (via bloglovin) :)

Older Mum said...

Many belated happy returns!!!!! I hope you had a wonderful day, and that meal looks utterly scrumptious. Happy Birthday! X

sarah at secret housewife said...

Thank you all so much for commenting! Sorry to take so long replying to you!!! It was a fabulous birthday and I'm glad you enjoyed reading about it!
Sarah
xxx

Jo said...

This looks beautiful, I clicked the link and have made a note of this to send my Mum and her husband too one special anniversary. They would LOVE it.
I've just wished you a very Happy Birthday on another post comment but a Very Happy belated Birthday again. I've loved reading these posts and seeing the pics :-)Thank you for sharing xx