I need a one night luxury hotel break ... pleeeeease!!!

Don't worry ... I am not going to start spending my time moaning here on my little blog ... but ...

Its my husband's 50th birthday in July and I am trying hard to find something gorgeous for him. My thought is to take him away for a night of luxury and romance. The thing is though, I keep finding gorgeous hotels, but when I look closer they have a two night rule on the weekends.

By that they mean that I cannot book a room for Friday night and then come home to be with our boys on the Saturday, ready to wake up at home on the Sunday, his birthday, and enjoy breakfast in bed, pressie opening together.

No. If I want to stay on a Friday night then I have to book the Saturday too.

And that, my friends, really annoys me.

I found a beautiful place in the New Forest, a stunning place on the beach and a fab spa in the Cotwolds ... and they all insist that we cannot stay just one night. Is there no flexibility in the world of hotels??

I want a luxury hotel with a spa and a really good restaurant. I want beauty and service and I want to be able to feel special. But just for one night. Grrrr ...

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!!

Science Afternoon Tea at The Ampersand Hotel .... a gorgeous birthday treat!!

Did I mention that its my birthday this week?? Well, if I hadn't brought it to your attention before then let me tell you now!! This week I am 50 years old!! In fact yesterday I was 50 years old!! And by way of celebration my week is filled to the brim with treats!!

I began my self indulgent week with a bloggers Afternoon Tea. The lovely Selena had been invited to the Ampersand Hotel for a bloggers afternoon Science Tea and she kindly asked me along too!

The Science Tea was at The Ampersand Hotel in South Kensington, London - within shouting distance of the Science Museum and about 100 metres from the Tube Station so very easy to get to! I made my way into The Drawing Rooms to find gorgeous mirror tables laid for 16 of us, complete with retro milk bottles for flower vases, linen napkins and sumptuous turquoise leather armchairs!!

Each place was set with white china cups and saucers, complete with silver tea strainers. All rather lovely as befits a birthday girl!!

As you can see we indulged in a glass of champagne and then chose our tea of the day. I chose fresh mint, but I could have had anything from English Breakfast to Earl Grey, from Jasmine to Lapsang Souchong and many more inbetween.

The service was friendly, but discreet and we were all made to feel that nothing was too much to ask. My coat was whisked away to the cloakroom so I didn't have to feel loaded down by it. The Drawing Rooms themselves were quirky, but light and chic, with fascinating objects placed in cabinets like scientific exhibits.

Tea arrived with a touch of theatre!! Dry ice turned stuffy English Afternoon Tea into a delicious and fun version of a Science Lab and the food itself was hugely imaginative!!

Science Afternoon tea

Served from 2.30pm – 5.30pm

£32.50 per person £44.50 with a glass of Champagne

Savoury Gougères

Gloucester old spot ham, sauce gribiche

H. Forman & Son London smoked salmon, dill & cream cheese

Coronation chicken

Cheese with fruit chutney

Homemade white chocolate scones served with

Devonshire clotted cream and homemade strawberry preserve

Pastries

Hazelnut, walnut and chocolate cake with mango mousse volcano and

Chocolate dinosaur

Pistachio macaroon with cherry sauce pipette

Raspberry cake planet

Citrus cocktail in a beaker

Cream tea

Homemade scones served with

Devonshire clotted cream and homemade strawberry preserve

With your choice of tea £7.50

Head Pastry Chef Ji Sun Shin

I have recently been on a bit of a bread free health kick so the arrival of savoury gougeres - choux pastry buns filled with the most delicious tasting combinations - made me feel rather virtuous! They were so light, but packed with flavour. I think I am in love with whoever invented them!! 

I headed next for the white chocolate scones ... served with clotted cream and homemade strawberry preserve ... Do you put cream on first? Or jam? Or do any of us really care when they taste so darn good??

I have to say that at this point there wasn't a whole lot of talking going on!! It was a case of concentrating on the scrumptiousness and savouring every mouthful!!

At this point the chef, Ji Sun Shin, came out to see us. The Science Tea is her creation and she advised us of the best way to apply the cherry sauce. This may seem silly, but have you ever seen a pipette filled with cherry sauce before??

The top layer of the tea was the piece de resistance. Chef Ji Sun Shin has created a tea the likes of which I certainly have not come across before! She presented citrus cocktails in mini glass science beakers, pistachio macaroons with blood-like cherry sauce ( don't worry - it tasted yummy!) and chocolate dinosaurs climbing a chocolate cake with mango volcano!!

I loved having Afternoon Tea here and would definitely go back. The Ampersand very kindly gave us this tea as a complimentary treat so that we could review it, but it started my birthday week off brilliantly and I genuinely thought it was the best tea I've had for a long time. I loved the setting, but most of all I loved the imagination used to create a fun and delicious meal. 

If you are going to be in London over the next few weeks, perhaps visiting the museums or shopping, then I would recommend this as a special treat. The Science Tea is available up until the 21st March, but I am certainly going to keep an eye out for future menus and plan to take my husband there for Tea for Two!! He is partial to a little bit of yumminess!!

My latest 365 photos, the UKBlog Awards and a snap shot of my secret eating regime.

 January 6th ... I went to work this morning and the sky was beautiful. It was almost as if the sky was on fire behind the clouds. It was my first day back after the Christmas holidays and it was so lovely to see everyone again.

January 7th ... I have decided to write down, on a curl of paper, the things that make me happy or for which I'm grateful, and then pop them in this jar. There are a couple of things in there so far, but to be honest, the damn jar is so annoying as the clip doesn't work that well... By the time I've opened it and written my Happy Thought and then tried to close the thing again I'm in need of a glass of wine.

By the way ... in a mad moment I entered the UK Blog Awards. I really don't know what I was thinking ... probably a moment of extreme neediness mixed with arrogance. I looked on their website today and it seems that any blog I've ever read is on there. I don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning anything as there are some massive blogs written by people who work damn hard at their sites. But, you never know. There might be a wooden spoon prize!! If you fancy voting for my blog then I'd really appreciate it ... you can get to the voting page by clicking on the button at the top right of my page. If you don't fancy voting then please don't worry!!!

Right. I'm going to bed to read my book ... I'm reading The Janus Stone by Elly Griffiths .... which my friend has lent to me. Let's hope I manage to get to sleep before 2 a.m tonight. I seem to be going through a bout of insomnia and just can't get to sleep at night. It might have something to do with my new eating regime. Well, when I say regime it sounds a bit bleak, but its working and I am enjoying my food. Its just that I'm not eating very much and certainly no fatty, creamy foods like before. I just feel "awake" !! All the bloody time!! Which is great in some ways - I feel alert and happy - but awful in some ways as being wide awake at 2 in the morning when you've got to be up at 6.30 is a pain.

Anyway ... that's me. Photos done for my 365 day challenge, Blog Award begging done, and brief mention of secret diet/exercise regime which I am hoping will turn me into a gorgeous Snap Dolly for my 50th birthday in March.

Night night all!