Dining at the infamous Tom Aiken

I have some pretty special friends back in my home country and it has baffled me that I have managed to stay such good friends with them despite the fact that we are miles apart from each other.

I think the biggest lesson I have learnt since leaving my country is the value of the amazing people I have in my life. No distance or time can change the bond that I have with these people. I know for a fact that they will always be a part of my life if I can help it!

For my birthday this year 3 of my special friends from home sent me a birthday voucher to a Michelin star restaurant in London- Tom Aiken. I was beyond excited with my gift and I was so touched at the thought that had gone into the purchase as they know all about ‘The List’ and the things I am trying to achieve.

One of my very close London buddies is leaving me shortly to return to our sunny home land- I know even now that I am going to miss her dearly so I decided what better person to take on this special dinner date as a personal goodbye memory.

This London Buddy has been with me from the start of my time here. She let me crash at her place when I arrived, helped me set up my life, supported me and cheered with me through many experiences here.

When I landed 2 years ago she had organized for us to go and see the Sex and The City movie (the first one) at the local cinema. It seemed fitting with the second one coming out to go again together at the same cinema. I decided it would be great to see the movie and have our special dinner afterwards, a perfect girly day.

When we turned up to the cinema we soon discovered that we were sat in the exact same screening room as the first movie, we had booked pretty much the same seats and it would have been 2 years exactly (in 2 days) to the day when we originally went 2 years ago- talk about an anniversary and just plain spooky!

After the movie (which my friend didn’t love but after some wine I talked her around!) we caught the bus to Chelsea and snuck in a cheeky cocktail at a quiet pub before heading to the restaurant.

My first impression of the restaurant was that it was very very formal. The music was so quiet that you could barely hear it and I don’t want to say that the atmosphere was stuffy but it was very proper and so were the other diners- I was glad I had worn my new Ted Baker dress for the occasion!

I had decided beforehand that I was going to skip the entrée and have a main and a dessert. After ordering our meals and a half bottle of very fancy French red wine we were offered a wide selection of breads. I don’t usually eat bread but with 8 varieties to choose from I couldn’t help myself. My friend and I shared a buttermilk, an olive and a rosemary roll- yum!

As with most ‘posh’ restaurants we were then treated with canapé type treats. I am never really a fan of these things as I find they are always a bizarre concoction of foods and the taste/textures are always odd. There was the standard tomato soup type thing, a special ham treat and this olive substance that literally looked like an eye ball! However the food was interesting and the canapés were a nice addition to the dining experience.

Both my friend and I ordered fish for main. I had the Sea Bass complimented with multiple varieties of tomato and topped with basil. The fish was tender and the tomato was amazing, I thoroughly enjoyed every bite. My friend had the Turbot in lemon thyme with gnocchi which was also amazing but I preferred my own- lucky!

After the mains with the wine going down well we were very much looking forward to dessert. In short I don’t think I have ever had a dessert like this in my life.

My dessert consisted of every version of chocolate you could think of: Chocolate Dacquoise, chocolate mousse, peanuts, chocolate pops and milk ice cream. It was delightful and such a taste sensation- please see photo to understand the amazingness of the dessert!

My friend ordered the Truffle and Vanilla Pannacotta with black pepper, white chocolate and truffle ice cream. I know she had said that the dessert would be mushroom based but part of me didn’t actually believe it- that was until I tasted the creation. Who would have thought to make mushroom sweet!!! Although it was interesting it definitely wasn’t my idea of a fantastic dessert. In order to reach that classification in the Lauren book dessert has to be sweet, sweet and even sweeter.

After gorging on our desserts we sat back in our chairs, content with the meal and happy to sit and continue chatting about life, love and London. But to our surprise our meal was not yet complete.

Next thing we know we are being served a delightful selection of chocolate truffles and a basket of friands/doughnuts/other yummy cakey treats. As you know I love sweet things so even though I was already bursting at the seams I managed to at least sample or eat all of the additional dessert we were given. They were unbelievable. The truffles in particular were amazing, like little pieces of heaven in my mouth

After 3 blissful hours we left the restaurant, fully satisfied, happy and a little tipsy.

I want to thank my friends once again for a fantastic experience and a beautiful present.

I also want to thank my London buddy, it was so lovely to spend such a huge amount of time together and I have cherished sharing my life with you in London.

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