Don't get me wrong, I do like to mark the occasion of Valentines Day with a card and perhaps a little inexpensive gift (this year I gave him 2 antique glass hanging lovehearts which I found a few weeks ago on Portobello Road), I dislike however the idea of sitting in a crowded restaurant surrounded by a million other couples on the eve of the 14th, cringe!
So I promised my beloved a Saturday night out in town to celebrate our lurve as a belated Valentines gesture.
I have passed this little restaurant many times before and it has been on my 'to go' list for ever but they do not take reservations so I have always refrained from chancing it later in the evening, particularly in Winter as I have witnessed queues outside in the street on more than a few occasions.
We rock up just before 6pm and manage to get inside the door (result!) its already packed, we're told 30 mins for a table, not too bad, I am happy to stand with a glass of champagne in hand while we wait, watching the chefs at work in the open kitchen, the brightly coloured fruits de mer sitting on ice, outside the bright neon lights of soho flashing against the quickly darkening sky.
we get lucky with 2 seats against the back wall, more private than some of the others and still close to the window. Just before our food arrives the lights are dimmed and candles lit.
I order Tuna with med veg and feta cheese- delish! the boy rotisserie chicken with spicy sauce and fries. (evidence shows he was just as satisfied as me-clean plates all round!)
The ambience is buzzing, the music upbeat and dancey, a giant disco ball hanging from the centre of the room gives a nod to the fact that this place does not take itself too seriously.
Top marks for fabulous food, attentive staff and a cosy inviting atmosphere, we will be back for sure!
On leaving R&A we pop over the road for a butchers at Cox Cookies & Cake brainchild of shoe designer Patrick Cox and master patissier Eric Lanlard.
Purposely designed to look more like a sex shop than a bakery we wandered in and had a giggle at the SOHO specials lovingly revered to as Coxxx cakes. Anyone for titty cake? man cake? how about a bit of beefcake? Hilare ! see the naughty ones here
also check out the cute lil fashion week cupcakes with mini Vogue and LOVE magazine covers made of icing.
Next we head to Refuel Bar at The Soho Hotel tucked away on Richmond Mews.
I decide the bar should be renamed Rocketfuel as my cosmos are just that, YOWZER!
The boy tries out a Soholistic before getting back on the beers.
we manage to bag ourselves a table and decide to stay put, its freezing outside and the cosmos are going down a treat!
Eventually we head off, tottering tipsily down the cobbled streets to the tube, a copy of Timeout in hand which someone had left behind in the bar, I turn to page 33 and find an article 'London's best .....cocktail classes', ooh now this sounds like my kind of DIY!........
