Claridge's, darling!

My very good friend Nikki invited me to an event at Claridge's in Mayfair this evening, Thursday 16th June.

It was organised by the Maybourn Hotel Group, entitled Claridge's Speakeasy, a 1920s themed night held in the newly refurbished ballroom.   As we swept through the circular doors into the marble hallway we were ushered to the reception table which was filled with name badges.   We swiftly got ours and were directed towards a bookcase and told to knock.   We oblidged and it opened!   It felt incredibly grand, and a little 007, I almost felt we would be greeted by Ms Moneypenny (wouldn't that be amazing?!)   Instead (thankfully) a bevvy of waiters welcomed us offering us glasses of champagne and pink cocktails in martini glasses.

The room was huge and dimly lit by gigantic chandeliers and tea lights, and was filled with beautiful business types dressed in black and adorned in glitzy necklaces and sky-high heels.   We circulated the room briefly before deciding to station ourselves on a dark sofa in the corner with a mirrored table in front of us.   As we sipped our champagne the waiters hovered and filled our glasses whenever they threatened to be any less than seven-eighths full.

Then the waiters started bringing the food out: teeny-tiny portions of beautifully presented, delicious food.   Nikki and I soon realised that we were in the prime spot of the room, as it was at the beginning of the waiters' route, so they came to us with the choicest canapes.


We had:


Hors d'oeuvres:

• Mini fish and chips with tartar sauce served in newspaper cones

• Gazpacho served in square shot glasses

• Devils on horseback (prunes wrapped in bacon, which proved to be an amazing combination of sweet and salty)

• Wild mushroom vol-au-vents

• Fillet steak (chunks of prime beef, which were melt in the mouth) on wooden skewers

• Goat's cheese mousse on an almond biscuit, topped with quince jelly
• Fois gras topped with a fruity jelly (this was the second time I had tried it; it was ok, but still not my 'thing')
• Thin pastry boats filled with pea puree, topped with a miniscule asparages spear

Mains:

• Pasta bolognese (I couldn't believe they were attempting to serve al dente pasta to a crowd of hundreds, but they managed it, hot, not over cooked, and tasty)

• Fish pie, served in mini china turines, filled with chunks of fish and topped with mashed potato 

• Moules frites

• Risotto flavoured with anise

• Caesar salad (a very welcome break from meat and carbs)

• Waldorf salad

• Prawn cocktail

Sweets:

• Chocolate and vanilla macaroons (black with a white filling; it left my mouth and tongue a dark purple, not attractive by any means, but still delicious!)
• Chocolate sponge with a white chocolate shard

• Mini ice creams, including chocolate, strawberry, mango and raspberry

At the end of the evening we were given a goodie bag each - containing four Pret-A-Portea chocolates, a mini bottle of Jack Daniels and a Claridge's apron.   It was a superb evening!