Tag: Lifestyle

Competition time! 9 days to win Marco Polo travel guides

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Starting from the 22nd of February, I will have an amazing competition running in partnership with Marco Polo to win a different travel guide each day.

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All my new and old Twitter followers from UK have a chance of winning a different travel guide each day (22/02-03/03) if they follow me and re-tweet the competition.  Prize will be send by 2ndclass recorded delivery to the winners in the week commencing on the 6th of March 2017. 

The competition will be run over 9 days and each day 1 of my Twitter followers will win a different guide:

  • 22/02/2017 – Australia
  • 23/02/2017 – Boston & New England
  • 25/02/2017 – Dublin
  • 26/02/2017 – French Rivera
  • 27/02/2017 – New Zealand
  • 28/02/2017 – Portugal
  • 01/03/2017 – Sardinia
  • 02/03/2017  – Scotland
  • 03/03/2017 – Vancouver

To enter the competition and for your chance to win you just need to follow @1stclasslounge on Twitter and re-tweet the competition to your followers.

Terms and Conditions:

  1. The competition is run on Twitter by Firstclasslounge.net
  2. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.
  3. The competition is open ONLY to residents of Great Britain aged 18 and over as at the time of the competition opening. Failure to comply with any part of this clause will disqualify the respective entry from the competition. Prize will not be posted outside of Great Britain.
  4. Only one entry per person per weekly prize draw competition will be accepted.
  5. Each entrant shall enter the prize draw via Twitter only, in the way of re-tweeting the competition message and following @1stClassLounge Twitter account.
  6. The winning prize is a travel guide from Marco Polo. Destination of the travel guide will depend on the day of the competition.
  7. The promoter (FirstClassLounge.net) will not be liable for any failure of receipt of entries. The promoter takes no responsibility for any entries which are lost, delayed, illegible, corrupted, damaged, incomplete or otherwise invalid.
  8. Prizes are non-negotiable, non-transferable and non-refundable. No cash alternative is available.
  9. In the event of unforeseen circumstances beyond the promoter’s reasonable control, the promoter reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the prize draw competition or these terms and conditions, either in whole or in part, with or without notice.
  10. These terms and conditions and the competition prize draw are governed by English law and subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
  11. Entry into the competition will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.
  12. The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  13. This promotion is in not sponsored, endorsed or administered by Twitter or any other Social Network.
  14. The promoter’s decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
  15. The winner’s twitter username will be posted on Twitter by @1stclasslounge after the winner has been selected.
  16. If the winner cannot be contacted or do not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we will pick a replacement winner.
  17. All guides will be posted by Marco Polo company in the week commencing on the 6th of March.

Good luck everyone!

X

Pauline

Greek feast at Kafenio Restaurant, Brussels, Belgium

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A few weeks ago I was in Brussels with my husband to celebrate his birthday.  On our second night, we decided to book a traditional Greek restaurant as I knew that food is very important in Greek culture and it is tradition for the whole family to get together at the table.

Location:

Kafenio is located opposite of the European Commission building, a couple of hundred meters away from Schuman station.

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Address:

Rue Stevin 134, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

Atmosphere:

We booked our table for 7:00 p.m. When we arrived the restaurant was quite empty but in 30 minutes from our arrival it was buzzing with dinners. We were greeted by Arkoulis and later on discovered that his father owns the restaurant so it is a family-run enterprise. He took us to our table in the corner of restaurant and made us feel welcomed. From that moment on, we were looked after by a friendly waitress Anna.

Kafenio has a stylish, modern decor. There was a live-band laying some Greek songs in the background which made our experience extra special.

The menu:

The menu at this traditional Greek restaurant offers an impressive selection of dishes that are all built around traditional Greek recipes. I had some delicious, sweet wine to start with.

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We decided to share a signature ‘Menu Mega Pikilia’ which was fantastic and will not leave you feeling hungry!

To start with we got very generous portions of some Greek dishes including some calamari, selection of Greek cheese, zucchini donuts, giant baked beans, houmous and pork dices and vine leaves. When we finished this, our waitress arrived with some more food including tzatziki, chtipiti, grilled halloumi cheese, salad, kebab, steak some meat skewers, lamb ribs and Greek pasta.

Wow! There was so much food that unfortunately we weren’t able to finish it all even though it was all very tasty. Everything was presented nicely and I really liked the idea of sharing it with my husband and would recommend it as a great date idea.

Desserts:

As I have a bad sweet tooth, I had some Tiramisu and let me tell you, it was the best Tiramisu I had in a while. I would definitely come back to have some more of it soon!

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My husband was completely full so he decided to only have a digestive (some Limoncello) to finish his meal.

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Overall experience:

We both had a lovely time at this traditional Greek restaurant. Everything was fresh and tasty and portion sizes were generous. The atmosphere was very welcoming and staff made us feel like at home. If you like Greek food then look no further and book it today!

For more information and to book visit:

https://www.kafenio.be/

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

X

Pauline

Valentine’s Day Competition-iPhone accessories set!

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Starting from the 14th of February, I will have an amazing competition run in partnership with PNY Europe for all my Twitter followers based in UK! PNY’s product portfolio includes a broad assortment of Solid-State Drives, Memory Modules, NVIDIA® GeForce Graphics Cards, Flash Memory Cards, USB Flash Drives, PowerPacks, as well as a complete line up of mobile accessories for the on the go consumer. All PNY products have sustained stringent testing and are ROHS compliant to assure the ultimate in quality and reliability.

From 14th until 21st  of February 2017 all my new and old Twitter followers from UK can win a set of iPhone travel accessories for him and for her  if they follow me and re-tweet the competition.  Prize will be send by 2ndclass recorded delivery to the winners.

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The set consists of accessories for him and for her-perfect for sharing with your loved one:

  • 2 powerpacks (in metalic pink and in grey)
  • 2 apple lightning cables (in metalic pink and black)

To enter the competition and for your chance to win you just need to follow @1stclasslounge on Twitter and re-tweet the competition to your followers.

Terms and Conditions:

  1. The competition is run on Twitter by Firstclasslounge.net
  2. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this competition.
  3. The competition is open ONLY to residents of Great Britain aged 18 and over as at the time of the competition opening. Failure to comply with any part of this clause will disqualify the respective entry from the competition. Prize will not be posted outside of Great Britain.
  4. Only one entry per person per weekly prize draw competition will be accepted.
  5. Each entrant shall enter the prize draw via Twitter only, in the way of re-tweeting the competition message listed below and following @1stClassLounge Twitter account.
  6. #ValentinesDay #competition RT & follow @1stclasslounge to #Win this iphone accessories @pnyeuropeUK! #giveaway T&C: https://firstclasslounge.net/2017/02/12/valentines-day-competition-iphone-accessories-set/  Obscene or inappropriate entries will not be accepted and FirstClassLounge.net reserves the right to reject any entries for any reason at its sole discretion.
  7. The winning prize is a set of iPhone accessories for HIM & for HER from PNY  Europe.
  8. The promoter (FirstClassLounge.net) will not be liable for any failure of receipt of entries. The promoter takes no responsibility for any entries which are lost, delayed, illegible, corrupted, damaged, incomplete or otherwise invalid.
  9. Prizes are non-negotiable, non-transferable and non-refundable. No cash alternative is available.
  10. In the event of unforeseen circumstances beyond the promoter’s reasonable control, the promoter reserves the right to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the prize draw competition or these terms and conditions, either in whole or in part, with or without notice.
  11. These terms and conditions and the competition prize draw are governed by English law and subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.
  12. Entry into the competition will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions.
  13. The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.
  14. This promotion is in not sponsored, endorsed or administered by Twitter or any other Social Network.
  15. The promoter’s decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
  16. The winner’s twitter username will be posted on Twitter by @1stclasslounge after the winner has been selected.
  17. If the winner cannot be contacted or do not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we will pick a replacement winner. The winner will be selected at random and announced on Twitter on  Tuesday 21st of February for all entries received from 8 A.M on 14th February until 20th February 2017 at 11:59 PM.

Good luck everyone!

X

Pauline

Our stay in Chelton Hotel, Brussels, Belgium

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Last week, I travelled with my husband to celebrate his birthday in Belgium. We stayed in 2 hotels during our 4 days’ break. To start with we booked Chelton Hotel.

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Location:
Chelton Hotel is very conveniently located in the centre of the European Quarter, just minutes away from the European Commission and a short 5-minutes’ walk from Schuman metro station.

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Atmosphere:

The hotel has a very informal atmosphere. The staff was friendly and ready to help with their suggestions of places worth visiting whilst in Brussels.

Facilities:

Chelton Hotel has a 24-hours reception, baggage storage room, bar and restaurant and a rooftop terrace. My husband really enjoyed going to the top floor for a cigarette as the terrace had a great panoramic view of Brussels. There were lots of small tables and modern chairs all around it so it is a perfect place to hang-out during the summer for a drink with some friends.

Our breakfast was served at the restaurant downstairs and consisted of a great selection of continental meat and cheese.

I loved the vast selection of the freshly squeezed juices and homemade marmalades-you should definitely try the strawberry one with some pancakes as it was mouth-watering. There was also a selection of cereals and some pastries to satisfy any hungry travellers.

Room:

Our room was large and had a simple, modern décor. Our king-size bed was comfortable and after a long day of sightseeing it was always great to rest in it while watching TV and snacking on some Belgian Chocolate. The room had a large work-table so would be perfect for anyone travelling too Brussels on business if they had to work a bit during the evenings. The bathroom was again very simple but had everything you need-a shower, bath, washbasin, hairdryer etc.

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Overall:

Chelton Hotel is perfectly located in the heart of European Quarter so would be perfect for anyone travelling there on business or for pleasure as it is just a short walk away from Brussel’s main attractions. I would recommend you to visit if you wish to stay in the comfortable, spacious room and you don’t want to break your bank as the rooms are reasonably priced.

All my readers can get 10% discount on their reservations with Chelton Hotel. The code to use for further reservations is « FIRSTCLASSLOUNGE ».

I hope you enjoyed reading it!

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Pauline

Holiday destinations: Paris during the winter, France

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A few weeks ago I travelled to Paris with one of my best friends – Natasha.

Paris is a capital city of France and it has a population of 12 million (2014) which covers 18 percent of the residents of France. In 2015 Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the world’s top tourist destinations.

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Travel:

We decided to go to Paris by Eurostar as it is the easiest way to travel to Paris from London. It takes under 2.5 hours and trains depart from King’s Cross Station in central London every hour. Prices vary from £29 for a standard single ticket booked in advance to £249 for a business premiere ticket including an access to the Executive Lounge and some complementary drinks and a meal on-board.

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Attractions:

Paris is wonderful and it doesn’t matter whether you travel there during the winter or during the summer.

The Central area of Paris along the Seine River is classified as a UNESCO Heritage Site, and includes many notable monuments. In addition, Paris is the home of many important museums and cultural institutions. There are many places worth seeing however if you are in Paris for a limited time (we were there for 3 days) then you should definitely visit:

  • The Eiffel Tower – an iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars that was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
  • The Louvre – the most visited and the largest art museum in the world.
  • Arc de Triomphe – is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle, at the western end of the Champs-Élysées.
  • Notre Dame Cathedral – is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité built in the 12th century.

Furthermore, I would definitely recommend that you either take a walk down the river or alternatively you can take one of many mini-cruises especially if the weather is nice.

In addition, if you love live-shows and cabaret then you should definitely visit Moulin Rouge but be prepared-tickets for a show and dinner are quite expensive and start at 190 Euros per person thus we decided to skip it this time.

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Hope you enjoyed reading this review.

X

Pauline

Dinner at Le Petit Pointoise in Paris, France

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A few weeks ago I was in Paris with one of my best friends and I decided to return to a lovely, small traditional French restaurant – Le Petit Pointoise.

Location:

Le Petit Pontoise is located on a quiet street just a few minutes’ walk from Notre Dame Cathedral in the center of Paris.

Address:

9, rue de Pontoise, 75 005 PARIS

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Atmosphere:

We booked our table for 7:30 p.m. When we arrived the restaurant was almost full and buzzing with tourists and some regular dinners. We were greeted by a friendly waitress-Boom that I met a while ago when I was in Paris with my husband last year. She took us to our table in the corner of restaurant and made us feel welcomed. She attended our table and looked after us well throughout the evening.

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The menu:

The menu at this gourmet bistro offers an impressive selection of dishes that are all built around traditional French recipes. The Head Chef-François Récapet works at Le Petit Pontoise for  14 years and provides his dinners with a high quality, traditional French cuisine with a twist. Before we ordered our starters, I ordered some house white wine that was really fruity and sweet.

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Starters:

To start with I decided to have some signature ‘Petit Pontoise’ roasted shrimps. They were divine! I loved how juicy they were.

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My friend Natasha had some amazing Parmesan Dauphine Ravioles that were cooked to perfection and very cheesy.

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Mains:

There was a nice choice of mains but as I love fish I decided to have a fillet of sea bass roasted with vanilla sauce. It was absolutely perfect. Wow! Wow! Wow! It was the best fish I had in a while. I loved the sweet sauce and veggies that accommodated the fish.

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My friend had a Rack of lamb with some garlic crust that was accompanied by some vegetables and gravy. It was delectable and she cleared the plate which is always a good size.

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Desserts:

As I have a bad sweet tooth, I was looking forward to the last part of our meal. Last time when I was in Le Petit Pontoise I had some amazing Tiramisu ‘Veronese’. This time, i decided to have some gramdms’s secret Tart Tatin. I really enjoyed my little treat that was served with some vanilla ice-cream! Yummy!

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Natasha had some Chocolat Amadeus. With a liquid chocolate in the middle and vanilla ice-cream on top, this cake was divine.

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Overall experience:

We both had a great time at this traditional French gourmet bistro. You should definitely go there if you wish to discover and enjoy some great home-made French cuisine. All dishes were of good size and presented nicely so if you wish to have a good-quality meal in a typical Parisian atmosphere then look no further. I will definitely visit again during my next trip to this magical city.

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For more information and to book visit:

http://www.lepetitpontoise.fr/en/

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

X

Pauline

Hotel Gustave in Paris, France

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A few weeks ago, I travelled to Paris with one of my best friends, Natasha for a girl’s weekend away to celebrate her birthday. As she hasn’t been to Paris for a while we decided to book Hotel Gustave that is overlooking the Eiffel Tower.

Location:
Hotel Gustave is perfectly located on a quiet street just around a corner from the Dupleix metro station. It is served by public transport and located and a short 15 minutes’ walk from the Eiffel Tower. The whole of Paris is within quick and easy reach if you are staying here.

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Atmosphere:

As soon as we entered Hotel Gustave, we were welcomed by a friendly receptionist. He was extremely helpful and assisted us with designing of our ‘sightseeing itinerary’. The reception had a beautiful, modern décor and as soon as we entered we could fully immerse ourselves in our luxurious surroundings. In front of reception, there was a large relaxation area, a bar and terrace.

Rooms and Facilities:

Hotel Gustave has a 24-hours reception. During the afternoons, hotel’s in-house bar opens for a ‘honestly bar’ with a vast selection of alcoholic beverages if you fancy a drink or a bit of socialising in the evening. Other services include:

  • a dry-cleaning service
  • a laundry service,
  • room service.

This beautiful boutique hotel has only 32 rooms and 6 of these rooms offer spectacular views of the Eiffel Tower. Our room had a modern and chic design. As Hotel Gustave is located closely to the Eiffel Tower the room décor displayed a wonderful picture of that monument that starts above the beds and ends at the ceiling.

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The room was of a reasonable size and featured a typical Parisian French window offering an exceptional view of the legendary Iron Lady.

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Our king-size bed was extremely comfortable and equipped with an LED flat-screen television, free Wi-Fi, direct telephone line, mini-bar, safe and a bathroom with a shower or bath.

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The bathroom had a modern, white décor. It was spacious, clean and bright.

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Overall:

If you like staying at boutique hotels then you should consider hotel Gustave. It would be perfect for your weekend breaks, business trips or holidays in Paris. It is in the heart of the city, has lovely, modern rooms and all facilities you need while away from home.

You can find out some more details on the hotel’s official website:

https://www.hotelgustave.com/en/

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

X

Pauline

 

Tried and Tested: Paul Mitchell TEA TREE LEMON SAGE PRODUCTS

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Last month I tried a great scalp care range of products from Paul Mitchell. Today, I wanted to tell you about Paul Mitchell’s Tea Tree Lemon Sage Products, which is designed to add some extra volume and fullness to fine and lifeless hair.

I decided to try all 3 products from Paul Mitchell’s Lemon Sage range:

1. TEA Tree Lemon Sage SHAMPOO.

This great shampoo contains panthenol that strengthens every strand of your hair in addition to thickening ingredients that boost volume. Size: 300 ml.

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2. TEA Tree Lemon Sage CONDITIONER.

This conditioner has a lightweight formula which boosts volume, detangles, adds shine and protects my fine hair. Size: 300 ml.

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3. TEA Tree Lemon SAge Thickening Spray

This product is my new best friend. I use it on towel dried hair and normally spray it around 5 times to achieve thicker and stronger hair with lots of volume.

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Result:

Since, I’ve started using this range my hair not only feels extremely clean but it also looks fuller and thicker. If, like me, you have fine hair and would like to try a range of beautifully scented, natural hair-care products then look now further.

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

X

Pauline

MY NEW LIMITED EDITION PANDORA CHARM 2017

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I love January sales. Last week I was browsing The Jewel Hut website which showcases the best jewelery and watches and is a certified retailer for over 80 top brands. The Jewel Hut is the sister site to T H Baker, a family business with nationwide stores and over 125 years of experience. I came across some amazing new charms so today, I would like to tell you about the latest addition to my Pandora bracelet.

As some of you might already know, I love my Pandora charms and I wear it very often. I really liked silver ‘YOU ARE SO LOVED’ heart charm so I ordered it:

https://www.thejewelhut.co.uk/pandora-silver-you-are-so-loved-heart-charm-791730

When I received my order, I was extremely excited to open my Pandora Box. My new charm is crafted from sterling silver and elegantly sculpted into a heart shape.

On both sides, this gorgeous charm is engraved with the words ‘You Are So Loved’. What a perfect and sentimental words? It looks very pretty and would make an amazing gift for anyone.

You can shop online at The Jewel Hut and order my charm or anything else and you will receive free delivery on all orders over £10:

https://www.thejewelhut.co.uk/

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

X

Pauline

Our dinner at Jackson + Rye, City, London

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Last week we had our dinner date at Jackson + Rye restaurant in London City.

Location:

Jackson + Rye restaurant and bar has multiple locations is London: Soho, Chiswick, Richmond , Kingston, Bank. In addition, they recently opened a new restaurant in  Guildford. We decided to visit it’s City branch which is situated just around a corner from Bank station.

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Atmosphere:

We booked our table for 6:45 p.m. When we entered the restaurant, we were welcomed by a friendly hostess who introduced us to our waitress-Kinga. She took us to our table and took our drinks order. To start our evening, I had a glass of Bellini and my husband ordered some beer.

The decor of Jackson and Rye’s restaurant is simple and welcoming. in addition, throughout our meal there was a romantic music playing in the background.

Starters:

We decided to have some Jumbo Shrimp with American cocktail sauce to share. In addition, I ordered some Crunchy Chorizo Prawns that were served with a mango chili mayo. My husband had some buffalo Chicken Wings which were presented with three homemade sauces: BBQ, peri peri & blue cheese. All starters were tasty and prepared to our liking. I loved the blue cheese sauce-it’s a pity that you cannot buy it in shops!

Mains:

For our mains we both had a steak. I had a tender fillet steak whilst my husband had some Rib Eye.

Both mains were absolutely gorgeous and cooked to perfection. They were accompanied by some Green slaw and sweet potato fries that we’ve ordered separately. As always, I really liked my sweet potato side… I could have it everyday…

Dessert:

If you read my blog regularly then you will see a trend in here. For my dessert, I ordered (surprise, surprise 😉 ) a sticky toffee pudding. It was delicious!

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My husband, decided not to have any dessert as he was absolutely full after his starter and main.

Overall experience:

I really liked the food at the Jackson + Rye restaurant. The restaurant has multiple locations around London, the service was good and the food was delectable so I will definitely visit again soon!

Address:

30 Old Jewry, London, EC2R 8EB

For more information and to book visit:

http://www.jacksonrye.com/

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

X

Pauline