Our 4th year anniversary at Shaka Zulu in Camden, London

May 13, 2016May 18, 2016Leave a comment

We celebrated our 4^th year anniversary with my fiancée-James yesterday.

As Duncan Hines once said: “Nearly everyone wants as least one outstanding meal a day.” We decided to have our ‘outstanding’ meal at Shaka Zulu as we visited this restaurant before and were really impressed with it.

Entrance to the restaurant looks intriguing:

From the moment you enter the restaurant, you feel like you come into a magical world of Africa. The décor is exceptional with wooden engravings and figures of African warriors. It would not be an overstatement to say that it feels like being somewhere far, far away from buzzy London.

Our table was booked for 6:15 and when we arrived a friendly receptionist asked us to sit down in a waiting area for a couple of minutes. We were picked up in no time by our waitress who took us to a table close to the bar opposite of their Champagne bar. We were seated and started looking at the menus and the cocktail lists. We decided to go for a set ‘Taste of Africa’ menu which included a champagne cocktail each.

Starter

We both had prawns which were presented with a side of salad. They were really juicy and tasty. I would probably add a little bit of salad dressing to the side salad as it was quite unexciting.

Main

Again we decided to have the same main! We went for 35 Day Aged Rare Breed Beef Sirloin 10oz with Béarnaise Sauce. I had mine cooked medium to well done and my fiancée went for medium-rare. We ordered a couple of extra sides: some sugar Snaps with red onion and some sweet potato mash. Our steaks were presented with a side of some skinny fries and were cooked perfectly. Both sides went really well with our mains.

Dessert

Lastly, we ordered some desserts. I went for a vanilla panna cotta with champagne poached strawberries. This classic Italian dessert was a great end to my meal and I loved it. I am a massive fan of Italian cuisine and Shaka Zulu’s chef prepared it faultlessly.

My fiancée decided to have some home-made ice-creams which were really nice. You could taste a small bits of chocolate melting in your mouth… What can I say? They were divine.

Overall experience:

Once again, I really enjoyed my meal at Shaka Zulu. I would definitely recommend it as a venue for any special occasions where you want to have a great experience for the duration of your celebrations. Without doubt, I will visit again soon!

For more information visit: http://www.shaka-zulu.com/

Venue showcase at The Abbey Bar, London

May 12, 2016May 16, 2016Leave a comment

I attended a venue showcase at the Abbey Bar yesterday (Wednesday the 11^th May 2016). It is a pleasant place to visit if you wish to relax around Brick Lane / Tower Hill area.

I arrived at the venue around 5:45p.m. and I was welcomed with the champagne and canapes reception. From end to end of my evening at the Abbey Bar I was able to try some of their buffet food which was served continuously. The venue has a happy hour every day from 5-8 p.m. so it is also great for after work drinks or catching up with friends.

I had a relaxing evening and the showcase event was a great opportunity to discuss what The Abbey Bar could offer for any future events-both personal and corporate. The highlights of the evening were:

Photo booth.

Once I finished sipping my prosecco it was time to try their Photo Booth. I tried some funny hats and took a couple of photos with my fiancée-James. We were given our photos to take home as a momento from the evening.

Wine tasting.

After trying our silly poses at their photo booth we decided to join their wine tasting and sample some of the premium wines that you can enjoy at the Abbey Bar. I loved a sweet rose wine from California, USA. It was called ‘Wicked Lady’ and I will definitely order it next time I am at The Abbey Bar.

I will unquestionably be going back and I have already shortlisted The Abbey Bar as one of the potential venues for my Christmas party this year.

For more information please visit their website:

http://www.abbey-bar.co.uk

Abbey Bar

St. Clare House,

30-33 Minories,

London EC3N 1DD

T:020 7488 1918

Mastro Ciccia, Rome (close to piazza Navona)

May 8, 2016May 18, 20161 Comment

I recently traveled to Rome, Italy to celebrate my fiancée’s birthday. We had a great time and tried some traditional Italian cuisine whilst in there. The highlight of our culinary adventures was a visit to Mastro Ciccia restaurant that was recommended to us by one of the locals. We decided to go there after a full day of sightseeing and seeing some of most remarkable monuments ever.

So, how was it?

Mastro Ciccia is located just a stone’s throw from Piazza Navona. If you are in Rome for holidays or work and have some time you should definitely go there for a meal after having some drinks at one of the bars in Piazza. Mastro Ciccia is a historic and chic Italian / European restaurant with extremely friendly and professional staff.

I wanted to have a traditional Italian meal so we decided to order some nice wine (bottle of Merlot Offizi) to have with our 4-course meal: antipasto, primo, secondo and dessert:

Antipasto

For my antipasto I decided to have some fried eggs with truffle. It was honestly the best eggs I have ever eaten! My fiancée was more adventurous and ordered some beef tartar on a bed of rocket served with a side of thinly sliced mushrooms. He didn’t really liked but that was mainly because he isn’t a big fan of any raw meat. I tried a bit of it and it was nicely seasoned so I enjoyed it and as a result I finished it!

Primi

For the first course I decided to have some creamy spaghetti with truffles and my fiancée also had some fresh spaghetti but his was with rabbit ragout. Both of them were nice but I left some of mine as I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to have any of my second course and dessert. I do not normally have 4-course meal everyday for dinner!

Secondi

For the second course I chose to have a filet mignon with grilled potato wedges with herbs while my fiancée had a rack of lamb Roman with vegetables. Both of our mains were delicious.

Dessert

For our desserts we decided to have some traditional tiramisu and some profiteroles. I love all kinds of desserts and they were great.

Overall experience:

I loved it! All dishes were not elaborately presented but were extremely pleasant on the palette.Service was great, the restaurant served us some delicious, traditional food and it was located next to one of my favorite piazzas in Rome. You should definitely check it out!