A Birthday Treat

Now I know what the Queen feels like – two birthdays in a year!

A while back my friend asked, “would I like a day in London with lunch at Vanilla Black for my birthday present?” Erm, give me a nano second - yes please!

Before we landed for our 1pm reservation on the day I'd had a look at their website where you can find sample set lunch menus et al. For starters – so sorry - their information is Vanilla Black 17-18 Tooks Court, London EC4A 1LB 020 7242 2622 www.vanillablack.co.uk.

First impressions are good. Friendly and helpful staff and the ambience is great – have a look see

and then comes the menu – such high expectations!

Initially I can't help but think that clearly the current trend is to produce artisan breads and posh butter or mayo as an appetiser. Don't get me wrong – this is not a complaint - I could sit and just eat the bread and butter and be a very happy bunny!

This ain't any old bread and butter – the taller of the two is the cherry with (from memory, I think) sultana – it matters not in flavour terms – it was divine. The shorter offering was quinoa and soy seeds. Better than divine however was the caramelised lemon butter – on a scale of 1-10 – 20!

This is a great start.

By the way, I happened to notice on our way through to our table – a display of Vanilla Black cookery books - the day just gets better.