marco pierre white ale & steakhouse, e1

Proper condiments!

Last weekend, I went for a romantic meal out with The Man to his favouritest kind of place – a steakhouse.  Real boy food!

We had been to this restaurant just off of Bishopsgate a few yeasr ago when it was called Lanes, but haven’t been since it was taken over by Marco Pierre White’s lot as the Ale & Steakhouse.

I had got a Groupon voucher, which gave us two courses from a pretty good set menu and a champagne cocktail each for a total of £33.  Now this place isn’t cheap, although there ARE a couple of meal deals that they do, so do check them out.

There are a few more tables that have been added to the floor, which is surprisingly light and airy considering it’s in a basement, but although it was a little more crowded, it was still rather intimate.

The service was fantastic, when we checked in, I was ASKED for my Groupon voucher, which is always a relief, and great to see that they were so prepared.

Oysters..I personally don't 'get' them!

Although I didn’t want a starter (and the fresh bread supplied was yummy), The Man spotted that they had oysters, which he was prepared to pay extra for (and they’re not cheap).

Meaty goodness!

As for our mains, if you’re in a steakhouse, you HAVE to have steak – surely!  So we both had the 10oz ribeye. Mine medium rare and his blue (yuck!).  They come with tomato, mushroom and a rich, buttery bernaise sauce. I can honestly say that it was the best steak I have ever tasted.  beautifully chargrilled on the outside and as tender as you could dream of with a rich meaty flavour that just completely melted in the mouth.

You have to order sides separately (I said it could get expensive) and we opted for a salad and the triple-cooked chips.  If you ever go, you HAVE to have the chips, they are to die for!

Chocolate cake

The Man went for this gooey, rich chocolatey cake with vanilla ice cream.  warm and squidgy!

A huge mess!

Whereas I went for the Eton Mess – creamy and fruity but WAY too big for me to finish.  The Man had gone for Black Sheep ale to accompany his steak – so I got BOTH of the champagne cocktails – hurrah!

All in all, it was a wonderful experience – the steaks were divine, and the highlight that they should be.  The condiments were Heinz ketchup, Colman’s mayonnaise, Tabaso sauce etc, all in their proper jars/bottles on the table without a hint of pretentiousness.  And the service was fantastic without being overbearing.

For a treat, I will definitely take him again

too busy to post!

The last few days have been really rather hectic, and I don’t seem to have had a chance to sit down, relax and think about what I’ve been up to!

Lovely idea - just needs more!

Friday

I had to go over to South Woodford to take some photos of some charity shop volunteers for work – I always love visiting the charity shop teams – I’ve been in the sector for over 20 years now, and the volunteers still totally blow me away with their commitment and loyalty.

Later that evening, I met a friend in The Rose & Crown and then we wandered down to see what was occuring at the E17 designer’s market at the Old Glassworks.  It was an absolutely lovely buzzy atmosphere, and there were some great people there with some fantastic stuff, but there just wasn’t really enough of them.  I think it could have done with a focus like a fashion show or something, or even just a few more stalls.  Maybe next time they will sign up a few more people.

However, I was really taken with the t-shirts from Organik Rocka which were the softest tees I’ve ever felt – and made (outrageously!) from BAMBOO! (It helped that the guy was cute too, of course!)

So, after that we went along to Peking Chef and completely pigged out and gossiped!

My typical Le Delice lunch

Saturday

I had a couple of bits and pieces to do, but then met another mate for lunch in Le Delice.  She had never been before, and as I am a real regular, I wanted to introduce her to their delights!  They didn’t let us down, and it was great to catch up.

Later on, me & The Man went for a romantic meal at Marco Pierre White’s Steak & Alehouse just off Bishopsgate.  I will post about that later, with photos!

It ended up being a pretty late, drunken night for us, and we didn’t get to sleep til silly o’clock.

Folk Fete before the crowds!

Sunday

We managed to drag ourselves out of bed in time to put on presentable faces (just) and get down to Stoneydown Park in Walthamstow where there was a Folk Feste being held.

The weather was totally glorious, the Rose & Crown were running a beer tent, and there were a large amount of people that I know from Twitter and people that me & The Man know from the pub – and lots of new people that we got the chance to meet as well!

The Girl’s dad dropped her off to us there and she had a brilliant time.  I have to admit that we ended up going to bed roughly the same time as she did!

Places to get Naked

Monday

Back to work feeling like we hadn’t had a chance to rest at all (and this is my busiest time of the year!).  And then after work last night, I went along with a couple of friends to the Naked Wines Tasting Tour at the same place I first encountered them last year!  Again, I will post about that some other time – but suffice to say it was excellent.

Last night, I didn’t sleep at all as it was SO HOT (even though sleep has been eluding me anyway for quite a while).  I think I need a break!