Birthday Parties

The past few days I’ve realised that no matter what sh$t has been thrown my way in the past year, I am truly blessed with some of the most remarkable and wonderful friends a gal could ever ask for.

Celebrating my (ahem) 29th birthday on Thursday with the lovely AW, we drank fabulous cocktails at Milk and Honey (I had a Bison Sour which while strange sounding on the menu - vodka, lemon, sugar, egg white and cinnamon - when served was a glass of yumminess). It was sweet and tart and always a sucker for texture – loved the strange cappuccino like froth at the top. We continued our tour of Soho by moving on to dinner at Arbutus. Hands down the highlight of dinner was the company and chat, but giving credit where credit is due, I need to give a shout out to the starter that AW and I shared: Roasted squash with fresh sheeps ricotta, air dried ham, & fragolina grapes. We were questioning our decision on sharing once we’d taken the first bite.

After Thursday night the party bus pulled into a rest stop. On Saturday though, it refueled and picked up 10 of my nearest and dearest for an absolutely perfect Saturday night.

Celebrating with my London A-list – I’d booked us into Wodka. An Eastern European restaurant, I knew I’d chosen wisely when I saw the dishes of pickles adorning the tables. Also, they’d sorted out a square table (instead of the typical rectangle) so we were able to see and chat with each other without too much effort. Plus, it made the vodka shot drinking that much easier.

Wodka sells over 40 vodkas (half of which are homemade) which are sold by the shot, 1/2 or whole carafe. Introducing my friends to the Russian tradition of starting a meal with a shot of vodka chased by a pickle - I'd definitely converted a few tequila shot drinkers before the night was through.

Delicious food aside, throughout the night I also managed to try the following homemade vodkas (listed in order of preference).

- Strawberry
- Spiced Orange
- Vanilla
- Pear
- Flowers and Herbs

For dins I shared a few starters with LM & RL but absolutely loved my main course of Golonka, a roasted pork shank with sauerkraut. It was simply prepared but the most tender and fat-free pork I’ve ever eaten. Moist but slightly crunchy on the outside, it also worked really well with the vodka because unlike some of the other dishes - there wasn’t a heavy sauce to distract me.

The 11 of us ordered 4 desserts, 3 of which I really enjoyed. Leading up the pack were a homemade cinnamon ice cream and a white chocolate cheesecake which was gobbled right up (so fast that both RL and I managed to end up with a bit of candle in our mouth - the cheesecake having been the conduit of my Happy Birthday candles). The third dessert which I loved simply from a nostalgia perspective was the Nalesniki – Crepes (or as the menu stated – ‘Crapes’) filled with sweet cheese, raisons, and almonds. Basically a glorified blintz – but so good.

At the end of the day I picked a great Birthday venue - from the atmosphere and the drink selection, table set up and food. However, give me my friends and a dozen Burger King whoppers and I would have been just as happy. Hehe.