The Inner Circle: The Club Upstairs at L'Escargot

At the end of March I received a mysterious sounding invitation inviting me to an event hosted by ‘The Inner Circle’. Intrigued, I read on and discovered The Inner Circle was an exclusive and high end dating service for single professionals, which, for three nights only, was taking over the new Soho private members club ‘The Upstairs Club at L’Escargot’, and turning it into a dedicated ‘singles bar’. Now, L’Escargot is a bit of an establishment in itself. As one of the oldest and most revered (not to mention, in my experience, very tasty!) French restaurants in London, this venue definitely aroused my interest in the event. But, since I am happily coupled off with my lovely boyfriend, I decided I would just have to send my little sister Lulu, accompanied by my friend Sarah instead to check out what was going on! So, off they went armed with a camera, to see if they could discover what The Inner Circle was all about.

A few days later, I had a chance to sit down and ask Lulu all about the event. So, with no further ado, let me introduce Lulu, my bubbly, self-confident, 21 year old sister. She’s currently at uni studying Economics and Philosophy and has her job in the city already lined up for when she finishes! Here’s what she had to say on her experience of being part of The Inner Circle…

“The first thing that hit me when entering The Upstairs Club at L’Escargot was the heat. It was stuffy and warm and despite having spent quite some time getting ready, I found myself stripping off many of my layers. The second thing that hit me was the number of people. It seemed everyone had had the exact same idea- our invites had said the event started at 8pm so, in the interests of being fashionably late (and not the only person at the party) we’d all arrived for 9pm. The third (and much more interesting) thing that struck me was how much I liked the décor. The Upstairs Club felt decadent but also modern. For example, there was one small room with red velvet walls which felt almost seedy. But not in a seedy seedy way. It was a cool seedy. Old age glamour, maybe? The main room had a big glass atrium which was just simply very pretty and quite a contrast to the velvet room.

Upon arriving (and since we were ‘press’- thank you big sister!), Sarah and I were presented with a bottle of Prosecco. Then, we went for a wander around the venue.

There were three main rooms in which to mingle. The Inner Circle had definitely chosen a brilliant venue to force people to talk. One room was tiny, three of the walls lined with sofas. You were practically knee to knee with other guests and so it would have been impossible (and definitely rude!) not to introduce yourself. Corridors between rooms were not the widest, lending more opportunities to bump into people and introduce yourself. The Inner Circle had also come up with a clever little ploy to incentivise conversation- if you and a friend managed to both pair up with another person and then all got a photo taken together, then you would be rewarded with a bottle of Prosecco! (Oh, and apparently a photographer from Tatler was there!)

The event was definitely lively. In one corner of the main room, a saxophonist and a DJ played, although I thought it was a shame that they were not made more of a focal point as, tucked away in the corner of the room as they were, it made it quite hard to get up close to the music. Everyone there seemed happy and comfortable, and, a credit to The Inner Circle’s screening policy I’m sure, well dressed and rather good looking. I was definitely having a pleasant time.

The evening The Inner Circle put on at The Upstairs Club was definitely an enjoyable one. I felt that one of its big pluses was that the crowd were definitely well chosen. Pretty much everyone was between 25 and 35, which, although maybe a little old for me personally, lent its self perfectly to its target audience of young professionals. More than that, (although this may have been all that Prosecco’s fault,) everyone I spoke to was interesting and outgoing.

Beyond this, as I previously mentioned, L’Escargot’s new club certainly was a good venue. The maze of comfortable little rooms and narrow corridors meant that bumping into people was easy and intimate. If I had arrived to the event on my own, I wouldn’t have been uncomfortable as sooner or later, I would have started chatting to someone! However, arriving as a pair was definitely ideal as you could easily walk around together without being too intimidating to approach! 

There were however a couple of drawbacks which I feel I should mention. As I said, the heat initially was pretty unbearable when the rooms were at their busiest, which seemed a shame after so much effort had been put into getting ready! Luckily however, as the room calmed down, it got cooler. Additionally, I noticed that the cloakroom appeared to be somewhat unguarded and open to anyone on the occasions I attempted to put in my bag. In the end, concerned for my belongings, I opted to carry them around for the evening! There also didn’t seem to be any games or activities (which had been mentioned on the invite) going on. It may be possible that I missed them since there were so many people and since I left at about 11, but if they started any later then that would have been a bit of a shame as a fair few people would have missed them.

All in all, I had a very enjoyable time exploring The Upstairs Club with The Inner Circle. Next time however, I’ll be sure to bring a smaller bag and a fan!”

Cocktails at Kingly Court's Cahoots!

We clattered down the narrow staircase, following the sign to the ticket office. A smartly dressed ticket officer in a double breasted blue coat and flat cap greeted us. “The train tonight is full Madam, unless of course, you were looking for something else..?” We were handed our tickets and buzzed through a door, where we were directed ‘to the trains.’ We rounded a corner and ended up on the most lively platform I have ever seen. No, sorry, the tube hasn’t started hosting secret after hours parties- we were in Cahoots, London’s newest (and only) war-time tube themed bar!

 Cahoots has taken one of London’s old air raid shelters and turned it into something totally magical. Sand bags line some of the walls, while vintage posters, signs, tube maps and train paraphernalia cover the others. We sat on the southbound platform (others sat in a recreation of a 1940s train carriage!) while staff dashed around not only in costume, but also in character! The menu looked more like a collection of vintage newspaper clippings, each page different, while the cocktails were themed with some rousing names such as ‘give peas a chance’ or named after stars of the ‘40s!

The cocktails were all tasty and presented beautifully. Mine came in a pretty crystal champagne flute, decorated with an apple crisp and a skewered blackberry. Another came in a tin mug (white with a blue rim of course!) and apparently you can even get one which is served in a working clock! We were also given a tin proclaiming to contain baking soda but instead was filled with popcorn, and, much to our delight and surprise, we were later presented with two complimentary lunchboxes filled with mini sandwiches, crusts cut off and filled with classics such as cheese and pickle. Hey, nothing excites me quite like free food!

Cahoots was a lot of fun- there was so much going on around us that I had to leave my seat several times to go have a closer look at something I’d just noticed and I caught myself more than once just gazing around the bar, taking it all in! All in all, Cahoots is definitely worth a visit, but I’d recommend you book- rush hour seems to go on all night!

One Aldwych and Cucina Asllina at the ME Hotel

On Friday night, we had a little family get together. My little sister had travelled back to London from uni and so my mother and I went out to meet her and her boyfriend for dinner and cocktails.

We started in the lobby bar of One Aldwych. I'd never been here before, but it was a firm destination in Mum's stomping ground and so I was quite interested to see what all the fuss was about.

Well, I learned pretty quickly. I'd been expecting pretty traditional cocktails from such a well known establishment, but was more than pleasantly surprised when I was presented with the menu. After much um-ing and ah-ing, I opted for a whisky based cocktail called 'The Magic Gift' which contained a chocolate liquor and a mushroom infusion, and came presented in a hip flask. My sister's boyfriend had an even more interesting concoction which came served in a mini smoking cocktail shaker!

We all happily sipped away until suddenly realising that we were running a little late for our restaurant reservation so, hurriedly gathering our things, we nipped over the road to Cucina Asllina at the ME Hotel.

Cucina Asllina was pretty busy and very loud when we arrived. Every table seemed to be full, but it sounded like there were twice as many people there. I'm not entirely sure if this was due to one or two tables being particularly noisy (there was a birthday going on in one corner) or just the acoustics of the place, but we found ourselves nearly shouting over our table to hear each other, despite being in a less busy corner.

However, rather hungry after our cocktails, we happily perused the Italian menu, opting for three courses, while sipping on glasses of bubbles.

The food was lovely, but nothing particularly special taste wise. The presentation was nevertheless very pretty and I felt rather remorseful as I munched through it. Well... for about thirty seconds at least. It was also nice how the staff filled our glasses with cucumber flavoured water without being asked, something that surprisingly you often don't see in other restaurants. Yet, it was a shame that they ran out of one of the puddings and so my sister was unable to order her first choice. They did resolve this in the best way possible though, by offering her a selection from an alternate menu.

All in all I had an enjoyable meal and although Cucina Asllina won't ever be my favourite restaurant, we had a very pleasant evening once we'd adjusted to the noise level. More importantly, it was lovely having a catch up with the family before we all went our separate ways again!  

The Travel Diaries: Hello Hong Kong!

The next few days of my trip were spent settling down into Hong Kong life. Jossi was pretty determined to show me all of her everyday stomping grounds. With this in mind, she took me shopping.

Along the way, we met some rather large, multicoloured creatures.

She also took me off to do some bargain shopping in Mong Kok where I may have invested in far too many crop tops. But hey, the weather was so hot I had an excuse!

Every morning at 5:30am, Jossi and her dad go off hiking around the Peak. One day, at a more sociable hour, they walked me around a little loop of the Hong Kong Trail, before reeling me in to join them on one of these early morning excursions. Somehow, I then found myself hiking for three hours up and down the Peak mountain in uncomfortably warm temperatures, in order to visit the fishing village of Aberdeen.

However, the views were pretty spectacular!

...but look how large the spiders were....!

Now, the term 'village' should probably be used quite loosely when comparing to UK standards. I mean, the shore was lined with densely packed, towering skyscrapers, completely unlike any quaint English village I've ever seen.

In Aberdeen I got my first taste of a Hong Kong fish market. This was definitely an interesting experience- everywhere you looked, there were fresh fish. So fresh in fact they were mostly still very much alive, swimming around in shallow crates of water. Apparently you pick the fish you want and then it is butchered for you, then and there! Definitely not a place for the squeamish but certainly worth a visit!

One evening, Jossi took me up to a rooftop bar, where I got a much closer view of Hong Kong by night. Just look at the view!

However, another evening I was really spoilt when Jossi's family took us to the Marriott Hotel to experience their dinner buffet.

I have never eaten so much. Ever.

Like any sensible people, Jossi and I started with ice-cream before working our way backwards to mains, and then forwards again to pudding.

There was just so much to choose from, from noodle and rice dishes to sushi, curry or more western dishes. There were even dishes of iced lobster available! I was in food heaven!

That evening, on our way home, we stopped in the more touristy part of the Peak to take in the view. Hong Kong was starting to feel like home!

Birmingham: Digbeth Dining Club at Spotlight

Last Saturday, one of my best friends Frannie turned twenty one. Therefore Frannie, our friend Rebecca and I had a weekend full of treats and surprises to celebrate Frannie fully entering adulthood and becoming as old as the rest of us...

We kicked our weekend off at the Digbeth Dining Club which is a brilliant little pop up event which happens every Friday at Spotlight. The concept's simple- Spotlight (a bar with a large open space out the back) simply throws open their back doors and local street food vendors set up stands with delicious gourmet food, which is then cooked right in front of you!

In our typical style, we just had to try everything and so quickly got in line.

Our first dish (which was then demolished while standing in line for our second!) was from Canoodle, a stall selling Vietnamese and Cambodian dishes. We had a pig's cheek coconut curry with (the most delicious) salad on the side. (I really really wish I'd asked what they'd done to the salad it was *that* good!).

By the time we'd reached the front of the next queue, the curry had mysteriously vanished and we were getting ready to order our second dish- pulled pork in brioche buns.

These too evaporated away rather quickly and we jumped back in line again for hotdogs. These were firstly, huge and secondly, dressed in the best home made relish I think I may have ever eaten. In fact, I could have happily polished off a hot dog bun simply filled with the stuff!

After a little sit down and a beer break, armed with our bottomless appetites Rebecca and I headed off in search of crêpes, where we were presented with this masterpiece:

Eventually, after falling into a mini food coma, we decided it was time to head home after a great evening. A little helpful hint though: if you're thinking of heading there, make sure you turn up early otherwise all the food will be eaten without you!

Almeida Restaurant and Bar

Last weekend, a collection of Marcus' best friends all got together to honour his 21st anniversary of being alive. To commemorate the occasion, he treated us all to dinner at Almeida, a French restaurant in Islington!

This was a very exciting affair for all of us as not only was one of our number becoming that bit older, but we also hadn't seen each other in a very long time and couldn't wait for a huge catch up. After much primping and preening, we all bundled out of the door and headed to the restaurant.

Almeida is one of those places that just looks sophisticated- all clean lines, neutral colours and sparkly glass. However, we didn't have much time to admire the decor before whisking off into our own little private dining room. There, after admiring the meticulously planned seating plan, we settled into our seats and began eagerly examining the rather extensive menu.

After much debate with my fellow diners, I finally managed to pick what to eat. I went for the 'cured Lock Duart salmon' with apple, cucumber and horseradish for starters, the rib eye steak which had been aged for 28 days and a pear and almond tart for pudding, all of which turned out to be excellent choices although I especially loved the salmon. However, I have to admit that Marcus may have made a better choice when it came to the puddings. He'd gone for what was described as 'pineapple carpaccio' with lime and coconut parfait and a spiced pineapple compote. After sneakily trying a (couple of) mouthfuls, I had to admit that it was delicious! The thin slices of pineapple and the compote were the perfect refreshing end to the meal.

Food envy

As we were all finishing up, we were surprised by the apparition of a beautiful birthday cake, covered in shiny chocolate ganache. We raucously sang happy birthday as Marcus blew out his candle.

I really enjoyed dinner at Almeida. The food was lovely but what made it really special was the company. Everyone had a wonderful time catching up with old friends and meeting some new ones, all over dishes of delicious food. What could be better? The only criticism I could possibly have was that at times the service was a little slow, but we hardly noticed as we were all so absorbed in catching up. All in all, I had a delightful evening and just wish that it could have gone on all night!