What a Great Day to Have a Great Birthday.

My first proper day of being 25 was wonderful, and while the birthday effect has worn off a bit, making these memories with Moon, who was an absolute sweetheart, was just the best and I had such a great time.





Don't get me wrong, one of the best parts of the day was scrubbing off London once I got home, but wandering around and being a bit of a tourist was pretty fun. I shared breakfast with cats, got to see a play I'd been dying to see, and in a box no less, ate at the fanciest Mexican restaurant and walked around London at gone 9pm and didn't feel like I was going to be robbed - winner.










Sitting in a box was so fancy, we might have had to share with a few people but we got first refusal at the bar so...
My favourite part of the play was just before intermission, have you seen it? I thought it was so clever!


Covent Gardening.


If only these weren't like £2.50 a bag. Love a fizzy pug head.


Always ask for what's warm.


Meeting Jack 'Humble Eyebrows' Lucas because birthday and Masterchef.




It was a long day but a good one and we really crammed it all in. Turns out Moon and I are a little uncool for La Bodega Negra, the birthday restaurant of choice, but that's okay because our waiter was super-cute and nice and we just laughed about how ridiculous sitting in the near-dark with the loudest music was - it was amazingly delicious and some of the best food I've ever eaten though.


La Bodega Negra :: Exterior.





Discovering a new favourite cocktail - a Watermelon Lush, so good.


Couldn't stop thinking about those prawn tacos, dayum. ♥


We went for the Pollo Al Sarten, Habanero Soft Shell Crab and the Roasted Corn Salad. Oh my!






The whole day just lifted me up when I needed it most and I'm hoping that it's a sign of starting as I mean to go on...
♥

Meaty Date Night.

To kick off our bank holiday last week, Moon and I decided to head over to Wokingham's relatively new rib and burger-themed restaurant, Cleaver, and what an excellent idea that was!

We were more than impressed with the place, and it's not even anything to do with the wonderfully hipster wooden décor - although that certainly helped. The food was amazing!



I'd actually read a review on Cleaver: Oxford over at The Guilty Girl at the beginning of the year and had a bit of a chat about it - Tamira was lucky enough to find the burger of her dreams, but both Moon and I were after ribs and I'm certain we made the right choice.



Opting for ribs and hot 'n' spicy chicken wings, the portion sizes were just right and as finger-licking good as we'd hoped. I actually find it kind of annoying when you go somewhere and come home really uncomfortably full so it was a refreshing change, even with a pudding, that we were satisfied both in quality and quantity - not to mention price!




With a couple of alcoholic drinks, two mains, two sides and a pudding, it was a reasonable £40. I'd definitely recommend the salted caramel tart. I love that everything is so simple, not to mention the fact it isn't a huge chain, with just four restaurants in Leatherhead, Cobham, Wokingham and Oxford.

The staff were really attentive and we were served really quickly considering it was the beginning of Friday-night teatime. It was pretty busy but this branch was quite big so didn't feel cramped or crammed in.


If you happen to have one nearby and are a bit of a carnivore like me then Cleaver is certainly a must! Now that I know it's good, I spy a possible lunchtime treat in the future. I also need to find out if their hot sauce is available to buy because man-oh-man it might be the best one I've ever eaten! ♥

It's actually been quite a tough few weeks so it was really nice to be together completely one-on-one. We've made a deal to try and set that time aside more often in future because it can get a bit forgotten about when you're running around worrying about other things.

Turning Japanese.

Our big treat this month was heading up to London to visit our friends Tom and Matt. I figured I had to share some pictures with you of our visit to Japanese restaurant, Inamo St James. A unique concept in 'interactive shared dining', it really is like dinner in the future, I felt so hi-tech.

We went on suggestion of a couple of people and found out it was somewhere Tom and Matt had always wanted to go too. I invited along my London-oldest-friend, Lucy and she brought her friend Lucy to make up a great gang of six, it was so nice to catch up.


Fancy beer.


Would definitely recommend their house white, Tom and I were a little anxious that we'd get something vinegary for being 'price-conscious' but it went down pretty easily.


Playing around with the design of the table was the best, almost as good as sinking Moon's battleship.



The best way to view a menu.



Enjoying the 'ambiance'. ♥


I shelled out on their passionfruit martini, definitely something I'm gonna try at home - so good!



The food was ah-may-zing, I'd particularly recommend the black cod, the interactive order system sure does make it easy to spend a ton of money though. If we go again I'd definitely eat a little smarter with one large dish and some rice rather than trying to taste everything.

I was surprised to find that Inamo has ignited a total obsession with edamame beans that I never thought would happen. Such a great snack, I've had them with my lunch two days in a row since(!)