A Birthday

I was totally spoilt birthday-wise this year. A surprise  trip to Norfolk, a meal out on the evening of my actual birthday and then continued birthday-Easter celebrations at mum and dads' with my sister whose birthday is three days after mine. I'm a lucky lady. 

For dinner on my birthday we escaped from work (I always find working on my birthday incredibly depressing) and went to Bistro Bruno Loubet in Farringdon which is just a hop and a skip away from my office. It exceeded expectations. Informal, friendly and excellent, fresh, unfussy food. 

We had some cocktails and some funny little parmesan nibble things.

I happily sipped away at my Provence which was vermouth with an infusion of lemon, orange, lavender and rosemary and had a little sprig of lavender for stirring (excellent idea). R went for a Madame Clerkenwell which was very strong and very lovely. 

For starters we shared a Guinea fowl boudin blanc with braised lettuce and an amazing grilled asparagus with salsa verde and soft boiled hen's egg. 

Looking solemn now that I'm so old. 

We both had main dishes from the specials board. I chose a saddle of rabbit with crushed minted peas and R had bouillabaise. Both were totally delicious. 

Finally, we shared a chocolate mousse and a rhubarb custard brioche that almost killed us. 

After all that (and rather a lot of wine) we stumbled out onto the street, blinking in the bright lights, shivering in London's cool air and cursing the fact that it was Monday night. Marking another year gone by, feeling bewildered to now be officially in our late 20s. Cuddling on the tube home.