Last night, I vistited somewhere I’ve never been before: Annabel’s, in Mayfair.
For those of you with any connection with the army, the inside is a bit like an Officer’s Mess. For those of you that don’t, picture the set from an episode of Bertie & Wooster, then shrink it slightly. And you’re just about there.
It’s technically a member’s club, although quite who was a member from our party, I’m not too sure.
It’s super cosy, and pretty quaint – the lounge areas are really cute, and all the paintings on the wall are of old fashioned hunts, the occasional shoot, and some pheasant or another. You know the sort. Its very quintessential.
Once you pass through to the dinning area, the place brightens up a bit, but the feeling of tradition remains. It’s pretty formal, but not stuff. Good combo.
We chose from a three-option menu (I had salad then cod; Lilah had soup then duck), and drank our way through our absolute fair share of vodka tonics. Some of the other girls had rather frightening-looking martinis laced with pepper and basil, but we chose to stick with what we know..
When Lilah’s soup first arrived it looked like this…
But then the waiter came round and ladelled the actual soup into her dish. *Phew*. My salad had been making me feel like a fatty..
We didn’t go for desert, but did tuck quite merrily into the selection of mini treats, petit-four style, when they arrived. As we were leaving, I stashed two of the teeny tiny cookies in my clutch – one for the road and one for Racer Boy (it didn’t survive the journey especially well, but he seemed pleased all the same).
Everything about Anabel’s seemed to be perfectly befitting of an english countryside pantry and dining room (even the crockery was pretty quaint) but it’s in the heart of London. I can completely see why it began as a refuge for the Royals and other such big-wigs to hang back in the 1960s.
Visit Anabels’ website here.
Love, Laugh, Liverty x
