bam bou
On Saturday night, I went to dinner with D, who has the whitest teeth you and I have ever seen, and is from Bermuda. This year he is living in a studio flat about 45 seconds' walk from my place, which makes meeting up much easier, and something to be taken advantage of this year.He is extremely cultured - wine with meals, etc. - so there was none of this 'let's-go-somewhere-where-meals-cost-less-than-£10' that I often hear (and catch myself saying) to my other friends. He took me to Bam Bou, which is a gorgeous, exotic, dimly-lit modern Thai restaurant on Charlotte Street, and although I was slightly in awe of the prices on the dinner menu, I tried not to let it show on my face. I had still water; he had a gin & tonic. We ordered a bowl of coconut rice to share, sauteed king prawns for him, and caramelised ginger chicken with chilli for me. For dessert, we ordered something based purely on its name: 'chocolate spring rolls with orange blossom sauce'. It was pure, melted chocolate wrapped in a spring roll, with a heavenly, delicate orange sauce for dipping.
I had one complaint about the restaurant however - the location of its toilets, involving a difficult and perilous journey up six flights of dark, wooden, creaky and unbalanced steps, through a bar pulsating with hordes of Beautiful People, past a lounge with bodies strewn about on satin sofas and large silk pillows, around a corner, past a bamboo screen, and up yet another flight of stairs. There is no doubt that the British love their stairs, but the good news is, I did manage to locate the toilet.
Afterwards, we tried to catch a film in Leicester Square, but missed, by half an hour, the set of shows that had just started playing. The masses of drunk clubbers, dodgy men on the pull, and women wearing far too little, were too much to handle, so we opted for a walk through Piccadilly and up Regent Street instead. If there's one thing London needs more of, it's late-night dessert places (ignoring the fact that I already had one) and late-night cafes. We did find one that was open late - namely a Starbucks on Oxford Street - and stopped for refreshments before heading home. I think I've gained five pounds in the last two days. *Sigh* I love food far too much.
L'Esthete @ 17:47
