Bob Bob Ricard - London

If your looking for a special place to dine in central London, then look no further than Bob Bob Ricard, which offers luxury Russian and English classic dishes.

This art deco inspired restaurant in the Soho district is the perfect place for a birthday, anniversary or just a special get together with family/friends.

The glamorous decor, dim lights and individual booths as you enter makes this a very intimate setting. Think Gatsby! Chandeliers, crystal glasses and lots of gold!

For dinner I ordered the Hand - Rolled Pasta with Mushroom & Truffle, with a side of fries.  This dish was perfectly done and so delicious.

Then for dessert the Eton Mess En Perle - which was toooo pretty to destroy! The beautiful pink ball was full of goodness - lime meringue, strawberry sorbet, raspberry, marshmallows & cream! I'm not even a huge fan of meringue but this was a winner!

The evening was rounded of with a nice fresh mint tea... perfect!

F & F

xx

Anantara Dubai, The Palm Resort & Spa

I recently went on a quick stay-cation in Dubai, to the Anantara Dubai, The Palm Resort & Spa on The Palm.

My stay was enough to sample the facilities, enjoy the food & energise the mind and body.

The drive to the resort is lovely, as it's The Palm and at the very end of the right hand side of the crescent, you drive past The Atlantis and get great views of The Burj Al Arab, Burj Khalifa and Dubai Marina.

As soon as you enter, the whole resort is beautiful and you feel like you have been transported to Thailand.

I stayed in a water villa which was beautiful, a huge room with a double bed with views of the waters and the Dubai Marina. It also had its own private terrace with sun beds.

The bathroom was also big in size, with a bath, shower and an adjoining open closet area.  I also loved that they use one of my favourite brands here, L'Occitane!

The best feature had to be the glass under the coffee table where you can see the water below. It was pretty cool! (I won't lie I was a bit nervous walking over it the first time!)

In the afternoon I had lunch near the pool, at their restaurant called The Beach House. The food here was amazing, I have never seen that much calamari in my life!

Although I couldn't fit in a treatment that evening, I did go and check out the steam/sauna facilities... and I am so glad I did! They were the best I have experienced in Dubai so far. They had so many different types of steam rooms (the salt inhalation room, the crystal & gemstone steam room and the dry herbal sauna), they were all so relaxing.

I did have a restaurant reservation at their Thai restaurant Mekong later that evening but I opted for room service instead! Whoops!

F & F

xx

Babaji Pide Salonu - London

Alan Yau - a name in the Restaurant industry you should know of if you already don't! He is the brainchild behind some of the most well known food places like Wagamama and Hakkasan.

Very recently the London based Restaurateur has opened Babaji Pide Salonu - a Turkish pizza restaurant!

The restaurant is tucked away in the heart of Piccadilly Circus.

As soon as you walk in the eye catching feature is of course is the huge wood fire oven which is the focal point, and from where the hot Pide (Pizza) is made.

I've heard the wait time can be long, especially at weekends but fortunately for me we were seated upon arrival. Oh and another thing, they do not currently take reservations.

Starters are served tapas style so we dived in with the garlic/cucumber yogurt, shrimps with tomatoes/red pepper and finally the chili flake calamari. The dishes were light and full of flavor.

Our choice of pide was the spinach and egg version.  This came piping hot from the clay oven, cut into neat pieces which made it handy to eat.

Having enjoyed a taste of Istanbul, we finished with a cup of traditional Turkish tea, impressed with the decor and ottoman inspired crockery.

F & F

xx