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2012 – 2014! Re-Re-RECAP!

15 Mar

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Yes, this is a random man.  Well actually it’s a waiter who decided to take a selfie when we asked him to take a group photo.  But hopefully his face has made you laugh (no shade!) which means you forgive me!

I know it is late.  And yes, it is inexuseable.  So, without making saying much else (because I know you luuurve me), I’m going to quickly bring you up to speed on what’s happened over the last year and a bit…

1. We are still ALIVE and KICKING!

The LWB family are very much still in action, eating, travelling and gisting as per usual 🙂

2. Where have we been?

Well, we have eaten in quite a few restaurants.  Here’s a  brief run through and please note, unless stated, it is safe to assume that the experience was gooood! –

December 2012 – Aubaine, Heddon Street: Yummers way to end the year

January 2013 – break: we were musing and strategising for the year ahead

February 2013 – Bread Street Kitchen: an intimate and carb-heavy affair courtesy of Gordon Ramsey

March 2013 – The Rembrandt Spa & Hotel: pure R&R at its finest daaaaahling

April 2013 – Bills, Covent Garden: an intimate catch up for the April lovers

May 2013 – Bistrotheque followed by dessert at Duck & Waffle: amaaaazing date!  The sun was shining, the weather was sweet, the gist was juicy and the ladies were looking luscious!

June 2013  – Karaoke and dinner at Firecracker: all I need to say is You don’t have to call…..  It’s OK guuuuuurl.  Coz I’mma be alright toniiiiight!  There’s never a dull moment when you mix heels, cocktails, music and a good Chinese meal.

July 2013 – The Modern Pantry:  The weather was on our side, the waiter was on our side and time was n our side.  FABULOSO!

August 2013 – 3 Course: We ventured into North London and what a glorious treat we had.  Everything at this restaurant was served as part of a 3 course meal.  Safe to ay, no one left hungry!

September 2013 – Cambridge: 2 Year anniversary day trip to the picturesque University town.  It was an amazing day filled with sightseeing, interesting facts about one of the best universities in the world and of course gorgeous girls and juicy gist!

October 2013: Kopapa: the afternoon may have been wet and windy, but LWB always keep it client! Ay papi!

November 2013: Cut at 45 Park Lane and Taste of Christmas 2013: We finally managed to hit one of the restaurants at the top of our hitless.  Hoorah!  The food was good, though a little pricey (as to be expected), the service was great and the girls as ever, TURNT UP!  We also attended Taste of Christmas, which this year was held in November and in a new venue – Tobacco Dock.  Verdict: Not as good as previous years I’m afraid.  The layout was really poor, and due to the outdoor set up, it felt like we were suffering everlasting cold.  We love spending crowns on new things, however i’m not sure our 3 year love affair will stretch to a 4th…

December 2013: Ice Skating at Canary Wharf Ice Rink, followed by Dinner at Jamie’s  Italian, Canary Wharf: it was an excellent way to close 2013 (wow I’ve said that twice in the same blog post. Chei!) but it really was.  And no-one fell.  That may or may not be a fib.

January 2013 – Plum & Spilt Milk: Wow! 2014! We saluted the new year with an intimate dinner in Kings Cross (no funny jokes please!)  Yummy food, sexy setting.  Delicious

February – Citrus, The Sheraton Hotel London: The glam roll was set and we dined in the lovely Italian restaurant in the heart of London.  Only comment – they took aaaaages to bring the bill.  Grrrrr!

WOOHOOO!  I’m up to date!  And guess what?

3. We have brunch Club today!

I have a brand spanking new laptop so there really is no excuse.  Watch this space for the next post boo boos! And in the mean time, enjoy the montage of pictorial experiences below

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For Ladies Wot Brunch… At Christopher’s! I know I know it’s late(!)

17 Jun

SHAME ON ME!  YES!  It has been too long!  And it is unacceptable!  I promise to do better…

So without further ado, herein begins the backlog.  First Stop – November!

It seems like so long ago that we had our penultimate brunch of 2012 in one of my all time favourite brunch spots in London: Christopher’s.  Set in London’s trendy Covent Garden, it was the chosen location for the rainy Saturday afternoon.  Our darling Esther was fully in charge of organising affairs and worked her magic touch, securing us a private dining room in the glorious, 3 story building.  All that was left was for us to turn up, drink up, eat and GIST!

Gist!

Aha!  I may skim on some of the other areas, but the gist section is very much still alive and kicking mi dahlins!  With 25 of us present, there were so many hilariously funk-tastic conversations taking place I could barely keep up.  But these were the ones which made my little ears ping…

Nigerian PRAYAAAH!  With a large number of the women being Nigerian, and conscious of Church the following day, talk soon got to our individual experiences and in particular prayer styles.  Now, for anyone who may not be in the know, a lot of Naija Churches are exuberant – with lots of colour, music and pastors decorating each service.  Which is fabulous because we are colourful, musical beings in search of spiritual fulfillment.  One particular Church and their “die-by-fire” prayer point resonated with the ladies.  The aggression and force with which we make our supplications known to God did cause a cheeky giggle around the table, with re-enactments of bobbing heads and raised voices to illustrate.  But hey, it definitely works.  The Kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by fooooorce!

How does one get a date?  Ha!  This is a serious question!  And both the singles and married shared personal experiences.  From accepting all invitations to weddings, even if they didn’t know the couple getting hitched(!) to looking turned up all day every day –boom pow pow! – every woman had a strategy, with lots of evidence of success.  Are you still single?  Did you bag your guy/gal using a ploy?  What’s the secret?  They do say sharing is caring…

Don’t call my baby “babe”.  Seriously.  This was one of the funniest stories shared on the day.  One of our babettes recounted how she had to check a fellow friend who slipped into the casual bad habit of calling her boyfriend “babe”.  Now to some it’s fine and to others it is NOT!  It all depends on the social connotations attached to the term of endearment.  But if it’s viewed as a word akin to my sexy-babylurve-alicious, then if you don’t stop calling my boo boo “babe” we about to catch a case.  Point Blank Period!

Food

scrambled eggs and salmon

fishcakes

blueberry pancakes

eggs benedict

fruit salad

strawberry daiquiri

There is nothing more to say other than magnifique!  The location is excellent (directly opposite the Lyceum Lion King theatre), the service is great, the price is right, but it’s the food at Christopher’s which has really captured our hearts.  My personal favourite has to be the blueberry pancakes, accompanied with maple syrup and blueberry compote, which I oooooobviously ordered on the day.  Small, yet rich, moist and sweet, they hit the spot and then some.  I just adore them and would recommend them to everyone!  If you’re feeling a little greedy, I’d advise you order both the blueberry pancakes and pancakes with bacon to get the best of both worlds.

The eggs florentine were also cooked to perfection, hollandaise not too tart, poached eggs the right consistency and flavoursome, and english muffins home made to perfection.  Mmmmmmm!  Another firm favourite were the fishcakes, again home cooked.  Now a problem I usually have with fishy lil’ fishcakes is that there’s always too much potato!  Certainly more potato than fish.  But the day’s offering was nothing like that.  The flakes found inside the golden butter breadcrumbs were so tasty and fell apart at the touch of the fork.  It was emotional!

To wash down the several plates of food, were the bespoke cocktails made.  From virgin daiquiris to extra strong mojitos, we had a jolly good time with our very own bar and barlady positioned outside the dining room.  Clink clink!

Overall

If I had to sum up Christopher’s in three words, they would be We Loved It!  Yes!  And our visit that day lived up to my high expectations.  The chic ambiance, attentive and pleasant service and gorgeous food all added to the wonderful brunching experience, which was partly why we ended up spending 5 hours there!!!  No joke!  Given it’s wonderful credentials and great location, it really is the go-to place for a great meal with the girlies after a Saturday of retail therapy, the prim and proper establishment to meet the potential in-laws for the first time, or even your central London haven for some good food on a Sunday afternoon.  So make sure you check it out.  You never know, you might even meet us there too…!

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For Ladies Wot Dine… At Amerigo Vespucci!

7 Nov

That time of the month came round, and October 20th saw the Ladies Wot Brunch congregate together again and brace themselves for an evening of fun, games and lots of laughter.  Our VVR host Bola or as we lovingly call her “Bosh” chose an awesome venue – Amerigo Vespucci, a beautiful Italian restaurant in Canary Wharf as our go-to spot.

Booking

As is the case with these fabulous VVR ladies, booking seems to be getting smoother and smoother (or maybe they’re just not telling me the full story!).  On confirming the number of attendees and selecting the venue, the restaurant worked collaboratively with Bosh to set the menu, send out prices and organise a private corner to accommodate us.  I should also highlight that as with many of our rendezvous, advance payment was made to ensure a smooth, cashless dining experience.  This is obviously favourable for the restaurant as well as us making it’s a win-win strategy!

Gist

OK.  So I’m getting quite a lot of feedback on this section.  Apparently you laaav it!  So I’ll continue to indulge your inquisitive minds and let you in on the hottest topics that were discussed and shouted *ahem*.  And the evening did not disappoint!

Love across the ocean… Alas, this is something that is close to my heart.  Many of the ladies in the group can identify with this subject and we heard stories about lovers having to travel every few months to see and spend time with their boos.  One lady said she’d travelled to the USA 3 times in the last 5 months!  And another shared her relationship timetable with us, which assured her and her other half saw each other at least once every quarter.  It’s a stark contrast to the ladies who have lovers in-situ, who they see almost on a daily basis.  So how does this love across the ocean thing work?  Is it realistic?  Can a relationship with someone who you can’t see or touch on a daily basis really last?  The optimistic answer is yes, but I guess only time will tell…  But in the meantime, thank God for the Ladies Wot Brunch, who happily fill the gap for each other.  And before you guys with imaginative minds start gassing(!) I’m talking about the brunch, lunch, dinner and holiday dates that we take each other on.  Yay!

Agaracha!  Darlings, you will hear this word a lot.  Meaning?  Well… technically it means promiscuous woman in igbo, a Nigerian dialect.  But we use it as a term of endearment.  So if you hear the word being bandied about, or if you are branded an agaracha(!) take it with love… 🙂

Yummy Mummies and maternity bras – Our resident yummy mummy shared some information about how to keep it hot and sexxxay during the pre-motherhood phase.  Now the perception of maternity bras isn’t very favourable at all.  They’re usually perceived as frumpy, stuffy things.  However, having seen our yummy mummy, we could not deny the fact that her maternity undersupport was doing an Ultimo Wonderbra-ful job and keeping those babies looking gooooood!  I’ve done some research and have found Hot Milk Lingerie, a company that specially designs  maternity underwear.  Even the name is attractive!  So to all you mum’s to-be and nursing mamas out there, do not be dismayed!  You can keep your sexy oooooooon!

Loveless Marriage – Many of us have read the bestselling book The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives by Lola Shoneyin.  Without giving the story away, one of the major themes addressed in the book is marriage without the presence of love.  So how does this work?  Is attraction and respect in isolation of physical love enough?  The general consensus among the ladies on the evening was a resounding NO!  It cannot go anywhere my friend!  Because if love is lacking, it cannot be shown.  If love is not shown, the members of the relationship are not connected.  And if there isn’t a connection, What the -eff are you doing wasting your time?!?!  It maketh no sense!  We shared stories of friendships we’d seen, dates we’d embarked and courtships we’d endured without the presence of love or even attraction which ultimately ended up being fruitless.  I personally don’t understand how people can suffer themselves and try to conjour up a feeling or successful relationship without the vital, amorous ingredient.  It is impossible!

Can you date a man over 35…?  The conclusive answer is yes.  But we didn’t get there without a vigourous debate.  On one side of the spectrum, we argued that there would be quite a significant difference in beliefs, timescales for things we wanted to achieve (older men were likely to adopt a been there, done that attitude) and how to have fun (the term fuddy duddy comes to mind!).  However, it was counterbalanced with the fact that older men know exactly what they want and thus are less likely to waste time, are more likely to be financially stable and generally know how to make a woman feel goooooooood!  The point that tipped the scale was that several of our ladies are successfully courting and married to men aged 35 and above illustrating that it can and it does work!

Food

The food on this evening was awesome!  I had bits and bobs of almost every meal and I was so impressed!  My favourites would have to be the mussels which were prepared perfectly!  The broth and tenderness of the mussel flesh was impeccable and not too heavy.  The fact that the portion was generous enough to feed three (ladies who picked my food with me, you know yourselves!) was an added bonus.  For mains, it had to be between the sea bass and salmon pasta, which was also cooked to perfection and under specific instruction (yes our hot AND spicy request was made again!)  Melt in the mouth fish, perfectly spiced pasta, served with beautiful veggies and roast potatoes and all at the correct temperature made the meal bellissimo!  The desserts were all equally fantastic and although there was hardly anything in it, if I had to recommend one it would have to be the tiramisu.  Ironic right?  An Italian restaurant making a bad ass tiramisu – what are the chances eh?  Tee hee hee…

Service

Considering how raucous we were (what’s new?) the restaurant were superb.  We had a team of zealous waiters and waitresses (again, what’s new?) who were at our beck and call, bringing drinks and topping up wine glasses consistently.  The fact that we had a private corner in the restaurant probably enhanced our experience; it almost felt like we were in our very own Italian cove, with loved and loud ones!

Overall

I cannot fault the restaurant, and despite my original reservations about eating in one of London’s prime business arenas on the weekend, the restaurant surpassed all my expectations and was fun and lively.  It is an awesome place to eat, any day of the week but of course it’s the company that makes the difference 😉

A huge thank you goes to our darling Bosh for organising what was a fabulous evening.  We love and appreciate you mama… Mwah!  A big shout out also goes to Sope “Sopelols” who shot some of the gorgeous photos you will see in the slide show.  Watch this space, this young lady is a photography star in the making…  Fantastico!

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For Ladies Wot Celebrate!!! One Year Anniversary SPA WEEKEND!

30 Oct

Yes!  We know how to celebrate! And what better reason to relax, unwind and indulge in the good life than For Ladies Wot Brunch’s One Year Anniversary?  Nothing!

The weekend of 15-16 September saw 16 effervescent young women making their way to the Brooklands Spa & Hotel in Surrey for an afternoon of treatments, hot tub loving, race car watching followed by a private dinner party extravaganza, slumber party and breakfast activities which you’d only expect the morning after the night before…

The trip started with a bang and after a 2 hour journey (and being accused of having road rage.  Me?  Never!) we arrived in the hotel lobby.  Bags checked in, swimwear slipped into and robes worn, we made our way to the spa for our 2 treatments each.  Unfortunately, I cannot expose my ladies and therefore there will be no bikini shots for those of you eagerly scrolling to the slideshow at the bottom!  What I can divulge however, is that there were several smoking bodies on display!  The afternoon in the spa was amazing – from the body brushes, massages and manicures to the relaxation, steam and sauna rooms, it was utter bliss.

Dinner was just as amazing an experience and we were seated to a 3 course meal in our very own private dining room.  The conversations, catch up and meet ups were fantastic.  And of course the food was amazing too!

Here are some of the weekend’s highlights –

Musical Chairs!  It’s that simple!  After lots of food and even more to drink, the chairs were placed, the iPod dock was set and the game began.  The bumper to bumper dancing to ensure you weren’t knocked from your seat meant that everyone had a boogie with radical vigour and it was oodles of fun!  From 16 to 1 – the ladies were put through their strategic dancing paces and our winner was Feyi.  Please believe that she made sure we all hailed her as the Musical Chair Queen!

Let’s gatecrash the wedding!  From the moment we arrived at the hotel, we were surrounded by the guests attending a wedding that evening.  Now, these were not just ordinary guests – these were extremely handsome guests!  The type of guests that catch ALL eyes!  We ummm’d and ahhh’d about whether or not to gatecrash the wedding after our dinner – we were all immaculately dressed and super confident that we could and would add some extra fizz and pop to the festivities.  Wedding celebrations +anniversary celebrations = one good partayyy!  In the end, we were so consumed by our own fun and games, that we sacked the wedding off (as if we were actually invited!) and turned the after party into a slumber party.  But the side eye glances and hushed tones continued at breakfast the following day when all the guests emerged to break morning bread. It was lots of fun and despite not attending (or really knowing) the wedding party, we wish the bride and groom all the success and love in the world 🙂

High speed hot tub – I think every single one of us thoroughly appreciated the outdoor hot tub which overlooked the Mercedes Benz race and dirt tracks.  I think it must have been the combination of fast cars and fresh air and champagne which made it an exhilarating viewing experience.  The wolf whistles received from swimwear admirers below was a shameless added bonus (this may or may not be a lie). Tee hee hee!

Waiters wanna party too!  As we seem to be the life and soul of the party wherever we go, it was no surprise when we discovered that despite finishing dinner two hours earlier, waiters still kept coming into the room to “service the table”.  When we eventually cottoned on that the staff had been told about the fun-loving young ladies celebrating life and fabulousity and simply wanted to join in, we happily invited them to shake a leg with us and even got the head of waiting staff to azonto with the Ladies Wot Brunch.  Drop it low and bring it up slow ol’ boy!  Eassssy!

As I’m sure you’ve gathered, this was an absolutely fantastic weekend break.  The time spent relaxing with old friends and getting to know new ones whilst celebrating the club’s existence was icing on an already generously decorated cake.  We chatted weddings and babies because YES!  We are expecting our first Brunch Club baby!  Woohooo! A ginormous thank you goes to Tobi and Esther who not only painstakingly organised every last detail of our trip (including a surprise delicious Patisserie Valerie cake and a Prada purse for meeeeeeee!!!)  but also used their creative skills (Esther’s amazingly hilarious and engaging emails got us to do exactly what she asked) and connections with the hotel (Tobi is a celebrated Brooklands customer!  Big pimpin!) to ensure that we had the weekend of a lifetime.  We couldn’t have asked for anything more and the bar has been set for next year’s anniversary celebrations.

Brooklands Spa & Hotel: We loved it. We recommend it.  Go do it!

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For Ladies Wot Lunch… At Gilgamesh

18 Oct

August 25 was the wet Saturday afternoon on which the Ladies Wot Brunch took Camden by storm. Between the group, we’d been on holidays, attended weddings and had experienced exciting changes in our lives and so, a girly catch up was required! The venue chosen by our fabulous VVR Adaeze was Gilgamesh, one of The Stables’ most frequented, lush restaurants: fitting for a bunch of pretty princesses like us!

Booking

As a result of our uber organised VVR, booking was a straightforward process. The date was chosen, the restaurant was called, the menu was designed and prepayment was made to ensure that we had a smooth, cashless lunching experience.

Gist!

From designer iPad cases (lush!) to dream wedding destinations, wives and side chicks accompanying their man on the same holiday and hair dilemmas, we discussed it all and then some!

Here are some highlights…

Natural Hair, it’s a choice! A lot of women nowadays have decided to take the chop and revert back to their natural, wonderfully woolly locks. Amongst the African community however, this is not always an easy transition and surprisingly, many people feel that going natural is just a bit strange. The ladies shared stories of perplexed mummies, aunties and grannies asking their daughters why they had cut their hair or when they planned to relax it, which in itself is hilarious! The funniest thing is that natural hair dilemmas are not exclusive to Africans, and our lovely Sally shared her sister’s (who has gorgeous, thick, curly, blonde hair) experiences with us. Apparently, there are pressures all round on both black and white women to wear slick hair. But thank God our women are beautiful, with equally beautiful hair, and whether they choose to wear is short and curly, or long and luscious we love every single style 😉

Wedding photos on Facebook…? The simple answer is NO! How ironic that every single one of us had ooh’d ahh’d and saved many wedding pictures that we had seen on Facebook, yet when it came to the thought of our own wedding albums being posted on the popular social networking site, we were violently against it. The general consensus was that weddings are intimate affairs that should be shared with nearest and dearest and whilst Facebook is a great and easy way to share photographs, the risk of opening private albums for all and sundry to view was a little more than most were prepared to do. I personally join this school of thought. You won’t even sniff my wedding photos on the Book of Face…!

Don’t eat and you get to join the cool kids! We heard a bizarre teenage story about a popular school full of popular adolescents (namely now some of our wonderful adult Ladies Wot Brunch today) who at lunch time had an interesting way to pick who sat on the cool kids’ table. The jocks (popular boys) would only pick the young girls who didn’t eat much to join them. Why? Well, it wasn’t (just) because they were slim, beautiful, young girls. It wasn’t because they were consciously counting calorific content in their chosen meals. No. In fact, it was a lot simpler than that. They chose this particular group of girls to join them so that… they could lap up the remainder of their food for them! Ha! Talk about eating a balanced meal! But it was a well-balanced equation: Slim hot girls, well fed young boys. Everyone’s happy!

The wife, the husband and the lover go on vacay! We were told a true story about a husband, wife and kids who all went on holiday together, you know, as you do. But what the mama of the house didn’t know was that the hubby’s side chick was also on the same plane, in the same holiday resort and even on the same hotel corridor as the remainder of the family. And please believe she received the same rights and attention as the First Lady did. Such stories continue to annoy and disgust us. What I was very happy to hear however, were the acute punishment plans that my chicas have developed if, God forbid, such a situation were to happen to them. Men, especially men dating/married to any of the Ladies Wot Brunch, what is in store for a cheating rat is not, I repeat NOT PRETTY! Biko! Please, for your own sake, don’t do it!

Food

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As to be expected, the food did not disappoint and there was something to please everyone. From the salmon sushi appetizer and stir fry entrée to the monkfish curry with extra chillies for those who liked their food hot and spicy, we were very happy with the flavours, textures and presentation of the well cooked meals. As the set menu changes regularly, it’s definitely worth checking out the latest goodies on offer which promise to tickle your taste buds.

Service

The service on the afternoon was commendable. We had a number of waiters and waitresses assigned to our large table meaning that attention to detail was paid and particular food requests were met. The bar staff was also awesome, mixing up fruitiful, alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails for us to ensure the merry mood at the table was maintained.

Overall

I don’t think I need to recommend the restaurant to anyone. The mere fact that we ended up spending 9 hours there is enough approval (Yes! From lunch to Saturday evening drinks… we were there and welcomed another honorary Brunch Club boy!). It is a great venue, full of great people. Great food, great drinks, a great ambiance, great staff and plenty of inspiration for great conversation make it a great North London hang out. And if you fancy an alternative to Shaka Zulu, the South African restaurant and bar next door, then Gilgamesh is worth a whirl. Go geddit! A huge thank you goes to Adaeze for meticulously organising our wonderful August get together. Mwah!

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For Ladies Wot Celebrate! Spa Weekend Snippet

18 Sep

Sooooo!  As many of you will know we recently celebrated our one year anniversary and decided to celebrate in style by taking a weekend trip to the Brooklands Hotel and Spa.

It was amaaaaaazing!  From the journey there, the treatments, the food, the laughter, the dancing, the gisting and most importantly the company!

Check out the game of musical chairs which brought out the competitive streaks in the Ladies…

And the winner is…

Watch out for the full post coming soon!

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For Ladies Wot Pole: Pole Dancing Special!

12 Sep

I’m catching up with posts… Nearly there… Yippeee!

Here at the Ladies Wot Brunch, we like to keep things funky and fresh.  Given the wide range of skills, experience and appetites for good times that we have across the group, we are always looking for the next big and bashy activity to partake in.  The recent creation of my right hand women aka VVRs (Vivacious Venue Researchers) has got us thinking about our Brunch Club meetings in a new and exciting way and July’s catch up was the first manifestation of this.

Our beautiful Tobi was responsible for surprising us and making us shriek by proposing… a pole dancing class!  Followed by a nice civilised dinner for those of us not quite feeling bumping and grinding a metal pole(!)

Booking

Dealing with People Pole, the dance studio was a pretty straightforward process and the price of the class is calculated based on the number of attendees.  It’s a basic economy of scale: the more attendees there are, the cheaper the class!  So my advice is get rid of your shyness and get involved!  Tobi also placed the dinner reservation at Lena, a cute Italian restaurant in Shoreditch.  Overall, booking and dealings with the restaurant were fine: number of diners was confirmed, deposit was placed and reservation was set!

Gist!

Well, given the fact that we had 18 sexxxy ladies stretching, lunging, sliding and grinding, it was pretty difficult trying to concentrate on anything other than their bootiful bodies!  The pole dancing session brought out the inner freaks, sexy sirens and bad ass dancers in the Ladies.

Do it like a pro...  Of course it’s one thing to pole dance for fun and given the fact that it’s a great way to keep fit, many of us saw it as a new and exciting way to exercise.  But what if you decide to take it up a notch and use the sexy skills outside the dance studio…?  I believe I’m fairly creative and like to think outside the box and so I plan to treat my husband (to be) to pole, lap, burlesque and other dance sessions in order to keep things funky and fresh.  I shared these thoughts with the girls in between my practice routines *ahem*.  Some slapped me with enthusiastic and encouraging high 5s, some laughed at me.  Some cowered and cringed and some were indifferent.  What is it about women dancing in a sexually charged manner that appeals to certain people and disgusts others?  Are you a woman who has ever done any of the afore mentioned?  Are you a man who would love your wifey to pull out pole dancing tricks for you?  Do you abhor and detest any kind of sexy dancing?  Share your thoughts, ‘coz the jury is still out!

Acrobatics!  Hmmm…  All I can say is that Tobi is a flexible lil mama!  The young lady showed us some tricks that I daren’t expose to the public.  What I can say is that your hubby-to-be will be one LUCKY fella!

Surprise Surprise!  I appreciate all my Ladies and was especially impressed at their gusto and let’s give it a try attitude.  What I was NOT expecting is for so many of them to be SO GOOD!  From our babette who LITERALLY single handedly hung onto the pole with one leg in the air, to the beautifully choreographed and free style gyrations, the Ladies Wot Brunch definitely aren’t a shy bunch.  They are ridiculously talented, refreshingly confident and extremely blessed with curves, rhythm and oodles of feminine prowess.  Caliente!!!

Food

After a vigorous work out, we hopped into the convoy of cars and made our way to Lena.  The menu was simple but offered very tasty, wholesome food.  We were able to work with the restaurant and choose the items on our set menu, ensuring we had a good variety and as we guessed, the fritto di calamari and chili marmalade starter and speck wrapped chicken breast, zucchini, lemon & chili butter main were the most popular.  Good simple food.  Nothing more, nothing less.  I was also told that the Seafood Spaghetti Nero with Devonshire clams, squid and mussels as well as the pan fried salmon were also very tasty.

The portions were generous and fed everyone who at that point had built up a giant appetite!  And the staff were also very attentive to detail, amending orders for those of us who wanted our food hot and spicy (not mentioning any names…)

Some of the Ladies also ordered extras such as roasted new potatoes and pasta carbonara (which wasn’t on the menu) to complement the food.  It’s definitely somewhere worth visiting if you’re in the area and want something to eat in a chilled, mellow but positively charged venue.

Service

The service as mentioned was very detailed and the waiters and owner did all they could to accommodate us.  In fact, they were so accommodating that they even brought individual bills for each Lady as they respectively left the restaurant!  Happy customers!  Although my advice would be to settle the bill once and for all to ensure that everything is covered.  That aside, there were no complaints about the service rendered, especially when it was rendered with such pretty smiles 🙂

Overall

There wasn’t a bad word to say about July’s Bruch Club meeting, and what would have been an ordinary Sunday turned into a fantastic, flexible, freaky, food-filled fest!  It also doubled up as Tobi and my pre-birthday celebration (we share the same birthday which was the following day – fabulousity squared – July Babies Rock!) which meant we had to get crunk in the studio and eat like Queens in the restaurant.  I loved the fact that so many of us were open to try something so radically new and different to our normal brunching extravaganzas.  A huge thank you goes to Tobi for thinking, organising, executing and of course participating in the pole dancing class shenanigans!  It was an awesome experience and I speak for many members of the group when I say that we ghast do it again.  To the pole we gooooo!

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For Ladies Wot Brunch… At The Giant Robot

2 Sep

** Post 2 of my catch up series… Enjoy!**

June was a double whammy for the Ladies Wot Brunch, and following our trip to Madrid, we decided to end the month with one last catch up.  Saturday 30th was the date for our trip to Giant Robot, a quirky American Diner located in Clerkenwell.  There was plenty to catch up on and we love any excuse to get together really…!

Booking

Over the past 10 months, I had been responsible for finding and booking our Brunch/lunch/dinner venues.  It’s a lengthy process and so the creation of team of Vivacious Venue Researchers (VVRs) was a welcomed break!  Each month, one of our precious Ladies Wot Brunches will be responsible for organising the month’s event.  Rebecca “Bexabelle” kick started proceedings and chose an excellent spot in EC1.

Gist!

As we had a special guest in the form of Mr Pedro (one of our Lady Wot Brunch’s other half) join us, our conversation was not as explicit as usual!  But a few Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus discussions took place.  And so we tested several theories with our gentleman guest –

“Should women offer to pay on a date?”  Yes.

“Is it ok to assume the man foots the taxi bill?”  Uhmmm…

“How much should we expect of our prospective partner?”  A few expecations are required, but go with the flow and let it develop organically

“Is the 3 strikes rule acceptable?”  Depends on what the 3 strikes are!  But yes!

Needless to say that the conversation offered up a variety of responses.  If you’ve followed the Gist! section in previous blogs, let us know your responses on the above questions!  Knowledge is power and sharing is caring!

Food

Although the menu spanned across one single side of A4, it offered a respectable amount of variety.  Givent he sunshine, appetite for life and the fact that 90% of us made a mad dash to the restaurant to avoid being late, we were all hungry!  Brooklyn Brunch was the order of the day, with a veggie brunch and poached eggs also in the mix.  Each meal was wholesome, flavoursome and hit the spot niiiicely!

We all went goo goo gaga over the desserts and the selection, again although limited, was more than satisfactory.  If you have a sweet tooth, then you’ll love the cookie cake.  If you’re a pancake fiend, then you have to try the Robot’s take on the sweet griddled batter.   And well if you like cake, then tantalise the torta!  Easy peasy! 

Overall

The trip to Giant Robot was our last sneaky opportunity to catch up and break bread together.  A short and sweet catch up in Clerkenwell is what every girl needs at the end of the month!  Special thanks for Bexabelle for organising xxx

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For Ladies Wot Brunch… In Madrid!

24 Jul

** Firstly, I must apologise for taking so long to do this post.  It’s part of a series of late posts: I hope you enjoy them! **

Saturday 23rd June was the glorious day we flew out of Blighty in search of some sun, sangria and super fun times!  Bright eyed and bushy tailed, we arrived at Gatwick airport, checked in and shopped (of course!) before boarding the plane for the journey, which in itself was 2 hours of catch up and concentrated gist on tap!

Once we arrived in Madrid, we hit the ground running.  We dropped our bags in our rooms at Room Mate Oscar, the plush 4* hotel/roof top terrace located in the trendy Chueca district, before hitting the town sightseeing, shopping, and basking in the baking  sun!

Thanks to our dedicated Vacation Specialist Team (VST), the weekend’s itinerary provided lots exciting opportunities to enjoy the best of Madrid.  We had lots to do and lots of fun doing it!  From visiting exclusive boutiques and madrileño monuments, to sampling the best of Madrid’s brunch menus and nightlife, we were never bored.  It also helped that we had a home body tour guide to lead the way *cough cough* tee hee hee

Food

Comida formed a big part of our trip and I was eager to take the ladies to some of my favourite restauants and secret food haven’s which I grew to love during the years I spent living in Madrid.

We settled for our share of  traditional spanish tapas in Plaza de Sol, feasting on paella, calamares, tortilla espanola (spanish omlette), huevos estrellados (broken eggs over fried potatoes and chorizo sausage), patatas bravas (potatoes with spicy tomato and garlic mayonnaise sauces) and so on, washing it all down with canas (spanish shandy), tintos de verano (red wine and lemonade) and of course sangria!  Delicioso!

There were of course a few restaurants which deserve a shout out –

Bazaar

This is my favourite training restaurant in the whole of Madrid.  Located in Chueca, it was a stone throw away from our hotel and did not disappoint (it never does).  The menu is simple with a twist and dishes such as lasagne and curry are given their own Bazaar bizarre stamp.  As it samples the best of trainee chefs’ handiwork, prices are not offensive at all and the staff are happy to cater meals to individual tastes, so my advice is try everything!

Lay Down

The lay down dining concept is very popular and you can find similar restaurants across global capital cities.  To be honest, apart from the cheesecake, which was pretty awesome, the food wasn’t anything to write home about(!) and if you were after fine dining, Lay Down Madrid wouldn’t necessarily be your first port of call.  However, if you’re after a venue where you can eat and boogie at the same time: this is your spot!  The live cabaret shows (all performed by an English in-house artiste) pulled out all the classic tunes and got everyone on their feet.  From raucous hen parties, to camp celebrities, Lay Down is a venue of mixed bag fun and frolics.  Party on dowwwn!

Café Oliver

Wow!  It is hands down the best brunching venue in Madrid.  Located in the quiet winding streets of Recoletos, the restaurant offers a family focused afternoon eating experience.  For 25€, you are fed like royalty!  Our starters of baked breads and condiments, eggs however you liked them and pro-biotic yoghurts were washed down with freshly squuezed watermelon and orange juice.  The hearty burgers went down a treat, although you definitely need to be explicit on how you want your meat cooked as the preference always leans to rare… Pancakes, fruits and complimentary mimosas rounded off our wonderful meal and we left like stuffed bunnies.  The service was impeccable and the bill which arrived in a cute, quirky sardine tin rounded off what was a great continental brunching date.  If you’re in the area, you must try it!

Diurno

This cafe-cum-takeaway-video & DVD joint represents the progressive flair of the Spanish capital.  Serving light meals, freshly baked goods and fresh juices/smoothies/shakes and cocktails you are guaranteed something sumptuous to tide you over until your next main meal.  We frequented Diurno for quick afternoon snacks and rich, alternative breakfasts.  Our final trip to Diurno earned us bonus cool take away bags, which held absolutely everything!  The food is on point, the bag is an added extra!  Don’t be shy make sure you ask for one when you go!

Highlights

Gaaaash!  How do I whittle these down?  Well the simple answer is I don’t! :p  A weekend full of beautiful ladies, sunshine and good vibes was bound to yield a plethora of great memories…

Celebrity hunnis – Madrid is not often hit with a group of foreign fabulous females on holiday(!) and so we were oooobviously mistaken for international celebrities on several occassions.  Of course, we used this to our advantage!  Several photgraphs and free drinks later, I think we started to believe the hype ourselves!

Stunting in the clurrrrb – Following our acquired celebrity stautus, it was only a matter of time before we accumulated a trail of admirers.  Our night out in RnB Club La Comedia had the ladies in fits of laughter.  From the chap who insisted on helping out our lovely Feyi who needed some shades to protect her eyes from the relentless strobe lighting, to the guy who wasn’t taking no for an answer from Miss Buky, the stunting performed that night was on another level!

England take a bow – Debo “Debs”, our resident football fanatic persuaded us to get involved in Euro2012 fever and we were lucky enough to have the big screen sectioned off in the hotel bar on the night England lost woefully to Italy.  Whilst the outcome of the match was not favourable, the banter with the waiters and Italian hotties present as well as the complimentary spring rolls were.  If this is what you get when England loose, I can’t wait to discover the associated benefits of winning!  Come one En-gerrrr-land!

Similar to the several hundred emails, polls, calls, BBMs and meetings required for the trip to Paris, we spent an ample amount of time and energy planning the Madrid City break.  And it was worth it!  The sunshine didn’t let us down and the never waivering attitudes of the Ladies ensured that our very first Brunch Club overnight trip was an excellent experience.  It was a blast!

Stay tuned for the next Brunch Club trip with a twist…

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For Ladies Wot Dine… At Rhodes W1

19 Jun

May 25 2012 saw the Ladies Wot Brunch switch it up for the second time, and on this evening, we became Ladies Wot Dine.  The venue chosen was W1, Gary Rhodes’ Marble Arch Brasserie located in the trendy Cumberland Hotel.  After our encounter with him at the Taste of Christmas event in December last year, I thought it would be great to pay the restaurant a visit and see just what Mr. Rhodes had up his sleeve…

Booking

Making a reservation was a bit of a kerfuffle (oh dear!)  As their online reservation system takes bookings for up to 6 people, I reverted to what I knew best and I called up.  However, after several attempts and several minutes waiting for someone to pick up, I employed plan C: email.   Hoorah!  They responded and after a brief email trail to confirm time, party and prices, the reservation was complete.

Gist!

It had been a while since we’d had a dinner date, and so the catch up conversation was fun and varied.  Amongst the group were brides and bridesmaids to be so the wedding and dating topics were popular.  Here’s a snippet of what we gossiped about –

Let’s get hitched…  Oh wait!  I’m already married!  Sadly, this story is not as surprising or uncommon as it used to be and amongst the group there were several stories of friends and acquaintances who had met the guy of their dreams, courted, accepted proposals only to discover the so called Prince Charmings were either already married or about to become betrothed.  A particularly nasty story about a beautiful young woman who met the man of her dreams, was whisked on luxurious holidays and finally got the big fat ring was shared.  We ooh’d and ahh’d until we heard the climax – the young woman whilst preparing for her own wedding, received a wedding invitation to her said fiance’s other wedding!  She never heard from him again.  It’s a strange situation: if it seems too good to be true, does it become a nightmare?  Or as women, can we afford to believe and trust in men who propose just like that?  As a traditionalist and a woman of faith, I think it’s still safe to believe in love and the sanctity of marriage.  And if in doubt, get on your knees and pray!  Bind such devilish, lying monsters out of sight!

Three strikes and you’re out!  OK ladies, how many of you have a 3 strikes and you’re out policy with guys?  I didn’t before but I do now!    I shared a funny story from my archive: I met up with someone, who on paper seemed like the business – fit, cute and well dressed, and he took me out for some sumptuous cocktails and delicious dinner.  As the evening and conversation developed I soon became aware of the three strikes which would eventually render him out of the game! 1) Lack of ambition.  This may not be a big deal for some, but it’s mighty important to me and all the women I know.  A man who is constantly finding excuses to be distinctly average is sooooo underwhelming!  Urrrgh!  2) A certified alcoholic.  Can I just say, as a lady I never get drunk: only wavy(!)  Anyhoo, as we swapped war stories, for every PG rated experience I had, the guy had an XXX rated story to compete!  Bearing in mind that the guy was not a spring chicken, an old drunkard is just disgusting for goodness sake.  Urrrrgh!  3) Mama’s boy.  Need I say more?  *pulls hair out* Urrrgh!

We debated over which was the worst strike to try and get over: some said they could deal with a Mama’s boy (although my personal opinion is that of you accept his Mama’s boy status, you are therefore consenting to a life either in the kitchen in front of the stove or in the bedroom on your back!), whilst others said that perhaps he just needed a steer in the right direction.  Either way, when you’re out, you’re out.  NEXT!

Rastafari sex slap!   How far this is true, I don’t know (please enlighten me if you know more) but we were told about the alleged Rastafari belief that sex is a strict act for the purpose of pro-creation (OK, correct) so much so, that women are not supposed to express their enjoyment (whaaaattt?!)  Apparently, if a Rasta’s woman makes the mistake of moaning or groaning during the act, she’ll receive a resounding slap to reward her audible efforts.  Yikes!  If this is true, this is sooooo strange!  And if it’s not, well it’s still a funny fib!  Hehehe!

Food

I’ll keep this brief because for the very first time EVER, I don’t have anything very nice to say!  Overall the food was really average (with the pointer violently tilting towards sub-par).  I was really disappointed as I expected so much more from the charismatic chef’s kitchen.  My lamb thingy was just yuk – tasteless and chewy.  The papardelle and pork cheeks smelled really bad and the fish of the day was so bland it was not funny.  On the other hand, all starters – salmon, scallops and squid – were ok but nothing to right home about, and I was also informed that the pan fried salmon and chorizo sausage risotto were tasty, although the chef was given specific instructions to make it extra spicy which ultimately influenced the taste.  The ice cream trio was nice, but then again, it’s just ice cream.  Meeeh!  The overall winner for me was the Pimms cocktail, however I don’t know if the credit can be attributed to the restaurant or actually the hotel’s bar staff.

Service

Again, nothing much to say here apart from POOR!  I was shocked and outraged at how bad the service was.  During dinner, we received minimal attention and the staff only came over when asked to.  The food was not nice, and some of the Ladies had to send their meals back to the kitchen and settle for fat fried chips.  When the bill arrived, with a hefty £60 servce charge and the “service charge is optional” note at the bottom, I requested a new receipt without it.  The waitress, Laurie’s response was short and rude – “it is not optional,” she snapped “as we have dedicated many members of staff to your large party.”  Except, they had not.  So why was she talking crap?  She proceeded to quite openly report us to her manager, all the while pointing her finger and pursing her lips in disgust at our table.  On further inspection of the receipt, I noticed we had also been charged for the food sent back to the kitchen, and again I requested some assistance.  This time from the manager.  He wasn’t much help, and quipped “the chef says the food was alright so we cannot remove the charge”.  What a numbskull!  Of course the chef would say the food was good, but who cares what he thinks?!  He is not a paying customer.  We are!  And it was not to our taste.  We reverted to the point about the staff not attending to our party during the meal, which if they had done, they would have realised how unsatisfactory we found our meals.  Eventually, we managed to negotiate the service charge being waved, but it meant that some of the Ladies around the table ended up paying in excess of £40 for chips, a few drinks and rudeness.  Can I just add that Laurie made sure she snatched our cards to stuff into her card machine, and once complete, threw them back at us.  Seriously.  She is the epitome of everything that is wrong about the service and hospitality industry and writing this is making my blood boil all over again.  Grrrr!

Overall

Hey hey!  You’ve guessed it!  I will NOT be encouraging anyone to return to W1 – Brasserie or restaurant.  The food could have been so much better, but it’s the service which completely destroyed what would otherwise have been an ok meal.  Luckily for us, we had lots of cocktails and conversation which ensured the evening was not a complete wash out.  Gary Rhodes, if you are reading this, can I make one itty bitty request please?  Don’t worry about offering us a free meal, or even a discount for another day.  Can you please just get rid of Laurie?  She is really going to give your restaurant a bad rep!  The end.

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