Dinner at Belvedere

I've decided to follow Shazrul's recommendation on Belvedere Restaurant for Jo and my anniversary on 19 January.

Belvedere is one of Marco Pierre White's many restaurants. It is located at the edge of Holland Park, off Kensington High Street.

I've done a bit of research before making my reservation through http://www.toptable.co.uk. It's going to be my first real attempt at French food. I've read about foie gras (duck or goose liver fattened by forced feeding) many times, perhaps this is the time to try it out. The most interesting part of the restaurant is the environment, as this is what most people are paying for. Based on my research, there are a lot of great comments. Overall rating is more than 8 in most restaurant review websites. I downloaded the menu and found the prices quite reasonable for this class of restaurant. So I guess this is a safe bet.

So at 5pm, I started off my journey to Johanna's office, without her knowledge. On the way there, I stopped over at Earls Court to find the right bus to take to the restaurant so that we can walk as little as possible. Then I bought a bouquet of roses outside Earls Court station before hopping on to C3 bus.

Jo said I never send her flowers in her office, so I've decided to leave the flowers at the reception and asked the receptionist to tell her that there is something for her. I quietly slipped out of the reception area and tried to peek from outside. Jo came a while later, saw the flowers, and tried to find where I was. =)

I called her moments later and proceed to her office. I told her that I've booked a place for dinner and have asked permission from her boss for her to leave early on that day.

So off we went. As described by some in the reviews, the restaurant is not easy to find. Took us 20 minutes before we found the place. The restaurant is situated in the middle of a big garden. I could imagine it must be very nice during the day. One day we must come for the Sunday lunch where there is a live jazz band.

We were greeted by the French head waiter who has quite a bit of French accent. Since I've done my research on the menu, ordering was a swift process.

These are what we had: -

Starter

• Parfait of Foie Gras & Chicken Livers
• Snails 'Bourguignonne'

Main Course

• Confit Shoulder of Lamb, Mash & Mange Tout
• Sea Bass, New Potatoes, Spinach & Lemon Butter

Dessert

• Raspberry Soufflé, Ripple Ice Cream
• Prosecco Jelly, Raspberries, Vanilla Ice Cream

The environment is as great as described by the reviewers. There was live piano music accompanying us while we slowly enjoy the environment and food.

We only left at 10pm, 2 hours after our arrival. Good way to start the weekend for Jo after a long week at work, I guess.