I have a love-hate relationship with making friends through blogging. I’ve made some incredible friends through my almost 5 years but it’s when those friendships start to become a little disconnected that is the part that I hate. I guess it comes with the fact that many bloggers in London are expats, with it being such a multicultural hub of a city. One of my dear friends, Steph who writes Being Blonde it is a Lifestyle was one of the first bloggers I connected with when I starting blogging and opened myself up to the London community. We stood side by side through a lot of things, we attended events together and we shared our love for food and the finer things in life. Steph originally is from New Zealand and Australia and came over to London to start a fresh new life. The past few years, I remember Steph mentioning it was her last year in London and was ready to make the move back to Australia the next year. We got through a few years of me expressing my opinion that she couldn’t leave me until the desire to return home was stronger than the will of people that wanted her in London.
7 years later, my sweet Steph has finally decided to follow her heart and start a new life in Melbourne. It feels right to her and all we can do is wish her well and hope to reunite on the flip side of the world. However, we had to do one last farewell the only way we know how, over a delicious dinner at Little Social, one of Jason Atherton’s many London restaurants along with a few glasses of champagne and cocktails.
Angie and Steph had already arrived ahead of us and had already started on white wine. We needed to catch up on them, Binny and I both stuck to cocktails to begin with as we had just been for a pre-dinner drink at Mews of Mayfair.
I ordered a Kamm-ouflage made with Kamm & Sons (a bittersweet botanical spirit distilled with ginseng, fresh grapefruit peels and manuka honey), elderflower, lavender & champagne. Perfection!
Binny ordered the La Maison Villevert which was made with G’Vine Nouaison gin, bay leaves, lime, Herbes de Grenoble, olive oil & egg white. It sounded like something I wouldn’t like but when I tried a bit from Binny it tasted completely different to what I thought it would.
Since we had all been working that day, we were rather ravenous by 7pm so after a quick skim of the menu we decided to order a few starters and mains to enjoy. During the mean time, we were brought out some fresh, warm, crusty bread that was served up with a divine butter that the ladies seemed to enjoy.
Binny and I both ordered the asparagus served with a lovely glaze and a helping of hollandaise sauce. Even though it was simple, it was extremely flavoursome and light.
Steph and Angie shared the salad of Jerusalem artichokes, green beans, mange tout, walnuts and dill. Another light dish, when shared between two but it had set us up for the filling main courses that were to come.
Steph and Angie ordered the roasted stone bass served baby artichokes, onion purée & oyster velouté which went down treat with the ladies. The stone bass looked soft and succulent and just flaked off perfectly.
I couldn’t resist having the braised Irish ox cheeks served with roasted bone marrow, sourdough crumb, celeriac puree, carrot. It was a gorgeous dish that was presented fantastically. The best part was it was finished off with a yummy jus. The meat just separated perfectly and melted in your mouth, it was simply to die for, bravo Little Social.
Binny went for the Jerusalem artichoke risotto, wild rocket & parmesan which looked absolutely delicious, creamy and rich – a bit like a warm hug in a bowl. Perfection!
You’d think we wouldn’t have space for dessert would you? Think again, even it means we have to share one dessert between three full people, we will just so we can get a bit of a sweet fix into a meal and that we did…
Steph, Angie and I shared the apple & rhubarb crumble served with rhubarb sorbet. The sorbet arrived separately to the crumble but it meant you could grab a scoop of the sorbet before putting the spoon into the crumble, almost cooling it down instantaneously before eating. It was heaven on earth. Probably one of the crumbles I have had in London yet.
Binny opted for the sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream ice cream and caramel sauce, which was delightful. I couldn’t help sticking my spoon and trying the sweetness for myself, so delectable.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience at Little Social. I expected nothing less from a Jason Atherton restaurant. Although, the end of our meal meant it was close to our final ‘until next time’ send off, but not before a few more glasses of champagne at Soho House to give Steph a real send off.
If you want an elegant, intimate experience with absolutely amazing food and service, I would definitely pop into Little Social for dinner. You won’t regret it!
Until next time…
