The older I become the faster time seems to move. Within a blink of an eye another year has gone by, making me hopefully a little wiser and a little more appreciative of the people that I have in my life. As you probably guessed from the slightly sentimental mood this post is about my birthday, which happened to be yesterday.
It has become a bit of a tradition for hubs and I to do something together on the day, and have a little get together with others at a later date. I could not have asked for better weather yesterday, it was sunny and it did not rain, not even once the entire day! According to Mr RF, I am solar powered, so to be able to spend most of the day outdoors is one of the best presents I could have asked for.
We started out with brunch at the Fallow Deer. A great little place in Teddington ( I have done a post on it before). Since the last time we came, they have moved premises (still on the same street, just the opposite side of the road, and a few store fronts along). Despite becoming bigger and having an outside terrace at the back, the place was packed when we came. The menu is slightly different (I am guessing seasonal changes?), and they now serve a range of cocktails.
It was a little early in the day for alcohol, but I just couldn't resist a spicy deliciousness that is a Bloody Mary (well I lie, I had a Virgin Mary). I have to say it was one of the more unusual ones that I had, with little white specs, which I am guessing were shavings of horseradish. I really enjoyed it. As for food, I had smoked haddock with poached eggs. It was absolutely delightful, just as we've come to expect.
After eating, we headed to a park and spent most of the day there hanging out, eating ice-cream and looking at animals. Your usual suspects: chickens, bunnies, geese and gofers.
But also some of the more exotic ones: helmeted guinea fowl, huddling up next Argentinian mara and the illusive kunekune pig.
Now Kunekune is a breed of domestic pigs from New Zealand, so not all that exotic, but I think they are pretty cool and we spent a good amount of time "chasing" it around the pen. He kept eating around the bushes, but as soon as he would move, we would too. Eventually he came over really close to us, I think he was expecting food.
After the park we came home to change, and then headed over to Bumpkin in South Kensington. This is a place with no real dress code (which is great since Mr RF lives in jeans and t-shirts outside of work) and an easy going atmosphere. They serve traditional British food with a modern twist, and their cocktail menu is pretty impressive.
For drinks I had one of their pressed juices combos of watermelon, cucumber and mint to begin with, and then a Sunshine Mary to follow. They had a few different types of Bloody Mary's (yes it is pretty much my drink of choice wherever I go), the Sunshine Mary was a blend of yellow tomato juice, ginseng spirit, some super secret spices and finished off with cucumber and lime. Now if you are not an alcohol drinker there are some pretty great sounding mocktails on offer too.
Food was pretty scrumptious, not the best I ever had but definitely worth a comeback. The starter that I ordered was asparagus with a soft poached egg (yes it seems I like my eggs) and truffle shavings. For main I had sea bass with fennel, celery and cucumber, and a side order of garden salad. Fish was really delicious, side salad came already dressed and lightly salted, which I enjoyed but if you are watching your salt in take something to keep in mind. I could not resist a desert (hey it was my birthday after all), strawberries and cream was a perfect finish to a lovely meal.
Overall I think they have a great selection and it was a perfect ending to a chilled out day. However even though there is no dressing up involved, if you are going to Bumpkin, expect London prices.
As for presents, I have received quiet a few beauty items, so I will do a separate post on them.
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