Anniversary Dinner

Last Monday my darling husband and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. For dinner, we went back to the restaurant he took me to on my very first trip to the UK in 2007 – Rules. Rules is located in Covent Garden and is London’s oldest restaurant (established in 1798) and has served a wide range from Charles Dickens to the Prince of Wales. With silver service, guests are treated to traditional English food of the highest quality. The restaurant owns an estate in Northern England where it sources game and beef of the finest quality.

As the restaurant is a favorite of the Royal family, it was fitting I had a starter cocktail called the Kate Middleton “29” with Sipsmith, Pinky Vodka, Lillet and Crystellised Violet & Rose Petals.

For starters Chris had the pressed wild rabbit terrine with black pudding, cider jelly and mustard with grilled sourdough. I had traditional potted shrimp for the first time. Both were incredibly fresh and full of flavor.

As we did nearly five years ago, we ordered the roast beef for two with all the trimmings. And from looking around the room it was pretty clear that this was the menu favorite. This has to be THE best roast meal I’ve ever had and it was just as good as we remembered it to be. The meat was perfectly cooked rare and seasoned just right. The Yorkshire pudding was massive, and the creamy horseradish was homemade. But the potatoes.. Oh my.. I am not normally a potato lover. I eat them but I’m never dying for them. But these must have been The most incredible potatoes I’ve ever had. They were so crispy and golden that you really had to push your fork into them. Apparently they are roasted first in goose fat and then deep fried in the same fat! Yum yum yum… This dish is a classic example of how food does not always have to be complex to be good. Great, fresh ingredients treated with care can be absolute perfection!

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The Real Reason I Moved To Britain

While my dear boyfriend is handsome, loving and always full of interesting (sometimes completely useless) information, I must confess there might have been something else that lured me over the pond. Having known me for only a couple of months, he proved how clever he really is by where he took me to dinner on my first trip to the UK.

Now let me begin by saying my love affair with Yorkshire pudding began long ago. Christmas Eve dinners or the occasional visit to my aunt and uncle (Bac Oanh and Uncle Jack) often consisted of roast beef and my aunt’s famous Yorkshire pudding. They often looked like this – made in a cupcake tray.

Now it’s been a few years since I’ve had them made by her, but I can still remember how light, crisp and rich they were. You know how you can have a childhood memory or even an adult memory of something you ate that you absolutely loved? As in, your mind can distinctly remember the exact way it looked on your plate, the exact way it tasted and the way it made you feel completely satisfied? Well that’s how I felt about Bac Oanh’s Yorkshire pudding. It was always a treat. I remember being just tall enough to watch them rise in the oven (although depending on whose kitchen I’m in now, I can barely reach the oven)…

But then… I met Chris. And on my first trip to the UK ever, Chris took me to Rules (http://www.rules.co.uk/), London’s oldest restaurant. And this is what we ordered:

As you can see, this Yorkshire pudding takes up half my plate and almost all of Chris’. It’s more than twice the size of his hand for crying out loud! You can only imagine how wide my eyes got when all this came out to our tiny little table for two. Everyone around us stared. I was a little embarrassed (not really). What I was really thinking was – why did I let him have the bigger portion?? Needless to say I devoured the entire thing. It wasn’t very lady-like, especially considering it was technically our second date/visit. But maybe that’s why he loves me? Let’s just say yes for now.

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