View from The Olsen Hotel

How lovely is that view? This picture was taken from the Penthouse Suite of the Olsen Hotel, where I was invited to celebrate the launch of the new Spring Menu at their in-house restaurant, Spoonbill.

We started with drinks in the Penthouse Suite, before moving downstairs to the restaurant for dinner.

Champagne in the penthouse suite

When I go out on weeknights, I make a point of driving so that I don't overdo it and regret it the next day, and of course I immediately regretted my responsible decision when I saw that Pommery was on offer - it's one of my favourites, and I'd happily drink it all night - so I made sure I really appreciated and enjoyed the one glass I had, hehe. (As all the advertisements say these days: drink responsibly!!) On an unrelated note, apparently that hot tub balcony is warm and ready to go All The Time - I was totally tempted to dive in, but there was dinner to get to.

The private dining room in Spoonbill had been beautifully decorated in brightly coloured flowers. Of course, I'm totally stealing the idea for my next dinner party - so pretty!

Pretty flowers

Springtime table

Dorky of me, I know, but I was super-thrilled that my dress not only fit in with the Springtime theme, but also quite literally matched the table settings!

My lap, my place setting

My place setting

Bread

We were treated to an eight-course meal from the new spring menu - for the purpose of the multi-course menu, I think servings were a little smaller than what you'd get if you ordered the items separately at the restaurant, so I won't include prices in the captions. (The Spoonbill menu is available online if you'd like to check it out!)

TEMPURA SOFT SHELL CRAB - Wombok, Thai basil, yuzu mayonnaise

The soft shell crab was nice and fresh, with a light crisp batter - a good start to the evening.

SEARED DUCK BREAST - Soft polenta, forest mushrooms, asparagus

I'm not ordinarily a huge fan of polenta, but I really liked this one as it was so smooth and creamy - I assume that the secret is lots of butter! The duck was on the very rare side (the way I like it), and the skin had a pleasing crunch to it. Combined with some deeply savoury tones from the jus and the forest mushrooms, I really enjoyed this dish.

CARAMELISED ONION AND ROAST TOMATO TARTLET - Soft herb salad

I felt this tart was probably the least successful dish of the night - the pastry was very sweet, almost like shortbread, and when combined with the sweet caramelised onions, it was closer to a mince pie than a savoury tart. (I, of course, adore mince pies so I actually enjoyed this a lot, but if I had ordered this expecting something savoury, I'd have been disappointed).

SALT AND PEPPER CALAMARI - Fennel, blood orange, pine nut salad with citrus dressing

The coating on the calamari was overly salty for me, but it was fresh and tender, and contrasted well with the refreshing, aniseedy salad.

LAMB CUTLETS - White bean skordalia, baby winter vegetables

I love a juicy, plump lamb cutlet! I'd brought my lovely cousin Catherine with me, and as she doesn't eat red meat, the kitchen kindly organised alternative dishes for her. This also meant that I got to taste even more dishes (yay!), and of course, got even more photos for this post.