Easter in West London

The Cleveland Hotel, W2

Living in the East End and working in Central, I rarely venture West. With a last-minute urge to have a long Easter break I booked hotel for my Mum, sister and I.

After intense research, The Cleveland Hotel is the only hotel it seems in the whole of West London to accommodate for 3 people sharing one room with the option of bringing a dog.

At an affordable price we stayed in a room on the top floor with a large double bed and pull out sofa bed. When you’re in London you don’t really spend that much time in your hotel room anyway so the lack of space due to the pull out bed was not an issue.

We ventured down to the Easter Market at the Southbank on the drizzly Easter Monday Bank Holiday and were met with the lovely smells of freshly cooked organic beef burgers and tempting coffees.

In need of a wake up from the night-before-bank-holiday-head, I tried the organic chocolate espresso by Rococo Chocolates. Slightly bitter with the right amount of sweet, it was perfect. The company also sell beautifully packaged chocolate bars including infusions of Earl Grey Tea, Lavender and Arabic Spices.

I booked a table that night for the Mandarin Hotel’s Dinner by Heston Blumenthal as a treat. Walking into the prestigious Mandarin lobby the staff are very friendly and helpful in directing you to the restaurant.

The room is dimly lit with windows at the back looking onto the beautiful Hyde Park. Each menu was wrapped with a lesser known fact about dining which definitely added to the personality of the meal.

With cocktails ordered looking around the room the details that became noticed were brilliantly true to Heston’s fun take on food, including jelly mould lights on the walls and a glass walls looking into the science lab that is the kitchen.

To start I had a savoury porridge with perfectly cooked fish and my Mum had snails that were unusually displayed in a bone-like holder.

Both absolutely delicious and light which was exactly what I needed to prepare me for the 50 hour slow cooked beef special that I had ordered.

The softest meat I have ever eaten. At times the texture of the meat felt like I was eating fat but full of flavour none the less. I do recommend ordering a side order of beans or some other vegetables or starch as otherwise it can become a bit gamey.

The course I was most looking forward to was definitely dessert. Known for being a bit more experimental with his sweet dishes I had already spied this brown bread ice cream as soon as I opened the menu. With a mixture of crunchy base and silky ice-cream it was the perfect refreshing way to finish the experience meal; or so I thought…

With the bill came the most crowning little taste of creamy chocolate. With the texture between mousse and spread a yummy surprise. Meanwhile on the table next to us dry-ice came billowing out of an ice-cream maker whilst the waiter explained how it was made and the fun unusual toppings that you could customise your freshly made ice-cream with!

It was going to be hard to top the dinner from the night before, but I had managed to find The Lounge. A film and fine dining lounge in W2 I was very much looking forward to the new experience.

With new releases and boasting a menu consulted by Le Café Anglais chef Rowley Leigh the ‘Fingers, Fork and Spoon’ menu has all been designed with the cinema in mind. Subtle waiters are available at the press of a button throughout the film all of which allows for an exclusive experience.