We were told that we going to have lunch at the member's only, The Club at The Ivy on West Street. Anyone who knows The Ivy knows it is a habitue of theater goers and celebrities alike; it also the predecessor of The Ivy in Los Angeles, where paparazzi hang out, trying to stalk Hollywood celebrities.
But we weren't going to be dining at The Ivy. We were going to be dining at the very posh-looking The Club at The Ivy, where you need to have a membership to belong. And to be a member in London really means something!
While waiting for the others to arrive, Pepper, Therese and I walked over to Joel Rubochon (which was right next door) to salivate at the menu as Pepper told us his food stories of dining there (this dish was this small, it had this much caviar on it...it was like we were talking about porn! Food porn, that is!). Of course, we were also trying to compute how much one would spend on a two-course meal. The resulting decision was, if you're gonna go, go for lunch, not dinner. If you were to go at all. And of course, now that I am in Manila, I regret not eating those tiny, beautiful overpriced dishes!
When we are complete we enter the doors of what I thought was a florist's, it was only the lobby of The Club at The Ivy. We walked in and gave our names and who we were going to meet, and they ushered us up the gorgeous staircase and into an elevator which took us to dining room. It looked like a gentleman's room, books and books lining the shelves and hushed interiors. Or perhaps the Freemason's headquarters?
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| Where we dined when we dined at The Club at The Ivy |
So of course, when you dine at a member's club, you take the lead of the member, in this case, CEO of Lunchbox Productions, James Cundall. He recommended the asparagus (which he said was so good there) and the fish. I wouldn't normally just order asparagus for an app but as I was in the mood for fresh, fresh, fresh food of the season, I got it. As did most of us.
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| Now does this look fresh or what?!? |
If there is anything we lack in Manila, it is the abundance of fresh, flavorful vegetables that taste as though it was just plucked from the vegetable garden just minutes ago. And not just that: they need to be cooked just so, so that you maximize its texture and flavor instead of getting a mushy green mess.
When I smothered the hollandaise sauce on the asparagus I pulled a Marie Antoinette and polished the tops off and almost forgot to take a picture. (Plus we did this discreetly, can you imagine the waiters here told us no photos! But us being Pinoy, we did it anyway. With no flash. Teehee.)
For my main course, I wanted the prime rib on the trolley (don't you just love how the Brits say "we've got a roast on the trolley"?" But unfortunately all the other gentlemen in the club had the same idea. So I put our server to the test and asked what he would order. "I think the lamb would be my choice," he said. So lamb it was, and this is what arrived.
Just, yum. It was well-cooked, falling off the bone and well-seasoned in a fabulous sauce. I don't know how those asparagus got me full but I could only finish the meat and hardly any of the potatoes or veggies. Actually the heavy veggies were a stark contrast to the fresh, summery asparagus.
This was Pepper's choice, just look at those chantrelles!
After our fabulous lunch we ran over the the Ambassadors Theater next door where we watched the fantastic, energized and amazingly with-no-dialogue play,
Stomp. Watch out for it, coming soon in Manila :)
