A Ricks Birthday Celebration

Twenty two years ago life as we know it changed forever as the beautiful Frankie Taylor entered the world ready to make her mark. I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting this little monkey till I was 13, but ever since then we really have been the best of friends. Birthdays are all about reminiscing, gossiping and laughing till your stomach hurts, so last night a big group of us got together to do exactly that. 

We all met for dinner at Ricks, a boutique hotel with a buzzing restaurant in the centre of Edinburgh. Ricks is part of the Montpelier Group, which is a group of restaurants, nightclubs and hotels in Edinburgh, all of which have the same chic, quirky and stylish feel. 

 

The atmosphere is relaxed but buzzing, so for any type of celebration you can’t really go wrong. I had my 21^st birthday in Tigerlily, another one of the Montpelier restaurants and it really could not have been a better night. The service was fantastic, the food was great and the atmosphere really could not have been better. 

The Montpelier group do a great deal in all of their restaurants that is 2 courses for £10, or 2 courses for £15 in the ‘Mother’ of the group, Tigerlily. I have seen the food at Ricks described as ‘posh pub grub’, ‘small portions’ and even ‘average’ (pretty harsh) on a number of other food blogs, but with this kind of price I don’t think you can really go expecting Michelin quality. I definitely think that for what you pay the food really is fantastic.

We all enjoyed a glass of wine as we mulled over the menu.

I started off with the Chicken Liver Parfait which came with toasted brioche and Onion Confit.

Parfait is one of my all time favourite starters and I always struggle to choose anything else when I spot it on the menu. I must say that although this dish was nice, the brioche tasted a little stale. It wasn’t enough to stop me eating it or make a complaint, but I definitely think that it could have been better.

A few of the others went for the Vegetable Tempura with Wasabi Mayo which seemed to be pretty tasty.

Others went for the Smoked haddock fish cake with lime and caper crème fraiche which also got good reviews.

For the main course I went for the Crayfish, Lemon and Spring Onion Linguine. I’m not a big pasta eater so this was quite a rash choice for me. I must say though that it was absolutely delicious. I might even go as far to say that it was so scrumptious that it may even have turned me from my anti pasta ways... but only time will tell.

The burger looked pretty great as well, but I must admit that I had had one the night before so I had resisted going in for the kill two nights in a row. 

The waitress did however make a bit of a mistake with our order. The completely wrong thing was brought over to one of the girls for the main course. We all agreed that people make mistakes and that it wasn’t really a big problem at all. However what we were all really disappointed about was the way it was handled. Not only was the waitress completely unapologetic; she actually accused my friend of not knowing what the dish was, blaming her for the mistake. It wasn’t until the manager came over that any apology was offered, and to which he did apologise profusely. The correct dish did eventually arrive, and was subsequently removed from the bill. This wouldn’t put me off returning at all, but it is definitely worthy of pointing out. 

All in all Frankle had a fabulous little birthday, and we all carried on chattering and giggling long after the plates were cleared. I have no doubt that there will be many more birthdays celebrated together over the years to come, and it’s really exciting to think where we will all be this time next year...I guess all that can be said is watch this space.

Twenty One...with a years experience

You know your getting old when you start coming out with all of your fathers classic catchphrases. My Dad has been claiming he's 21 with experience for as long as I can remember, and now it seems as though i have reached that stage as well. God help me. It is certainly true though that you can never have too much experience or too many memories,  so last night it was time to make some more. For me no birthday is complete without some serious dancing, so yesterday evening all of the girls got together for round 2 of birthday celebrations.

Being the 'hostess with the mostess' is completely my thing, and I always jump at any opportunity to get my hosting shoes on. I love getting everything together, from canapes to cocktails, and its always fun to try out new recipes and experiment with different concoctions. I spent the vast majoirty of Thursday evening and Friday prepping. I put together a hearty spread, and with every single scrap demolished, I think I can decipher that my efforts were a success.

 

I love making cupcakes so this was a great excuse to get my bake on. After all, what's a birthday party without cake!? I went in search of a new topping to mix things up from my usual Oreo and chocolate numbers. (But ofcourse I had too make a few of them too.)

Whenever i am looking for a little inspiration i head straight for Pinterest.  This little gem can only be described as a goldmine of ideas. When I first discovered Pinterest I just couldnt believe I hadn't found it sooner! It has everything on it that you could ever be looking for, and after searching 'cupcake', a little popcorn number appeared, and just like that, I had my new topping.

I had raided the likes of Primark and Pound Land during the week in search of cheap and cheerful party pieces, of which there were plenty! I always think its best to go cheap when buying this type of thing, as at the end of the day what is the point in splashing out on bits and pieces that are most likely going to end up in the bin.

 

 

 

Primark had the best array of silly glasses, so i scooped up as many as my little hands could carry! Plenty of hilarity and mischief was had with these bad boys!

The evening was meant to be a strict boy free zone filled with dancing and girly chit chat. It was all going swimmingly until these gate crashers turned up... My younger brother and his partners in crime.

Seeing as Owen had missed out on the celebrations earlier in the week they were granted as an exception to the rule and were allowed to stay and mingle.

Ofcourse, no birthday is complete until there is a little bit of bubbly involved.

After plenty of laughing, chatting and a collection of photographs that could rival Kate Moss, it was time to hit the town. As we were leaving there was the most beautiful sunset filling the sky. The perfect 'Little Thing'! It was the perfect touch to the most fabulous evening, and I couldnt have wished for anything more. 

Heres to many more years of being 21 with experience!