Dancing In High Heels: bar

Fifty9 is one of the latest trendy additions to Mayfair, set across two floors and features European-inspired design. Located in Berkeley Square, it is an ideal spot for after-work drinks, parties and private events. The space is brightly lit inside, with outdoor seating which plenty took advantage of on that fine summers evening.

The windows were open, allowing in the nice, cool breeze. Discreetly scanning the crowds for familiar faces, I eventually spotted our group, and was greeted by the lovely Kelly, Mya, and Montana from PRandEI. We were offered a glass of chilled prosecco upon arrival, which I graciously accepted - a good start to every weekend. And an even bigger plus when mine started mid-week...if only every week was like this.

I was actually quite hungry and my face beamed with excitement when the cheese and meat board was brought out. I did however adhere to the 'unspoken blogger rules' and refrained from touching the food until everyone had finished taking photos of it...we really are a disciplined bunch.

Their menu is simple and straightforward, consisting of a selection of appetisers, grilled sandwiches, salads, and their speciality hand-pulled pizzettas which I was very much looking forward to. Not just because I was pretty famished by then...

I don't really eat pizza that often, but when I do I usually prefer the thin crust ones. Their hand-pulled pizzettas were thin and crispy, and we were able to sample the different flavours available: chorizo, guindilla & piquillo peppers; prosciutto San Daniele & halkidiki olive; roasted mushroom & caramelised onion; and the classic Margherita.

There also seems to be less of the 'guilt-factor' with thin-crust pizzas (or pizzettas...) - less carbs...which also means you can eat more, right?
The kind barmen also prepared a few shots of bellinis for us. And of course the efficient staff also made sure that our glasses of bubbly remained topped up as the evening went by...

The underground club/bar was unfortunately closed that evening, but we were allowed to have a little look around.

For those of you interested to check it out for yourselves, Fifty9 if open from Monday to Wednesday from 12.00pm-1.00am, and from Thursday to Saturday from 12.00pm-3.00am. They are also available for private hire on Sundays - do check out their website for more information.

It was as usual lovely to see familiar faces as well as new - here's to more food, fun and bubble-filled evenings.

The Cheekster, signing out x

We recently visited Mondrian London at Sea Containers, the first ever Mondrian branded boutique hotel outside of the United States, that launched on 30th September 2014. We had lunch at the restaurant, a modern dining room with a great view of the River Thames.

The Sea Containers restaurant is named after the landmark building on the South Bank.

The 'farm to table' movement is integral to the Sea Container's kitchen and its menu, with produce naturally sourced from organic farmers and Fair Trade cooperatives from around the UK and the continent.

The restaurant is headed by Culinary Director for Sea Containers, Seamus Mullen, with his team led by Executive Chef Luke Rayment, who are committed to bringing fresh, seasonal and sustainably sourced food to the table for diners to enjoy. Located on the Ground Floor, there is an open plan kitchen and visible wood fired oven that produces delicate and natural smoky flavours, a characteristic of Chef Seamus Mullen's cooking.

We started off with a couple of drinks from the restaurant cocktail menu. Wilkes had the Peach & Sage Negroni, whilst I ordered the White Flower Collins Royale. The negroni was nice with hint of sage, but mine tasted just like a plain lemonade, so I wasn't too impressed with it, and the straw also looked a bit out of place...?

The menu is split into categories: 'Small Plates', 'Raw', 'Vegetables', 'Large Plates', and 'Family Style'.

For starters, we ordered the lamb meatballs, which were well marinated and had a nice, 'bouncy' texture. Probably the prettiest presentation for a meatball dish that I have seen so far. We also ordered the octopus - slight smoky aroma, but could probably do with some stronger flavours, and slightly less chewy texture. The slaw was also a bit dull with not much flavour apart from the slight saltiness from the olives.

| Oven Roasted Lamb Meatballs |

- Soft sheep's milk cheese, cucumber, Moroccan spiced vinaigrette -

| Celeriac & Grilled Octopus |

- Peas, watercress, Castelvetrano olives -

Moving on to the mains, the grilled monkfish had a nice, meaty texture, served on a bed of delicious buttery grilled mushrooms. The chopped salad was quite creamy with generous chunks of tender grilled onglet steak. There was also nice bits of crunchiness from the walnuts. The blue cheese does come in quite big chunks, so it may be best to maybe cut them down a bit and give it a good mix, otherwise you might just get some big, strong mouthfuls of cheese, like both of us did.

| Grilled Monkfish |

- Clams, Fino sherry, grilled mushrooms, roasted carrots, cavelo nero -

| Chopped Salad |

- Grilled onglet steak, watercress, blue cheese, walnuts, pear, avocado vinaigrette -

This may only be an accompaniment, but I would definitely recommend getting the oven roasted wild mushrooms, especially if you are a huge mushroom lover, like both of us. Fragrant, buttery, and just plain delicious.

And finally, for dessert, we ordered the flourless chocolate cake and apple pie - both very good.

The chocolate cake was very rich and indulgent, and the apple pie was lovely and warm with a tasty and crumbly base.

| Flourless Chocolate & Chilli Cake |

- served with vanilla ice cream -

| Apple Pie |

- served with cinnamon ice cream -

On the whole, a pleasant meal that came up to approximately £60 per person - price is definitely above average, but I guess that is what you would expect from such venues.

There were a few more dishes that would have been interesting to try, if we were not limited by our stomachs...

It may also be ideal to try going in a group of about four people so that you can try the larger family style dishes.

And if you love cocktails, it would definitely be worth proceeding over to Dandelyan down the corridor, like we did right after our meal...

Dandelyan is the seasonal cocktail bar at Mondrian London, with Ryan Chetiyawardana, A.K.A. Mr Lyan, who's first bar in East London 'White Lyan' was recently awarded 'Best New International Cocktail Bar' at the Tales of the Cocktail awards. The bar is described as 'a journey of discovery where you can experiment with new tastes and enjoy unexpected combinations'.

We sat at the bar where we were well taken care of by Steve and the rest of the friendly bar staff.

The cocktail menu is divided into four different categories - 'Cereal', 'Vegetal', 'Mineral', and 'Floral'. We ordered a couple of cocktails each - I went with Steve's recommendations, both of which I really enjoyed.

| Crytal Lyan |