Birthday Bonanza: Part 2

After our trip to the Tate we rushed home to get ready. Except I had no idea where we were going or what we were doing so didn't really know what to wear but seeing as the sun has been shining and spring is finally peeking through I decided to go for this highlighter pink skirt with floral pattern that I found at a carboot sale for only £2!

We went to Asia de Cuba at the St. Martins Lane hotel in Covent Garden. Asia de Cuba fuses Asian and Cuban food and is served in a sharing style. It's definitely a sophisticated dining experience with chic, minimialist decor and soft lighting provided by exposed lightbulbs extended low over the tables which created an intimate but relaxed vibe.

Large circular columns are dotted around the split level restaurant lined with books or crammed with framed black and white photographs of interesting Cuban people.

To start we ordered Crab Croquetas with jicama, mango and mirin infused slaw and roasted red pepper remoulade.

The crab was beautifully fresh and the slaw was equally zingy and sweet, the perfect accompaniment or just as nice on its own and the red pepper remoulade was divine.

I would have wanted more than just two if we hadn't ordered this amazing salad...

The Calamari salad 'Asia de Cuba' - crispy calamari with chayote, hearts of palm, banana, cashews, chicory and radicchio with sesame orange dressing. We squeezed over than chunk of lime which really brought out the flavours, the not too chewy squid and the sweetness of the fruit. We also had some fun identifying the different fruits and the crunchy cashews were and interesting addition that really worked.

For main the boy had Cuban BBQ chicken with Thai coconut sticky rice, avocado fruit salad and tamarind sauce.

The chicken was wolfed down so I'm guessing it was nice; the rice sure was, fluffy and just coconut-ty enough.

I went for the pan seared Ahi Tuna served on wasabi mashed potatoes and crunchy peas with a coriander chimichurri sauce.

I did ask for my tuna to be served medium well instead of rare as the menu suggests and the little slithers were just perfect, tender and melt in your mouth soft. The wasabi mash was only delicately flavoured so as not to be too overpowering. The portion size did look tiny but was actually enough to fill me up especially after the mammoth starter.

But obviously there was still room for dessert...

The Mexican doughnuts; sweet brioche in cinnamon sugar filled with butterscotch sauce. Yum!

I can't remember the name of my dessert but it came with a candle in! Our waiter even sweetly sang me the whole Happy Birthday song!

I couldn't quite finish it all but the chocolate sponge was moist even if the chocolate layer on top was a little too hard. The coffee ice-cream was mild and the sharpness of the raspberries complimented the chocolatey flavours.

After eating we rushed out, me still having no idea where we were going, but on the walk over it was revealed we were heading to see the hit show War Horse. I won't give away too much of the story, but it is an adaptation of the novel by Michael Morpurgo and tells the tale of the love a young boy Albert has for his horse Joey. It takes you from the countryside of Devon to the trenches in France during World War 1, with a folk-song singing narrator and beautifully rudimentary drawings by Rae Smith. The real star of the show however are the life-size puppets by South Africa's Handspring Puppet Company; it is so good you almost forget the puppeteers are right there on stage as the make the horses look so realistic in terms of movement and sound, right down to the canter, swish of a tail or jerk or a head.

The message of keeping the faith, believing in yourself and others and triumph against all odds is an enchanting one and War Horse is a great show for all the family.

I was completely and utterly spoilt. Bloody Brilliant Birthday!