With the really hot weather in London this week, memories come flooding back of tropical paradises that I’ve visited, one of my favourites is the beautiful Hawaiian island of Maui. So when invited to come along to Hilton's wonderful restaurant Trader Vic’s on Park Lane to sample a special Independence Day inspired menu I was off before you could say ‘Aloha’.
You might think it strange for a true Brit to want to
celebrate the 4th July, but we too can celebrate the event in which
we finally had independence from the Americans. Joking aside, with wonderful food and a sound knowledge
of making great Mai Tai cocktails, Trader Vic’s is a wonderful place to have a little fun.
The Independence day menu is £49 for three courses.
Our meal began with tender BBQ spare ribs.
They were huge in size, if you like ribs in which your meat drops off the bone then these are not the choice for you. I however love to pull the meat off the bone so they were perfect.
Other options for starters, curried cauliflower soup (given the temperature outside this was definitely not an option) and Maryland crab cakes.
The crab cakes were perfectly cooked and the addition of the summer leaves and Tartar sauce the perfect accompaniment.
For mains you have a second chance at ribs, Mongolian short beef ribs with roasted bell pepper mash and corn on the cob.
This is a homely and very comforting meal. I thoroughly enjoyed the mash potato with the addition of the bell peppers delicious.
The other main on offer which was my clear favourite was BBQ Monk fish wrapped in Parma ham and served with spiced ratatouille.
The dish is beautifully presented with the spiced ratatouille, that was perfectly cooked and the Parma ham added the perfect saltiness to the dish.
For the vegetarians amongst us, they also served chargrilled symphony of vegetables, with sweet potato mash and herb oil.
Now although rather full at this point, to miss out on dessert would be a real shame, especially during a celebration.
Dessert offerings come in the form of Dobos Torte (layered chocolate cake and crunchy caramel).
The thin layers of sponge make this a delicious lite and tasty dessert. The crunchy caramel was a great addition.
The other offering is banana fritters, now I have a love hate relationship with this dessert.
As an option Banana fritters certainly would not be first on my list of desserts, but if done well it can be a good way to round off a meal . The fritters were perfectly cooked and I am pleased to say had not been drowned in oil.
If you are in London and looking for somewhere to celebrate Independence day, then the Hilton's Trader Vic is the perfect place to enjoy yourself.
Wishing all my American readers a wonderful 4th July. What plans do you have to celebrate Independence Day?
All 4th of Julys have got to include a big juicy burger of ribs in my opinion!
ReplyDeleteThat Adventurer
Ooh a juicy burger yummy that would be a good 4th of July Lucy x
DeleteAhhh.. I like Trader Vic's it's good fun :) I find Mai Tais too strong though!
ReplyDeleteLots of love,
Angie
SilverSpoon London
Trader Vic's is great for a fun night out. Mai Tais are strong certainly couldn't drink more than one Lucy x
DeleteI've never celebrated independence day. I have celebrated Canada day before and that was pretty fun! The meal looks lovely.
ReplyDeleteCorinne x
www.skinnedcartree.com
Canada day sounds like fun. It was lovely to meet other bloggers and have a yummy meal Lucy x
DeleteTrader's Vics is such great fun, those ribs look pretty tasty
ReplyDeleteSuze | LuxuryColumnist
It is a great place to go for cocktails and a relaxing meal Lucy x
DeleteI've never celebrated the 4th of July before but those ribs look absolutely delicious! xx
ReplyDeleteToasty
The ribs were yummy perfect amount of meat and wonderfully cooked Lucy x
DeleteOh my goodness it looks great. Like a very heavy but very enjoyable meal!
ReplyDeleteIt was rather a lot of food but as a foodie not sure you will hear us complaining Lucy x
DeleteGreat review Lucy! That chocolate torte looks rather spectacular! Yum!
ReplyDeleteMarie X
www.titchytombie.blogspot.co.uk
This looks like such fun! I didnt manage to do anything this year but I was in the States last year for it which was great :)
ReplyDeleteAsh | Liakada
What a nice way to celebrate, sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteAhhh these yummies make me forget that it is already 8pm :)) Lovely review dear Lucy. Liuba x
ReplyDeleteOh my, those ribs! All the food looks amazing, but wowzers, I could do some damage to those ribs... both sets! We moved in to our own place after 6 months of living with family on the 4th July so it was a true independence day for us, we celebrated by popping to our new local and enjoying their 4th July menu, I had a pretty good jambalaya, nice and spicy and full of meat and fish - yum! x
ReplyDelete