I heard it through the grapevine

I should have posted this in February – one of many posts I have drafted yet didn’t have time to finish. Anyway…

I had neglected to book my sisters 25th Birthday meal last year, and so I made it a top priority this year. Amazingly, I actually booked the restaurant this time, 2 months before her 26th birthday of course.

We went to Mere, a restaurant near Goodge Street owned by Monica and David Galleti. If you recognise the name, you’ll maybe realise that Monica is on Masterchef, and is pretty awesome. Hence my decision that Mere would be a great place to visit – and I’m so glad we did.

I turned up in jeans and a jumper (witch a large logo on the front of it) and wasn’t turned away. My sister wasn’t that impressed with my effort, but I hadn’t adequately checked whether there was a dress code. At least I wasn’t wearing trainers (I had taken them off outside the front door of the restaurant, almost falling over in the process.

Once inside, our bags and coats were, of course, stored away and we were directed to the bar while we waited for our table. I copied Annie because I couldn’t make up my mind which cocktail I wanted, and opted for “Rose Mere”. The main problem was there wasn’t one cocktail I recognised as they were all the restaurants’ own recipes. It was, of course, fab.

We met David (he gave us our menus at the bar so we could choose ahead of time what we would like to eat) and we both selected the vegetarian tasting menu with the accompanied wine pairings because TREAT YOSELF.

Ignoring the fact that I could have bought us a couple of return flights to somewhere in Europe for the same price, it was completely worth it. The courses were so incredible. Well thought out and perfectly executed, imaginative…I could go on, To make it even better, the wine pairings were equally fantastic. Evidently, I do not hate white wine, just cheap white wine.

As a birthday treat to Annie, I also ate the mushrooms that came with one of our courses. I will admit I was so reluctant to do so and wish I hadn’t eaten them as the dish didn’t sit too well with me. Without the mushroom, a mouthful of the meal was divine! So mushrooms and I experienced another loveless battle, and neither of us won.

Here are some photos (except for the evil mushroom course, Annie forgot to photograph it as she was so engrossed with me actually eating mushrooms).