anniversary at the avon gorge hotel

as mentioned in the previous post, it is our 7th wedding anniversary AND friends have offered to watch the peanuts so we can enjoy a night out without peanuts.

awesome sauce.

since we are new in town & haven't really looked into any nice non-kid friendly restaurants, we are excited to head out but not a clue where to go. plus my going out wardrobe is severely limited since having children. and we will be walking so heels are out of the question this evening. lucky i brought my red prada driving shoes which can pass for flats in a pinch. phew!

friends suggest the avon gorge hotel, near the clifton suspension bridge, a feat of engineering which we have not yet seen. after a round of confusing directions through a park, an alley & several streets, joe & i head off. gemma & dignan are having such fun with the bredow girls, they could not care less when or even if we'll be back to get them. this is a good sign.

we manage to find the restaurant despite a walk thru a park & many twists & turns. the restaurant menu looks promising. we go in & since it's sunday night, hope that the fact that we have no reservation will not pose a problem.

luckily for us, the restaurant is near empty & they do indeed have a table for those lacking a reservation for the evening. we are seated near a large window that perfectly frames the clifton suspension bridge.

as aforementioned, the menu offers some tasty sounding entrees, so we order up. an italian pinot for me & a south african pinot for joe plus a pint of what they've got on tap. we order a rocket salad but apparently they are out of rocket. rocket, for those of you not familiar, is just a different name for various lettuces thrown together. so we opt for our second choice, crab cakes - which was always my first choice. interestingly enough, the crab cakes arrive on a bed of rocket. they are delicious but we are suspect that a salad could not be had from just rocket but that rocket is in abundance for a nest for crab cakes to sit upon. i ordered the chicken with gnocchi & bacon. joe gets a fish. we will be swapping halfway but it soon becomes clear to both of us that i made the better entree selection. oh, well, more room for dessert!

our dessert course consists of 2 choice - sticky toffee english pudding & a chocolate ganache cake. the pudding is not what i consider pudding but more of a cake on the order of fruitcake hardness. it comes with creme fraiche for dipping & some melted toffee. good but not supa dupa impressive. the chocolate ganache cake, of course, always satisfies & i finish it all.

while the avon gorge restaurant proved to be a good anniversary dinner choice . . . there are a few things i have neglected to mention thus far ; this restaurant is connected to the avon gorge hotel. it also has a pub next door that has an outdoor patio. the pub patio area was open the night of our dinner. meanwhile over at the avon gorge restaurant, although also having an outdoor patio area, was not serving on the patio that evening. the restaurant's crowd that night was, ahem lacking in, er, style? hipness? youth? je ne sais quoi. i will tell you the main clientele that evening were folks that were probably around during the civil war and tourists. and by tourists, i mean the guy who wore shorts. to a nice dinner at a restaurant with cloth napkins & his wife. perhaps they'd meant to hit up the pub next door but the abundance of doors was confusing & they found themselves in the nicer, pricier restaurant instead. either way, dude, put on some pants. it's dinner. i know you brought them, so up to your room & try again. and don't return until you're sportin' some pants. even them khakis from dockers will suffice.

geesh.

you just can't take some people anywhere. maybe i should refrain that comment: maybe you just can't take german shorts-wearin' tourists anywhere.

happy anniversary to us!