food food, more food. (Chinese and French) and a bit of drink. (cocktails)

It's been a long time since I posted anything on here. My social life has been, frankly, limited to work-related dinners lately. OK, so I have had a social life, but it's been happening abroad mostly, so I can't write about it on my London blog. Yesterday, I spent an evening at the Cocoon on Regent Street, which was fab. It's a great place to go to, especially if someone else is paying. They serve pan-Asian cuisine, cocktails and a lot of champagne. It could just as well be called This-is-the-place-for-you-Lucie. Those of you who have seen my food cupboard will know that I have a box full of Indian spices and the rest of the stuff in there is mostly basmati rice, curry pastes, rice noodles, limes, peanuts, spring onions, garlic, tomatoes, ginger and pak choi. I live off Asian food. I could eat it every day for every meal. Who am I kidding, I do eat it every day for every meal. Sometimes I wonder where my Czech roots disappeared to.

So I kicked the evening off with a non-alcoholic cocktail, not on purpose, just couldn't locate the alcoholic page of the menu at that point. It was called Shouka and there was a lot of blackberries in it, which I love. Next up, it was Jasmine Fizz, a champagne-based cocktail with passionfruit pulp and jasmine, which had a very Asian feel to it.

The food was great. I remember prawn dumplings, crispy duck rolls, fish, fluffy rice, fabulous beef, seaweed salad, baby pak choi, sushi, cute little desserts and many other things. The décor of the place is very lounge-trendy, with low ceilings, dim lights and glass tables that have rose petals inside them. My only concern when I entered the place, was that it smelled of fish everywhere. Quite a lot.

Despite the fact that this was a work thing, I had a nice evening, with some great chitchat, although I can't believe people are still talking about the credit crunch so much. As a trendy and cool child, I have to tell you, moaning about the economy is like so last season. Get a new conversation topic already. How about the rising popularity of espresso machines in Europe? Fascinating stuff! And it's business-related!

Among other work-related things, I have also recently discovered my love for beef at the Brasserie Chez Gerard. Chateaubriand steak, meet Lucie. Lucie, meet THE STEAK. Yum. But it seems like ages ago now!