My lovely boyfriend, Will, turned 27 on Wednesday the 17th of December and I took him out for a fun day in London town to celebrate!

I decked out our little flat with funky balloons and ribbons (a bit girly, but what does he expect!) and he opened his presents in the morning.

 

Barrel Boulangerie

Later in the day we grabbed a quick lunch at this amazing pizza place that I discovered near my office in Hoxton, called the Barrel Boulangerie. It is really nice inside, with cosy wooden tables and a kinda of clean/cool kind of vibe (it is Hoxton after all!)

We would usually order a pizza each but as I was taking Will out for a very special birthday meal (all will be revealed but I imagine you can guess where that took place by the title of this post!)  we just split a “Mexican” (olive, artichoke, chilli, peppers, cheese.) It was bloomin’ lovely.

Ripley’s Believe It Or Not

Next on the agenda was a mystery surprise adventure to Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum – Will had wanted to go for a while for some reason and I am glad we did as it was weirdly wonderful. We saw giant snake skins, shrunken heads (kind of gross,) played with an interactive grafitti wall, navigated a mirror maze and escape a room FILLED WITH LAZERS! So yeah, despite Will turning 27, we acted like we were 7. The best way!

PLANET HOLLYWOOD IS AMAZING

If Will thought the day couldn’t get any more exciting after the LAZER quest at Ripley’s, he was wrong! Yep – we were off to PLANET FRIGGIN HOLLYWOOD!

Will absolutely loves Arnold Schwarzenegger. Like really. He has seen pretty much every Arnie film ever made at least 3 times (I *THINK* his favourite is Conan the Barbarian…classic Arnie!) and last year I bought him his autobiography for Christmas. When Will found out that Arnie had set up Planet Hollywood, a restaurant was FILLED with movie memorabilia and served amazing burgers,  he wanted to go immediately!

Unfortunately Arnie sold the Planet Hollywood franchise in 2000 but it is still a super, super cool place where his legacy certainly lives on! His hand print is still upstairs in the restaurant, nestled with that of many other big celebrities.

As we arrived at Planet Hollywood, now located on London’s Haymarket, Will was positively gleeful! We were looked after so well and offered a drink at the bar before our table was ready. I started off the evening with a Hell Boy but Will OBVIOUSLY went for the Terminator!

We were taken to our seat, which was NEXT TO THE CHALICE FROM INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF THE SUN! How cool is that? Resisting the urge to pocket the priceless piece of set, we browsed the menu, only to find my Once The Muscical Poster sitting pretty on a FULL PAGE SPREAD. It was meant to be!

Filled to the brim with all of the chalice and poster based excitement, we decided to get cracking and ordered the starter to END ALL STARTERS! The VIP sharing platter, because, y’know, it was my boy’s birthday!

All I can say is WOW. The platter was delicious. SO DELICIOUS! It came with  buffalo wings, texas tostados, chicken crunch (essentially tender yet crunchy slices of delicious chicken ), parmesan spinach dip with tortilla chips and loaded potato skins. OH MY! The best part of it all was the cheesey spinach dip….seriously….I think I died and went to cheese heaven! For those of you who know me, you will be aware that I HEART CHEESE! ahhh!!! Before deciding in our mains we managed to slug down a cheeky glass of prosecco; it was a party after all!

Following the dizzying heights of the starter latter, I decided to go for a slightly less carby choice for my main; the oh so succulent surf n turf, served with runner beans, tomato and a side salad (with more parmasan because lady LOVES her cheese.) Will went for a much famed Planet Hollywood burger, settling in the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger after MUCH deliberation.

I asked for my steak to be severed rare, which the chefs thankfully mastered, and I have to say it was absolutely mouthwatering! The shrimp were big and juicy too, I even gave one to Will (it was his birthday and I felt like I had to OKAY!) Similarly his burger was definitely something to write home about! He liked it so much, in fact, that he decided to pocket the Planet Hollywood stick holding it together. Sorry PH!

I washed my main course down with a very refreshing “Le Fizz,” a cocktail comprised of Vodka and Elderflower cordial, whilst Will sunk a “Titanic” (I am too funny, I know!) We then ordered some cheeky dessert cocktails whilst pondering actual factual dessert!

The decision was made for us as our lovely waitress for the evening suggested a double chocolate chip brownie, served with whipped cream and fudge ice cream. OH GO ON TWIST MY ARM! We only ordered one though, so that isn’t so bad…right?!

 

We waited for our pud with a “Gorillas in the Mist,” a Bailey’s, Kahlua, Malibu, banana liqueur and vanilla ice cream concoction, and a cherry cocktail that, I have to be honest with you, I cannot remember what it was called (#wonderwhy.) All of a sudden a waitress appeared with a big sparkler in our brownie as I had tipped off the staff it was Will’s Birthday! The brownie was gorgeous and I was delighted our big day out finished, quite literally, with fireworks (ish!)

Absolutely stuffed and somewhat merry, Will and I tipped our lovely waitress and set about navigated our way back to Kilburn in a happy haze! It was such a great day out and Will told me later it was his favourite birthday ever, which pleased me a lot 🙂 Thank you Planet Hollywood for making us feel so special and encouraging us to order more drinks 😉

Until next time!