You Had me at Macaroni. Sketch London.

My boyfriend is training to be a chef and I am a slightly fussy eater.  I say slightly because I don't think I'm that fussy, it is more that I like my food nice and simple.  However Matt likes what I call posh food, he has dined at some of the best restaurants in the world and I am happy with a good mac and cheese.  This is where Sketch comes into play, they have two Michelin stars and have macaroni on the menu. They had me at macaroni.   

Sketch was conceived: by French master chef Pierre Gagnaire and restaurateur Mazouz - "sketch is a complex and unique site. Conceived by French master chef Pierre Gagnaire and restaurateur Mazouz, it has attracted unprecedented media reaction for its myriad food, drink and entertainment styles since it opened in December 2002. Gagnaire's culinary genius has inspired the menus throughout sketch. His eponymous Michelin three-starred Paris restaurant has a distinctive menu style, which Gagnaire had adapted for sketch".

Umbrella Rack

Sketch is composed of different restaurants within the one restaurant this is Sketch, you can view the different menu's on their site.  To my joy the macaroni was in the less expensive of the restaurants, it's not cheap though and it is good value for money considering you could easily spend the same money for frozen crap at Frankie and Benny's. Our aim is to work our way up the restaurant, I don't know how I'll cope with the fancier menu but I'll try.  You cannot book The Parlour but we only waited for 15 minutes at a push and the front of house staff were lovely.  Very good customer service. The décor of The Parlour is very chic, and a little odd.  It appears to be somewhat modelled on a kitchen (with kitchen cupboards where the teapots are kept) but at the same time it is like being in your Granny's living room. When I say 'Granny's living room' I refer to the that homely feeling you get when there and the vintage furnishings, actual furniture not a reference to your Granny.

The wine is good, as you can see.  If I am being honest I was a little but apprehensive about the night because it is a 'posh London restaurant'.   After visiting Sketch I take that back, it is a fancy and artfully tasteful restaurant with electricity eccentricity. The atmosphere was comforting and everyone was chilled out, unlike another expensive restaurant I had visited the previous night - which had a terrible atmosphere and Matt and I both agreed it had been a waste of money. His choice of restaurant, obviously.  Sketch was mine. 

The food was also a lot better, I got the Macaroni gratinated with Emmenthal cheese, celeriac rémoulade salad and Matt got the Beef burger - which I initially thought was a really boring choice but I should have known better judging from the umbrella holder that it wouldn't be your average beef on a bun burger.  I didn't take any photo's of the food (which I regret) because I didn't want to be that twat taking photo's of their food, why I cared I don't know. Both meals were delicious, and whatever the secret of Sketchup is I'd like to know.  It will be hard for me not to order the macaroni again on my return to Sketch in the future.  Maybe we will go for lunch before dinner. 

The waitresses wore pink converse, which gave me envy at the murky pink colour mines are these days, but I loved this touch.  I have been labelled the quirky one of my friends and this is the kind of quirky touch that I appreciate.  

Talking about quirky, check out these toilets! I am still in awe about these toilets and I feel the food aside the amazement you'll feel at these toilets are worth the visit. We reached the bottom of the stairs and I had to ask somewhere where the toilets were for them to be like 'I think its those white things up there'.  

Amazing, right?  Well, strange but amazing.  It felt like being in a living Dali painting - with a French maid. Or really posh portaloo's. I saw some more of the restaurant on my way there and it is beautiful.  Visiting Sketch is an experience rather than somewhere just to go for dinner.  It is the kind of place you'll talk about in years to come and you will return to.  If I lived in London I would make here a regular spot.  Obviously if I lived in London I'd also have some money and I'd go through the entire cocktail menu but we shall see...

"I want a room," thought he, " to rest." "Certainly my dear," he was told, "you have a choice of eight." "You lie," said he… on counting he saw only six. "Ah yes, but eight rhymes with cake." "Okay," said he, "what shall I find?" "Well," said the voice, "if you are very hungry and have coins in your pocket, ascend the stairs and you will find a dining hall of such magnificence, it will so take your breath away that your face will be a certain hue." "Gosh," thought he, checking his pockets and his complexion in a mirror, "what else do you have?" "There is a bar ranked with chairs of every discernible shape… one is bound to suit… and gentlemen behind the bar who will mix a beverage so fair to help sooth the most pained head".