Tag: cocktails

Children, Families, Family Life, Food, Holidays, Kids Days Out, Large Families, London, Memories, Money Saving Tips, Photography, Restaurants, Resturamts, Reviews, Summer

Happy Hour At Ping Pong

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on Happy Hour At Ping Pong

[PRESS VISIT] This summer was all about making up for the lost time of lockdown and trying to fit in as much fun as we could. A lot of our time was spent with us being tourists in our own city and exploring parts of London we haven’t been too – and this included a new resturant for us – Ping Pong.

Ping Ping offers delicious Dim Sum and carefully crafted cocktails at a whole host of different locations across London. We were visiting the Tate Modern so decided on the South Bank branch for our visit and were welcomed with a smile and shown to our table.

There are no menus per se, instead you have a list of all the foods and drinks avaliable and then us it as a tick sheet for the items you want. I had completely over ordered to begin with but the friendly waiter was on hand to help me rejig a few things and we were then good to go.

We were there for Ping Pong’s happy hour which runs from 3-6pm Monday to Friday and offers a huge range of their Dim Sum and cocktails for half the price.

There really was something to please everyone and the boys loved the opportunity to sample things they haven’t tried before…and of course it would have been rude not to have tried a cocktail or two!

The soft and delicate prawn and chive dumplings were to die for, as were the turmeric and Chinese vegetable dumplings. The children worked their way through plate fulls of crispy duck spring rolls and enjoyed popping edamame beans covered in celery salt. We washed all this down with lychee and iced teas for the boys and Ping Pong signature cocktails for me.

We couldn’t have faulted our first trip at all. Helpful staff, beautiful surroundings and fabuolous food and drink in a relaxed atmosphere…what more could you want!

Flowers, Gifts, Reviews, Reviews

My First Virtual Event With Moonpig

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on My First Virtual Event With Moonpig

[AD] The world is a pretty funny place at the moment and we are all having to adapt to a new way of life. This can be hard and there are definitely things that I am missing more and more as time goes on.

With my line of work the majority is done online and I predominately work from home so this isn’t to much of a change for me; but a fairly large percentage of work is also event based which I have to say I am really missing now.

Meeting new people, discovering new brands and simple face to face interaction has completely gone and I’m definitely missing this side of my work. So when an invite to a ‘virtual event’ from Moonpig popped into my inbox I was very excited albeit a little a sceptical as to how this was going to work.

A night of cocktail making and flower arranging had been planned and the running order of the evening was exactly what you would expect from any other event, and when the bits and pieces started to arrived at the front door the excitement started to build and I was eager to get started.

With the children shut in the front room with bowls of sweets and a movie for bribery to keep quiet I transformed my dinning room into a flower arranging/cocktail masterclass area and waited patiently for the Zoom meeting to begin.

The screen started to fill will faces – some familiar and some not so, but all super smiley and welcoming.

We started of the evening chatting a little about the Moonpig App. Now I have been a customer of Moonpig for many years now and I hadn’t even realised there was an app available.

It was super easy to use and allows you to access 10,000+ cards and filters from wherever you happen to be.

They have also added something new and exciting, so now not only can you personalise your cards with your own words and pictures, you can also add your own handwriting in a few easy steps. This was a real bonus for me and something I know the little ones will love to be able to join in with.

This service is available on all iOS devices and will be coming to android soon.

Another thing I didn’t know about Moonpig was the extent of gifts they have on offer to add to your cards, with the gin and flowers we were going to be using being just a few of the things on offer.

Next up was our cocktail masterclass with James from Mix and Twist. We had a step by step guide on how to make a Gin Garden, Elderflower Colin and a Strawberry Gimlet with a few games thrown into the mix too which got so competitive it ended up with lots of spillages, a broken glass and plenty of belly laughs.

It was a brilliant way to discover something new but I think it should have been saved until last as I went into the flower arranging more than a little tipsy!

I had been sent an amazing bouquet of flowers from Moonpig and one of their experts Roxanne was on hand to give us some tips on how best to arrange these bouquets.

For me a bunch of flowers will always brighten up my day and it’s just what so many people need right about now!

I came away from the flower arranging with a lot more tips than I was expecting. For years I have moaned about the leaves in the water going gunky and it was a complete surprise to me that I should have been trimming these off before putting them in a vase…pretty obvious if you think about it!

I also hadn’t realised the importance of the size of the vase and I soon came to the realisation I don’t own any that are suitable for displaying flowers well.

All these tips come inside the flower box which is something I’ve never seen before, but for someone like me it would be of great help.

I came away from the event having learnt new skills, met new people and super happy that my first virtual event had been one to remember, so thank you very much Moonpig!

Banstead, Cafes, Cakes, Chocolate, Diet, Families, Family Life, Food

Kiddie Free Evening At FEGO

by thejoyoffive2 Comments on Kiddie Free Evening At FEGO

A while ago now I went along to FEGO in Banstead with Frankie and Oscar to see what they had to offer in the way of family dining.

We were hugely impressed with everything they had to offer…so much so that when I was asked to come back and sample their evening menu I couldn’t wait.

I’m sure I’m not the only parent who craves a little adult time away from the daily routine of taking care of the family, in fact I think it is important to take a break from it all, give yourself a little headspace and enjoy some adult conversation.

I hadn’t had a night out with my younger sister since Christmas so we were both really looking forward to some uninterrupted chit chat over dinner.

We arrived at FEGO and were taken to our table where our super friendly waitress guided me through the drinks menu and helped to pick out a cocktail she thought would take my fancy.

I went for a pornstar martini that I sipped on whilst we perused the menu.

It was a tough decision and I flitted from burgers to salads, pizzas and steaks until I finally settled on a succulent piece of salmon coated in lemon and olive oil served with a sweet potato side salad that was covered with a whole grain mustard dressing.

My sister went with the veggie curry that was a gorgeous combination of cauliflower, spinach, sweet potato, aubergine and butternut squash in a mildly, creamy curry sauce served with fluffy basmati rice and a really different mango salsa that made a pleasant change from the usual chutney.

The desert menu was then shown to us and although every part of me wanted to opt for the fruit plater to save my waistline, my willpower was not strong enough to resist the sharing platter of mini puddings.


This was probably not the best choice for sisters who still have that childlike tendency to argue over who has had the biggest portion!

Each and every pudding was a taste sensation with something different with each mouthful.

The lemon posset gave you that bit of sharpness, the chocolate brownies and ice cream were there to satisfy the love for chocolate and the pasteis de nata filled the want for something creamy.

But my favourite had to be the peppermint crisp pudding that was a combination hard to describe so I will leave it down to you to try for yourself.

Pleasantly full we remained at the table and chatted for ages with another cheeky cocktail.


At no point did we feel pressured to leave and were more than happy taking in the great atmosphere, relaxing and making the most of some rare time out.

Never before have I visited a restaurant at serval different times of day and have been able to enjoy completly different yet equally as wonderful experiences.

FEGO really have covered every base and I have to say that evening dining has been my favourite experience and one that will be having me coming back time and time again.
*Collaborated Post

Food

The Botanist Resturant Review 

by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment on The Botanist Resturant Review 

Exposed brickwork, quirky lighting and friendly faces were what we were greeted with when we entered The Botonist in Farnham the other week.

   
  
 
There was a really buzzy feel as we entered the bar area where people were busy chatting and sampling drinks from the huge cocktail menu they have on offer.

We were shown upstairs to our table in a more subdued area where we had a beautiful glass of red wine whist mulling over the gastro pub style menu.

  
The attentive waitress came over to take our order which for starters consisted of chicken liver and rum pate with beetroot and onion chutney for me and calamari for my husband.

It was when the starters were presented that the whole theme of the resturant  was bought to life. 

My pate came served in a super cute mini plant pot with the accompanying chutney in a miniature wheelbarrow.

   

 

Not only was the kooky presentation fabulous but the pate had a beautifully smooth consistency complemented perfectly with a crunchy topping.  I smothered this over the warm bread and finished it of with a smothering of sweet chutney.

My husband is a creature of habit and as soon as I saw calamari on the menu I knew this would be his first choice.

  

The calamari had a perfectly crispy coating that was served with a creamy mayonnaise and lightly dressed rocket leaves.

As a calamari connoisseur this came highly recommended from him.

For my main meal I had a delicately spiced Malaysian chicken curry served with fluffy, white basmati rice which was cooked perfectly.

  
My husband had a classic dish of steak and chips that was that little bit different due to the super tasty seasoning added to the chips.

I always like to save a bit of room for desert and I was so pleased I did when a gooey sticky toffee pudding was placed in front of me.

  
This finished off a sumptuous meal perfectly!

We couldn’t leave without sampling one or two of the cocktails.  I went for their namesake to start with and really impressed with the refreshing cocktail with a great little kick!

  
By now the bar area was filling up nicely and a live band had just begun their set.

We stayed and listened to the music and took in the atmosphere for a good few hours.

For me The Botonist offers so much from a place to come to grab a quick drink and a few bites of bar food to a whole evening experience with a beatiful meal and good music.

I had initially thought it was more suited to adults only but when I was shown the children’s menu of the usual favourites served in a fun way just as their adult dishes are it will most definitely be somewhere I will visit again as a family.

  
We were given a meal at the resturant for the purpose of the review and these are all my own honest opinions.