Where are we?! Birthday boy, Shan, my B-I-L, requested for steak for his celebration this year. So Fuzzy and I hooked up with our connection at Lawry's and I booked the private dining room for our party of 25 (immediate family and a handful of his friends). The room was beautiful; regal with chandeliers and paintings. Lawry's also added some special touches to the occasion by printing a personalised menu for us with Shan's name on it.
The menu I worked out for Shan started with either their signature Spinning Bowl Salad, or soup, which was cream of chicken and barley for today. The main course choice was prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, Idaho mashed potatoes and choice of vegetable (most of us chose the creamed spinach, some prefered the creamed corn). The non-mammal alternative was a seafood platter, which consisted of sea bass, salmon crumble and grilled prawn. I did away with the dessert course because we brought a cake along with us.
Dinner proper started past 8.30pm. The sourdough and limpa came warm in their baskets. I love sourdough, and could not resist devouring hunks of it with butter, despite still being full from having eaten at the wedding earlier :/ We ordered the Lawry's house wine, which was surprisingly delish; akin to a very good Australian Cabernet Sauvignon. It went nicely with the Spinning Bowl Salad. Chubbs had a blast watching the waitress work the large stainless steel bowl over the bed of ice, tossing the leaves in the sauce, and dishing out small plates of the cold, crisp salad. Think he picked up a few pointers from her.
When our main course trolley rolled in, he watched the chef load our plates very intently too; carving the beef and ladling the spinach and potatoes on.
Fuzzy and I ooohed and aaahed over the creamed spinach and the yorkies. The spinach was flecked with bits of bacon, which gave it a smokey aroma, but also made it a tad too salty for my liking. The yorkies were to-die-for! We have tried to make it countless times at home, when we have steak dinners, but it never even turns out 1/4 as good! Fluffy on the top, custardy at the bottom. Sloppy with gravy. How can you beat that? The beef was very tender and together with the mash and gravy... it is the death-row meal of many, I'm sure.
Because Fuzzy and I had a huge plate of food at the wedding earlier, we were way stuffed by the time we polished off our food. But I couldn't resist eating a tandoori-esque lamb chop that our aunt ordered. It turned out really well. Charred and nicely spiced. We were too full to have our dessert there (NYDC's oreo cheesecake), and Chubbs was starting to rub his eyes. He had done very well, despite having been awake and playing for more than 6-hours, and attended a wedding before this. He was content snacking on his Organix rice cakes and as many Gerber puffs as he wished for his dinner. What a treat!
Happy in his seat the entire night.
The Lawry's staff surprise Shan with a personal cake and sang Happy Birthday to him in harmony. It was indeed a memorable celebration, which Shan enjoyed a lot. I have to commend the service provided by the eloquent waiters that night. It was not intrusive, prompt, swift and polite. There's nothing one can possibly fault the staff for.
Fuzzy and I enjoyed a strong post-dinner cuppa before we left at 10.30pm. By the time we got Chubbs in his bath, it was past 11pm. He was sooo tired when he finally hit the sack a little before midnight. Poor chap.
A parting shot before we left... sans Ev's family :(
