A NIGHT AT THE HIPPODROME

Girly nights out have been a real blessing recently - time with old friends, where you chat about everything and nothing for hours and hours. One of these recent evenings was spent with Georgie at Leicester Square's Hippodrome Casino - a huge, 24 hour casino, that houses two floors of gaming, as well as a lovely restaurant - the Heliot Steakhouse - and a theatre that hosts up to two shows a night. We went along to try it all out, starting with dinner at the Heliot.

The Heliot's menu is all encompassing - yes, it's a steakhouse but they've got something for everyone on there. Georgie didn't want meat, but that didn't stop her having lots to choose from. For starters I had tuna tartare with avocado wasabi and mint jelly. Despite the lack of any strong wasabi flavour it was tasty, fresh and light. And exactly what I wanted to start the meal. In fact, we had already started, with really good, oven warm bread that we devoured most of before our starters came out. Georgie went for the seared scallops with golden beetroot which were perfectly cooked - charred on the outside but not overdone. And yes, my photos are terrible - casinos aren't exactly brightly lit.... Though you wouldn't want them to be. And even though we were in the restaurant, the restaurant itself actually snakes round the side of the room, looking directly over the gaming room and dancing girls!
 

 

 

 
For mains I chose steak, because how could I not?! It was cooked exactly as requested, and is 28 day aged prime USDA meat - I had the ribeye and it was delicious. We shared truffle mac and cheese (not so great), some strange salad, and some very good green beans. No photo of the steak, because despite being so good, it wasn't exactly photogenic. Georgie's main of sea bream with samphire and beurre blanc was simple yet wonderfully executed.

 
One thing I particularly enjoyed throughout our evening at The Hippodrome were the cocktails. They're really reasonably priced (from £8 up) and great to drink. Georgie's pudding - chocolate mousse and salted caramel ice cream - and my pudding - lemon sorbet - rounded off the meal nicely, paired with an espresso martini.

 
As soon as we'd finished desserts and coffee we wandered down to the theatre for the Ratpack tribute act show. It was so much fun! I had no idea what to expect, but the guys were fantastic. They looked and sounded like the real deal and put on an awesome show.

After all the food and entertainment, it was time to lose some money! We had a spin on the roulette tables, before admitting defeat and heading out in to crazy Saturday night Leicester Square to get the tube home. My cheeks ached from smiling so much after such a fun night. The Hippodrome would be perfect for birthdays, or big parties, and as I said, it's open 24 hours a day (restaurant included) so you can always pop in after you've been out elsewhere.