Champagne and Canapes at St James' Court

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I’m not the fanciest of ladies.

At heart, y’all know that I’m a pizza, Primark and cheap red wine kinda gal.

But, y’know, every girl (me included) wants to occasionally get all dressed up in heels and a pretty frock, and drink champagne and feel all fancy. Right?

Because why not?

Well I’ll tell you why not: because I’m a twenty-something receptionist living in London.

And therefore I’m constantly broke, and pizza, Primark and cheap red wine is all I can afford.

BUT YOU GUYS.

I think I’ve found the solution.

The lovely folk over at Zomato invited me to go and try out the St James’ Court hotel’s Champagne Flight experience and I think that THIS IS IT.

The perfect spot to go and be fancy for a little bit, before running away to have dinner somewhere cheap.

The Hamptons Bar is a teeny tiny space at the back of the St James’ Court reception area.

It’s got comfy armchairs in funky colours, a live pianist in the background and a really lovely relaxed (but fancy) vibe.

There’s no stuffiness about it, none of the over-the-top snobbiness that tends to make me shy away a bit from fancy places (because I’m incredibly clumsy and awkward and I’m always afraid someone’s going to ask me to leave cos I don’t fit in…)

But yeah. I really liked this!

The waiters were really friendly, and we were seated immediately by the window which was nice.

Service was quick, and within about 10 minutes we had our champagne and freshly-made canapés laid out in front of us.

The Champagne Flight menu is a grand total of £20.

An absolute bargain when you know that you’re getting three glasses of Laurent-Perrier bubbles, along with a perfectly matched snack to go with each.

Our first stop was the Laurent-Perrier Vintage 2004 (on the right), which was paired with a crostini piled high with roasted vegetables.

This was our fave champagne choice. Perfectly balanced and sooo yummy. The canapé was really lovely as well.

Next we went for the middle one: an L-P Cuvée Rose paired with smoked salmon wrapped around prawns. This was by far our absolute favourite of the canapés. Perfectly fresh smoked fish with a yummy creamy filling… Mmm!

Finally: the Laurent-Perrier Brut, which came served with this amazing-looking scallop and avocado tartare. It was nice, but both of us agreed that it was a bit bland. It could have done with a lot more lemon or lime juice, and maybe a sprinkling of salt.

We nibbled and sipped and chatted, and it was really nice to just sink back into our comfy armchairs and unwind after a busy week.

And after we were done being fancy, we just gathered up our stuff, ran for the tube and headed down to the Putney branch of Bill’s, for a not-so fancy dinner of crumbed halloumi, mac’n’cheese and one of the best Caesar salads I’ve ever had.

Fridays don’t get much better than that.