Valentine's, Cardiff, 21st Birthday and Cake !!

We had a lovely Valentine's Day meal at Saints Bar in Nuneaton. Our son is the Bar Manager so we do visit quite often, We love their food - it's all freshly cooked, a lovely restaurant. For Valentine's Day they had a special meal which was amazing.

Glass of Proesecco each

Platter including salmon fish cakes, chicken bites and flatbread to share

Sea bass served with fries and veg

Chocolate fondue with sweeties and fruit to share

Chocolate sharing fondue

We had an amazing night enjoying their Prosecco for just £9.99 a bottle and superb cocktails made by our busy son. He's very good and does make a mean cocktail.

Saints Bar Cocktails

Monday we traveled to Cardiff to see our daughter who's at Uni. It was her 21st birthday on Tuesday but we took her and her boyfriend out for a meal Monday night as she was going out with friends on Tuesday (more about that later).

We stayed right in the city centre at The Thistle Parc Hotel. Our stay was lovely; clean,comfy rooms with a great breakfast. As Tuesday was Pancake Day the chef was making them fresh - delicious. 

Back to Monday night - we went for cocktails first, although I can't remember where they were lovely.

Cocktails in Cardiff

We went to Las Iguanas for dinner, Hubby and I had not been before although we have been out for a Mexican meal. It was lovely food, not too spicy and quite filling.

Tuesday morning (after our pancake breakfast) we visited our daughter with her gifts and a cake I'd made. Her boyfriend made us pancakes - well it was Pancake Day - for lunch. I was very pleased with the cake - my friend has a printer for icing and printed some photos for me. 

The cake I made

Our daughter thought we were going home but actually her friends had arranged a surprise party at Lab 22 (another cocktail bar) and had invited us too. We had a lovely afternoon in Cardiff before going for a meal at Cote Brasserie, a french restaurant chain we have not visited before.

Hubby and I both had mussels for starters and decided on a bottle of  Lande Blanc 2014 Vin de Pays des Côtes de Gascogne which was absolutely delicious. Hubby has a steak and I had a chicken salad which was huge, with toasted walnuts, avocado and croutons.

Mussel starters

Chicken salad & steak frites

After the meal we met with her friends at Lab 22 and all got ready to surprise our daughter!!  Her friends had decorated the room with the theme of masquerade - it was beautiful. We all wore masks too, she was surprised and pleased to see us as we were supposed to be at home.

Masquerade table

Cake I decorated for the surprise party

We had put together some photos of her growing up and her friends had added some from Uni. The club had them on a loop on the big screen - it was a lovely idea, as was the renaming of some of their cocktails to things to do with her - Gamesmaker, PH, Hearnden - it was an amazing evening.

On the way home Hubby and I stopped by the original Severn Bridge. We followed a small lane and to our surprise we were right underneath the bridge.

Severn Bridge

Under the bridge

Another lovely trip - surprisingly little wine but so many cocktails - well it's not everyday your daughter turns 21 !!