Mediterranean dining

I had another busy day at work catching up with emails and outstanding invoices and helping Sara. I did answer the phones for the first hour to help out Kathy and Sue as we were very busy again.

I finished today at 2pm, though, and sped home to catch up with some housework chores. The weather has been mad today, with April showers, sunny spells and strong winds. Mike and Abbie were visiting from Southampton, and they had arranged for us to go to a restaurant in town called Chilli Village. Sophie was having a meal with Laura at the Rose and Crown in Yardley Hastings so I had offered her a lift over.

To be honest, Keith and I didn't really want to go out for a meal this evening. I still felt a bit rough, for some reason, and Keith felt the same. It's quite ironic that since testing negative for covid, we've both felt worse!

We dropped Sophie off at Yardley Hastings and Mike texted me to say that they were in Northampton but not to rush over as they were getting changed after their long journey. We drove to the restaurant to check out the parking and then went to collect Mike and Abbie.

Keith and I hadn't really known what to expect tonight and were slightly surprised that Mike wanted to go to Chilli Village. His favourite restaurant in Northampton was Akasaka, I always thought! The restaurant is quite bizarre and is supposedly modelled on a hacienda in South America (I think?), with lots of wood everywhere. It looks a bit out of place in the middle of Northampton!

We parked the car and walked across the road to find the restaurant almost empty. We sat at a huge wooden slab of a table and had a look at the extensive (and not cheap) menu which seemed to be based on  Mediterranean dishes. There were samovars everywhere and lots of wooden artefacts dotted about.

We chose our meals, deciding to skip starters. I chose the stuffed chicken, Keith and Mike had lamb chops while Abbie opted for duck. I was a bit alarmed by the prices as the main courses veered from £16 to well over £40 and Mike made it clear that he expected us to pay for everyone, which was annoying. It was his idea to go out this evening!

The food was good, though, as my chicken was delicious, and served with a fondant potato, cauliflower and broccoli, as well as some roasted tomatoes, and bizarrely, some orange slices! Three of us made from for desserts - cheesecake and creme brulee. The bill came to £108 and Keith gave the strange waitress some cash for a tip! We had a lovely evening and it was great to catch up with Mike and Abbie and hear all their news.

We dropped Abbie off at her house and then carried on to Yardley Hastings to collect Sophie. She came out of the pub carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers from Laura, which was lovely!