It has been far too long since my last blog. Things have been chaotically busy, lots of illness and also a little bit of a lack of inspiration. My apologies, I shall try and do better in future.
Yesterday was my second Mother's Day and it got me thinking about what was going on last year and how there were similarities to this year. This year was very quiet compared to last year, just my husband and I and our beautiful little girl. Last year it was us and over forty people celebrating our daughter's christening. We hosted the reception after the christening in the pub across from the church; which is a short walk from our house. This year we went back there for a delicious dinner, a special treat to avoid all the clearing up after a roast.
The pub is called The Tudor Rose in Old Coulsdon. I have to say that I really love going to this pub. Last year they were so hard working and accommodating, going out of their way to make everything perfect for us. They are very popular and get booked up very quickly on special days like Mother's Day but they provided a fantastic service last year. We turned up before the pub even opened with balloons and a cake. When we arrived after the service there was a designated area for us clearly sectioned off with lots of seating and tables. They had set out the cake beautifully and put the balloons out too, along with cutlery and crockery in preparation for the buffet. We turned up with over forty people and they coped very well with the pressure on the bar! The buffet they supplied lived up to my expectations, having eaten there on a number of previous occasions. There was a main course and a pudding course and they also supplied a cake knife and plates for consumption of the cake. Being such a popular and busy day they had originally said we had to relinquish the area after a couple of hours so they could turn the space back into a dining area but in the end we were somehow able to keep it for quite a lot longer and moved out when people naturally began leaving.
This year we visited again and I was once again very impressed with the food and service. They were rushed off their feet but seated us quickly when they saw we had a little one with us. The had obviously anticipated being crazily busy as there was a lot of staff working. Service was slow but we didn't actually mind as they were so busy but they were trying their hardest. They had invested in being well staffed and we were regularly approached and checked on. They realised off their own initiative that we had been waiting a long time and approached us apologising and then immediately went to chase our meal up. The food was delicious as usual. Twenty pounds for a three course meal from the Mother's Day menu, a menu that had about four or five options per course on which covered a wide variety of tastes. There was also the option of the al la carte menu if people preferred. As a lovely touch after the meal I was presented with a few chocolates and a discount card for the local hairdressers as a Mother's Day present. The staff were all friendly and thoughtful, working very hard without exception.
As a little footnote, this pub is family friendly and accommodating of little ones. We organised dinner here with our group of NCT friends and they were able to deal with an invasion of ten adults and five babies, with all the paraphernalia that this entails. They didn't bat an eyelid when asked to warm up several bottles and the changing facilities in the disabled toilet are clean and user friendly.
I have thoroughly enjoyed both of my Mother's Days, both the busy and the quiet, and I look forward to celebrating many more with my special little girl.
Happy Mother's Day to all the Mums in the world, especially to my wonderful Mum.
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