Every month or so, a group of us work colleagues get together to have a meal out.

It is a small select group of just four fun loving friends who enjoy good food, a drink and a laugh.

The food type doesn’t matter that much, it is really just about getting together, sharing stories, having a giggle and relieving some stress all round.

The last couple of months we have had Chinese and TGI Fridays and this time we decided to have a pre-Christmas meal at a local retail park, Rushden Lakes.

The Lakes is a lovely, relatively new retail park with a lot of shops AND a huge amount of eateries.

You name it; Caribbean, Pasta, Burgers, Pizza, Pies, Desserts only, Thai, and several Coffee and Cake shops.

For this meal we had chosen to go to Bill’s.

Forever Friends

If you don’t know Bill’s, it is a mid-priced chain restaurant serving a variety of meat and vegetarian dishes such as steak, burgers, salads and pasta.

It is also somewhere that I have been to many occasions, mainly with the floofy boy that is Theodore. Bills is situated on the lakeside, where there is a lovely woodland walk.  I would take him for his walk and stop at Bills on the return.

I would sit in the outside dining are, relishing the sun whilst having a drink and he would get a plate of mini Cumberland sausages!

Simply perfect.

This time it was a totally different scenario.

It was Winter and dark. Bills had installed four ‘igloo’ like pods which we had reserved for our meal. Arriving at 7pm we were warmly greeted by the female hostess who took us to our home for the evening and told us Matt would be serving us.

Half the Menu

Now, its the Christmas season, there are four feisty ladies in a private pod and there is alcohol involved.

Poor Matt didn’t know what had hit him!

All joking aside, we were in fine spirits and looking forward to festive meal and a few giggles. We certainly got both of those including marvellous meals and bloomin’ great service.

The pods were well set up; a wreath was hung above us, which had lights and decorations hanging from them. The marble table was decorated with candles and a cute Christmas tree and there was a small heater designed to look like a fire.

Wreath-tastic!

Velvet curved chairs were as comfy as can be, and came with blankets, fake furs and throws. Everything was designed to keep you as snuggly warm as you could possibly be.

Not having used a pod before, we were all surprised at just how quiet they were. Whilst not completely soundproof, they certainly insulated a lot of the noise and felt like you were alone in the dark, looking at the stars.

Now the environment had been made quite festive and special, the dinner menu had a good amount of choices on it, some of which were quite festive. I was torn between the Halloumi fries and the Prawn and Avocado cocktail.

I eventually went with the Halloumi fries with cranberry ketchup and I have to say I was pretty glad I did!

Heavenly Halloumi

Crispy, melty and so very tasty, the fries had a tangy cranberry ketchup that suited it beautifully. I polished off every morsel and hope that the next course would be just as good.

Matt came to remove the plates and possibly bring more gin for those imbibing and was a bloody good sport when it came to our frivolity.

It wasn’t too long before he arrived with the main courses; mine was truffled steak and eggs; a minute steak, two fried eggs, a truffle cream sauce, side salad with seeds and rosemary salted fries.

Truffled Steak and Eggs

I was pretty optimistic as it is one of my favourite dishes, with a bit of a festive twist.

Certainly I was not disappointed. The steak was tender and the sauce was so flavoursome. I was really pleased that the eggs were completely cooked as I cannot stand a ‘snotty’ egg, yet the yolks were runny too.

The fries were crispy and the rosemary salt was a great addition. It was even better when I covered them with the truffle sauce.

One of my favourite bits, surprisingly was the salad. I am not sure what the dressing was, but it was fantastic. The crispy seeds really added a little something which I had never tried before. I could have eaten a lot more of it, if I am honest.

Not a Crumb was Left

Whilst eating we continued with the chatting and banter. It was absolutely brilliant and exactly what I needed as I had been struggling quite a bit with my mental health.

Many things had contributed to it; being in constant pain with my knee, a nagging ear infection, family illness and the worries associated with that, financial struggles and a really heavy workload have bought a low mood that I have found really difficult to shift.

As with many people, the festive period brings its own struggles. The darker days and nights, cold weather, getting ready for Christmas, present shopping, all whilst trying to get on with everyday life.

I had been to have some physiotherapy on my knee and I was in a little bit of discomfort and really not feeling like going out. If I am honest, I would have liked to have cancelled but I had arranged to pick up my friend Helen on the way.

I would never let her down so I put on my gladrags and a bit of slap and set out for the night.

Helen, My BFF

And oh boy, it really was the medicine that I needed. The silly jokes, banter, dopey pictures we took and the general chat really cheered me up and I said this to the girls. The really great thing was that a couple of them said they were struggling and feeling exactly the same way!

One other way to make us feel all better was to order a decadent dessert.

I had read the menu and there was one that stood out for the reasons that it sounded like it would LOOK spectacular.

This was called ‘Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree’ – A red berry cheesecake in a chocolate flowerpot, with chocolate crumb, topped with a Christmas tree, chocolate stars and baubles.

The only problem is, that it had lots of chocolate elements to it and if you read my blog frequently, you will know I don’t like chocolate other than a plain, simple Cadburys bar.

Oh Christmas Tree

I was optimistic that someone else might order it so I could Instagram the hell out of it though.

My choice was slightly more traditional; an apple and mincemeat crumble served with cinnamon spiced custard and vanilla ice cream.

Being someone who isn’t too fussed over custard, I asked if it was possible to swap it for cream and was told that they had clotted cream;  A perfect choice on a cold night.

What was even better was Matt bringing out furry hot water bottles to ensure we all were snuggly warm. What a service!

As for the crumble?

Served in cast iron rectangular dish, the crumble was tasty, buttery but not stodgy. The mince and apple was tart, spiced and really good. Adding a huge dollop of the clotted cream offset some of the sweetness and went together perfectly.

Crackin’ Crumble!

I was already full from the first two courses but the crumble was so exceptionally good that I couldn’t resist taking another mouthful until every single crumb was consumed.

It was probably one of the best puddings I have ever had and I was glad that I had chosen it. In fact, if I return for a visit before the festive menu is finished, I might just go with a starter and two desserts, both crumble!

As I was totally stuffed, I didn’t want an after dinner drink. Corinne went with a hot chocolate and Sheila had a Golden Latte; a turmeric, agave, ginger root, cinnamon, black pepper and coconut milk latte.

Whilst it sounded absolutely disgusting to me, it looked fantastic. Served in a double-walled glass, it really did look great, almost like Advocaat.

Golden Latte

Either way it went down an absolutely storm and finished off the meal for us.

We had been in the pod for over two and a half hours and the restaurant was starting to get ready to close down. Matt came into the pod to say good night and thank us for being a fun bunch to serve, which was really lovely.

Getting the bill, we split it between us and bade one another a good night, giving hugs a long the way.

The whole night had cost £35 which was amazing given the amount of food and drink I had, the use of the pod and the atmosphere.

Crazy Corinne

Which like the advert says, was just….

Priceless.

Now we just need to plan for a New Year extravaganza.

Till next time,

SPSG xxx