This Week The Mice Have Mostly Been...

In London the week started out with a snow storm! Maybe a little bit of an exaggeration but you know how us British can be when it comes to the weather. A bit of sun and there's a drought, a scattering of snow and the country shuts down... Anyway, it has been a bitterly cold week with lots of evening duvet and hot water bottle action! Over in Hong Kong we're assured its a pretty similar story. It may be clear, sunny and a steady 20+ Celsius but HK Mouse has become a bit of an expat wuss. She claims that because the flats are built to let out the heat and have no central heating that 20 C is the equivalent of -1 C, we're not convinced...!

Aside from squabbling about the weather, this Week The Mice Have Mostly Been...

Eagerly devouring F.Scott Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'. So much so that I semi look forward to getting on the tube each day at the crack of dawn and fighting for a seat just so I can get my morning Gatsby fix!

If you saw our post back in May 2012 hyperventilating about the film release then we may sound like a broken record, but as I'm reading it for the first time I hope you'll let it slide and allow me to gush about it once again! 

Image via jojoaponte.com

When HK mouse was home for Christmas she showed me the forthcoming film trailer which if I were to describe in one word I would say ... breathtaking! I seriously could not take my eyes off the screen. The costumes! The Music! The cast! Well you've guessed it I was straight onto Amazon ordering myself a copy of the book. Sadly I wasn't lucky enough to read it at school, instead I slowly made my way through 'Underground to Canada' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. If 'The Great Gatsby' had have been on the syllabus I would have definitely received a few more A+ grades that's for sure! 

Image via www.fansshare.com

Image via www.neontommy.com

I hate being told by smug book worms after watching a film that ... 'the book is so much better' and that 'the film just didn't do the book justice'. I've therefore made a pact to try and always read the books first so I don't feel like i'm missing out so much! In my experience however, it is often true and near impossible to make a short 120 minute film live up to a beautifully written book packed with page after page of imagination. Examples for me include 'One Day', 'My Sister's Keeper', 'The Time Traveller's Wife' and 'The Help' (although the latter I must admit was a stronger adaptation than the rest). However, having seen 'The Great Gatsby' trailer I have a good feeling that this one will live up to my very high expectations! 

If like me you haven't read the book then order a copy now! Don't let the fact that it was written 80 odd years ago put you off. Its 115 pages of pure glamour, glitz, parties, love affairs and secrets - you would never guess that it was published back in 1925! Set in the roaring twenties it exposes the rich lifestyles of a social set living in mansions in Long Island. It boasts tonnes of fun, a real page turner and is thought to be Fitzgerald's finest novel. 

Image via www.broccolicity.com

Honestly if the trailor is anything to go by we are in for a treat ... there is a stellar cast - Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire, Joel Egderton, Carey Mulligan and Isla Fisher and the film is Directed by the amazing Baz Luhrmann, creator of Romeo and Juliet. The release date has already been put back from Christmas 2012 to 10th May 2013. All I can say is roll on the next 105 days and get your tickets booked ASAP!

Take a sneak peak here and get excited with us...!

Falling nose over heels for Jimmy Choo's subtle new fragrance, 'Flash'. I'm always a little cautious when it comes to brands who are famous for creating something, in this case, shoes, so perfectly who then decide to branch out into new product areas. However I am happy to report that Jimmy Choo knows its perfume just as much as it knows its stilettos! 

Everything about this fragrance oozes glitz from its cut glass bottle design inspired by a paparazzi's flashbulb to its glitter-tastic outer box packaging! 

The pocket sized scent could be described in one word as 'floral' but personally I think it has much more depth than that with notes of strawberry, jasmine and white lily coming through. The fragrance works hard to last on your skin which is a must in my opinion, there's nothing worse than spritzing yourself all day long with little effect. 

Bag yours now at Debenhams online - £36 for 40ml

Pleasantly surprised by the new Bombay-style cafe in town, Dishoom. I say 'pleasantly surprised' because I had booked a reservation to try the much hyped Dishoom before Christmas but had since read a really negative review from the well known Food Critic, Jay Rayner. My expectations were therefore lowered and my richter scale of excitement pulled back to a mere 6 - with my newly adjusted outlook in place, I made my way to the Shoreditch restaurant eager to see/taste for myself. 

Image via www.dishoom.com

First things first, the interior is beautiful with so much to look at - chunky marble bar tops, exposed brick, black and white tiled flooring, antique family photos scattered on the walls and generally a rough round the edges / shabby-chic feel. 

Next up the food - curry with a difference! We're not talking run of the mill Brick Lane curry but Indian dishes packed full of flavour and spice, sure to get your tastebuds tingling! Firm favourites included lamb samosas, gunpowder potatoes, masala prawns, mahi tikka, paneer roll and biryani. The Dishoom signature dish, the house black daal, deserves a stand alone mention - simmered for 24 hours it is dark, rich and deeply flavoured. But the star of the Bombay show goes hands down to the Lamb Raan, a whole leg of lamb marinated in chilli, garlic and ginger, braised overnight with spices, then flame-grilled, sliced and dressed with fresh lime - quite simply, out of this world amazing! 

The puddings were also incredible. We opted for Pineapple and black pepper crumble to share and then I couldn't help but be a greedy guts and order the mango kulfi on a stick, which was basically yummy mango sorbet in the form of a pointy mini milk!

As you will have guessed I absolutely loved Dishoom and would go back in a heartbeat. The food is really something else and to top it all off super affordable too. Our bill came in just shy of £200 for six people and we most definitely over ordered. There's whispers that this winning concept is going to be rolled out as a chain - watch this space!

Dishoom Shoreditch

7 Boundary Street

London 

E2 7JE

020 7420 9324

Dishoom Covent Garden

12 Upper Street

Martin's Lane

London

WC2H 9FB

020 7420 9320

That's your lot and the end of another week - January has flown by hasn't it? It will be Christmas again before we know it and we'll all be another year older and wiser - slightly depressing...!

Happy weekend all - The Mice x