After hearing many good reviews about the dining experience in The Rainforest Café, London, I decided to check it out myself.

The largest restaurant in London was decorated top to toe in tropical plants and vines. Mechanical gorillas and elephants moved and made noise throughout the evening while tropical fish swam in a fish tank all setting relaxing surroundings. Water falls are spread around the restaurant to emphasise the rain forest theme and during your meal you’ll hear thunder and see lightning.

The food was good, the savage minute steak and major mojo bones were extremely tasty and well recommended. Perhaps a little over priced but the experience made up for this. The drink selection was good with a wide variety of many wines, champagnes, cocktails, juices and sodas and the deserts were as good as they looked.

A restaurant well worth a visit! The Rainforest Café is located at 20-24 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 7EU. The nearest tube station is Piccadilly and for more information call 0207 434 3111 or visit www.therainforestcafe.co.uk.

Simon woodruff the entrepreneur behind Yo Sushi has brought another great Japanese idea to the UK. Yotel is the latest space saving hotel. The concept has been copied from the Japanese pod hotels that have been popping up all over Tokyo in recent years. The bijou hotels feature tiny rooms with just a bed and a tiny area of floor space – standard rooms feature a single bed which is apparently large enough for a cosy two and premium rooms offer a double bed and couch. Storage is built into walls but you do get your own wet room with monsoon shower!

At the moment the only Yotels in the UK are located at Gatwick and Heathrow airports. The Yotel is aimed at allowing tired passengers to get some sleep while they wait for their delayed planes. For this reason rooms can be booked for as little as four hours at a time. There are plans to open a hotel in London’s west end soon. I’m sure they’ll become a perfect retreat from those who have stayed out passed the last train….although I somehow doubt they’ll be letting out rooms for four hours only in that part of town! Standard pods at Heathrow and Gatwick cost 25 pounds for four hours and are charged per hour after that at prices from £5 per hour – make sure you have a good alarm clock with you when you stay!

Embassy bar and restaurant is one of the hottest night spots in London, a place to see and be seen. Perfectly located in the centre of Mayfair, Embassy is spread out over three floors. The top floor is the restaurant which is all you expect a posh place to be, seating well spread out and waiters eager to meet your every need, the floor to ceiling windows give it a more exclusive feel and you are welcome to dine alfresco in the summer months. On the lower level of this floor there is a pre bar where you could also eat in a more relaxed atmosphere, perfect for those pre-club drinks or a small bite to eat.

The members bar is downstairs along with the VIP room which is situated between the top and bottom floors. The bar and club area is stylish, modern, opulent but a little bit cosy. The food and drinks are pricey and be prepared to order your main meat and vegetables or chips separately, the steak is absolutely worth it and the cocktails are refreshing.

Overall it’s a lovely bar and restaurant and worth a trip to see for yourself. The Embassy is located at 29 Old Burlington Street, London, W1S 3AP. Call 0207 437 9933 to book or visit www.embassylondon.com for more information.

It’s that time of year again when London becomes even more hectic as the British Film Institutes film festival comes to town. From the 17th of October you can book tickets to watch selected films that premier at the festival until the 1st of November. Not only will there be guaranteed celebrity guests but Britain’s best talent will be unveiled.

Watch the premier of Brad Pitt’s starring role in Andrew Dominik’s new film ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford’ or perhaps Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep are more to your taste in Robert Redford’s ‘Lions for Lambs’. All stars are expected to attend but for film fanatics there are many other films to choose from such as David Cronenburg ‘Eastern Promises’ or Richard Attenborough’s ‘Closing the Ring’. You’re bound to find a film that suits your interests.

Visit www.bfi.org.uk for more information on performances and how to purchase tickets.

To celebrate London Fashion Week, the vibrant and fashionable Donovan Bar in Mayfair’s luxury Browns Hotel will be serving up limited edition fashion cocktails. The bar, named after British photographer Terence Donovan is a chic, fashion savvy hang out with black leather decor and photographs taken by Terence Donovan.

Enjoy live jazz on Monday through to Saturday from 9pm each week and during London Fashion week the place to be seen will serve up the delicious cocktails from the New York cocktail; a mix of Bourbon, lemon juice and grenadine syrup with amarena cherries, to the Milan cocktail; a mix of Milano de Bere, Prosecco with raspberry liqueur and fresh raspberry puree. These cocktails are only available from the 8th September through to the 8th October 2007 so be quick.

Opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 11am until 1am and Sundays 12 noon until Midnight. Find the Donovan bar at The Brown’s Hotel, Albemarle Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 4BP or call 0207 493 6020 for more information.

Absolut Ice Bar is the UK’s only fabulously cool bar made of ice. It is based in Mayfair, London and is kept at minus 5 degrees all year round; everything in the bar including the walls, bar, chairs, tables and even a telephone box is made of crystal clear ice.

The vodka bar serves all the different flavour vodkas you can imagine and with entry you are handed a glass made of ice to receive a free vodka cocktail. The Absolut Ice Bar has a £12 entrace fee apart from Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings when it is raised to £15 and with that you are provided a hooded thermal cape to keep you warm along with gloves. One thing I would advise is to wear trousers and boots, shoes or trainers with socks that will keep you warm as the cape doesn’t cover your legs and my friends in their skirts were extremely cold! After your 40 minute time slot in the Ice Bar warm up next door at Below Zero; a two floor lounge bar and restaurant. It’s one of those ‘must sees’ in life.

Visit www.belowzerolondon.com for more information.

While browsing Green Events this morning I came across an article that caught my attention. Trees for cities are holding a Tree-Athlon in Battersea Park to raise money for the planting and care of thousands of trees. The same event was held in 2005 and 2006 and both were successful and popular with the public.

Trees for cities is a charity and have organised a 5km run and a ‘tree wish’ – I’m intrigued to find out more about this! There will also be a fashion swap; everyone takes a clean item of clothing that they no longer need and takes something home that they do need, all left over clothes are donated to TRAID (Textile Recycling for Aid and International Development). The event will take place on Saturday 15th September from 10am onwards and will be a great way for all you tree lovers out there to donate to the cause.

For more information about the event visit www.tree-athlon.org.

This year The Fashion Rocks event in association with the Princes Trust is coming to The Royal Albert Hall in London. On Thursday the 18th of October music and fashion will unite for this one off spectacular event. Hosted by Samuel L. Jackson the show will showcase the latest collections from designers confirmed such as Chanel, Stella McCartney, Valentino, Armani, Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and Burberry.

Previous Fashion Rocks events held once before in London and in Monaco saw pairings between Mariah Carey and Versace, Grace Jones and Stella McCartney, Kasabian and Burberry and also Beyonce Knowles and Armani.

Tickets went on sale back in May and are still available from www.ticketmaster.co.uk starting at £85 ranging to £350 plus booking charge. For those of you who are not able to attend the lavish occasion you can watch the televised event on Channel 4.

This month some of the best restaurants in the London area are offering 50% off the total food bill in conjunction with the London Paper and Top Table.

There is a wide range of styles to choose from – from Thai in Madienhead at the Aroy Thai (the place to go for traditional cuisine), to exclusive Mayfair restaurants such as Artisan (an elegant restaurant close to bond street) and 104 park lane in the Marriott hotel (which serves fresh contemporary cuisine).

In my opinion the trendiest option is the First Floor restaurant on Portobello road. Elegant Victoriana décor and British and ethnic cuisine make it an excellent place to visit after a long day haggling at the markets. You can book online by following this link.

I bet many of you who read this blog would love to do most of the things we mention but never get round to it because you just don’t have the time to organise it – am i right?

I for one feel quite depressed writing about the latest summer picnic craze or wine tasting event, knowing that despite my good intentions i’m not going to get round to actually trying it! I spend so much time at my desk and anserwing phone calls and emails – even when i’ve gone home! – that the last thing on my mind is organising tickets and taxis to a night out. If only i could employ someone to organise my social calender as well as i organise my work one!

Well apparently there is such a service. Exec Events Club is designed to help busy workers in the city find time to socialise. They organise a range of exciting nights out, parties, day trips and holidays and members are all invited. You can join as a single person, couple or group and there is a choice of 6-8 events a month so you are bound to find something that suits your tastes and your busy calendar. Example events organised by the club are trips to the Ballet, Sailing Weekends, Royal Windsor races, Gastropub nights and Cultural Holidays. If you are new to London this is a fantastic way to meet similar people in a very relaxed and entertaining environment. Membership is £205 per person or £350 for a couple, to get a social life you dream of this is money well spent!