Birthday Treats at Harrods

I warned you I was going to milk my birthday. I'm also going to warn you to look away now if you've carried the January diet into February because this post features an overwhelming amount of calories. But when something tastes so good, I'm willing to overlook it.

And this was the case when my blogger friend Sarah invited me for ice cream one sunny Sunday. We both had an afternoon free and with the promise of the best ice cream in London, I certainly wasn't going to refuse.

With the first glimmers of Spring and the sun shining, I headed off to meet Sarah at Harrods.

Shoes, Office: http://www.office.co.uk

Jeans, Jack Wills: http://www.jackwills.com

Gilet, Ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk

We met and headed straight to the second floor, deliberately averting our eyes through the leather and travel accessories department, to be met by a queue of around 20 minutes. That's fine we said. It meant an extra twenty minute of drooling over the delicious looking flavours through the glass cabinet, and I wasn't going to scold anyone for that. The bar is all silver and glass, with stools all around the main station where the magic happens. Theres additional seating to the side, and everything from the menu's to the chandeliers sends you somewhere not dissimilar to Willy Wonka's factory.

 The parlour itself is a Morelli's Gelato concession, the only one in London and one of only a handful across the world. It's in its fifth generation of Morelli family ownership and began as a business from a bicycle basket. They've come a long way in their 106 years and are opening their first independent London store this year *hurrah*.

Fifteen minutes later we were seated at the bar browsing the menu. Sarah is somewhat of an expert at the menu, but to a fresh pair of eyes, this was gelato heaven. And an incredibly difficult choice. I eventually went for the Berry Pavlova while Sarah chose a Banoffe favourite.

We watched admirably while an animated bartender (ok so they don't serve alcohol, but ice cream is surely the next best thing) whipped up our concoctions in the largest and most fun looking sundae bowls I had ever seen.

Our ice creams arrived drizzled in sauce. Mine, layers of vanilla and strawberry ice cream with seasonal berries and whipped cream was sweet and delicious and we took well over an hour devouring our ice creams and talking fashion week, birthday week and dreaming of summer.

Our bill came to £32 which, for an afternoon in London's most famous department store, is quite impressive. And totally worth it in our eyes.

All information can be found here http://www.harrods.com/content/the-store/restaurants/ice-cream-parlour/