A few weeks back I went to a different kinda ball to the ones I usually go to. Usually the balls my friends and I go to are at
London’s old-school private members clubs, but this time we went to one at the
Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, which was organised by the Order of Malta. It was certainly different – and MUCH bigger – than our usual balls, so I thought I’d tell you all about it!
The Order of Malta Volunteers are a Catholic charitable organisation who work hard to fundraise and hold events to raise money to provide care and friendly support for the terminally ill and for adults and children with disabilities. The
White Knights Ball is the main money-raising event, held each year in January.
However, like anything religious, there are a number of people out there who believe the Order of Malta are some sort of crazy secret Illuminati organisation. The day after the ball I had some woman on Twitter tell me my photo from the ball was ‘fake’ and the OMV are clearly faking photos to make it look like there are beautiful young women at the ball, and then all her conspiracy theorist friends joined in with exclaiming how awful the OMV are. Seriously. These people are batshit crazy.
Anyway, we bought a table and I went along with my #CatholicGals and a few other friends who aren’t Catholic (all are welcome!). It was more expensive than our normal balls, but we had so much fun and the food was really great!
The evening started with a champagne drinks reception, before we moved downstairs for dinner. Apologies but all of the photos are from my phone as I didn’t take my camera!
We were lucky to have a great table towards the front by the stage, and we took great delight in browsing the silent auction and nibbling on crusty bread rolls and salted butter before dinner started.
Dinner began with a prayer, and then we tucked into Seared Hereford beef, Thai salad with roasted peanuts and basil, chilli, and lime dressing. I picked off the peanuts as I don’t like them, but the rest of the dish was incredible and I just wanted more of it!
Mains was Duck leg confit, potato terrine with black garlic, green olives, sun-blushed tomatoes, green beans, baby fennel, and a tarragon jus. The duck was a little tough and over-cooked which was unfortunate, but the potato terrine was dreamy.
In-between mains and dessert it was time for the auction. We were still pretty hungry as the duck was a let-down, but thankfully our waiter came to our rescue when he gave us an entire basket of bread rolls!
And finally, the epic dessert. Ling honey and lemon curd, caramelised meringue, and strawberry segments. It was more of a summer dessert but it was INCREDIBLE. I practically licked the plate clean.
Naturally we ended up in a 24-hour McDonalds eating milkshakes and nuggets…because we’re #ClassyGals as well as #CatholicGals.
A super fun night, and we will definitely be back again next year!
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