In search of a wedding anniversary venue, Jane Gallagher hits on a gem
by Jane Gallagher, Liverpool Daily Post
EIGHTEEN years earlier, the weather had been somewhat similar - grey, drizzly and cold. The difference being this time I wasn't warmly wrapped up in a white meringue of a dress enjoying a five-course banquet.
No, on this cold February afternoon we were strolling the streets of Southport looking for somewhere to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary.
The day had started off promisingly enough. After 18 years of sharing a home, a bed and the parenting duties, we apparently still enjoyed the same tastes - as we had bought each other exactly the same anniversary card.
My romantically-inclined husband thought it was a sign that we were meant to be together. I took it as a sign that our nearest supermarket stocked a woefully narrow supply of suitable cards.
Now, after 17 years of choosing and booking a restaurant to celebrate our special day, I had decided to leave it to my husband. I was beginning to think it was a mistake. I have to admit that 5pm on a Sunday evening wasn't the most auspicious of times to eat out, but the early evening was the only slot our babysitter could manage.
Restaurants we passed looked ominously empty and lacking in atmosphere. But just as we were about to give up we passed The Lounge Inn.
We knew nothing of the restaurant and our chance selection was based on the fact that the steamy windows revealed the shapes of people inside. The menu outside looked promising and it was on that basis alone we made our hasty decision to enter.
As we walked through the door, I wondered if we had actually entered a bar instead, but it turned out there was a bar to the right and a restaurant to the left. The people were real and they were eating and laughing.
The smell of fresh paint and the clean decor made me think the restaurant was either new or newly refurbished. Our waitress swiftly seated us on the last remaining table by the window, which provided some priority people-watching as we waited for our orders to come.
The clean lines and neat square shapes of the tables gave the interior an Eastern feel, almost like a Sushi Bar. However, the menu offered more of the contemporary fusion cuisine which has become popular.
