Hula Hooping at The Ebury

It’s a strange old combo but The Ebury restaurant in Chelsea is running hula hooping classes this January to help punters shimmy off that Christmas fat.

After exercising, you can eat a ‘healthy menu’ which, incredibly, gives you just 350 calories for three courses. 

I had purposefully turned up late so as not to endure the full hour of hooping (January lazy). My friend, who had not mastered the art, glared at me as I sauntered in and proceeded to spin the ring around my hips in seconds. It’s the only ‘sport’ I could ever do at school. Teacher Diana Deffries showed us graceful party manoeuvres from high-kicking through the hoop to nifty figure-of-eight dance steps. As an exercise, hula-ing was great fun and had broken us twirlers into a radiant glow.

More than ready for dinner, we then skipped downstairs to the tan and leather restaurant where we averted our eyes from the fatty menu. Instead, I had a clear beetroot gazpacho with baked salmon and crème fraîche (83 calories) and my mate had buckwheat noodles with pickled wild mushroom and carrot caramel, a sordid 85 calories. My lovely gazpacho, cerise in colour, packed with tiny shards of cucumber scattered like confetti. Having struggled with hula-ing, my friend was now more distraught at the size of her starter: ‘Maybe it’s so few calories because the portions are so little,’ she said, unhappily.

Sweeping on to mains, my grilled haunch of venison with zesty curly kale, crushed new potato and cranberry jus (180 calories) was well-cooked but lacked soul. The potatoes were made with water, not butter (surely a hanging offence) and my friend’s basket of steamed baby vegetables with a Jerusalem artichoke cloud – while tasty – was as small as her starter.

By now, I was craving carbs. So I pounced on the almond pancakes with pear salad and passion fruit coulis (80 calories) while my friend had caramelised banana pavlova with dark chocolate glaze for the same count. These were very serviceable – and we had ignored the helpful waitress’s advice that we didn’t have to have puddings if we were trying to cut down (bless her – like, as if). All very healthy and no complaints if you’re detoxing. Only problem was, I got home and scoffed a packet of Maltesers (187 calories).

Hula hooping classes run every Monday until January 25, from 6:30pm.
Participants get 25% off the a la carte and healthy menu options after the class.

 The Ebury
11 Pimlico Road
Chelsea
SW1W 8NA

Tel: 0207 730 6784
www.theebury.co.uk