Il Bordello And A Treat

So yesterday. We had planned to go to Belgium (even the ferry was booked) and enjoy a day in Veurne (a beautiful town, like Bruges but smaller and no tourists). However because we had a police officer coming round to take a statement over Ian's stolen bike we felt we should skip leaving the country and do something we could get back from quickly.

So that is how we found ourselves heading to London. There was a huge queue for tickets at both the window and the machine when we arrived (we later discovered it was because someone was trying to get a refund on a future dated ticket and book another future dated ticket!) but we managed to be the last people to get a ticket in time for the train. Phew! Got to London and negotiated the tube from St Pancras to Wapping (I really hate the tube these days but it was my first time on the old East London line since it became London Overground and I was impressed with the new trains!).

Why Wapping? Well, as any Dear Constant Reader should know, Wapping is the location of Il Bordello, my favourite restaurant. We arrived at the start of the lunch service and had bruschetta and calamari as starters. Absolutely gorgeous, of course. I then followed up with my usual, spaghetti carbonara. Washed down with an absolutely delightful pinot grigio. Staff were, as always, attentive but not intrusive. I love that place. Couldn't finish the main, their portion sizes are so awesome.

We then headed back to the tube and made our way to Stratford. We headed to Westfield in search of, and I kid you not, pralines. We did not find any but on the way Jim got himself a lovely watch, bought me some Invictus from the Perfume Shop (whose staff seemed somewhat disappointed to have to sell something to us) and then we wandered passed the Apple Store. Jim foolishly asked "Do you want an iPad?" and, not one to pass up such an open offer, I immediately agreed and thus I found myself the owner of 16gb iPad with Retina Display (i.e. 4th gen). Thanks hun! It is my first Apple device since the iPod video (just checked and found that was 8 years ago!) but I'm loving it already. My beloved Google Nexus is probably going to go the way of my Kindle Fire...

Got home but I had such a horrendous headache that I failed to objectify the police officer when he arrived. I'm losing my touch.

Today I had breakfast at Googies. Work tomorrow. Sigh.

Rocksalt, Folkestone - Excellent Food

I'm just back from an excellent lunch at Rocksalt. I was meant to go on opening night but Jim's work schedule made it inconvenient and I gave the booking to my boss (yes, still brown-nosing with the best of them). After a rather scathing review by the Independent, I was a bit concerned but I needn't have been.

The building itself is beautiful both outside and in. Outside it blends in to, and compliments better than Jetty's managed, the harbour surroundings. Inside it is cool and fresh, dredging up memories of hip bars by the Thames in London or cool little restaurants by the marina in the Costa Del Sol when I was younger. The balcony, and thus the whole restaurant, affords wonderful views of the harbour itself and the sounds of the seagulls calling to each other and the sea lapping against the harbour walls makes for a wonderful venue.

We were greeted and seated quickly; the staff were charming and just the right side of chatty. The lunch time set menu was very reasonably priced (£17.50 for three courses compares very well with some of the more undesirable restaurants in town). Jim and I both had the salmon pate to start, which was creamy, tasty and served with delicious sour dough bread. We followed that up with the lamb, carrots and spinach with a side of duck fat chips to share. The lamb was cooked perfectly, the carrots crisp and the spinach just perfect. The duck fat chips cannot be described with mere words (except perhaps nomnomnom) but were faultless in everyway. There was a half hour wait for the dessert but it was dealt with well by the staff (and we got one of the desserts free for our troubles, so can't complain about that!). Jim had the Bakewell tart which was beyond beautiful. The combination of flavours and textures were absolutely spot on. I had the rhubarb fool which, and I say this having been to many a fine restaurant with Euroffice when I worked there in London, was the best dish I've ever had. Anywhere. Even better than the yellow curry at the Balcony Pub in Bangkok or the spaghetti carbonara in Il Bordello in Wapping. It was fresh and sweet and the rhubarb melted in your mouth. I cannot sing it's praises enough.

I'd go back just for that, but there are plenty of other very good reasons to return (and we shall be). The wine was also fantastic, Pinot Grigio 2010 Friuli Banear, and extremely well-priced given the quality.

So don't be put off by other reviews, the service was excellent, the food gorgeous and the surroundings sublime. Go now. Do not delay.

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist

Friday. In celebration of getting a job, and in commiseration that the kids are on Jim and I went drinking around Chambers and Skuba followed by a lovely meal in the Portofino restaurant on Sandgate Road. Delicious!

Saturday, we made a random visit to my Nan up in Snodland followed by an afternoon drive by of my Mum's place in Stanford.

Sunday, we headed to Mum's again to meet... Nan... again. Plus Uncle Graham and his girlfriend Rebecca (pregnant with yet another cousin of mine). Was nice to see everyone, although slightly ruined by my 14 year old sister phoning constantly to shout at my Mum. Eventually I took the phone and after finishing the phone call was physically shaking with anger. She shall be getting a sound speaking to when I see her next. Honestly, I don't give a shit about what's going on between her parents. She needs to start treating them BOTH with respect (rather than just one) or she'll have this big brother making her life an absolute misery. For her own good.

Monday. First day of work, involving finding out Ben lookalike didn't get a job and discovering I had to wear painful safety shoes. Followed by a trip to Sandgate in the evening for "Liberal Drinks" in the Providence Inn. Lovely.

Tuesday. Health and safety. Found out, too late, I didn't have to wear painful safety shoes as long as I always had them with me. The blistery damage was done. Also had a security briefing, a tour of the port, and a return trip to France.

Wednesday. Ouch. My feet! The two mile journey each way is HORRIBLE with blisters! But after just a day and a half of training (yesterday didn't count) they let me start taking calls! Hurrah.

Now I sit here in the living room hoping my feet stop hurting soon.

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist

The Dark Streets Of Whitechapel

Work is, at the moment, a source of great stress and upset for me right now. Soon, I hope, it'll all be over... one way or another. By Thursday things should be far more relaxed. Alas not tomorrow though! Sigh. So it came as surprise both to myself, and Jim, when I accepted his offer to go out with him, Denis, Nal, and H for a meal.

Our first stop though was a reconnaissance to the Prince Albert pub, here in Greenwich, which is undergoing refurbishment. Well when I say undergoing, reports had obviously been vastly exaggerated. It was more like refurbishment had just start 5 minutes before we arrived. With little thus to see and comment on we decided to make our way to the station. Much hilarity ensued as we all got our own type of ticket... surely given we were all going to the same place via the same train this was completely impossible but not in London of course!

Our destination was Shadwell from where we were to walk to Whitechapel and one of Jim's newest favourite restaurants; Needoo's.

As always the food was gorgeous and cheap. Added fun was had because Nal has eyes bigger than his stomach. When his order was brought out, an extra table was added to the end of ours. True story.

With added cute but world-weary waiter (I like to make up stories about my stalking victims lives, he struck me as a newly arrived immigrant who has discovered that his dreams of earning decent wages were cruelly shattered upon his arrival to our dismal country) and a lovely atmosphere it was a nice way to forget about all my work stress.

The walk back to Shadwell was bitterly cold. Another cold snap is definitely upon us!

After a nightcap in the local, it was time for bed and the horror of work in the morning... :(

If you feel benevolent and particularly generous, this writer always appreciates things bought for him from his wishlist

A Busy Weekend

Friday night was taken up with the first outing of work's GLBT Action group to the vigil against homophobic violence, which meant I wasn't home until well after 10pm. The next day Jim and I headed down to Mum's new house down in Hythe and whilst we waited for her to get home headed to the nearby pub, the Duke's Head, with George. Trust me, you don't want to go there. 

Mum, Debbie-Debs and Beth turned up and we spent the evening watching telly and eating copious amounts of take away in the new house. Shame Angel Cat and Noodles weren't there, with just the solitary Bella being the only pet to make the move. :( 

Made it home, via Debbie-Debs in Maidstone, ridiculously late but still made last orders at the local. 

Sunday was started with a quick shop around Tesco's before we settled in at the local for the duration. Alcoholic? Me? Never! 

Monday was an "Il Bordello" night. Straight after work, as is the custom on such a night, I met Jim in the Thomas More in Wapping, but found it was now called "Cape". The lager and their mojito's were disgusting and the place was pretty uninspiring. Shame, the Thomas More was an alright pub. Denis, H (birthday boy hence the "Il Bordello" evening) and Nail and headed down to the Captain Kidd, which was still as good as ever. Which is good but shame about the Sam Smith's drinks! 

Karen arrived and our group was now complete, so we made our way to Il Bordello. For those who aren't Dear Constant Readers, this restaurant is probably my favourite in London and was the scene of my first date with Jim. As always the food did not disappoint, with the portions defeating even the hungriest (that was me). Alright I was only defeated on the second dessert but still... ;) Gorgeous place, followed by a DLR trip home and a night cap at the local. 

I'm so tired today....   which means time for a random rugby picture (of James Haskell who is pretty damn hunky!)

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

A Night In Soho

Last night, after work, Jim, Denis, H and I headed to Yauatcha for a meal (although we managed a quick drink in The John Snow, it's a Sam Smith's pub and sadly I decided to have a bourbon and coke. YUCK!).

Yauatcha is a dim sum restaurant in Soho, and one Jim had I went to a couple of times back when we first started going out. Back then the food was delicious but the staff were... RUDE. Well... there has been a pleasant surprise. The food is still delicious (again must recommend the Venison Puffs which are practically heaven in a foodstuff) but the staff are now friendly, attentive and pleasant! It was a very good night, finished off with some beers (well I had a beer, the other three sampled the wide range of fruity ciders available) at the Crown and the Two Chairmen, which was a pub with good music and good atmosphere despite what the reviews say!

When I say finished off, obviously we did stop for a quick JD and Coke in the local where we dropped off Denis, H and... my phone.

It was a good night, in my opinion!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

A Night On The Town

As you may have guessed from the blurry, drunken pictures posted here last night, I took a dive off the new lifestyle wagon and landed in champagne, wine, Staropramen and a really lovely cinnamon ice cream.

It was Karen's birthday (again) and to celebrate an even larger group than last time headed into London. Jim, Denis, H, Karen, Hillary, Graham, Antonio, Mark and Jo were in attendance. We made our way to Ev Restaurant. It's a huge, clean, and rather lovely Turkish restaurant hidden near Southwark station. Jim, Denis, H and I had the Tam Menu (all of it) and it was delicious!

After that we headed to a nearby pub called the King's Arms, and thought "I've had sex on this street". Yeah.. I certainly got around.

Had a really great evening. :D

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Procrastinating Can Be Fun

Despite my best efforts to be extremely lazy, last night Jim took me out to the Rodizio Rico restaurant at the O2 (my review here). I have to admit, I've never been to the O2 before. I know, I've lived in Greenwich for 5 years. I'm a bad person.

It's pretty nice in there, plenty of choice of restaurants, although I can imagine it's hell on a gig night. Saw (out of the corner of my eye, I didn't make a pilgrimage after all!) the Michael Jackson shrine which was surrounded by insane people. Strangely enough.

All in all, a nice evening with Jim.

Today Jim has briefly popped to work, and having put off getting my haircut for nearly three weeks, I roused myself from my procrastinating in front of Twitter and headed down the barbers. Thankfully, it being a working day, I was the only customer and so the hellish experience (for me anyway) of being in a barber's chair was mercifully short. An example of how bad my hair had gotten: my barber was able to brush some hair growing from the side of my head and it went over to the other side. Ouch. Anyway, I've got it marine-cut short again and having looked in the mirror I am most pleased. With a thinner face and a hair cut I'm returning to how I looked 5 years ago. It's spurned me on to continue with my diet.

Took a walk to Lewisham to get some curry leaves for Jim's dinner tonight (when I say Jim's dinner I mean he's the one cooking, so I think it only fair I do some of the hard work) and stocked up on fruits and nuts. Some guys in the queue next to me thought that because I had my iPod in I couldn't hear them making fun of my height. Sadly they hadn't reckoned that the height they were making fun of was me at a slouch and so I raised myself to my full height and gave them a very pointed stare. I was so suitably satisfied with their embarrassed looks and total silence from that point on, that I didn't think I needed to press the point. I'm tall, not deaf. When will people learn. I also, at my current weight, can cause serious damage if I decide to sit on you. Really folks, why can't they be a little more discrete? I'm just thinking of their own well being.

Returned home feeling a lot better with my hair cut and with some fruits to snack on, and returned to procrastinating.

Time off work can be very difficult.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Phantom of the Opera

It was Zoe's birthday yesterday and her mother was kind enough to buy Zoe and I tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre.

I met Zoe at Charing Cross and we immediately headed up to Seven Sisters to see John and Vixie. I thought Seven Sisters was... how can I put this... "interesting" during the night time. During the day time it sure is... something... Anyway we arrived at John and Vixies flat (they've moved, and it's got a lot more space) and found Vixie sitting on the floor making flags for Eurovision. It didn't take me long to find out she was a rabidly unpatriotic person who was supporting the Ukraine and HATED Scooch. Vixie is off my Christmas list, and just wait until she sees her wedding present... ;) As always Vixie and John were delightful as always.

After an hour or so of Pingu watching (yes, Pingu) Zoe and I headed back into town and randomly choose an Italian restaurant that 1) neither of us had been to or heard of before and 2) wasn't part of a chain. Food was nice and very filling.

And then it was off to the theatre! Firstly I owe a big thanks to Zoe's mum who, unlike most people, remembered my special requirements of needing some where to put my legs so seated me at the end of aisle. We settled in, but just as the show was starting a small drama unfolding behind us as two kindly old ladies were dragged from the theatre having turned up a day late. Bless them.

The show was wonderful, the acting good, the songs great and the set AMAZING. The chandelier was a triumph. The actress playing Christine was the same one who played Cosette in the last Les Mis Jim and I attended.

Randomly bumped into Elliot on way home, sorry I was so tired and out of it!

Thank you Zoe for a brilliant day.

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A Christmas Do

Hmm... last night out with work was a bit mixed. We spent a few hours after work in the office with nibbles and alcohol. We also opened our secret santa present. I was quite proud that the gift I bought was well used and I was so happy with what I got!

I got two huges packages which when opened revealed a "Bowl 'Em Over" game (miniature bowling) and a Aquadraw Bear!! You can imagine the fun a bear which can be drawn upon could create! Nazi Bear! Super Ninja Bear! Naked Bear! :) Thanks to RJ who was my not so secret Santa (the fact he spent more time playing with my toys than I did was a dead give away!!)

After that we had a limo arrive and rode to Mayfair in style, with alcohol and music. Proper cheesy music too which I would have enjoyed more if the three people at the controls hadn't change the song after each first bar was sounded. Grr....

We ate at the Mamounia Lounge. Ok so it looked nice. It was the kind of place you'd bring a lover or have a double date. Romantic, expensive and a way to show off how cultural you are. However. It had a live Moroccan band who were so loud none of us could hear each other. The service was AWFUL and we'd been there three hours and the desserts hadn't even been served. Maybe some people thought that was done so we could enjoy the atmosphere. No. It was done because the kitchen was SLOW. And starter (Wood Pidgeon) was gorgeous. But my stuffed guinea fowl was slightly burnt, something I didn't notice till I'd nearly finished and had no more Red Berry Jus to cover it in. And the place was so poncey! I mean it was filled with all the Nouveau Rich who I HATE. Come on guys get some class! You might dress right but trust me class is so much more than that.

To top it off I had the misfortune to have to sit next to a couple involved in hideous public displays of affection and opposite a gay guy with a very obvious crush on someone else. I kept looking down the table to the fun end and getting jealous.

So, much to the disgust of my manager, I left early (11.30pm). This was when we had to fight to get our coats back! They'd put my coat (without asking me) onto someone elses jacket as well and said person had lost the ticket. They told me and him we'd have to wait till everyone else had left before getting our coats! See what I mean??? Bad service with no style. Needless to say they gave us our coats before everyone else. I just stood there till they went and got it. :) Being an immovable object has it's advantages.

Considering I'd never been there before I was extremely pleased with myself for finding the tube without knowing where it was and without directions. First try. :)