I've uploaded some more photos taken over the last few weeks. I forgot to mention when I uploaded the Cromer ones that they, like these new ones, were taken with my camera phone. As much as the Sony Ericsson k800i sucks many kinds of balls, it takes great photos.
London Marathon - I had an hour to kill in London last weekend, and discovered that marathon day is a great time to visit. Major streets are closed to traffic allowing you to wander them without the threat of being mown down by a taxi. Sadly my battery died after just a few photos.
Stannage Edge - a few weeks back, I took a wander from Redmire to Stannage Edge with my parents.
Jane's 30th - I'm slightly hungover today, as last night was Jane's 30th. She had a
punk themed party. I went as a punk. It was the obvious choice really. It was a lot of fun.
One other thing, I went to see Ricky Gervais at City Hall the other night and Tony had managed to procure some front row seats. He has a
photo here.
UPDATE - Phil's punk party pictures are
here.
Labels: kissitbitch, london, party, peakdistrict, photo, punk
Sunday, April 29, 2007 4:47 PM
If you're in Covent Garden, and fancy something nice to eat and drink, I recommend you give Lowlander on Drury Lane a go. The food is your typical pub fayre done well - dishes like
Moulles Frites for example. The drink is what this place is really about. They specialize in Dutch & Belgian beer, and have a bewildering menu to choose from; wheaty beer, hoppy beer, fruity beer, monkey beer (or "Trapist" beer as some people wrongly call it). With all this choice, it was cool to see that certain beers were available in 1/3 pint taster glasses to allow you to sample a broader range without getting completely shit-faced. Some of the beers are seriously strong, so I would imagine that if you went there drinking for the evening, a hangover is pretty much guaranteed. For a few mid afternoon ales though, it's great.
Labels: beer, drink, food, london
Monday, March 12, 2007 3:08 PM
I like risotto, a fact that should be completely bloody obvious to anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis. I'm fussy about risotto, and it annoys me when I'm served bad risotto in a restaurant, because it is a bloody simple dish to prepare; all that's needed is care and attention. I guess to some extent choosing risotto in a restaurant is a good way of judging their food. If the risotto is poor, then it is a good indication that they don't care about what they serve up, and so aren't worth the bother in future.
I once joked about opening a risotto restaurant in Sheffield. I even mentally devised a three course risotto menu - e.g. risotto cakes for a starter, risotto for the main course, and then a chocolate desert risotto for pudding. It would be genius.
The same month I came up with the idea, I read about a new risotto bar in London called
Ooze. Thus the decision about where to eat on my short break to London last week was made for me.
Ooze is on Goodge Street, just off Tottenham Court Road. The interior is rather unassuming, with no soft furninshings in sight. For the main course there are basically 12 different types of risotto to choose from; four fish, four veg, and four meat (there's also salad if you don't fancy risotto). According to the website, all the dishes come from the same basic risotto, and the modifying ingredients added towards the end of cooking. Not the best way to prepare risotto, but perfectly understandable. Risotto does take time, and there's a lot of competition in London, so they need to keep costs down. As it turns out, this method seems to work out OK. Though my own choice of Porcini and Cherry Tomato could have been improved by adding the mushrooms at the start (and perhaps a bit more salt) for most dishes this wouldn't matter and that was certainly the case with Liv's Butternut Squash and Hazelnut risotto which was delicious. I'd never have thought of putting hazelnut in risotto, but it really works.
They also say that the dishes can be adjusted to taste; you can have more or less butter and more or less Parmesan (more of both please!). They got the richness pretty much right. I make my risotto really rich, but the truth is most people would struggle to finish it and would prefer something lighter, which is just how Ooze make theirs.
Food aside, the service was really excellent. Friendly without being casual, attentive without being overbearing, and best of all they seemed to be genuinely happy to be serving you a dish they cared about. I was chatting to who I assume was the restaurant manager just before leaving and she had taken an interest in what had brought us there. "Trust me" she said, "if you like risotto, don't open a risotto restaurant. You'll be sick of the stuff." That's that idea out of the window then!
Labels: food, london, risotto
Wednesday, March 07, 2007 11:15 AM
"Oh, is this the ladies'?"
"That's right."
"Oh, it must be this door then..."
"No, that's the kitchen."
"Where's the gents then? The waitress said it was over here..."
"It's through this wall."
The woman started pressing her hands against the wall. I regarded her with suspicion, thinking that she was perhaps taking the piss. Suddenly, the wall gave way and I walked through.
"Thanks!" I said
I walked into what was basically a large mirrored box, which is no place for someone who has been drinking all evening, let me tell you. No matter which direction I looked, all I could see was me standing there, looking bewildered. Water started cascading down one of the walls. I had found the urinals. After relieving myself against the mirrored waterfall, I stuck my hands through a large hole in the wall on the other side of the room. More water appeared from above. I washed my hands, somehow found the exit, and left.
"Liv! You have to go to the gents here! They're fucking crazy!"Labels: bar, london, toilet, weird
Monday, March 05, 2007 11:00 AM
