Resto 40 Delfts Brouwhuis, Delft
Delft, mansplaining and bitterboellen at the de Hooch exhibition. Oh, and excellent beer. A good place to duck out of the rain.
Resto 31 The Otter, Otterbourne
Mass, taste, juice. A good burger.
Resto 45 Winchmore Hill Tandoori, Wichmore Hill
Having watched Granit Xhaka and his inept chums only just fail to sabotage a fine attacking display by Arsenal's front five in a lunchtime kick off by the time we'd reached the food part of our post-match festivities in Winchmore Hill stomachs were empty but we were bonhomie full.
Resto 44 The Betjeman Arms, St Pancras
Trying to remember the prices of the food (a key part of a review being the price/quality quotient) I looked at the JB's website to find that they weren't as high as I recalled. But I also discovered atrocious grammar and an insidious whiff of nostalgia-laden commercial bullshit in the copy.
Reminiscent of 1920’s nostalgia and times gone by; a charming spot to wait for your train to Paris whilst soaking up the iconic atmosphere of The Grand Terrace.
Were one of mys students to have written this guff I would have been forgiving of youthful lapses in grammar, syntax, honesty and style. The misplaced apostrophe, the redundant semi-colon, the appearance of the hideous 'i' word, and the frankly idiotic use of the word charming to describe a 'spot' usually inhabited by drunks of varied income and states of dishevelment.
Ah but that 1920's (sic) nostalgia! Who wouldn't yearn for the days of chronic unemployment, Armenian genocide, the rise of fascism and sterile, bat-dominated cricket? Really they could have gone much further back for the authentic whiff of nostalgia. Their toilets need no linguistic gloss, being truly mediaeval most of the time.
Crouch End Festival 2018
Now that A Midsummer Night's Dream has finished it's time to flag up my own next production with the Crouch End Players as part of the Crouch End Festival. As part of an evening of new writing I'm directing a new translation of the French classic, A Door (Should Be Either Open Or Shut).
Resto 73 The Agricultural Hotel, Penrith
Good beer, decent food and cheerful staff makes the Agricultural Hotel a winner.
Resto 72 The Fish Inn
After a stroll around the glorious Buttermere we worked up an appetite such as us city dwellers rarely possess. The Fish Inn has a very homely look that tempted us in for good pub food. They have local beer, I can recommend the Loweswater (?) Gold, and a selection of classics on the lunch menu…
A short ramble round Leicester
Coming to a brief spell of teaching at De Montfort I thought it might be of use to the casual cultured visitor to point out some of the less well-known elements of Leicester that are worthy of consideration.
Resto 13 The Parcel Yard, Leicester
Why? Why did you put a burger in a shitty crate? WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Resto 12 The Lion and Lobster, Brighton
Crazy like a mouse and rusty like a Ford Cortina - rollercoasters on Brighton pier may not be the highest but they offer their own brand of terror. But first an excellent Sunday roast to celebrate a birthday.
A London Journal 