Cuban – Cubana, Smithfield

After waiting 2 months for my last London lunchtime adventure, to Momo Canteen in Barbican, I found myself back in London exactly a week later with a free lunchtime and foodie Phil to accompany me on another escapade. Phil has Cuban heritage and had found a Cuban place near our office that did street food, so we headed there along with 3 of our colleagues from our Kiev office who were over for the week on business. The journey from the office took us through the famous Smithfield meat market, which I’ve passed through many times on my walks from the office to Kings Cross station and has the unmistakable smell of chilled meat mixed with bleach as the market is thoroughly cleaned every day.

Image: Foodie Phil walking Into Cubana, Smithfield

After we made it through the meat market we crossed the road and turned left and past the bars and pubs that make up the other type of meat markets in Smithfield. Just past Smiths Of Smithfield (SOS) is Cubana, an inviting and hard to miss Cuban restaurant, bar and café. You won’t miss it with its bold blue painted exterior, red star and bright chairs. Inside to my left I was greeted by a colourful mural of an idyllic scene of Cuban farmers smoking cigars and chilling out in the Caribbean sunshine. To my right was a separate café with some inviting Cuban pastries and of course the coffee which Phil later told us was very strong and very good.

Image: Idyllic Cuban life mural in Cubana, Smithfield

In front of us was a busy looking restaurant that turns into a bar in the evening. I know as I’d been here before – for drinks at some point Christmas 2016. I remember it well as one of the guys from work had booked a table for some festive team drinks but there was some confusion when we arrived – he’d booked the right date but not the right year! They let us stay though and found a space for us in their corridor where we tucked into Mojitos and Cuba Libres.

But we weren’t there for drinks today: we were there for lunch and in the corridor instead of a group of festive work colleagues huddled around small tables was an inviting street food stand. Phil had decided in advance what he wanted – a Cuban sandwich. Tucked into home-made Cuban bread (a bit like a Panini apparently) is shredded pork, ham, Emmental cheese, mustard and pickle. I was feeling tired and hungry and wanted something more substantial than that so went for the slow-roasted free-range Cuban shredded pork with Cuban black beans, chill rice and the bonus addition of plantains. Service was very quick by the efficient 2 girls on the stand – one taking orders and serving and the other taking the payments. The servings were pretty generous and I liked the fact that you could help yourself to limes and slices of bread to accompany your meal, which of course I took both.

 Image: the very efficient staff on the Street Food stall in Cubana, Smithfield

It would have been nice to have eaten in but this was a strictly takeaway street food venture and a rain shower had started so we headed back to our office to eat in our small staff kitchen. The reassuringly warm bundle in my hand made the walk back in the rain worthwhile as I looked forward to tucking into my lunch. We sat down together and eagerly opened our lunch bundles. I quickly tucked in and oh my, it was delicious! The pork was really good quality, very succulent and very tasty. The rice and beans were full of flavour and the sweet addition of fried plantain topped off a uniquely flavoursome combination. I soon felt full and very satisfied but there was no way I was going to leave any of my lip-smacking lunch.

Image: My delicious lunch

Phil demolished his Cuban sandwich with equal speed and declared it to be excellent. He said the only bad thing was that he wanted another one and said it was dangerous that he now knows there’s somewhere near the office that does very good Cuban sandwiches. Yuriy had also gone for the pork whilst Dima and Nikolay had chosen Picadillo – Cuban minced beef casserole, also accompanied by chili rice, black beans and plantain. Our Ukrainian colleagues were very happy with Phil’s choice of place for lunch; although even though it was reasonably priced for London they said it would be about a quarter of the price in Kiev!

Image: Street Food menu, Cubana, Smithfield

After lunch I slumped at my desk, very full and satisfied but with the overwhelming tiredness that comes from eating a delicious but high calorie meal, much like a Christmas Dinner. It was certainly worth it though – a very enjoyable lunchtime adventure and definitely the tastiest one so far. The only downside was we had to ferry our lunches back to the office in the rain; it would have been nice to have eaten outside on a sunny day, although there’s not really anywhere in Smithfield for that and whilst Cubanna can bring Cuban food to London they sadly can’t bring the Cuban weather!

Taste: 9/10

Service: 10/10

Value: 8/10

Total: 27/30

One word review:

Jeremy: Succulent

Phil: More!

Nikolay: Cool

Dima: Tasty

Yuriy: Super

Thai – Momo Canteen, Barbican

I rebooted this blog 2 months ago with the intention of it being a regular feature…well bi-monthly is regular! After 9 weeks I was long overdue for another lunchtime adventure so today I headed out with my fellow foodie Phil to Momo Canteen in Barbican, just past Barbican Tube station and a short walk from our office. Phil had recommended the place having been shown it by another guy at work and had enjoyed the Pad Thai recently so he led the way and we strolled over to the restaurant. I hardly noticed the place when we got there as it was another nondescript commercial building that seems to fill this part of London town in between the shiny towering office blocks.

Image: Momo Canteen menu

Inside it was pretty small with a few tables, an ordering area and a small kitchen. We decided to eat in as it was fairly empty and stood in the short queue. Browsing the menu I wasn’t sure what to have, Phil recommended the BBQ pork buns so I went with them and then decided to go for a soup as I like Thai soups with their unique fragrances and flavours. I thought I’d selected Tom Yung Chicken Soup but when we sat down and started eating I soon realised I’d ordered a very spicy Chicken Laksa Soup – this was probably due to me mumbling my order and saying ‘yes’ when the lady serving me asked me something which upon reflection was probably ‘Laksa?’

Image: Lunch - Spicy Chicken Laksa Noodle Soup, BBQ pork buns, Thai Iced Tea (me) and Masaman Chicken Curry and Siew Mai (Phil)

My mouth was on fire after my first mouthful so I tucked into the BBQ pork buns – they were very nice, kind of like suet dumplings, though could have done with a bit more BBQ pork in them. After wolfing them down I finally manned up and took on my spicy soup and after a few mouthfuls I found it very nice and full of flavour. I washed it down with a plastic glass full of the fresh Thai iced tea they sold at the counter, which was very refreshing and a welcome accompaniment to my spicy soup. I got a final kick of spice in my final mouthful as it seemed most of the heat had rested on the bottom of my container.

Phil went for the Masaman Chicken Curry accompanied by Seiw Mai (pork & shrimp dumplings) and a bottle of water. He said the dumplings were delicious but was disappointed with the curry and said it lacked flavour. I noticed Momo Canteen had a Top 5 Best Sellers list on their counter and we’d chosen 3 of the 5 off it so this review is fairly representative one of what they sell.

Image: Top 5 Best Sellers at Momo Canteen

Overall we enjoyed our second lunchtime outing though agreed it definitely wasn’t as good as Banh Mi Bay. I’d go back and try the Pad Thai as that’s a favourite of mine (Brewery Tap and Charters/East Peterborough special!) though not for a while yet – there are plenty more cuisines of the world to sample, next time I think we’ll go somewhere out of Asia and definitely not leave it another 2 months!

Taste: 7/10
Service: 9/10
Value: 8/10
Overall: 24/30

One word review:
Jeremy: Spicy
Phil: Underseasoned

Vietnamese – Banh Mi Bay Baguettes, St Paul’s

It’s been a while since I wrote a blog post and even longer since I wrote about London but the same thing as brought me back to writing again – wanting to make the most out of my lunchtime and explore as much as this great city has to offer.

My workmate Phil had found himself drifting into a routine that many London commuters fall into – eating the same thing for lunch each day. For him it was a massive salad with honey mustard dressing from Chop’d. I admonished him for his habit and told him he had to widen his lunchtime choices. I mentioned a few places he hadn’t been to before and then we came upon an idea, a challenge – to try a different place for lunch once a week and a different country’s cuisine too!

Week one was Vietnamese – I knew of a place nearby I’d eaten a Banh Mi baguette a few years ago so looked that up and we headed there. Conveniently located about a ten minute walk from our office we followed my phone for directions (I’d forgotten the exact location) and we soon noticed we were nearly there when we smelled the amazing aromas coming out of the kitchen. From the outside Banh Mi is another nondescript city building but as soon as you step inside you are transported into a busy warm and friendly café. I stood in the queue to order takeaway and would have happily stood there for a lot longer as I inhaled the deliciousness coming out of the open kitchen.

Very quickly, despite how busy the restaurant was, it was my turn to order. I studied the chalk board and went for a grilled garlic pork baguette on Vietnamese bread. I chose that as that’s what my girlfriend said she’d want when I suggested it as a place to meet for lunch…and what a choice it was, she certainly has good taste!

Banh Mi Baguette menu

My order came quickly, which again was slightly disappointing as I was wowing at all the amazing foods they had on offer.  I went for a baguette as that’s what I wanted but there was so much more to choose from, to eat in or take away. The café was clearly a popular choice as the tables were full and there was a steady stream of takeaway customers coming and going but despite this all the orders were processed quickly, efficiently and friendly – very good service.

With our orders collected (Phil went for the same with extra meat plus some prawn crackers to share) we walked to the small square overlooked by St Paul’s and sat down on a stone ledge to tuck into our baguettes. And oh my what joy – spices, succulence and deliciousness flowing in every mouthful! We were both very impressed with our selections. It was definitely the best thing I have eaten for lunch in a very long time; not very often does a sandwich give you a rush of endorphins.

Lunch: Grilled garlic pork Banh Mi baguette - this picture does not do it justice!

I will definitely be back. Though not with Phil – our next lunchtime will be sampling another country’s cuisine. What that will be I will have to have a good think about as the bar has been set very high with Banh Mi baguettes!

Taste: 9/10

Service: 9/10

Value: 8/10

Overall: 26/30

One word review:

Jeremy: Satisfying

Phil: Spicy

November 2010 – March 2011: Communist Embassies, Olympic Athletes and Anarchist Graffiti

It’s been a while since I updated this blog – 4 months to be precise. That’s 4 months of what so far has been 7 months of working 40 hours a week, travelling 4 hours a day and sleeping 6 hours a night. For a large part of the last quarter of a year my one hour’s escape from the daily grind of commuting and working has been all too infrequent. Hourly adventures around the capital have become a few minutes’ dash to the many nearby sandwich shops and takeaways. And there are many – within 10 minutes’ walk from where I work, you could easily go somewhere different for lunch every day for a year. It’s very tempting and very convenient – I think I’ve made myself one sandwich in the last 3 months. From Greggs to Pret, McDonald’s to Pizza Hut, Subway to small Italian cafes – I’ve had my fair share of lunch time junk food.

From that list you’ll see that my choice of food is not very adventurous – so far I haven’t been tempted by Japanese food which seems to be very popular in my office at the moment. Last week a colleague of mine from Manchester was describing his love of sushi – it was all a bit weird, with his strong Manc accent you’d expect him to be talking about his love of meat pies. Stranger still was the occasion when I noticed a Dutch colleague of mine preparing his lunch in our small kitchen (or in 21st Century office speak a ‘breakout area’).  It seemed pretty normal at first – plate, salad, dressing, crunchy bread and then I saw the raw baby octopus. I stared at it: Raw. Baby. Octopus. No thanks. Certainly 3 words I never want included when describing my food.  I left him to enjoy his strange lunch and then messily devoured a sausage roll at my desk.

One of the reasons I haven’t ventured out very often in the last 4 months is because most days the weather has been rubbish and the workloads have been high. This has led me to eat my lunch in perhaps the unhealthiest way possible – scoffing a sandwich at my desk. Millions of people across the country spend their lunchtime the same but that doesn’t mean that it’s right. It is very wrong. As Chris Evans once said, lunch should be ‘less al desko and more al fresco’.  Al fresco is the way forward and when it’s sunny outside it’s a waste to be indoors. I am writing this on the train, it’s nearly seven pm and it’s still light outside – beautiful.

Returning to the dark days, one of the few highlights of November’s lunchtimes was a visit to the Vietnamese Embassy in Kensington. There are many embassies in Kensington – one of the most expensive locations in a very expensive city. Who pays the rent? Is it the UK taxpayer or the Vietnamese? Either way we’re both getting ripped off just so some dignitaries can do their work in a nice part of town. I was there because a work mate of mine, a member of the original group of lunchtime adventurers, was going to Vietnam for his brother’s wedding and needed to get their visas. We got there fine – the Tube journey to South Kensington and walk along Kensington High Street was quite pleasant, we didn’t have too much of a problem finding the embassy as it had a large Communist flag outside; the only problem was when we tried to go in. It was shut for lunch – for 2 hours. No wonder we live in a Capitalist society if the Communists have a 2 hour lunch every day! It was a wasted lunch hour for my colleague who had to come back on his day off, but still a fairly interesting one for me.

December meant Christmas shopping, which I still managed to leave to the last minute. There was too much choice, so I went for the usual gifts – chocolate, perfume, toiletries and gadgets – the only difference was that they were bought from posher shops and were more expensive than normal. Other than that lunchtimes in December weren’t that great as the weather was bitterly cold and the streets were full of tourists.

Apart from the odd enjoyable occasion when I enjoyed good weather, food or company, sometimes even all three, most of January and February’s lunchtimes were the same forgettable trips to nearby sandwich shops. Into March and so far I’ve had a few enjoyable lunchtimes with colleagues walking around the usual sights which despite their familiarity still seem pretty impressive to me. Walk south across Waterloo Bridge on a sunny day and the view is amazing – to your left St Paul’s, the Gherkin, Canary Wharf and the Oxo Tower, to your right the Millennium wheel and the Houses of Parliament. It’s the bridge where reporters film from when they’re doing a piece about London. Walking there is a normal everyday activity for me but still a pretty special one.

To celebrate the belated return of spring, I went to the Porterhouse, my favourite Covent Garden pub, with a workmate last Friday. We enjoyed a well-earned cold bottle of beer as we stood outside the pub and surveyed our glorious surroundings. Then my mate spotted James Cracknell the Olympic gold medal rower, just causally walking past off to buy lunch and talking on his phone. It marked London celebrity number three for me – other than Alan Sugar at his book signing last year, I spotted Frank Skinner getting out of a taxi near Covent Garden one cold February morning.

Other than spotting the odd famous person going about their daily business, London is also a great place to be when an important event is happening. The Budget was last Wednesday, so I went with a couple of workmates to wander past Downing Street and then the Houses of Parliament to see if we could walk behind a film camera and get on TV.  We didn’t see any cameras but we did see a member of staff trying to enter the Downing Street gates in order to deliver a McDonald’s. We joked that it was for George Osbourne for when he finished his speech. 

Today we walked to Trafalgar Square again to see the remains of the graffiti and vandalism that took place on the same day as the TUC rally against the government cuts. Nearly half a million people protested peacefully against the cuts, while a few hundred caused chaos in central London. It was unsurprising that the media focused on the latter event, so we went down to Trafalgar Square to see what all the fuss was about.

Nelson’s column and his 4 lions were covered in anarchy symbols and various bits of crude graffiti – ‘Fuck the cuts’ was a popular slogan, ‘Cameron is a cunt’ was another, while someone with a historical grudge had chosen to spray ‘the party starts when Thatcher dies’. The general tone and artistic quality of the graffiti was pretty simple and says much about those who wrote it. It certainly highlights that it had nothing to do with the hundreds of thousands who joined in the TUC rally.

It was quite funny to see the dozens of tourists having their picture taken in front of Nelson’s Column – they went away with truly unique photos thanks to the graffiti in the background. They couldn’t climb on the lions though – as the lions and Nelson were fenced off while a couple of contract cleaners removed the paint. To do this they used a bottle of methylated spirits, which is probably similar to what those who had written the graffiti had been drinking.

October: Art by criminals, free food and meeting Alan Sugar

Other than a rant about not getting a seat on a train, I haven’t written much lately. In the last couple of months my London lunchtimes have remained interesting but I haven’t felt inclined to write about them. I’ve enjoyed exploring the Southbank Centre, which is like a university campus as there are lots of people hanging out in open spaces, and lots of rooms that have random things in them.

The exhibition Art by Offenders was a memorable one – the artwork was interesting and so were the descriptions. One of the curators had written something along the lines of ‘we not only encourage art in prisons because of its rehabilitative effects but also because it is only in prisons, and in particular psychiatric prisons, that we will find the next Van Gough’. Interesting stuff indeed, and the sort of thing you probably only find in London.

Move away from the centre of London and you’ll see that the city is a series of small towns linked together by urban sprawl. Walking through the middle of Holborn is like walking through the High Street of such a small town. I’d gone there courtesy of a free Dominoes offer in the 20p Sun newspaper. Certainly not my usual reading material but I’m not fussy when it comes to a hot lunch for 20p.

Holborn was the nearest Dominoes from my office, about a 10-minute walk away. The promotion was on for a week – on the first day it was fairly quiet but on the second day the entrance resembled a kebab shop on a Friday night as office workers and labourers jostled for their free food. One scaffolder in front of me was chancing his luck by trying to get 2 Dominoes with one voucher; the harassed guy on the till was having none of it, so the scaffolder screwed up the rest of his newspaper and threw it over the counter.

There’s something about getting something cheaply that makes many people behave rudely. Poor prices equal poor behaviour. I’d seen it before by pensioners queuing up for £1 breakfasts and families shopping in Poundland. It’s not the same for everyone though, but for many there seems to be an unwritten rule that if something is cheap or free, then not only are you not grateful for it, you are also rude when you get it.

I have now been working in London for 3 months and up until today I have not even had the slightest glimpse of anyone famous. I was quite surprised as I had expected to have seen at least a few by now. Previously I have met Noel Gallagher (at a gig in London about 10 years ago) and seen Rory McGrath (twice in Cambridge a few years ago but I’m not a fan so I didn’t bother saying hello). Today that celebrity hat trick was finally completed as I met Alan Sugar, a.k.a. Lord Sugar of Clapham. I follow Lord Sugar on Twitter so knew of today’s book signing in Waterstone’s Piccadilly and had been looking forward to it for days.

It was raining so, along with a couple of workmates up for the adventure, I took the Tube from Covent Garden to Piccadilly Circus and walked up the road to Waterstone’s. After purchasing his autobiography I got what looked like quite a small queue for the book signing. I was then reliably informed by a guy who had ‘been there since 8 o clock this morning’ that I was nowhere near the end of the queue and pointed me to a long line of people who were confusingly in front of bus stop.

Standing in the rain I got assigned a ticket by a Waterstone’s employee – I turned up at ten to one and got number 168, the guy who had been there since 8am probably got about number 68 so I think I got the better deal there. 30 minutes later I was ushered inside and up the stairs to a cordoned off area near the crime section. Waiting for my book to be signed I took a photo of Lord Sugar but it came out blurred. I then realised that was because my hand was shaking. Waiting to meet someone famous is quite nervewracking.

Approaching the desk I thought about what I was going to say and wanted to tell him that I had been enjoying his tweets, particularly the ones about Wayne Rooney. When it was my turn he looked at me prompting me to tell him what to write. ‘Jeremy’ was my one word answer to this. ‘With a G or a J?’ the Baron asked. ‘J’ I answered. ‘How do you spell that?’ he asked again. ‘J-E-R-E-M-Y’ I answered. I’d done it – I had remembered how to spell my own name. That’s not as easy as it should be when you’re face to face with one of the most famous and respected people in Britain. He quickly shut the book, prompting me to move along so the next book could be signed. Whilst I was there, my workmate Jordan took a couple of photos – the best one is here.You can see my left ear and part of the side of the face in the photo, so I'm claiming that as a photo of me and Lord Sugar.

The whole thing was quite surreal really, like a dream it almost feels that it didn’t really happen. The signature in the front of my copy of his autobiography tells me that it did though. It was a surreal but highly enjoyable way to spend my lunchtime, and one that I’ll remember for a long time.

6-20 September: The Centre of England

The travelling was starting to take its toll. I was constantly tired and had a sore throat that wouldn’t go away. Lack of sleep plus being close to other people’s germs every day (train and tube) isn’t the greatest recipe for good health. This made my decision to enjoy an hour of fresh air and light exercise every day all the more important. Lunch hours exploring the streets of London were the one thing that I did on a daily basis that was good for my health.

Like all animals humans are creatures of habit and I had got into the habit of going to the same places each lunchtime – usually Trafalgar Square or the South Bank. Eating your sandwiches and watching the world go by in Trafalgar Square is of course a great experience: Not only do you feel that you are in the centre of London (and therefore England), you get to do some quality people watching. The steps leading to the National Gallery may not have the same romance as the Spanish Steps in Rome but they are certainly not without their charms. For me, one of the most heart-warming sight to be had in London is a toddler chasing after a pigeon. The sheer joy they get from a bird that is hated by most adults is a great example of the innocence and beauty of childhood.

Trafalgar Square may be a great place to go for lunch but I was aware that I had been visiting it and my other regular lunchtime spots (South Bank, Covent Garden) all too often and it was time for a change. So the next available lunchtime I went somewhere different. Walking west along the Strand I went past Trafalgar Square and up Whitehall to Horse Guards. Normally I just pat the horses on the head when I walk past but this time I thought I’d wonder in and take a look at Horse Guards Parade, home of the famous changing of the guard.

In the archway between the street and the parade ground was a soldier in uniform standing with what appeared to be the sole reason of having is picture taken with tourists. For any man who is a trained killer this must be quite a strange experience. What’s more surprising in this finance-obsessed time is that there was no charge to have your picture taken with the soldier. Hundreds of tourists pose for photos every day and I’m sure they’d be more than happy to pay a few pounds for the privilege. If the silver spray-painted statue artists of Covent Garden do it then why shouldn’t the Household Cavalry?

After taking in Horse Guards Parade I took a side street back onto Whitehall. I looked to my left – the Foreign Office and then to my right – the Treasury Office, and wondered how many important decisions had been made in these buildings. The next thing I noticed was a fleet of brand-new 60-registration top of the range silver Land Rovers, about 20 of them, probably pool cars for the Treasury or Foreign Office. How do these vehicles, costing close to a hundred thousand pounds each, fit into the Conservative government’s promise to cut Whitehall waste?

Walking back along Whitehall I took in many of the national monuments – from the field marshals – Montgomery and Hague to the women’s memorial and the Cenotaph. There are probably hundreds in total, all in black and all memorials to the horrors that were suffered to keep Britain free. From Trafalgar Square to Whitehall, wherever you are in this part of the city you can’t help but feel that you are in the centre of London and therefore the centre of England. So it’s perhaps no surprise that many people who live and work in the capital think that London is England. Of course it’s not, it’s a very different and unique place – one that I have the pleasure of exploring every day.

23 August – 3 September: Why is Chinese food cheap? How do Covent Garden street performers earn any money? And what do Canadians drink?

If, like me, you occasionally go to Victoria Embankment Gardens to eat your lunch then you’ll notice the dozens of workmen, strewn out on the grass, relaxing after a hard morning’s labour. Their labour is to refurbish one of the most famous hotels in the world – the Savoy. I had a quick wonder past this famous hotel to see what the workmen had been up to, but there’s not much to see from the outside at the moment. Apparently when it reopens in October there’ll be an Art Deco bar open to the public, so I’ll definitely have a look in there, though it will probably cost me about £10 for a drink.

Disappointed by the current state of the Savoy I decided it was time to see some major sights again. So one lunchtime, myself and my workmates walked through Covent Garden, on to Leicester Square, then past the Trocadero to Piccadilly Circus, through the streets of Soho and then back down through Chinatown. I hadn’t realised how close everything is in central London – the above sights and the ones previously mentioned in this blog are all within about 20 minutes walking distance of each other.

Of course it’s fine to go for a walk when the weather’s nice but on the day that I saw these sights it was unfortunately raining. Leicester Square may be the scene of many glamorous film premieres but on a wet Wednesday lunchtime it isn’t that stunning. Likewise with Soho – infamous as a setting for nighttime debauchery but during the day you’d hardly realise it. There’s a few signs for strip bars and sex shops but it appears positively tame compared to, say, the red light district of Amsterdam.

Chinatown is distinctive because of its smell – the aromatic smell of sweet and sour sauce flavoured with MSG. There’s a lot of all you can eat £3.99 lunchtime buffets in Chinatown; which while good value makes you wonder why Chinese food can be so cheap. Illegal labour and questionable food hygiene practices were the first answers that came to my slightly xenophobic mind. I’m sure it still tastes good though.

We went back to Covent Garden a few days later to spend lunchtime as a tourist. Covent Garden is famous for its street performers, and large crowds stand round watching drawn-out performances by budding entertainers. The large crowds are annoying if you’re in a hurry to get to the Tube station to catch the train home, so we thought we’d join them for a change. It didn’t last long as the performance we saw by an amateur magician was typically poor. Yet the crowds still took it all in – probably because it was their one day out in London and they wanted to take in as much as they could, good or bad.

One thing we did notice around Covent Garden was the large amount of pubs and bars that are within a short walk of the famous market square. These vary in quality from traditional pubs to soulless wine bars (All Bar One) to themed nationality bars (we noticed one Australian, one South African, one Irish and even one Canadian – which begged the question: what do Canadians drink?)

We didn’t know so the following lunchtime we went for the safe choice of the Irish bar – the Porterhouse. I like real ale and was impressed to find that this place had a beer menu about 10 pages long. I settled for an enjoyable pint of something refreshing and fruity (I forget the name, though it was English and began with a ‘w’) and flicked through the menu, thinking how I could happily spend the rest of the day there, trying to drink my way through the beer menu alphabet.

Which brings me back to a familiar theme – if you’ve got the money then you are spoilt for choice for places to go for a drink in central London. This blog could quite easily turn into a review of all the beers in the Porterhouse or all the pubs in central London; I’d have to start remembering the names of the beers I’ve drank though.