Pub: Warwick Castle

Last night, our ex-company's social group's Christmas meeting. We had a tiff about the venue - the organiser decided on Thai Square, which I think is overpriced and underwhelming. So he started to grumble about the difficulty of getting somewhere before Christmas - which will take a group, and doesn't cost the earth. Still though, he came up with an alternative - we decided on the Warwick Castle pub in Little Venice. Lovely area, the pub sounded nice - with a Christmassy open fire, and a room we can book - and hey, it's a pub, which won't throw us out as quickly! They have a wine deal.. 10% off if you order at least £150 worth. And gee, he's had us choosing what we want off the menu. I also asked for the wine list - asked for suggestions from the group, but as no-one got back to me, sod it, I couldn't be bothered ordering so much wine for people that, in the end, mostly didn't want wine at all. A "whine about wine", as someone described it.

As luck would have it, the organiser planned to be there nice and early, which - with only a vague threat of a meeting that never happens, even when a time and room are scheduled! - gave me an excellent excuse to leave work early. This far out, it'd be Tube - the fastest way was to head on the Central Line, but frankly, I'd have to be certifiable to take it at that hour, if there's an alternative. Which there was - the Hammersmith & City Line would take a bit longer, but I wouldn't have to change - also, there was breathing room, and I got a seat after just one stop!

The final walk to the pub, as suggested by Google Maps, was so weird that it begged an alternative. I'm guessing these are autogenerated - and they really just don't always work. I mean really - can you spot a faster walking route than that suggested?

Hmm. Anyway, along my alternative route, I spotted one for London Literary Walks, if they ever come over this way!

And so to the pub:

Our organiser had helpfully explained to us where we were to go - he'd booked the snug, just to the left of the bar. Turns out this is his local, which gave him the idea when he was looking for an alternative. And I think he chose well - although they're not officially decorating for Christmas yet, they did make an effort for us!

We were pretty cosy in there - just the odd person coming in to use the ladies, conveniently over to the side! Not all of ours showed up, BTW - and despite constant entreaties to let the organiser know if people wanted the dinner moved later, it was yesterday before anyone said it! Plus, half of them arrived late, even for the later time - honestly, I agree with the man; organising people is like trying to herd cats..

Well, but the company was lively and friendly - although I hardly knew most of them - and I have to say, dinner was excellent! I had soup - butternut squash, coconut & coriander - and it was lovely, slightly spicy. The steak (rib-eye) was exactly as I would have done it - and so good that it would've been a travesty to add any sauce to it. Served with tasty chips. And I was the only one to have the brownie for dessert - their loss, it was delicious! Friendly service, quite efficient. Highly recommended.

Nobody stayed late - and with lighter traffic, taking the bus was now an option for me. And I got the 205, all the way home. Perhaps not the best idea, considering how much I'd drunk.. by the time I got home, I was fit for nothing but bed.

Tonight, having Christmas drinks with an old friend who's very hard to pin down! Well, hot chocolate in Caffe Nero anyway - we'll see whether it gets more alcoholic than that! I think I've used my week's quota, anyway! ;-)

Tomorrow, I'm headed to the Tutankhamun exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery. They have half hourly time slots for entry throughout the day, and have been sending repeated emails warning not to arrive before the scheduled time on the ticket, because of overcrowding! I booked a nice late one, at 6pm.

On Sunday, I arranged to have lunch with Helen - she's squeezing in a trip to London before the infamous strikes start, next day! We arranged to eat at Bistro1, and booked a table. Now, when I went to book, they advertised a Groupon voucher for a meal for two - great, except when I phoned, I was told it wasn't valid in December! Never said anything about that on the voucher. So I've got a refund on the voucher, and they said they'd inform the restaurant that it was no longer valid. Meantime, poor Ivan is out of town this week for work and missing all the fun - and so, the other day, on the train back from a stay with the family, he floated the idea of an all-day social, some weekend. Starting Sunday. I explained to him that I was seeing Helen on Sunday - "Bring her!" sez he. Helen was ok with them joining us, so now he and another are joining us for lunch on Sunday. The start of a fun day, methinks.

On Monday, ironically, I'm on another Groupon deal - this one seems to be valid, though. I'm headed to & Juliet, a very non-Shakespearian take on the classic heroine, including a pop soundtrack, with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS). Running at Shaftesbury Theatre.

On Tuesday, back with North London Friends for Fairview, at the Young Vic.

On Wednesday, back with the Crick Crack Club for a night I'm really looking forward to - Ben Haggarty and Jan Blake again, combined with my favourite, Clare Murphy, and Jordan Campbell, will treat us to a night on the theme Sovereign, at Rich Mix. It's the last in their series called the "alternative tarot", where four storytellers take turns to expand on variations on an archetypal theme, and hold a Q+A after. And I do hope Ivan can make this, because he's a great fan of Jan's, and I do think this is right up his alley.

On Thursday, back with UITCS for Three Sisters, at the National. Also signed up with Love London Arts, Theatre, Music & Stuff for this - the last time I tried to integrate the two, it didn't really work! It'll be interesting to see how it goes this time. I'll try to gravitate more towards them this time, as I missed them completely the last time. And then it's back to Ireland for the weekend, again.