Yesterday, back with Invigorate, for a tour of "3 Historic Belgravia Pubs". My first event with them this year! Happily, my legs are working again, although I'm still stiff and sore in sundry places. And have a spectacular bruise on that toe! Still dunno exactly how that happened - but anyway, I was fine - apart from going up and down stairs.
Well, the first pub was The Grenadier. Would Google Maps tell me how to get there? Not a bit of it! Apparently, I wasn't the only one with the same issue. So, I could see it on the map - figured out that a combination of no fewer than three buses would be the fastest (bus) route to Hyde Park Corner, which was also the closest Tube, and it gave me walking directions from there. So that's what I determined to do. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as fast as I'd hoped - at every single stop, I either just missed my connection, or it was delayed. So I was a little late, arriving at Hyde Park Corner. And then, trying to figure out which of the many roads around there to cross - and avoiding the hordes of bicycles (nearly as dangerous as Amsterdam!), it took me a little while to get on the right road through the acres of posh accommodation that don't do public transport.
The walking route looked quite convoluted - unfortunately, it's perfectly accurate - there are so many walls and cul de sacs, you have to go that way. But it's not as far as it looks, and I did finally come across my destination, on a very atmospheric back street:
And in such a small place, there was no trouble finding the group! We did remark on the ceiling decoration:
And had a lovely chat there, before heading off again! Now, the next place - The Nag's Head - we'd been warned about. Crucially, no mobile phones (so I have no pictures). What we hadn't realised was that there's a £15 minimum on card payments!! So, I paid on the tab of an ever-generous group member whom I'm going to have to repay a fortune to, one of these days - and there was at least one person who simply went without, as she didn't have the cash. Now really, that restriction is just plain unreasonable. Snug, too - we were lucky to snaffle a couple of tables by the door.
And so to our final stop, The Star Tavern:
We should have known from the sign really - but this is a terrifically friendly pub! We did a bit of exploring:
And a number of us ordered food. Me, I had my first steak in a long, long time.. oh man, was it good! There was even a little dog, at a nearby table, who fancied the smell.. Service comes with a smile, the kitchen is open till 9, and at closing time, the three of us who remained were sat at the bar, chatting with the lady behind it. Truly, a friendly port in a storm! Highly recommended, and our favourite of the night, methinks. And damnit, I really didn't intend for someone else to pay for the round while I was in the loo..
Too tired, too drunk, to blog last night. Tonight, my ex-coworker suggested meeting up - I recommended the Duke of Sussex. I was supposed to tell him how I got on that day, but lo, last-minute work demands meant I had to postpone my presentation - it's now happening on Monday. Well, when we arrived at the pub - it was "wait to be seated", and if you didn't have a reservation, you had to wait at the bar. Nuts, we said, we have options.. but really, it isn't always easy to find a decent food pub, which was what we wanted. We finally plumped for The Fire Station.
Saying we wanted food, we were shown to the dining section at the back - where we sank into very low chairs, it seemed! I have to give credit to whoever designed the menu - the names are top-notch! As are the food combos - I decided to try the carbonara pizza, which comes without tomato, but including egg and bacon. My companion had the margherita pizza - which isn't called that - the vegan version, as he can't do dairy. The drinks menu is even longer, and with a great list of wines to choose from, I chose the chenin blanc - it's hard to mess up.
I was a bit dubious about my pizza - but it smelled delicious, and was very tasty! With a runny, fried egg in the middle. Unfortunately, I found the base - while nice and thin - very salty, and couldn't finish it. I chose the "gimme s'more" for dessert, which had chocolate ice cream and salted caramel sauce, topped with torched meringue. Very moreish - again, also very salty. I have to wonder whether the chef has a high salt tolerance. Interestingly, although my dessert was served in a wide tumbler, I was given a sundae spoon to eat it with. When I asked for a bigger one, I was.. given a second? When I asked again, they disappeared around the kitchen for a few minutes, then came back with something slightly larger than a teaspoon. Ok, and I finished - but really, they don't have dessert spoons? But anyway, service is friendly, and we stayed there, ordering more drinks, until closing. Most enjoyable, and great to see him again!
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