Tonight, couldn't see anything on Meetup, again - so I booked with TAC for The Grotto, a Christmas comedy at the Drayton Arms, which was local to me, many years ago! You never know, I thought I might even get to eat there.. they didn't seem to be booked up, so I decided I'd have a go. I remember the food being decent, long, long ago.. and they're less central, so it might be possible!
A decent distance, and it turned out to have to be Tube - to Gloucester Road, where, I mused, I've hardly ever gotten off. The Tube journey was enlivened somewhat by the fat bloke - no argument about it, he was fat - mansplaining across a couple of seats across from me, a plastic bag plonked on one of them. A couple looking for seats gave him a look - at which he growled an expletive, and a warning to stop looking at him. Then a guy with a crutch got on, and asked him to move the bag, which was on the seat at the end, which would be handier for him. "No," came the response. He asked again, quietly. "No." He stood. Happily, the owner of the bag got off at the next stop - and everyone breathed a little easier.
A short, zigzag walk to the pub - which was, sadly, packed. I had a look around - spotted a restaurant called Thali across the road and decided to try it. Rather bravely - it didn't display a menu. But I was hungry enough not to care much..
Well, it was just lovely. Sparkly red napkin rings, friendly service - and prompt, but then, they were practically empty when I arrived! I had free poppadoms to start, with a mango dip - then for my official starter, samosas, as usual: chicken, not as usual! Never before seen chicken samosas. They were served with a sauce that, she warned me, was mango and chili - emphasising the chili! And for main - since they didn't have butter chicken - I was intrigued by the "turkey tikka" monthly special, and asked for that. She checked I didn't want it as a starter, and warned that it came without sauce - never mind, I said, I'd have it anyway. And it was delicious! Not an awful lot of it, but I'd also asked for pulao rice and peshawari naan.. all lovely, and accompanied by a nice sauvignon blanc. Ah yes, this was a lovely, relaxed meal - just what I needed. And just across from the theatre, which I made with five minutes to spare.
I did find the warnings, posted on the stairs, intriguing - for a Christmas show, particularly. Well, I was seated right at the back:
The scene: Santa's Grotto. The characters: Santa and an elf. They do a marvellous job of miming the presence of small visitors to Santa, as raucous Christmas music plays. Then it's time to clear up - something of a relief to both. But as Santa steps out for a moment, and the elf starts to dismantle the Christmas tree - something odd happens..
It's completely bonkers, happily. Just what I needed, again! I could give away the plot, but I couldn't do it justice. Suffice to say that it's just the right amount of surreal - and there's a third character, whose presence is not immediately felt. Runs for just over an hour - highly recommended, for a healthy dose of laughter to tide you over Christmas! Runs, as the warning above says, until the 30th..
And on the way home - on the Tube, again - a lady with a gorgeous labrador, wagging its tail and sniffing everyone, saying hello, and getting a lot of hellos back. One lady even got her face licked! And so we wended our merry way home - early enough for me to get some shopping in, phew!
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