Restaurant: Little Georgia & Concert: London Symphony Orchestra

Last night, my first Meetup of the year with Civilised London! And as usual, it was dinner! (My third day in a row to eat out!) We were off again to Little Georgia, meeting beforehand at The Crown.

Great to see them.. only three of us went to The Crown, where we had a fine chat before dinner. We could have eaten there, actually - and the organiser said that one day, he probably would organise a Meetup there. For now, though, we just squeezed in a second drink - which he was kind enough to buy for me! Really, one of these days I'll have to start repaying the favour. Anyway, it's a good sign when the bar staff remember what your last drink was.. and they were unfailingly cheerful and friendly here. Lovely place to come, for food as well as for drinks, I'm sure.

And so, to the restaurant - which, like The Crown, was hidden in scaffolding. I was happy I was following someone else's lead - wouldn't have recognised it myself. One of the others had already arrived, and picked us a table at the back - there were five of us in the end.

We shared starters - cheesebread and (I think) aubergine salad.. for mains, a couple of us wanted lamb stew but they were out of it. (Tends to happen, here - well, if they need supplies from Georgia, they have a long way to come!) So we settled on beef. Sadly, I didn't make much of a hand of mine - it was spicier than I was in the mood for, and though it was tasty, I couldn't finish it. Wine was interesting; they're Georgian as well, and my companion in beef, when she heard I preferred white, steered me towards the amber wine - made using red wine techniques, which leave the juice to ferment on the skins, and result in a wine that is darker in colour than white, and has additional tannins. It's an unusual taste, quite unlike what I'm used to from white. Which made for an interesting dinner! ;-)

More excellent conversation, and we headed for the last venue of the night - The Angelic. Where, wouldn't you know it, I had another glass of wine bought for me. Jeez - I swear, one of these days I will return the favour.. honest.. Conversation, again, was good - and great to see people again! Roll on the next. Handily enough, my bus left from right around the corner. By the time I got home, I was far too tired too blog, of course.

Tonight, headed with London Classical Music and Theatre Group - and I was lucky to see it, what with Meetup not even suggesting the event when I was looking for something that day! If it hadn't been for some mention over the last couple of events with them, of some event happening this week.. Anyway, we were off to see the LSO at the Barbican - wildcard tickets sadly sold out by the time I booked.

Damnit, work got in the way as usual, and I set out later than intended. So I was too late to meet them beforehand - especially as I was at the top level - the lift proved handy, and up I went. No bad seats here, of course:

The first half was Shostakovich's 14th Symphony - excellent, but a bit of a downer, which I wasn't honestly in the mood for. Not with this seemingly interminable job hunt still in progress. Well, I connected with the group at the interval, which was lovely - and when we went back up, it was to something much more enjoyable. I'm a huge Beethoven fan - and it was a real treat to hear his 7th Symphony, whose second movement is one of my all-time favourite pieces of classical music. Pieces like this make life worth living.

Afterwards, it wasn't late - but the Barbican bars close after the show interval, so we headed down the road to the The Jugged Hare. It being crowded and noisy, we didn't stay long.. instead, our organiser had the inspired idea to pop into the nearby Cote - which wasn't busy - and ask whether we could just stay for drinks. No problem at all! and more excellent chat was had. And wow, you'll never guess.. as she was leaving, one of our group - whose very first Meetup ever it was - reassured us that we didn't need to pay, she'd taken care of it! Lordy me. This is turning into a cheaper week for me than I deserve..! Looking forward to meeting this group again as well - unfortunately, I already have something scheduled for the night of their next advertised outing. Ah well, some other time..

Tomorrow, headed with the London European Club to the Puppet Theatre Barge, for a performance of The Red Balloon!

On Saturday, back with the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners, and Laurence Summers - got the last spot on his Passage through Pimlico walk! which, as he was telling me Tuesday last week, is through a not very well-known part of town! Well, this one should at least be warmer, being in daytime.. and we're getting lunch after.

On Sunday - Crick Crack is back! Now, this is an interesting one - Japanese ghost stories, the event is called The Game of Candles, with each story represented by a lit candle, which is blown out when the story is completed. Taking place at the British Museum, Tim Ralphs and Sarah-Liisa Wilkinson performing. Sold out now - they're only doing half capacity.

And on Monday - another interesting talk by The Garden Talks! This one is What Conditions Create Witch Hunts? Have to say, Meetup seems to have awoken from the doldrums..!

Restaurant: Little Georgia

Tonight, back with Meetup at last. Civilised London (CL) was back to dinner at Little Georgia, and naturally, so was I. Meeting at The Crown beforehand. The weather was supposed to improve as the day went on..

And so it did. I was a little later leaving than I really should have been - but when am I not? The handy bus stop around the corner was the stopping point for the bus that took me as close as possible - unfortunately, half of London seemed to consider it their best option too, and vast streams of people got on and off at every subsequent stop. So by the time I arrived at the pub, everyone else was in situ - the organiser was kind enough to get me a drink, and by the time I'd drunk it, and some conversation had been had, it was time to head off.

Two of our group hadn't been here before - I made some menu suggestions, and we began. And yes, as before, the only problem was the portion size.. I had dumplings for main course this time, and couldn't finish - although 3.5 out of 5 ain't bad! They were tasty, of course, as was the starter I have always had. We couldn't even finish the chips, what with everything else.. but it was a good meal, and good to see people again, first time in the New Year. And good luck to the restaurant staff, with the huge group that arrived towards the end of our meal! Caveat: one of the ladies' cubicles wasn't in operation, and the other has a catch lock that could easily pop open if the door is pushed hard enough. You have been warned..!

Tomorrow is going to be film as well - which is where Knives Out comes in. No question I was going to see it - it was just a question of which to see first! This is a classic, drawing-room murder mystery. Daniel Craig is the detective, hired to investigate the murder of Christopher Plummer. Jamie Lee Curtis is the deceased's daughter, married to Don Johnson. Toni Collette is the deceased's daughter-in-law. Each as horrid as the last.. and I booked it, because the closest showing is in the Vue Islington, and Vue are apparently cheaper online. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

On Monday, back with CL for another jazz night at Wilton's. This time, it's Uri Sade.

On Tuesday, back for another comedy show at Soho Theatre - this time, it's Hench, by Jessica Fostekew.

And next Wednesday, I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats for a preview of Aisha and Abhaya, at the Linbury Theatre - apparently a new venue for the Opera House. My first time there.

Restaurant: Little Georgia & Film: Gully Boy

On Thursday, we had our official monthly team social - heading back to Little Georgia for this. My team members had a late meeting - but when I realised this, and checked the reservation, I saw that no later slot was available. I said it to them, and offered to go on ahead to hold the table - but they said no, and cancelled the meeting instead. Another colleague was to join us, but she had a meeting she couldn't cancel - so she was to join us later. And so, off we schlepped - the general consensus was to take a bus if it wasn't too crowded - when one arrived, it was, in fact, completely empty!

A short walk brought us to the restaurant - now, I hadn't noticed before, but it actually has a different name on the sign above it! So that caused some confusion - but the proper name is written on the window. We were slightly early - in fact, they only open at 6, which was the time I'd reserved. And as they were completely empty too, we got seated immediately - as we'd booked for more people than were coming, we moved to a smaller table, and freed some space for them. They always seem to be busy!

With our colleague not due to arrive for a while, and us hungry, we decided to get on with ordering wine and starters. Despite the lack of customers, they were busy on the phones, and it did take some time to get their attention - what the hey, they were attentive enough, and we were soon served our wine. We were, of course, to order so many bottles in the end that the staff wondered whether we'd realised! Yes, we assured them, we do want all of them..and they got finished, too.

I had the same starter as before, and found it spicier than I remembered - but still lovely. My co-worker had cheesebread, which she declared delicious, and da boss - being hungrier than the rest of us - ordered two! One was chicken liver - but the chips proved the absolute sensation of the night, would you believe, with us ordering plate after plate. Gorgeous: it's ages since I had chips as good - crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and as he remarked, the right size and thickness. And with a lovely dip.

Unfortunately, with all those chips, predictably, I did fill myself up a bit. So the beef stew I ordered for my main course, although tasty, was far too much for me. Tons of meat, and a bit salty to eat lots of. Ditto my boss, who couldn't finish his - but he exclaimed that it was just like his granny used to make! and he hasn't had the like in 20 years. So he got that to take away - along with the last plate of chips. And said he'd be back. My co-worker had poussin, which - interestingly - this time came with the sauce on the side.

The colleague who joined late shared some chips - I can't remember what she had for main, but it got finished. She was also the only one to have dessert - and they turned out to have only one dessert! a pear tart, which came with a choice of sides. She chose double cream, which came in a dinky sherry glass. The chat and craic continued for hours - long past the two-hour, official booking time, I'm glad to say! As for advance booking - they were quite empty when we arrived, but completely full around 8pm, emptying out gradually after 9. Wiser, always, to book here.

The drinking in the office continued for hours after - so blogging was out of the question. Yesterday then turned out to be too busy to blog. Last night, I booked with the London European Club, whom I cancelled last week - this time, I was a bit more determined to go to the Scottish Ceilidh. Dancing this time, rather than watching. Gee.. but guess what happened? Well, a team visited from the learning software company we use - their office is close to ours. And yes, he put on a spread to beat even the last one! He's unbelievable, bless 'im. The event was too good to miss - honestly, it's been an exhausting week anyway, and I didn't fancy lepping around, dancing. So I stayed and did that, instead. Too late to blog afterwards, natch.

Today, film - I finally went to Gully Boy, which has been on my radar for a while. A rap film set in Mumbai - so, the Indian equivalent of 8 Mile! Closest showing was in Vue Westfield Stratford City. Well, I had all day. Booked - I thought it was cheaper, but it seems not - still, this afternoon's performance ended up selling out.

I'd have taken buses, but TFL warned of diversions because of a West Ham match that was on today, and I wasn't sure where the new route would take me. So I took the Tube instead, which at least gave me time to eat first - it was fine on the Northern Line, but the Central Line was horribly stuffy, as ever, and standing was quite uncomfortable - the open window provided a welcome draught, but it was still a relief to get off in Stratford. Where I got caught up in a frightful crush of people trying to get out of the station. Then I did something silly, exiting on the side I normally do to go to the theatre, here. Of course, I should have been heading for Westfield! So I had to head all the way back around - then navigate Saturday afternoon crowds - and there was no signposting whatsoever for the cinema! At least Google Maps had some idea - and once I figured out that it was probably upstairs (it's a long time since I was here before - I eventually stumbled across it.

She didn't even swipe my code - just checked the details and pointed me in the right direction. Now, I arrived 25 minutes after the scheduled time - you'd think I'd have missed some of the film..? Not a bit if it - would you believe, there were still 15 minutes of trailers left! That's 40 minutes of ads! I was glad of it on this occasion, but that's just ridiculous. Not to mention the sound seeping through from somewhere - it's just as well this is a pretty loud film! Oh, and not mentioning at all the berk beside me who must take out his phone not once, but twice, to text! I know where I'd like to shove it..

So. This - like 8 Mile - is the story of a poor boy who sees rap as his way out. Unlike 8 Mile, this is set in the Muslim community of Mumbai - "gully" means "street" in Hindi, according to our hero. The luminous Alia Bhatt, always watchable, lights up the screen as his feisty girlfriend.

It's got the gritty backstreets, the lack of opportunities, the unsupportive relatives, the abusive father. An interesting scene has a group of tourists from London being shown through the guy's house as an example of real slum living! one of whom never puts down her selfie stick. Well, I guess, what use would it be if she did? Our would-be rapper compliments one of the tourists on his Nas t-shirt - turns out he's an executive producer on the film! As is Beyoncé.

It's terrific. He's very watchable, and Alia Bhatt is compelling whenever she's onscreen, their secret romance - she's better off than he is, so her family would disapprove - providing plenty of humour. An attractive group of main characters, and really good raps - although I don't speak Hindi - make this a cool film and a great thing to watch. Go see, if rap's your thing. Only quibble was the blasted intermission, an hour in.. short, at least!

Took the bus back - roadworks outside the shopping centre made for terrible delays, so it took forever; I spent so long on the bus that I passed the hour limit for free transfers, so ended up walking the last bit. It wasn't so far, at least, and I did pass a film shoot on Clifton Street. Which was interesting.

Tomorrow, back with Chronicles for his Border London walk! Great - for me, this'll be the third of the four he currently offers. I'm sure I'll make the last one at some stage - he's excellent, both knowledgeable and entertaining. Even though it's supposed to be wet and windy, with Storm Freya! The wind was already rising as I made my way back, this evening.

On Monday, back at last with Crick Crack Club storytelling! This one is Dog Almighty, by Emily Hennessy, at Soho Theatre. Unusually, not sold out yet - but nearly. I accidentally booked a ticket for Waitress for the same night - any takers? :-)

On Tuesday, I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats (UITCS) for A Hundred Words for Snow at Trafalgar Studios. I cancelled the last two I'd booked with this organiser, for drinks at the office, though - d'you think I'll manage to get to this one?! We shall see.

On Wednesday, more Crick Crack! Back to their Archetypes series - taking place at Rich Mix, Lovers & Addicts is a stellar lineup of performers, including my favourite, Clare Murphy, Daniel Morden, and TUUP! Highly recommended - again, tickets are still available.

On Thursday, I had booked with UITCS - that poor organiser I keep cancelling - to see Shipwreck, at the Almeida. But it seems my coworker saw it on Monday - and from her description, it sounds a lot less attractive to me than before. Sod it, the company social is the same night - I can do my drinking with da boss in a bar for a change! So I cancelled the play. Anyone want a ticket..? Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend.

And on the 11th, back with UITCS for Blood Knot at the Orange Tree. Assuming I make it, given that I cancelled the last one I'd booked here, as well..!

Restaurant: Little Georgia & Winter Lights

Yesterday, I was back with Let's Do This for the first time this year, as we headed to a Georgian restaurant for dinner. Georgia, the country. When I told my boss, he absolutely gushed about Georgian cuisine - he's not from there, but from Bulgaria, just across the Black Sea. Anyway, he seemed to know.

Well, it was a horrible day at work - most stressful - and it hadn't ended yet by the time I left. I had to take my laptop with me, so I could work from home last night - I wasn't coming back to the office, as I was headed to the other side of where I live. Close enough that I could walk - but of course, I ended up leaving late, what with all the work, and decided to maximise my time with the group by taking the Tube to Angel (only one stop), and walking from there.

Not too crowded at this hour, anyway. I looked up the route on Google Maps on my phone before I left. But wouldn't you know it, the damned app closed the journey details en route! and when I exited the station, I couldn't get an internet signal! Took me a few minutes to be able to look up my route again. Cue a trot through mainly residential streets, to The Crown, where we were to meet: one of those pubs with lots of engraved glass to tell you it's a pub - as Mary pointed out. And we had a drink, and a lovely chat there, before heading off to the restaurant.

Little Georgia is quite a little place. As we waited for them to get our table ready, we noted the curious collection of phones they have - old-fashioned, in various colours, dotted about the counter and on a shelf. An old gramophone. Also a surfeit of Georgian posters, the writing incomprehensible to me. And for the whole night, we remarked among ourselves how full it was - notable, for a Wednesday in January!

Our host ordered a bread basket for the table, which came with garlic butter - all of which proved so popular that we had another! But I have to say, the star of the night - for me, at least - was my starter. Moshushuli-Soko Katmit is shredded chicken with onion, mushroom, chilli, and "Georgian spices".. and as soon as it arrived at the table (complete with another couple of slices of bread), everybody's nose was twitching. It smelled absolutely delicious. And I have to say, the taste was just as good - I cleared my plate with gusto. Can't honestly remember a more delicious starter in my life! For main course, I had poussin in a garlic sauce - which was lovely, but the poussin, by its nature, had a lot of small bones, and was tricky to eat. We had both red and white wine among us, both Georgian, and a bottle of (Polish) beer.

Service was friendly throughout, and quick enough, although they had a full house to contend with. And they do desserts - although there didn't seem to be a general trend for that among my companions, and we didn't. Prices decent, too. A great evening was had, with excellent company. No general trend towards the pub afterwards - which was a shame, I could really have done with it after my day! Anyway, I walked home (downhill). Good to get in early, at least, since I still had work to do..

Meantime, I've been quite busy.. but tonight I decided (yes, on the coldest day we've had so far this year) to take myself to Canary Wharf (one of the coldest spots in London), for their annual Winter Lights festival. (Got the idea from the Central London Outdoor Group - but I found them a bit clingy in the past, to be honest, and didn't fancy going with them.) It runs till 10pm (and after, for the outdoor exhibits) - but I was a bit delayed in going, showing my late-working boss a video of Jan Blake. So I decided on the Tube again, to give myself as much time as possible there. And again, it wasn't too crowded. And isn't it great how they provide so much there for free? The first of the installations is right outside the Tube station, and you can get a map on the festival website.

More photos and videos here. (Apologies for the those videos that are sideways - I can't seem to remember not to shoot them landscape!) Anyway, I zipped around, and saw most things - a terrific exhibit. Runs till the 26th - highly recommended. I got the bus back, which fairly flew at this time of night!

Tomorrow, back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Pinter at the Pinter - Programme Six! (Party Time / Celebration.) And I'll have to be up early on Saturday - have to be in Sutton for midday to give the car back! End of an era.