Pub #4: The Lord Clyde

So, my friend James is currently in town, and on his second night in I corralled him into meeting with friends Lucy and Jim at the New Rose on Essex Road.  Unfortunately for us, a large number of people had the same idea of meeting up at the New Rose as well, so, after everyone finished their drinks (I abstained, being a slow drinker), we moved on for greener pastures that weren’t quite taken over by holiday revelers.

Lucy and Jim led us to The Lord Clyde, also on Essex Road, but more towards St Paul’s Road than Islington Green. They said the pub was a good one, and the atmosphere was certainly inviting, especially considering the nice seats we managed to score around a small table in sight of the pub’s Christmas tree.  The place was less crowded than the pub we left, and though there was a table of folks having their holiday party next to us.  Considering it was the 22nd of December, I’m sure many pubs in London were playing host to at least one holiday party for a club or office or group of friends.

We made our food orders–Lucy and Jim first, then James, and then I last–grabbing our drinks whilst ordering our food as well.  I went with a pint of Aspall’s Suffolk Cider, with homemade ravioli pulled from the chalkboard specials as my dinner.  My total came up to £12.50, which somewhat puzzled me, because the number indicating the price for the ravioli looked like an eight… which would have made my pint £4.50.  Later on, I found out the writer of the boardwrites, as he put it, “Germanic Nines,” where the 9 looks more like an 8 with part of the lower half erased.  So, the ravioli entree was £9, the pint of cider, £3.50.

Lucy and Jim got their meals in good time, and they looked wonderful.  Lucy had gotten a fish dish from the special that looked amazing, and Jim’s burger looked serious, a “proper burger.”  After they had finished, James and I still hadn’t gotten our meals, and one of the staff went in to check up on the orders.  After a bit, James was presented with his bangers n’ mash, which was something on his “List of things to do in London.”  It looked like quite a nice meal as well, very neatly presented.

The food I ordered, however, was still not accounted for, and I was informed by the same staff member that, yes, there *was* an issue with my order, and that it was being made, sorry.  Forgive me this digression, but the American in me was wondering if I would get the dish for free, or maybe get a free drink to compensate for my wait.  But nah, it’s not really like that in the UK, or at least in London with my limited experience.  No free desserts or coffee on the house for my wait, alas.  Just an assurance that my dish was on its way.

When it did arrive, though, it was a disappointing sight in comparison to the dishes received by my friends.  The ravioli was in a soup of sauce, covered with cheese.  The pasta itself was weakly-filled with butternut squash, but I couldn’t taste it for the amount of sauce it was drowned in.  The portion seemed rather small–Lucy commented that it looked as if they had split one dinner-sized portion into two–and it really wasn’t anything special.  Okay, I understand that ordering pasta at a pub isn’t the best choice, as pasta can be easily made at home.  But the vegetarian options for main dishes on The Lord Clyde’s food menu really consisted of one dish–a roasted veg entree–and then there was the vegetarian ravioli on the chalkboard.  That was it.

It was a shame, really, to have been the recipient of the “ravioli FAIL” dish.  I think even just a side of garlic bread would have ameliorated it.  Yeah, I’ve had worse pasta served up before elsewhere, and I’ve had small portions of pasta served elsewhere (Marquis Cornwallis of Marchmount, I am looking at you), but from the evidence of the menu and the resulting vegetarian dish, it would seem to me the cook at The Lord Clyde simply doesn’t care to make vegetarian food, even though in London there is a clear demand for it, since everyone seems to have a vegetarian friend, housemate or boy/girlfriend here.

Unless the menu changes, I don’t see myself eating at The Lord Clyde again, although my friends of the carnivorous ilk may enjoy good burgers and bangers there.  The environment is nice, and I wouldn’t mind having a pint at The Lord Clyde, though it’ll probably be on the suggestion of someone else.

Not-So-Desperate Housewives

Sundays are for sweet tea and hanging out with the gals, and that’s what I did last week at Jeannette’s lovely bachelorette pad.  Marie rounded out the trio for an evening of Indian food, incense, cards and playing dress-up.  And, oh yes, sweet tea.

To explain, it began with Jeannette leaving me a comment on my Facebook wall: “I think you me and Marie need to have some kind of Indian food housewife dress wearing get together of some sort before you go to jolly old England.”

Actually, perhaps it started a bit earlier when Marie and I were yammering about how cool Jeannette was, and how we ought to all hang out more.  I relayed this conversation to Jeannette, telling her we both had a “girl-crush” on her, which I’m sure she found amusing.  Jeannette is awesome, and if you know her, you know this to be true.  I was telling Marie how cool Jeannette’s place is, and told her she ought to go to Jeannette’s apartment sometime.

So, when Jeannette posted the comment online, I took her up on it.  Literally.  I even went a bit further and suggested that we play cards, like the housewives in Mad Men and in I Love Lucy do.

Jeannette was the best hostess, providing Marie and I with an incomparable vegetarian Indian feast.  Jeannette has spent a year teaching herself how to make Indian food, and through reading books and trial and error, she has become an accomplished cook of Indian fare.  It’s an interesting transformation, as I recall a couple of evenings back when I lived in College Park when I played hostess and cooked for Jeannette.  At that time, she didn’t cook much, but now, she can make delicious samosas, curries and condiments thanks to her diligence and determination.

Marie, Jeannette and I were all decked out in “housewife wear.”  Marie was in a dress of mine, complete with a houndstooth headband and an apron I bought for her a while back.  Jeannette was in a cute black number, wearing a full apron she made out of a shower curtain.  Yes, Jeannette made an awesome apron out of a shower curtain.  You can’t even tell it’s handmade.  How boss is that?

The food was amazing.  I’ll have to include a menu of what we ate later, but one of the more impressive items on the plates was the tomato pickle condiment.  I’ve included a photo of Jeannette and Marie with the jar of tomato pickle, which provided a savory-salty kick to the food we ate.  It was a marvelous meal, all the more impressive that Jeannette has gotten this good at cooking in a year’s time.  I cannot stress how good it was, and Marie also was very vocal in how much she enjoyed the food.  Dinner conversation revolved around food, if not the food we were eating, but also cooking tips and suggestions Jeannette had for Marie with regards to Marie’s unused pressure cooker.  It was great to hear them talk about food, sharing food experiences and learning new techniques.  Marie loves to cook, so I think she really enjoyed asking Jeannette questions about the ingredients and components of our meal.

I was content merely with eating.  Mmmm….

Afterwards, we ate a light dessert made by Jeannette, setting the fruit crumble bars I brought aside, as they were a bit heavy for the meal (though they did prove to be a great lunchtime snack for Jeannette the next day).  We continued conversation, I took photos, and Jeannette brought out her massive incense haul she found on the side of the road.

Afterwards, Jeannette taught us how to play Contract Rummy, which was good fun.  We couldn’t quite complete the game, which is actually built of a series of little rounds, but I wound up the victor from the games we played.  It was good fun, and we left Jeannette’s after 10 pm, a good time had by all, with plans in the works for more cooking, card-playing and, perhaps, sweet tea.

Early birthday celebrations

Yesterday, my friends Marie and Mike held an early birthday party for me.  Marie, who is the party planning queen among our troupe, asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday a few weeks back, and it was tough coming up with something somewhat original.  I mean, my birthday is actually Wednesday, the 27th, which makes an inconvenient time to stay up and drink/party for those of us who work the following day, which would have been everyone.  Even I can’t stay up late, since I’ve got to be at the airport at 5 am in the morning Thursday to go to Seattle.

Since I’d be in Seattle on the weekend after my birthday, that left the weekend prior.  I opted for something that would enable a small gathering of folks to get together and hang out.  Thus, the idea for a cheese party was born.  This was the e-mail I sent to my friends whom I invited:
 
Subject:  for my birthday, we’re cutting the cheese

Hey there, movers and shakers. 

To celebrate the momentous occasion of my divine birth, hostess-with-the-mostess Marie will be holding a cheese party this Sunday, the 24th, at the MMM Mansion on Ferncreek at 5 pm.  She has asked me to send out invites to people, and here it is: an invitation.

So, your presence is requested at ~~~ Ferncreek Avenue on Sunday, August 24th, at 5 pm Eastern Standard Time.  Please bring along the following items:

1. A tasty block of cheese

2. A tasty beverage accompaniment suitable for quaffing down with cheese and crackers, which means no bad beer.

Because we are in a recession, I will completely understand if you cannot manage to bring one of the above items, but at the very least, bring along a hunk of cheese.  My birthday (which is actually on the 27th) will be used as an occasion for us to all get together and try out different nibblies we normally don’t get around to enjoying often, especially some of the more exotic, fancy cheeses in the Whole Foods cheese bin (but you don’t have to go to Whole Foods for your block of dairy goodness).  If you’d like to bring a friend, please ask that he or she contribute to the cheese education cause, or perhaps some crackers, fruit, magic dippy stuff, or drinks.

For beer and cheese pairings, feel free to refer to this article for ideas: Delicate Pairings of Beer and Cheese.  For those of you who may only think of cheese as Velveeta, which I don’t think is any of you, this article on Cheese Varieties can help you get started on making a selection.  If you’d like to bring along some other accompaniments, here’s a Guide to Cheese Condiments.

Please RSVP, and let me know if you’re bringing along any guests.

 

Anyway, naturally the e-mail went out to more recipients than attendees… in fact I think only my friend Kate replied for her and Rob.  Yep, this is why Kate is on my speed dial–not only will she bring you back jam from the wilds of Tennessee, but she will let you know that she’ll be somewhere, or not.  Ah well, my group of friends is tiny and small, but they’ve got spirit, and I had a fantastic time with a kick-ass cake and loads of different types of cheese.

Seriously, the cake was the shit: a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting lookin’ like a cheese round, complete with fondant mice and a fondant cat, just ‘cuz.  I’m sure once people see the cake, and all the cheese, they’ll wish they were there at Mike & Marie’s, too.

Even better, Marie took all the leftover cheese and crackers and made a fabulous mac n’ cheese this evening that was superb, it was like the party continued the next evening with a guest who couldn’t make it the previous night. 

I’d like to thank everyone who showed up yesterday evening, and a big high-five to Kate for the pillows, Mike and Marie for the cookbook and for hosting the event, and a squeeze for Hao… because he’s Hao.

But my birthday doesn’t end there!  There’s the monthly office “cake day” tomorrow in my department for everyone whose birthday is this month (four of us), then on Wednesday, I have Ethiopian food to look forward to with my parents for lunch, and after that, Seattle and Debbie’s wedding!  I might get to go out to dinner on my birthday, too.  I won’t push it, though.  At the very least, I think it’s high time I make some madeleines with my pan I bought last month prior to my wrist injury.

Happy birthday to me.

Oh, Honey!

Yesterday was my big Honey Run up to Renninger’s in Mount Dora.  I took my esteemed associate and colleague Jeannette through the long and, in this case, rainy trek to the flea market.  My modus operandi was Henry Parker’s honey booth, where I bought huge mason jars of tupelo, orange blossom and, my favourite, saw palmetto honey, and a couple of smaller mason jars of the palmetto honey for friends.  The honey is worth the drive–an average-sized mason jar full of orange blossom honey is only five bucks.  When I gave my friend Kate the jar I bought for her later on yesterday, she commented, “It’s a lot bigger than I expected it to be.”  The prices for tupelo honey is a little bit more expensive, with the massive-sized jar being $13 and change, but it’s yum.  Per TupeloHoney.org:

Pure Tupelo honey is produced from the White Ogeechee Tupelo (nyssa ogeche), it ranges through the Ogeechee River, the Apalachicola, and the Chattahoochee River Basins of northwest Florida.  These river valleys are the only place in the world where Tupelo Honey is produced commercially.  Bee hives are placed along the river’s edge.  The bees fan out through the surrounding Tupelo blossom rich swamps during April and May and return with nectar to produce their liquid treasure.

Pure Tupelo honey has a light amber golden color with a slight greenish cast.  This honey is a choice table grade honey with a delicious flavor with a delicate distinctive taste.  Honey produced from only the White Tupelo is the only honey that will not granulate.  Due to it’s high laevulose (44.3%), low dextrose (29.98%) ratio (average), doctors have been able to recommend some diabetic patients to consume Tupelo Honey.

Interestingly, when I was trying to see if Henry Parker still has his website up (doesn’t look like it), I stumbled across another blog with someone commenting about their honey-buying trip yesterday, complete with a picture of Henry Parker.  He’s the gentleman with the plaid coat and the white beard.

Renninger’s Flea Market was also a boon for Jeannette, who bought a used quilt for five dollars.  It was a super score.

We continued our spending spree at a Goodwill in Fern Park, where I bought a pair of jeans that fit for $2.99.  I’ve given up buying jeans at conventional retailers, as the price of jeans has gone up to levels that I’ve deemed obscene, and I seem to have good enough luck to find jeans at Goodwill anyway.  I own two pairs of jeans that are both a little long on me, but I’d rather roll up the ends of my Goodwill jeans I spent less than five bucks apiece for than spend $30 or $40 on a single pair.

I need that money for food.