For the second time in a week, I travelled up to the centre of London for an important meal. This time Sue came with me, and we made the journey by car (to North Greenwich Underground Station) and then the Jubilee Line to Bond Street. The venue for the meal - a birthday lunch for someone Sue and I have known for over ten years - was being held in the Oriental Club in Stamford Place, which is almost opposite Bond Street Underground Station.
We had eaten there before in 2019, and knew that the food and the atmosphere would be excellent ... and we were not disappointed. On this occasion we ate in the Library ...
... where all the guests sat around a long table, with our host sat at in the centre of one side.
The menu for our meal was as follows:
Indian Street Food Selection
Cornish Prime Rib of Beef, Triple Cooked Chips and BBQ Sauce, Mixed Salad
Salted Toffee Chocolate Pot, Assorted Biscuits
Coffee and Handmade Chocolates
All served with:
Picpoul de Pinet, Les Trois Mates, Languedoc, France, 2020
Merlot, Reserve La Vigneau, Vin de Pays, France, 2019
The food was superb, and I am told that the wine (which I did not drink) complemented it extremely well.
All-in-all, we had a wonderful time. Besides the excellent food and drink and the stunning location, the company was as diverse as it was entertaining. We sat in the midst of a group that included the host's son and his wife, a film extra turned entrepreneur and cryptocurrency dealer, a couple of orchestral conductors who also lecture at the Royal Academy of music, and a distant descendant of Field Marshal Lord Roberts of Kandahar VC and his lady friend! Conversation covered a wide range of topics, and everyone had something to say that was well worth listening to.
The lunch finished just after 4.30pm and having thanked our host and said goodbye to everyone we had spoken to, Sue and I returned home by Tube. It was somewhat more crowded than it had been earlier in the day, and the only jarring note was the level of non-compliance with the compulsory wearing of facemasks being exhibited by some of our fellow passengers. That said, it was hardly surprising as an anti-vaccination and anti-lockdown demonstration had taken place during the day in Trafalgar Square, which was served by one of the Underground stations we stopped at on our journey home.
Wow, what a place to eat Bob! the menu sounds wonderful as does the company. The mask wearing or lack of it is worrying to see, but a trip to Lidl today saw nearly everyone wearing one. Maybe the message of the huge rise in cases is getting through.
ReplyDeleteSteve J.,
DeleteIt is my third or fourth visit to the Oriental Club to dine ... and I have yet to be disappointed!
Wearing masks seems to have become a bit of a contentious issue in some places. At North Greenwich Underground Station, TfL had enforcement officers present ... but they were not enforcing the wearing of facemasks; they were trying to catch fare dodgers!
Case numbers continue to rise in my part of London, but there are still loads of people - often in the worst affected age groups - who seem to think that they are not going to catch the virus. I wish them luck in that belief ... but feel that it is very misplaced!
Keep safe and keep well,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteThat is a very nice Venue for the Grand Dinner - just superb and very old world- certainly it would suit a King and Queen! Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteIt is very Old World, and retains the feel of what life must have been like under the Raj. Eating under the eyes of the club’s first and only President - the Duke of Wellington - certainly added to the atmosphere!
All the best,
Bob
That looks a fantastic lunch venue!
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Underground, a friend pointed out to me that with the windows between carriages open and the train running at normal speed, there is a pretty significant airflow through the whole train, which makes it very well ventilated! I feel fairly safe there - as long as there are not 'rush hour' numbers of people on board. That said, I only went to my office in London last week, for the first time in over a year!
David in Suffolk,
DeleteThe venue is magnificent … and very easy for us to get to!
There was no evidence of much airflow through the carriages. They were hot and sticky, and the windows were shut tight. Frankly, unless the wearing of face masks is enforced, the rise in infections will continue … and I am not that sure that the statistics that are being published are that accurate.
Keep safe and keep well,
Bob
Maybe I was lucky to be on the slightly rackety old Central Line rather than a newer line such as the Jubilee with its 'Air Conditioning'! And as you say, you were perhaps unlucky that your journey coincided with those protesters. I am certainly still using a mask on transport and in shops, etc, and keeping such journies to a minimum. Keeping well so far..
DeleteDavid in Suffolk,
DeleteAt least sections of the Central Line are above ground and the air seems to circulate better.
The protesters that I saw seemed to be what a friend of me describes as ‘soap dodgers’. I am sure that they were as clean as the rest of us, but they looked very, very scruffy.
Keep safe and keep well,
Bob
Hi Bob
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful experience for you both to share. I do envy you the opportunity.
As you know, we live in rural Spain. Almost everyone still wears a mask when outside he house, even though the law changed recently so that it is only necessary when you can't maintain the minimum distance of 1.5 metres. Mind I expect it is a lot different in Madrid and other major cities here.
regards
Paul
Thistlebarrow (Paul),
DeleteIt was a privilege to be invited to eat at the Oriental Club again, and is a reminder of an earlier - and somewhat more formal - era.
I suspect that the majority of Spanish people have less of an obsession with a spurious idea of ‘rights’ and ‘freedom’ than certain sections of British society. That might not be quite so true of the inhabitants of larger cities, where attitudes seem to be far more homogeneous across Europe, and the so-called ‘young’ want to exercise their ‘right’ to enjoy themselves by going out as often as they can, regardless of the danger to themselves or others.
Keep safe and keep well,
Bob
Glad you had such a splendid time.
ReplyDeleteTradgardmastare,
DeleteCheers! It was a great event to be part of.
All the best,
Bob