At last a drink with Mary

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Still travelling to Edinburgh, but for a Life Assurance and Pension company.  Almost left on time from Luton, but I suppose because of the school half time, the departure was manic.  Meant that some one never quite made it to the aircraft and their luggage was off loaded.

Went for a curry at a restaurant on Drummond Street, the same street where B’est was.  The curry house is next door to a sex shop and is called (arrgh – can’t remember).  Had a pretty reasonable curry.

On Tuesday night arranged to meet Mary for a quick drink in the Cafe Royal, she seems to be busy the rest of the week.  Afterwards back to the hotel where I had supper, scallops and sausage.  OK strange combination, but they were on different plates.  My current favourite Edinburgh waitress was working, I believe she is going to get the Edinburgh Raddison best staff member of the year award.  I asked where the manager had disappeared to.  I have not seen him since Christmas.  Appears he is running/working at a bar on Hanover street. 

The MP3 player is a great boom, been listening all through my Primus albums.  And for the benefit of Selina, they covered a Pink Floyd track called ‘Have a Cigar’.  So her two most favourite bands in the same track.

The state of the fields at home

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I have never seen so much standing water on our fields.  Someplaces there must be 6 inches of water.  Don’t suppose the sheep appreciate the wet.  Not sure draining will help, the ditches are all full as well.

Talking about sheep, funny creatures.  They seem at the moment to eat in the other field (Richards), but come and sleep at night in our field.  Then in the morning at around 7.00 they move off to Richards field.  They don’t sleep in the 6 inches of water, they sleep on the high ground of the field, which is relatively dry.

RAF Museum Hendon

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On Saturday Rosemary and I visited the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon.  We were accompanied by the Cambridge Society who had organised a guided tour, lunch and a talk “Bill and Biggles Flies Again” about both Capt WE Johns and his most famour creation, Biggles. 

My last week with the bank

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I spent what could be my last week with the bank for a while.  Though I expect to be back again .  Not a lot happened.  I did visit a few restaurants.

Ate at the Mussel and Steak, and had yet again a very good rare sirloin steak.  The large steak had not a single piece of ‘chewy meat’, and was totally tender all the way through.

Tried a new Indian restaurant called Voujon.  It was quite a long walk from the hotel, aiming up Nicholson Street.  The place was well lit with trendy ceiling lights, and there was not a sign of flock wallpaper (which is a shame cos R says it is now high fashion).  The plates were all those modern white square dishes.  The food was well-prepared, but was the same menu as most other Indian restaurants.

The other two times, I ate in the hotel. It’s about time the menu was changed.  I did though visit Whistle Binkies on Thursday and saw half a set of a covers band playing Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Sex Pistols and many of the ’70s rock classics.

Slight worry about getting home.  There was snow in Aylesbury, and a small sprinkling in Edinburgh.  Waiting at the airport on Friday (over an hour late), I noticed all the flights to Birmingham were cancelled.

B’est – quiet

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Trying new places, I decided to eat at B’est on Drummond  Street.  I went because Rosemary sent me the article below from The List having seen it praised in the food magazine Olive.

The full menu costs £14.95, though there is a pre-theatre £9.50 one.  The place is conveniently situated near a major theatre.  The £14.95 can be quickly increased.  Vegetables are extra and some dishes also have a supplemental charge.

I started off with a liver au fois gras terrine.  Very nice, and it came with a little tower of something tasty, which to my surprise included one floret of cauliflower.

Mains was a tower of duck breast on some square chips arranged in Jenga fashion.

Finals was chocolate flan.

All the food was very well arranged.  The waitress always asked whether you enjoyed the food.  The word enjoy, though seemed to be number one on her vocabulary.  As she placed the food in front of you, you were commanded to Enjoy!

You could see the chef working, a small part of the restaurant being taken over by the very small kitchen.  Alas there were very few people eating there, which made for a rather poor ambiance.  And then there was the Abba musak.

The List review

 The b’est restaurant in town? Certainly one with a pedigree. Co-owner Jim Brown’s Dock Place bistro in Leith was the first Pierre Victoire franchise in the city, and his new venture (previous site of Khushi’s) revives the PV formula of three courses for little more than the average spend on a Saturday takeaway. It opened in August 2005, and locals and students were first to catch on but increasingly busy tables show word is spreading. Three big rooms do make for a slightly unwieldy space but dark wood and Gallic bits and pieces give some of the lived-in feel of a traditional Parisian estaminet. And if some of the interior design is slightly more Disney than Dijon, it isn’t putting anybody off their seafood pot au feu. Staff are quick to catch your mood with rapid service pre-theatre, or something more leisurely if you’ve time to linger. The half dozen or so choices on offer marry French with fusion, so you might pick Thai fish balls partnered by a silky coconut dressing and crunchy fresh salad leaves followed by pan-fried chicken with classic mushroom and port cream. Pud-wise, crème brûlée or summer pudding make a competent rather than startling finish.

Outsider – George IV Bridge Edinburgh

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I have been to the Outsider restaurant on George IV bridge before, many years ago with Ed and Mary.  Thought I would pay it a visit on a quiet Monday.  In fact I ended up eating there on Monday and Tuesday.

The restaurant is on multiple levels, and has some reasonable views of the castle through its back windows.  The decor is trendy, and the clientelle (apart from moi) the same.  Food prices are reasonable, quite possible to eat there for £10.

First night I ate there, I had a swordfish steak on a Japanese fish broth.  I had some mashed potatoes on the side to soak up the broth.  I was a little disappointed in this dish.  Not sure the broth did much for the steak.

Next day I was much happier with the fish kebabs.  Salmon chunks, prawns and scallops on a skewer.  Augmented with a salad in pitta bread.

Definitely worth a visit.  I am sure it would be very busy on a Friday.  It was almost full on a winter Monday evening.

Hanam’s – Kurdish and Middle East Restaurant

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Having been somewhat extravagant, and pushing the limit on my expenses, I wanted somewhere close by, i.e. on the way back to the hotel and relatively cheap.  A quick scan on the Internet came up with Hanam’s nearby in Tollcross.  The advertising blurb says it is Edinburgh’s first authentic Kurdish and Middle East Restaurant.

Authentic it is. No alcohol for sale, though it is a BYOB, with no corkage.  The restaurant is small, and set with Ikea cutlery.  It was not busy, just one Kurdish couple eating.  The owner was jolly and chatted to everyone, including me.  He asked why I had come, where I had seen it advertised.  Later he explained about Kurdistan, how it was incorporated into Iran, Iraq, Turkey and another country. 

One interesting story about how he had to provide a takeaway for 100 people in Kent, from Edinburgh!

I started off with stuffed vine leaves, and then went on to the lamb casserole. The lamb casserole, I forget its real name, was served in a deep dish with lots of vegetables, not carrots, but onion and peppers.  It was served on a base of their nan bread which soaked up the juices and sauce.  The flavour was quite tangy. All this was washed down with apple juice.  Next time I think I will have kebabs.  The couple next to be ate Kebab with the Kurdish Nan Bread which is thinner and crispier than Indian bread.

Tuesday and Wednesday in the dark in the grey city

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Latish supper in the Petit Paris.  You can tell it is winter, the downstairs was not in use, well it wasn’t until the party of 8 turned up.

Supper, well a boring steak.  Ordered rare, slightly over cooked I think.  Still red, but not totally raw in the middle which is my definition of rare.  Usual 500 ml of wine to wash it down.

I thought I was meant to be meeting Mary tonight, but confusion in text messages without the punctuation meant somehow we missed each other.  So anyway to the Mai Thai for my Wednesday meal.  I needed their free broadband, I had quite a few large uploads and downloads to complete for a number of websites.  I hate those hotels that charge, and then the free ones seem to throttle your bandwidth as well.   So probably have to spend more time at the Mai Thai.

Couple of large glasses of a South African Cabernet Sauvignon and the duck.  Tends to raise a laugh now when I order the same food over and over again.

No snow in Edinburgh, but I believe there were a couple of inches in Buckinghamshire.

 

Howies

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Monday, and a normal working day started.  Walked over to the Lothian Road, listening to the sweet tones of Green Day on my new toy.  My whole, well almost, CD collection in a box smaller than a packet of 10 hamlets.  Worked the whole day through, until well after 18.00.  I am sure a sales man would say I worked until 19.00.

Eating, today is a Monday and in the Winter.  So many of my favourite places are closed.  The Petit Paris has its blinds firmly in place. The Mussel and Steak is in darkness, ah a sign, the establishment is under refurbishment! It’s been open only for a couple of years.  So time for new places.  How about Scottish fare? – there is Howies on Victoria Street.

Entered, quite empty at the moment, not surprising for a wintry Monday.  Very industrial style, huge great ventilation pipes over the ceiling taking the fumes from the kitchen,  large cast iron pillars in the restaurant supporting the road and houses above.  Two pretty waitresses though, and some men in the kitchen.  This smoking ban allows you to see the chefs, as they dash outside for a quick nicotine fix.

What did I eat? Well started off with the Cullen Skink, or as I almost said, Cullen Skunk.  It had a nice smokey smell of the smoked haddock flakes, oh and one small bone.

Mains, was Borders pheasant breast wrapped in bacon on crushed potato and some cabbage.  Very nice.

Afters, I missed this, went for the Scottish Illy espresso coffee.

I have to say, there seemed to be lots on the menu which would not have struck me as Scottish, such as the chili sauce, the Banoffee Pie….

 

Edinburgh on a Sunday

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Had a call from the bank during the week.  As I was working in Edinburgh for another company on Monday, would it be possible for me to work for them on the Sunday!!

Flights are a bit sparse on Sunday, so flew up to Edinburgh Saturday evening.  I really think I must do this always.  There was nobody in Luton airport.  Just two check-ins for Easyjet, no queues.  Nothing. Lovely.  (Only joking, Rosemary.)

Plane late though, but with my new solid state 8Gig MP3 player (thanks, Dad!), and a book (Boris Johnson, thanks, Joan!), I was well away into fantasy land.  Funny though arriving in Edinburgh, and walking through the streets to the hotel while everyone else was out in the streets shouting, laughing and enjoying themselves in a typical British City binge drinking Saturday evening manner.  Oh and when some do good prissy nanny state paid employee defines binge drinking as four pints of beer, then all their credibility has gone out of the window.

Peaceful Sunday in the office working, bus station next door was even more peaceful.  It was closed because the side of the building had been ripped away in the storms.

Petit Paris open for business, had their plat du jour.  Black sausage starters followed by tartiflette, made from Reblochon cheese.  New waitress, she comes from Angers, quite nice.