Tag: pub food

Go Ape & Lighthouse Pub – London Battersea Park

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It was Mr Games’s birthday last weekend and I was invited to his double birthday outing (there was another friend’s birthday at the same time). The outing was at Go Ape in Battersea Park. Didn’t even know this existed!
I ended being the photographer for the afternoon since I didn’t want to climb and cry and think I was going to fall over and die (like that person in the USA – may she RIP). Just too scary!
Almost got lost after entering the gate. I turned right instead of left. Don’t trust Google Maps! There was a big group of a us, a mixture of friends between both Mr Games and our birthday boy.
The equipment they used looked tight. Need protection at all times! I took a lot of pictures, but most were of the group having goes at all three courses… it was windy that day, and it took them around 3-4 hours to complete. ^_^

Mr Games and his cousin doing the wristband pic
It was tough being the photographer… Looking up into the sky doing all the rest of the hard work. LOL!!

Address: Park Offices, Battersea Park, London SW11 4NJ
Telephone: 0333 433 0983

After watching these peeps completing the courses, we headed to the Lighthouse Pub, which wasn’t far from the park. I was with one of the friends who couldn’t complete the course as she didn’t want to do the zip line from the first course (where they fly across from one end to the other). Two of second birthday boy’s friends was already there…! Already drinking!
The pub originally placed us in a corner with a table for 6 people, but there was like 15 of us!!!!!!! How did you book this table Mr Games…? So we asked to be moved before the rest came.
Finally got to try out the third flavour from Old Mout Cider… Passionfruit and Apple. Hm. Still like the strawberry one.

Everyone looked hungry and we all seemed to have ordered burgers… LOL!! 
Burgers needed seasoning… I also wished they offered me the sweet potato fries. 😦 BUT the their tomato sauce with herbs was amazing! Thumbs up for that!!

Desserts were too sweet… Didn’t like my Eton Mess… Bleurgh.

My geeky rating (for the pub): 4/5

Too lazy to point out the good and bad points… but I think you can guess from the scoring that the food was average (apart from their tomato sauce). Presentation was ok. Service was ok but disappointed with the seating arrangements. 

Address: 441 Battersea Park Rd, London SW11 4LR
Phone: 020 7223 7721

Website: http://www.thelighthousebattersea.com/

A good day out it was! I caught Mr Mime (Pokémon Go) that night. Still no signs of Pikachu… need to walk around some school campuses or industrial sites it seems. :p At least I’m keeping up the walking!

Work Christmas Parties @The Camberwell Arms and @The Grand Union and other festivities ~~~

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So there were a lot of Christmas parties and gatherings this year, but I’ll only feature two pubs I went to and add some pictures of food from the gatherings.
First party was with my current team at the beginning of the month, which started at 6.30pm in The Camberwell Arms… I think I had a bit to drink that night. Well pampered by this team. The food was different to last year’s! Yay! I would say an improvement. ^_^ I especially liked the fried (tempura looking) brussel sprouts and the surprise of some horseradish in between. Phew, hot stuff! Probably not best suited for vegetarians or vegans. Miss Vegan was not impressed so I told her to buy some other food beforehand… she came late to the party!

It’s too bad they didn’t cater for more (well my team should have asked for food for up to 60 people!).

My geeky rating: 5/5
Address: 65 Camberwell Church Street, SE5 8TR
Tel: 020 7358 4364
Website: http://www.thecamberwellarms.co.uk/

The very last office party (which I gate crashed) was with the very first team I worked with at my current work place. I’m still in contact with the old staff, and Mrs Hen was there too… so I was there to enjoy seeing my old team get all drunk, :p Wouldn’t go back to my old team though… not in a million years!! Tough working with them… Anyway, I kind of gate crashed this party at The Grand Union but technically I was invited. Heheheh, This is an American style bar/pub in an old Victorian pub… It’s a really well hidden place in Camberwell, and you wouldn’t think that such a nice pub existed in the area! Wow!! The food felt decent, fit for vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters, 

An exhilarating party meeting some old team members, and even Mrs Hen got drunk. Heheheh,
My geeky rating: 5/5
Address: 26 Camberwell Grove, London SE5 8RE
Tel: 020 3247 1001

Other gatherings included office parties and another visit to the Czech Club… no more parties please. I’m spoilt and a tired Geek. 😦 I HAVE XMAS PRESENTS TO MAAAAKE!!!

Italian Meatloaf with spinach and egg

Czech Club: Menu numbers 16, 23, 27, 46 and 57 – I have to remember this for next time!!

 Second to last office party… missed the beggining…

But I got the last coffee icing cupcake!! Yaaaay!!

Right, it’s time to cool down and sleeeeeep till next year’s Christmas parties. Heheheh.

Work Christmas Parties 2014 @The Crooked Well and @Work

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Unfortunately this year my teams didn’t go into great lengths to organise a great venue for me to blog about this year…
So here’s a just a round up of only two parties (mainly the food). One in a pub in Camberwell and one at my work place. Hohoho.
The pub we went into is called The Crooked Well which is hidden in the back streets of Camberwell. I think those who work around the area or know the area so well would be able to find it. The pub is Michelin recommended. I can see why. It is quite posh compared to the rough edges of urban Camberwell.

The Crooked Well

We ended up being upstairs I thought we would be downstairs eating fancy dinners, but that was not the case… we ended up being upstairs eating buffet like food…

Sausage rolls

Fried squid – fancy calamari really (my favourite)

BBQ chicken

Cous cous … I think I like Mrs Travels version

There was double amounts of this

My flash stopped working here… didn’t like the fish cakes

Here I go again with the chandeliers…!

Pub nice. Food ok but fish cakes were a bit sloppy and I didn’t try out the coucous. Need to bring your own phone with music though. And I was a little tipsy afterwards but managed to get home in the light rain. ^_^

My geeky rating: 4/5
Address: 16 Grove Lane, London SE5 8SY
Telephone: 020 7252 7798

Website: http://thecrookedwell.com/

Good points: 
– Local and posh looking
– Ok food

Bad points:
– Sloppy fish cakes
– Bar upstairs needs a bit of looking into… (as in a little more renovation to save the staff coming and down those stairs)

***
My next work party ended up being at work! And it was almost like having an Italian Christmas as we had so much home cooked Italian food. Heheh. It was good stuff and we laughed a lot more than we should have done. ^_^ Never got drunk but was thankfully stuffed with food. (There was actually more food than what I’ve pictured. But none of us could finish it!).

Parmigiana – aubergine lasagne

An Italian pie

Everyone enjoyed this one!

Forgot what this is called but it’s like a giant Scotch Egg

Sorry for my messy plate! My colleague forgot to add potatoes in!

And for dessert, all the cakes and cheesecake came from… Sainsbury’s! ^_^ Loved the blueberry cheesecake. Need to buy one for Christmas Day methinks.

Blueberry cheesecake

Trifle

I enjoyed myself at both parties! 

p.s. Was dragged to my old department’s Christmas party yesterday and I have another one to go! Oh the joys of Christmas at work!

Work Christmas Party no. 2 @ Henry’s Café & Bar – London Covent Garden

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Next day. Next Christmas party. The Geek is on a roll, but tired as ever ¬,¬””!
This time I went north of the river, as people say when they are coming from the south of London. Hahaha. I decided to go a little early than the others as I wanted to stop off at Artbox and also Radley (yep I’m a Radley fan). I got a new lunch box (Hello Kitty of course) and a new red purse… my current one looks old. ¬,¬ I’m a shoppaholic, but a responsible one!
I was in Hong Kong when this was being arranged. Instead of going to a posh restaurant, we went to a posh bar Henry’s in Covent Garden (pub more like)… whatever you might call it, it’s in a fancy area.
A colleague of mine and I were there early so we had a drink, sat and waited for the party to begin!! ^_^
Outside the pub
Was the first ones to arrive!!
Mr Bear came along too. Yay!! I feel like I haven’t seen him for ages… although I saw him before my holiday. We catched up on office stuff as we haven’t had a proper chat for a long time. I already had a half pint of Heineken, and then he bought me this £9 gin and tonic! Woah. That’s expensive!! But it was in a big glass. So I guess it was worth it…
The G&T is expensive in a big glass…

A selection of food for the party was already ordered by my colleague, and so I just took the pictures… ^_^ I don’t think it was part of the Christmas menu but it was ordered for about 40 people or so…
I didn’t like this whatever it is, I think it is pate on melted butter and bread with some vinaigrette… I think without the vinaigrette it would’ve been ok.
I like the chicken on this plate, but I didn’t like the other piece of meat… Hmmmmm
Chicken and other meat
 Didn’t like this spinachy pasta… Too much vinegar!!!
Bread coated prawns are always good at parties. I like these!
I like this! Sausage and bacon go well together…
I think this is bread coated cheese… Nice…
This was nice. I don’t think a lot of us ate this, but it’s nachos with guacamole, jalapenos and mince… Nice!!
Yep, we also had boiled potatoes… Can’t complain about this!
I paid zilch! Yep. Nothing that night. So happy!! My colleagues paid for all the drinks, and split the food bill…
My geeky rating: 4.5/5
Good points:
– Nice pub environment
– Food was ok, but not the greatest
– Nice place to catch up and have a drink with friends
Bad points:
– Expensive for a bar in the city!! I would be glad to go to a pub in the outskirts of Central London for less…
Address: 5-6 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 8PS
Telephone: 07557 740183

The Yellow House – London Surrey Quays

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A few hours later after the Scandinavian Christmas Fair, Miss Pinky, her friends, middle brother, Mr Fly (who I haven’t seen for a long time) and I went out to celebrate Miss Pinky’s birthday at The Yellow House in Surrey Quays. It’s just opposite the Surrey Quays Overground station. However Miss Pinky didn’t book a table at the restaurant part, so we had to wait… And I was starving… 😦 
Outside The Yellow House

Finally after about an hour and a half when everyone arrived, I already had a bowl of handcut chips and we were all drinking we were told our table was ready. Yipee…


And now I am going to turn into The Horrible Geek. I don’t want to, but I think I have to. Well first the bar and waiter were utterly nice, but I think were a bit forgetful at who ordered what (we got a few wrong orders being served at our table). I thought the chef was too over-excited to be a chef. (I am actually used to seeing head chefs who shout at their staff and will at least have a sweat on their foreheads! – My Dad used to be one!). 

Now on with the food. There were six of us. Miss Pinky was catching up with everyone, so we took a while ordering food.

The Starters

First off was my garlic and mozzarella bread. This had a really STRONG garlicky smell. (Miss Pinky told me the next day that it really stunk! Well that’s what you get with garlic bread!). Since it was so strong, and I could see the others glaring thinking “get that food away from me!”… so I offered around the table. Thankfully Mr Fly took two pieces, and one of Miss Pinky’s friends took a piece too! Phew! Never again! … I did like it by the way minus the smell. ^_^””
Garlic and Mozzarella

Not many of us had starters, but had starters as their main meal. Here’s another starter. Lamb Kofta. All the men at our table had this as their main and starter. They all said it wasn’t bad!

Lamb Kofta

The Mains (plus Starters as Mains ¬_¬”)


One of Miss Pinky’s friends had two starters as her main… But I didn’t catch the names of her dishes… I think this was a mixture of it all…
Don’t know what this is!

I had the Steak Halibut (I was actually wanting a beef steak but forgot that halibut was fish!!! Stupid me!!). Anyway, mine was not bad! I like the sauce, the mussels, the fish didn’t smell, and the mash went well with the sauce and fish. Happy Geek!

Steak Halibut

Miss Pinky had the Rib-Eyed steak… Hmmmm… It wasn’t good… Too much seasoning going on in there. Too much salt. The peppercorn sauce also looked like barbeque sauce with peppercorns added in… (I’m sure peppercorn sauce isn’t supposed to be that brown!!!!! I thought it was supposed to be creamy-gray looking).

Rib-eyed steak

Mr Fly had the Lamb… I didn’t try this out, but he said that it was too fatty… Cooked with too much oil I guess…

Lamb

The Desserts and Coffees


I had the Pecan Brownie with Ice Cream. It was so-so. A bit sweet for my tastebuds. I also had a latte with mine. Not bad!
Pecan Brownie and Ice Cream

I like the way they made my latte!

My Fly and Miss Pinky shared the Dessert of the Day. The waiter was explaining what it was at the beginning, but I don’t think any of us got what he was saying…

Dessert of the Day

I swapped my dessert with the others. Theirs wasn’t too sweet and I liked the chocolate ice cream!


Finally Mr Fly had an Irish Coffee… Nice!
Irish Coffee!

Unfortunately after the dinner, my stomach didn’t do so well… And I hadn’t even eaten much during the day… 😦


My geeky rating: 2.5/5 (I would’ve given this place a 3.5 but after the bad stomach and overly-friendly chef, this lowered my scores) … it may have just been a bad day, but I would try this place again… Maybe…

Good points: 
– Nice staff
– Big restaurant area
– Pub area is ok

Bad points:
– Miss Pinky said there was no music!
– Overly-friendly chef
– The food points made above (too lazy to point this out all over again!)

Suggestions:
– Change the recipe of the Rib-eyed steak
– Make a proper peppercorn sauce
– Put some music on!
– Put some table numbers on the tables so that the staff know who ordered what!

Address: 126 Lower Road, Surrey Quays, London SE16 2UE
Tel: 0207 231 8777



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The Cherry Tree – London East Dulwich

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Today my friend and work colleague Mrs Hen invited me to her colleague’s leaving do, (Mrs Hen and I used to work in the same department until I left… it is a very depressing department with a very high turnover, but the gossip was great!). And with all leaving do’s they always end up in a pub. The pub we went to is called The Cherry Tree, it’s a few bus stops away from the workplace. Apparently it used to be called The Vale; It just got refurnished during the summer (this is according to one of my friends, who is probably I believe a regular…) and is now owned by an Irish family.

The Cherry Tree Pub

Well it seems that old English pubs are losing style and have to meet the modern society. This place is very chic and it seems like a popular place for the locals, it was not overly crowded tonight (probably because it was raining)…

Inside The Cherry Tree


The Kitchen – even the kitchen staff were friendly!!

I was very impressed by the food in particular. The food we had were like party food starters, but it was also like having tapas… and it was all very filling in the end! It cost around £19 for 4 starters. 

I loved the chunky chips with the béarnaise sauce and the mini sausages were just great – not sure what the sauce for that was… 

I looked at other people’s dinners tonight, and it looked very big and tasty! A person I saw seemed to be having trouble finishing her food heheheh…!

The handcut chunky chips with béarnaise sauce – AWESOME!

Bubble and Squeak! ^^

Chorizo – I thought this was so-so

Mini Sausages – these are VERY VERY yummy!!!!!! – I recommend!!

I ended up back at the bar after all this food and took a picture of the lights which I thought were so pretty and very different for a modernized pub!

Crystal-like Chandliers


I also ended up with a Sagres Shandy after having had a G&T ^^


And I also couldn’t help but take a picture of the lamp I was sitting next to!!


I definitely recommend this pub for the locals and for anyone visiting the area… It’s just opposite East Dulwich Station and about 30 seconds away from the bus stop!

My geeky rating: 5/5 (the food was my weakness… so it gets full marks)

Good Points:
– Great food
– Lovely and friendly service
– Modern and very chic pub
– Not overly crowded
– Lots of seating areas

Bad Points:
– Menu was on a clipboard with several different sized sheets of paper… Very modern! This is not a particularly bad point but I think I prefer book menus – easy to clean or maybe a one sheet menu… just a suggestion.

Address: 31-33 Grove Vale, East Dulwich, SE22 8EQ
Telephone: 0208 693 9285

Website: http://www.cherrytreese22.co.uk/ – menu is not updated on here