Tag: pub

Manor of Walworth Pub

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I failed my driving test for the third time today… I wonder if driving was ever meant for me… Let’s try again, just one more time!!!

I’m going on holiday for two weeks in a few days time. Here’s a post before I go.

Since Manor of Walworth had opened, I’ve always wanted to have an opportunity to go in and look around, and see what the Labour MP’s had enjoyed in the past when they had their Headquarters there. I’ve passed John Smith House for a few decades (not sure when it was built, and I’m sure it’s one of those listed buildings that cannot be destroyed in Southwark.

One main reason I wanted to come here was because I was having one of my leaving drinks before having dinner in Dragon Castle…DSC_1760

It’s a different type of pub. I’m hoping they will serve food soon. Fingers crossed it will happen in the future!DSC_1758

DSC_1757

Had half a pint of Guinness. Needed it as it was so warm on that day. ^_^DSC_1756

A few weeks later after my first visit, my colleagues were astounded at how posh this place looked. The toilets at the top (it was a long way up to the top) was very old fashioned but the view of Walworth Road was pretty. ^_^

Not particularly fond of the stairs out front… what if someone drank too much and fell over? LOL!

Would definitely come here again, just bring out the food menu!

Address: 140 Walworth Rd, London SE17 1JL
Tel: 020 7708 5354
Website: https://manorofwalworth.com/

The Elephant and Castle Pub, London Elephant & Castle (NOW CLOSED)

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Update 25/03/2015: for some reason it’s closed…

It’s been a long working week of stress this week (well the last few days)! And I think Miss Pinky has felt the strain of January stress too (more than me). So it was time to wind down yesterday and do something locally… in Elephant and Castle… ¬,¬”

After having a couple of G&Ts in Whetherspoons with Mr Picky and his work friends it was time to hit the Elephant and Castle Pub which is a couple of doors down. You can’t miss it. It looks old and grungy on the outside and I can’t say much about the inside. It’s changed ownership a few times (apparently) and now it states that it’s an Argentinian steak house… and they still serve Thai food!! OMG.
Miss Pinky and her family go to this place quite often and this is actually my second time going in there. If you pass by when sitting on a bus sometimes you might see it being quite full – that’s when there’s a game going on! Lots of oldies and students go in there too…
The Elephant and Castle Pub
Miss Pinky and I were very hungry so we ordered food. Seating is a bit awkward by the windows as the tables and couches are movable. And ladies, watch out for the men. Miss Pinky pointed out that men will walk up to you and chat you up (ok, that happened to us, thankfully the man was ok otherwise I would’ve ran away)…
So Miss Pinky ordered our food… and it did take a tiny while for it to come… Hungrrrrry!!
Miss Pinky started off with the calamari which was served with honey. Hmmm interesting. It tasted ok and the honey went well with it. I think lots of restaurants should serve fried stuff with honey.
Calamari
I had the chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce. I had it all to myself. It was great! And the peanut sauce was very tasty too!! ^_^ Love it.
Chicken satay with peanut sauce
Miss Pinky ordered this stir fried pork with vegetables and rice in oyster sauce. This is more Chinese than Thai…
Stir fried pork in oyster sauce with rice
And I had to wait a little longer for this green curry and vegetables as they cooked chicken instead of beef. It was good stuff!! A little spicy which is what I like. Courgettes were a little bitter but the sauce just made it better.
Kang kiew wan – green curry with beef and rice
Food cost around £21 (Miss Pinky paid) and I think we may have spent around £30 to £40. Prices of drinks seem to go up after 10ish but that’s ok with me (if I’m only doing one round ¬,¬”).
My geeky rating: 4.5/5
Good points:
– Cheap Thai food… better than going to a restaurat
– You’re in a pub so you can have many drinks!
– It was disco night when we went so the night music was a mixture of old and new music
Bad points:
– A little wait for the food
– Drinks go up after 10ish
– Sitting is a little awkward
Address: The Elephant and Castle Pub, 119 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN

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!

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