Diwali Dinner & Paul's Monday Historic Pub Crawl from Rotherhithe to Tower Gateway

Yesterday, an Indian friend of mine celebrated Diwali by booking a meal in an Indian restaurant - she finally decided on Flora Indica. With 16 of us coming at last count, we had to pre-order.. so I did.. generously, the manager offered to provide anything in particular we wanted that wasn't on the menu - so I was awkward and had lamb samosas! which they never normally do. Heh.

Tube, of course.. and, equally predictably, the Jubilee Line was more crowded than the District Line. Light rain accompanied me on the short walk from Earl's Court - when I got there, I explained that I was in the "large group", and he directed me straight downstairs. Not difficult! Pity I didn't take any photos of the restaurant, but I couldn't see anything that provided a good angle - despite the quirky decor.

Wow, what a range of people was there - the host was spectacularly glittery, as befitted the occasion, and there were people I knew from several Meetup groups - conversation ranged far and wide. The paranormal, films.. theatre featured strongly, there being a few of us there from Up in the Cheap Seats. It took a while for those of us who asked for white wine to be served - perhaps they were out? Perhaps it wasn't chilled? Dunno - we got it in due course.

I got a bowl of chili cashews first - I'd asked for them, and wow were they irresistible! I hadn't quite finished when the starters arrived - unfortunately, someone else had asked for four, so we all got four - and they were massive! I'm glad I had lamb - the four were too much for me, but I managed three, and proffered the fourth to the table in general. One who'd tried both the lamb and vegetable samosas decided that the lamb were much tastier.

I didn't have much luck with the tandoori chicken biryani - it was a bit too spicy, and a bit too much, after everything I'd already had. I was aware that it was cooked in a pot, but had never had it served in a pot before! rice n all. The naan, I could have skipped. Never mind, we sure were fed.. and the company was great. We spent the entire evening there. Just a pity that, on the way home, Earl's Court was just shutting up - staff shortage, apparently! A couple of us ended up getting the bus to Gloucester Road, the next stop along..

A couple of very drunk-looking, somewhat elderly gents, one with a carpet of medals on his chest, the other with some kind of insignia on his jacket, managed to stay upright by hanging onto the central pole, on the Tube home.. hope they made it the rest of the way safely. Obviously, they'd been celebrating! ;-)

Couldn't blog last night, as I had to be up early today. I was back on a walk with the 45+ Not Grumpy Old Londoners - this time, though, it was Paul's Monday Historic Pub Crawl from Rotherhithe to Tower Gateway. Which had the advantage of being around my current area! not to mention headed home, roughly, for me..

We were meeting at Rotherhithe Station - well gee, if that isn't walking distance from me! Damn breezy though - the dregs of Storm Debi, it seems! En route, I came across the fascinating ruins of what seems to be a manor house belonging to Edward III..

The royal connection is also evident from some local names:

Met someone I know from Laurence Summer's walks in this group.. as I keep saying, small world! Anyway, we set out for The Salt Quay:

..but it was closed. As was The Mayflower. The perils of starting a pub crawl at 11am.. Well, it did give us a chance to go look at the cemetery where the captain of the Mayflower ship is buried.

We also passed the Brunel Museum:

The only time all day I needed public transport was to get to the next pub - The Prospect of Whitby. Where it was high tide.. and someone spied the hangman's noose!

We spent longer there, on account of the others being closed.. long enough to have a couple of drinks, as some of us did, and a lovely chat. And so, on to our booked lunch in The Captain Kidd:

We didn't fancy the table we originally sat at - the benches were far too far away from it! So we took another couple of tables, closer to the bar. I got a drink first (they didn't have Sauvignon Blanc, only Chenin Blanc), then chose from the extensive menu, ordered at the bar, and went to the loo. When I came back.. no drink! The others at the table were nonplussed.. I duly spied a lone glass of wine at another table, and rescued it. As someone said, a thirsty poltergeist..? Anyway, for food, I had the half chicken, which comes with chips, and gravy and BBQ sauce on the side.. and is very tasty.

As we were leaving, they were taking delivery of their Christmas decorations. Our next pub, The Town of Ramsgate, had already put theirs up:

More drink, more convivial chat. My mother called during this stop, to let me know she had power back - it'd been out since the night before, with the storm.

And so, finally, to Goodman's Field, where we had a final drink and said our goodbyes.

This is a great part of town for pubs (at very reasonable prices), and this walk was a lovely whistle-stop of some of them. Most enjoyable, and I'm very glad I came! And, of course, I could walk home..

Tomorrow, still with the 45+s, but now back with Laurence - delighted to be able to make his walk on The Bombing of London! Unemployment does have its advantages.. Jeez, that'll have been six days in a row where I get fed as part of the outing..! Better enjoy unemployment while I have it - I got a job last week.. ;-) Starting on the 6th.

On Wednesday, back at last with Buddies on Budget (BoB) in London, who are headed to the Belgravia Lights Switch On! V Christmassy..

On Thursday, I'm with a new group - London Smaller Theatre are headed to Soho Theatre to see the comedian Leila Navabi. So I'm giving her - and them - a shot!

And on Friday, I'm back to Ireland again, for the weekend..