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Veneta – Sunday Lunch in London Review

 

Veneta

This picture is not mine. It’s far better than what I can take so I used it rather than a blurred picture of goat ragu pasta.

I went for the glorious lunch on a Sunday at Veneta. A restaurant part of the ever so good Salt Yard Group.   My friends and I lazed the day away on Sunday for more than a few hours drinking free-flowing Prosecco and wine – all decent and all included with the price with a tasting menu of £35.

To not go for a traditional lunch on a Sunday made me nervous but I cannot even begin to say how worth it, it was.  To be able to be eaten over time, some incredibly tasty dishes and not be rushed from the table is a sign of a place worth keeping in the book.

Looking around I was struck at how everyone working there was in a good mood, and helping each other. Looking out for each other’s tables and making sure their customers were not left waiting for anything, but nor were they intrusive.  Our waitress even had her family turn up to eat with her between shifts and sat next to us chatting.

The food was plentiful and incredibly tasty and we couldn’t finish it all, but somehow still made room for dessert?!  This out of all Sunday meal deals is worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Need Meat and Malbec in Barcelona? Go Patagonia

Image   I was too greedy to stop and take a picture of my steak so took this pointless picture of the wine instead.  But it was a good wine. 

We had had enough of the tapas and we needed steak. And not small bits of steak but lump sums. We saw the ribeye.  It was for two, but we wanted it split in half and cooked two different ways.  This was no pizza hut. Could they do it?  Would they do it?   It was tense for about two minutes.  But the answer was positive and service swift and friendly. There was a plethora of Malbec to choose from too.  We were too drunk to eat dessert.  Was it the best steak I’ve ever had?  No, but it was very good.  And local peoples were eating in there, which is always a good sign. 

 



New York Day 16 – Lower East Side

Mary Poppins Comes to the Lower East Side for one night only.

Mary Poppins Comes to the Lower East Side for one night only.

I’ve discovered the app HopStop. This is amazing in NYC for someone like myself who gets lost turning around. The only problem is that it tells you at the end of a subway stop to go in a compass direction which is an immediate fail for someone like me. Luckily on day 16 the friend who called me to do coat check called me as I got out of Canal Street and asked what way the traffic was going and told me it was the wrong way and to turn around, This was repeated on Day 17 too. Day 18 someone showed me that there was a compass on the iphone. Life is complete.

Day 16 was a Saturday and I was out in Soho wandering around with a friend trying out various vessels of white wine in various bars, which is always going to create a more than drunk night. You never know which way it will go but becoming utterly wasted is always a certainity. I get a call from my friend who has the direction of a magnet asking me to do coat check in his bar. I was drunk so it seemed like a fab idea.

I didn’t really want to do coat check but I had blabbed on about how i would do any job the week before if someone asked me just to try it once and of course when you brag it comes back and hits you in the face. So off I went. A thirty something in a twenty somethi ng lower eastside bar. It was like a drunk Mary Poppins had come to town. ‘Oh do have a fabulous time tonight’ I crowed in a posher than normal voice as I tried to contain my OCD with arranging the tickets as they came back. I thought people would be really rude to me but they weren’t and it was fun until the hangover kicked in at 3am The rail behind me, of course, fell down.

One particular individual eyed me up suspiciously and said ‘What’s going on here?
What do you mean ? I relplied . ‘Your’re far too cute to be running coat check’ I went up to his face and said ‘ you are right – I am too cute to be doing coat check. I’m filling in for a friend.What do you do when you are not running coat check?’ he enquired.
‘Run An Empire’. I deadpan replied.

Thank you Pinot Grigio you served me well.