Restaurant Review - Fire and Stone (Covent Garden)

the family went to this restaurant last night. we went early 5.30pm and though we didnt have a booking we got a seat quite easily. the front of house was really pleasant and efficient. the table we got was good for the five of us but from there the experience went down dramatically.

the service was crap. Everyone in our section experienced the same. there were not enough people serving and you had to specifically ask someone or catch someone's eye to get any kind of service. the drink service was slow (they could have sold twice as many drinks if they were more efficient). the food service was slow, but the food when delivered at the table was tasty (4 out of 5 meals) and the serve sizes though not large were ok for 1 person.

in the end it cost us 60 pounds for 5 people but i did not pay the service fee (no service - no pay). I filled in the customer feedback form - not that i expect that will make any difference. I saw one of the service people look at one and bin it.

If you want a reasonably tasty pizza (and that is all they serve) at about 8 - 10 pounds a piece but crap service this might be the restaurant for you. but we wont be back.

the overall score - 4 out of 10

Christmas - London 2009

Xmas has come and gone. Everyone got some lovely presents and we all enjoyed some great food and some wine and beer. overall it was a fantastic day which i am sure will be remembered for a long time. It was lovely to share a wine and some cheese with Ron B and his friend Cathy who i am sure wondered where she had come to.

here are a couple of photos from the day:

merry xmas and happy new year

Greetings of the season to all who come to visit. May santa be good to each and everyone of you.

there is not much snow where we are living but there have been some pretty good falls across the UK. I took these photos in Reading on Tuesday this week.

5 days to Xmas

time is now closing fast. spent yesterday with Sue and Ash looking for some presents. specifically a present for Sue. Shopped down New and Old Bond Street - well worth a visit.

Had a lovely lunch in Zizzi's (Covent Garden) with Kathy and Mal. great food, good company and some fine wine.

Went to visit Georgia at Snow and Rock, bought some gloves - hands are getting cold, now the weather has gotten to around zero.

Today Sue and I went to Tottenham Court Road and then to the Borough Markets. Successful day, new TV and Blue Ray DVD player (tottenham court road) and we got a "stuffed turkey" (turkey duck and pheasant) along with some other bits and pieces.

I was trying to declutter my (our) lives but its interesting as i keep finding new stuff to acquire. i (we) need a much smaller space or a much smaller budget.

I still havent sorted the main Xmas present though so the clock is running down.

an update

again apologies to anyone who comes here looking for pearls of wisdom (or anything in fact) as i have been busy.

given that is my world i intend to a quick romp through the last few weeks:

• work - bloody busy
• home life - interesting (surrounded by women) and also quite busy
• Xmas - its coming and i am not ready
• Travel - everyday. now spend about 2 hours a day commuting, up from 30 mins total in Perth (its not all bad)
• food - variable. some of the restaurants and pubs are crap and relatively expensive. BUT we have a couple of favourites in Balham (indian room, Gurkhas). outside of Balham we have had pretty good food in Zizzi's and another Italian restaurant on Strand (name to come)
• weather - it is what it is. we have had the first real cold day since we arrived here and it actually snowed today (it was a pretty poor first effort but it was a reminder of what might be coming)
• attitude - it varies. you have to find your own because things go wrong
• recreation - not much except walking to and from station is about the sum of it

ok so now some insights:

London is a wonderful city - everywhere you turn it has something to offer. it is so alive all the time. the choices are immense, the options endless.

the underground - never let anyone ever tell something is full ever again. I got into a full train the other day and felt like a sardine. at the next stop 4 people got in behind me (if you want to go somewhere you PUSH) and then at the next stop the same happened again (oh, and some people still had room to read a paper). i stood looking around the carriage looking for where the airspace was and then trying to work out how you could fit another 20 people into the carriage (its possible if you get horizontal above everyone's head).

the underground stations - some are a pleasure and some are a real pain.

walking on the footpath - there is no rule. you must take a position and hold it. you must be prepared to BUMP here as everyone else seems to be prepared to bump you.

Money - you need to stop converting. it also helps if you come with a shit-load so it is not a daily problem (if you can)

Bristol

Last weekend we went to Bristol - Sue had an event on the Sunday, but we went down on the train on Saturday had a bit of a walk around town. We watched some football in a Pub to get out of the rain and then went bact to the hotel to watch Australia get beat by Scotland in the rugby

Later in the evening we went into town and had the world's worst pub meal. If you ever get the chance to go to the pub in Bristol where Louis Stevenson is reputed to have written Treasure Island for a meal dont bother. This was the mixed platter (sorry Fran - i remember suggesting you get this)

After our dinner we walked around town a bit - there are some interesting sights and sites. Some of the young girls were very under-dressed for the weather.

Bristol is an interesting town and we will probably go back for a good look around. On the Sunday i borrowed a bike from the Hotel while Sue did her event and rode around for a couple of hours. My first ride in 6 months. The bike was a small mountain bike - the handle bars were loose, the bike was not set up right and they gave me a helmet which would only have fitted on my small head, so i left that behind. Riding on UK roads is a very interesting experience.

Some of the architecture is fantastic but some parts of the town are, like everywhere in the world (think Northbridge 0r Balga in Perth), a bit ordinary. The work that has been done around the Harbour is modern and people told me an improvement on what preceded it.

One of the more interesting sights is the open air loo in the middle of the city centre. I thought this was unique (and i would love to see a woman use it) but actually when you start to look around you see them in other places too (like just outside the embankment station). It is a great solution to stop pissed people peeing in the street or in shop fronts (yet it happens).

Overall it was a nice weekend - i am looking forward to the next trip (next year now).

Jersey Boys

It seems like an age ago but Sue and I spent a weekend in London and went to see a show. we saw Jersey Boys at the Prince Edward Theatre in the middle of Soho (an interesting little place). The show was good - the Frankie Valli story.

After it was over we walked back to our hotel along Oxford Street, called into Selfridges and got a nice bottle of champagne, a bottle of red wine, some cheese and bickies and went back to our hotel room and watched football on TV. It might seem a bit lame but it was a great way to finish the day.

The next morning we got up and went back to SOHO for breakfast (at 11.00am). The place was completely different in the morning to what it had been the day before. Clearly it doesnt get going until mid-afternoon.

intermission nearly over

Sorry folks life has been busy, but hopefully the intermission will be over soon. I have a few photos i need to upload and a couple of blogs at least to write. Just need to find a spare 5 mins or so.

Dont leave because the intermission will be over soon I promise

Halloween - Is that a pumpkin on your head

On Thursday night i went to a "halloween drinks" in Australia House with Sue, Ash and some of Sue's work colleagues. It was a pretty tame night really but riding home on the train was a bit of a laugh. Fran and Amanda were mucking around - not sure what the rest of the passengers thought - and here is the result. Is that a pumpkin handbag on your head.

For the record I couldn't get it on mine.

winter's day

I am sitting in the lounge looking out of the window at rain falling for only the second time since we have been here, but today it is wintery. I haven't been outside to see if it is cold, but it is windy and wet. The combination of rain and wind is conspiring to knock the Autumn leaves off of the trees so it wont be long before the tree across the road will be but a skeleton of its former self. On days like this its nice to stay inside and eat hot wholesome meals so I am off to look for some soup recipes (minestrone maybe) or maybe a pie recipe (chicken pie?).

life turned upside down

we are now a few weeks into our big move and at times it feels like having moved to the other side of the world life for all has been turned upside down. if you are not sure what this feels like try this:

life's a little bit like this at the moment!!

it wont be long till it stabilises though.

game on

Sue reminded me today that we have been working for over a month (her and I she was talking about) so its really game on. to date life has been good, but the weather has played a part in this (it has been really mild).

London is just a world away from Perth. it has so many pluses, but its negatives are so much bigger.

there are just so many "everythings" here. for every thing you can find in Perth there are a hundred in London (think beautiful women/men, handbags, shows, sports events, PUBS - they are everywhere) but the reverse is 100s of everything and everything everywhere you go.

I am getting to feel like a vole/mole (i have never spent so much time underground before).

i am also getting used to the social etiquette of big places (some people - mostly women - just cant seem to accept an offer of help to carry their obviously too heavy suitcase or bag up the underground steps here). Oh Well - sooner or later i will just carry my fat butt and paper up the stairs like all the other men around town.

I have noticed that you do change if you travel at peak hours on the tube - you get protective of your place on the platform and you try to work out where the doors will open so you get a seat. if you are too polite you stand with your hands up over your head for a while (so you dont get accused of touching someone up). while this can be a challenge i have already had some wonderful up close and personal experiences on crowded trains with my hands up over my head - there are truly some beautiful people riding the trains here (think of the power of hundreds every day).

I have yet to meet a true "dickhead" here, but i am sure my turn will come.

Until i sort out a new camera no new photos, but i did do a boy shop today - two news suits, two business shirts, two ties, a new belt and a new overcoat which could last for 100 years (ex silver fish) all for a very reasonable price. all this and a "new friend" and an offer of a trip to a Chelsea game - we will see.

moving time

we have sorted out some accomodation and the girls moved in yesterday. I am moving the rest of our stuff tomorrow. the house is lovely - it has been freshly painted and has new carpets and the owners (richanda and nick) have also been great leaving linen, towels, kitchen stuff and some beers.

the street view - not quite how it looks now - http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&q=18+bushnell+road,+balham,+sw17+8qp&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=18+Bushnell+Rd,+London+SW17,+UK&ei=MWTGSvO6Cc-04QaF67nHAQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1

the place has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and it is quite spacious by UK standards. there are no gardens to worry about (fan-bloody-tastic).

the rent is not cheap, but in the scheme of things it is really reasonable

my feet are sore and the camera has died

Went for a bit of a wander around london today - actually walked around for a couple of hours non-stop. the weather is still perfect. took a few photos, but now the camera does not want to work properly. Have managed to get the photos off the memory card however.

Fairy Land - from a little bridge over a little lake (amazing roof line in the middle of town).

a garden photo for Fi

this little garden jumped up in a walk around the place we might live. it was clearly a "Fi" garden

lov u

images of london town

I love London - it has some truly superb architecture, great parks and beautiful people. It is fashion week in town this week, but it doesnt matter this can be a really glam place (i saw my first 10 bottom today - sorry there is no picture but believe me this was a picture perfect derriere). now for the lame stuff:

The contrasts are amazing - pity about the tree which is "out of place"
















A great window in the back of a "church" i think



















Sue and me (covent garden)

Our mates if they make it

opera (for a gold coin) in covent garden (buy some lunch and a beer and be entertained - for free)

cool bike (park lane - i think)

hyde park - great place in the "centre of town"

memorial to the Bombing victims - sad but serene

a "forest and brook" in the middle of the park (complete with friendly squirrels)

cant wait for tomorrow (there has to be another 10 out there somewhere and another interesting image).

Mr B and Richmond

Today we met up with Mr B (a friend from Australia) and we had a wonderful lunch on the banks of the thames today (thank you Mr B). the weather has blessed us as we have had 5 days straight of mid 2o days.

After lunch we went back to Balham and signed up for a house. Subject to reference checks we have somewhere to live at least for the next 12 months.

tomorrow we will sleep in, have breakfast/brunch at home and then have a "cultural day".

winning by small steps

the three of us are trying to get settled by doing the basics. to date we have set up bank accounts, i have agreed to start work next week (part time) and we have looked at a range of places to live.

the rent is not going to be cheap but we have seen a couple of places we could live in. tomorrow we are going to see more.

today we got a uk mobile phone number - hooray.

while we have had some wins we have also had a couple of losses. Sue's phone is locked to Optus (it shouldnt be it has been out of contract for months). Ash's iphone is locked to vodaphone and its proving difficult to "crack".

our next target - choosing somewhere to live and getting a reasonable rent.

my next target - settling into work

jeff

flying sucks

we left perth on 5/9 (months after planning to leave). Sue and I left Alf and Allison's house about 3.30am to catch a 6.00am flight. Ash was there when we got there with Cam.

our first challenge of the day was overweight luggage (we were 15 kg over). Sue negotiated with the airline and got the weight down to 10kg but they charged us $70/kg so it cost us $700 before we left the airport.

After coffee with Nicky, Emilio, Lauren, Michael and Cam we left to go through customs. it was pretty easy really (except for a few tears for Ash).

the flight left on time, but took 11 hours to get to Dubai. Ash and I managed to get some sleep, but Sue didnt. being compelled to sit down for 11 hours is a pain. When we arrived at Dubai it was about 40c (even in the airport) and we had to struggle our way from one plane to the next. we notionally had 90 mins to do this, but in reality we just walked from one plane to the next through the security and promptly sat down for a further 7 hours. No sleep for anyone on this leg.

our third challenge was transport to our accomodation. We had booked transport, but it either didnt arrive or we couldnt find it. the last thing you need after about 20 hours is for arrangements to go awry. In the end we caught a cab.

our fourth challenge was actually finding our accomodation. we did have directions, but we could not locate them in all our packages. the cabbie was fantastic, but it took a while to find the apartments, and then it took about 15 mins to actually find our apartment.

after lugging our bags into the room, we went out grabbed some dinner (although everyone was almost too tired to eat), had a quick shower and then fell into bed.

that was our first day over.

its on

the plans are made, the boxes are packed, the tickets are bought, we have a roof over our heads (for 3 weeks at least) so the game is on

jeff, sue and ashleigh arrive - 5 sept
miss g - comes later (well we hope)

south kensington is a start, but who knows where we land (bit like monopoly)

wish us and them luck (everyone will need it)