Hello, folks. I've not been around for a couple of months - not for any good reason, just that life has been getting in the way somewhat and apparently reading here has somehow fallen off the list. If you've posted anything you really want me to know about, could you flag it up?

Anyway, I have to get back to writing down what I get up to or I will literally have no idea in a few months time.

This Easter, my grand plan was do to fantastic amounts of nothing, to bond with my sofa, and snooze. However, ChrisC counter-suggested that we shoehorn in a night away somewhere. For reasons that were not especially apparent, he settled on Lewes as being not too far from London, and potentially interesting. After some Googling we found a B&B, and booked (no thanks to Expedia, which seems to be quite blasé about pubs-with-the-same-name when you are following links). When we pooled what we actually knew about Lewes, it turned out to be (a) they like setting fire to stuff on Bonfire Night, (b) they have a castle, and (c) um, that's it actually.

However, it all worked out reasonably well, so here is my guide to how to have a slightly surprised 24 hours in Lewes.

( The Rambly Guide to Lewes )

I promised, a few days ago, that I would do a separate post about the food I ate at Glastonbury. In some ways, this wasn't a great year to do it. Hot weather and a slightly dicey stomach meant I probably ate rather less than usual - in ordinary years, the net effect of being surrounded by amazing food stalls is that I have about five meals a day.

I endeavoured to take a snap of everything I ate, but be warned! They really are snaps. Food photography is hard, and due to feeling like a massive idiot taking photos of my food, I tended to get it over with as quickly as possible. There are also a few where I only remembered half way through a meal, and it's pretty much impossible to make a half-eaten dish look nice.

( To The Food! )

Thursday and Friday at work this week were a bit of a horror. On Thursday, a public API[*] that an important project relies on abruptly stopped working, resulting in 12 hours of slightly panicky attempts to (a) work out why, (b) work out whether it would start again, and (c) come up with a plan B to achieve the same results without using it. All the unrelated things that I absolutely needed to get finished by the end of Thursday got pushed over into Friday.

On leaving work on Friday, I crawled to a pub, met ChrisC and fell face-first into a pint of Whitstable Bay Pale Ale (would recommend to a friend). I also managed to utterly nonpluss shermarama, who was trying to buy beer in the same pub without being pounced on by people she'd never met. Sorry about that :)

( Dinner at Amico Bio )

[*] ( Note for non-geeks )

At the weekend, I headed into town to meet up with some university friends who had parked their kids somewhere and run away to the big, wicked city. After extensive quality-checking of Thwaites' Wainwright golden ale in a handy pub (it was lovely, thanks) talk turned to a dinner destination.

Dave had requested "spicy food", and Jamie weighed in with a recommendation of a nearby Chinese restaurant. The recommendations I'd managed to come up with had been a bit vague[*], so we followed Jamie in a small procession to Ba Shan.

( Mao Tse Tung said... )

Saturday was planned to be the sort of busy day with weird timings where you're never quite sure where the meals are going to fit in. The only sensible way to take on a day like that is to start with a really hoofing breakfast.

My reaction would usually be to cook one, or to head up to the pizza restaurant which (slightly unexpectedly) does decent eggs Benedict of a Saturday morning. ChrisC insisted we should head to The Walpole, a small, scarlet-painted greasy spoon at the other side of Ealing. We've been meaning to investigate rumours of its greatness for some time but... well...

( Don't tell anyone, will you? But I'm not that excited about fry-ups. )

Here is a useful thing I just came across. At least, it is useful if you are planning to go to Japan and are not omnivorous:

Cut-out-and-keep cards explaining various dietary restrictions, in Japanese

I think these are a great idea, particularly for countries in which your average foreign person is all at sea with the language. It occurs to me that I haven't bought a phrasebook in a long time - maybe these days they have a handy set of stock phrases for common allergies/intolerances/choices?

So... in a few weeks, I am partly responsible for organising a hen night. A couple of you know who the hen is, so no telling her what we're planning, ok?

Anyway, we have a weekend planned, and were intending to go out for a nice meal on the Saturday night. Accordingly, the other bridesmaid and I sallied forth to our chosen restaurant, Richmond's Rock & Rose last night to test it out.

( Which was nice )

Rock & Rose was, in fact, exactly what we wanted: great food, interesting menu (which caters well for non-meat eaters and non-dairy people), fabulous cocktails, funky decor, nice atmosphere. Sadly, other people have noticed this too, and they were completely unable to squeeze in a party of 12 on the day we want :(

Accordingly, we need to come up with an alternative venue, sharpish. I usually choose my restaurants exclusively on food (my favourite Ealing eatery has melamine tables, and a TV on the wall - usually showing football), and I've very little idea how one goes about locating somewhere with a suitably exciting ambience. I can think of lots of "nice" places to eat, but nowhere particularly cool and girly to fit what we were planning.

So, the internet! I need you. Can anyone recommend a restaurant easily accessible from Ealing which is suitably funky, whose menu will stand up to a bunch of pescetarians and someone who's badly dairly-allergic, isn't too bank-breaking, and might be able to fit a party of 12 in mid-April? I imagine we're going to be a reasonably respectable party of 12 rather than the sort of shrieking hen night you'd cross the street to avoid (at least, I hope we are...)

Well, following discussion on ar_gemlad's LJ last week, ChrisC and I learned about a new posh-burger chain. We have been vaguely questing for quality burgers for some time, and have thus far developed the opinion that practically nothing lives up to GBK's standards. However, when secondhand_rick recommends a joint, you take the recommendation seriously...

( The Fine Burger Co. )

Some time ago, snow_leopard offered me some vouchers from the Times which entitled the owner to a meal for £10 at a participating restaurant. I guess she must read the Times assiduously, as she'd collected more sets than she could use.

I took the tokens with the condition I'd review wherever I went. So, here goes...

( Madison's Restaurant, at the Washington Mayfair )

Despite grumbles, it was an enjoyable evening out and Snow_Leopard is Designated Hero of the Week for providing the wherewithall.