Well I’m sitting here at the desk looking out onto the dripping Eco-Park, I figure it’s as good a time as ever to start my blog. I’m feeling a bit hyperthermic, as I’m trying to dry 3 loads of washing in the lounge-room using the heater. It’ll be a great day when we finally get a washer dryer with functioning dryer!
I landed in London the day before yesterday, everything’s back to normal, as long as you consider waking at 5.30am & passing out at 9.30pm normal… Yesterday we had a chilled out day around town – after rising we ambled on down to the ferry to discover ours just zipping off. So we sat & read the Guardian (provided by the ferry company) by the river. ALthough we got a ‘river roamer’ (daily ticket) we only went the one stop across the water to Canary Wharf, destination Paul’s boulangerie…. Truly my favourite London bakery (although admittedly in view of the shortage of bakeries this isn’t saying much) – I love the place because it’s got beautifully rough looking flans & tartes, a great hot chocolate in a fairly average looking continually stirring glass warmer thingie, perfect croissants (my petit pain au chocolat was a delight – crisp pastry enclosing chunks of good quality dark chocolate, mmm) and canelets…. I have to go back & resample their canelets because after the petit pain they did seem a trifle sweet, but I’ve been dreaming of them ever since the day I first discovered them in a parisian bakery in 1995. On the downside the French/Algerian/Spanish staff are clearly hired for looks & cheap wages rather than huge amounts of skill, but hey, who’d try to order a Macchiato in London??? We’re talking a town where people buy their coffee in vac packs, the Tchibo representative I spoke to said that although they began offering what the Germans demand (freshly ground coffee beans at the right level of fineness for their individual coffee making machine), they have decided to never again try this in England, as they threw out more than they sold 🙁 When I was in Australia I got the right beans correctly ground even in Lilydale (of all places), which tells you a lot about the difference in coffee cultures. But I shall deal with my pain in silence 😉
Then we went across to Wapping to visit the Wapping Project – a very cool old hydro power station, that is now a nice little restaurant with an all Australian wine list (including 1998 Grange & 1991 – if my memory is correct – Hill of Grace). I decided to go for something tried & true so the 2002 Balnaves CS it was, well integrated oak that served to give a backbone to the fat fruit rather than overpower it. The fruit itself was very ripe and sweet, a sort of compote of the black berries with a slight bloodiness and a little bit of green to balance out the power. I probably would have preferred it a little older, but c’est la vie, a 1998 was also on the wine list so my mistake! I started off with a plate of really very nice Spanish charcuterie, the highlight for me was probably the Pata Negra chorizo, although the plain chorizo was also excellent. It came with caper berries (love that texture with the seeds – it reminded me of why I like Okra) and olives, and the second waitress even came around to ask if I’d like some bread to go with it. Julian’s salt pepper & lime calamari was lovely – perfectly cooked. For mains I had a slightly rare vanilla glazed duck breast (did they let it sit a moment before serving?) topped with strips of deep fried ginger (actually very nice) & a grilled half peach (now I know what to do with the next lot of ‘ripen at home’ rock hard tesco fruit). And for dessert I had a sorbet of elderflower & stone fruits which was lovely, especially as I was feeling pretty full at that stage! I teamed that with a completely inappropriate 1978 Calvados, because I love calvados – which was absolutely amazing – it had the nose of a really ripe apple, very sweet and in the mouth it tasted like Kingston Black for my palate (and potentially my memory of the Kingston black cider, which is what I’m drawing this from is a little hazy) with its balance between sweet fruit & tannins from the oak. And then a lingering finish too, mmmm. I could only watch as Julian devoured the Valrhona chocolate fondue, though I couldn’t resist the chocolate dunked blackberry.
Ambience: 10 (crisp linen table cloths, light & airy, spacious)
Food: 8 (competent ‘Mod Oz’ style using great ingredients)
Service: 9/5 (one score for each waiter)
Then we continued cruising up & down the river – a truly relaxing way to start my time over here.
Comments
198 responses to “Hello world!”
Simply desire to say your article is as amazing. The clearness in your post is simply nice and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep updated with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please carry on the gratifying work.
Simply desire to say your article is as astounding. The clarity in your post is simply spectacular and i could assume you’re an expert on this subject. Fine with your permission allow me to grab your RSS feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the gratifying work.
Today, while I was at work, my sister stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a 25 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now destroyed and she has 83 views. I know this is totally off topic but I had to share it with someone!
I know this if off topic but I’m looking into starting
my own blog and was wondering what all is required to get set up?
I’m assuming having a blog like yours would cost a pretty penny?
I’m not very web smart so I’m not 100% positive. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly
appreciated. Cheers
I was pretty pleased to discover this site. I need to to thank you for ones time for this particularly fantastic read!! I definitely really liked every bit of it and I have you book marked to check out new things on your web site.
The other day, while I was at work, my cousin stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive a 25 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
Hey there! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay. I’m undoubtedly enjoying your blog and look forward to new updates.
May I simply just say what a comfort to find a person that genuinely knows what they’re discussing over the internet. You definitely realize how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More people really need to check this out and understand this side of your story. I was surprised that you are not more popular since you surely have the gift.
Currently it sounds like BlogEngine is the preferred blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Currently it sounds like BlogEngine is the preferred blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
At this time it seems like WordPress is the best blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
May I just say what a comfort to find someone who really knows what they’re talking about on the web. You actually know how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More and more people really need to look at this and understand this side of the story. I was surprised you are not more popular because you surely have the gift.
Right now it looks like WordPress is the preferred blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Greate pieces. Keep writing such kind of info on your page. Im really impressed by your site.
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say superb blog!
Right now it looks like Expression Engine is the top blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
Currently it sounds like WordPress is the best blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
At this time it sounds like Movable Type is the best blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Greate post. Keep posting such kind of info on your blog. Im really impressed by your blog.
At this time it seems like Expression Engine is the best blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
At this time it appears like BlogEngine is the top blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say great blog!
Excellent pieces. Keep writing such kind of information on your site. Im really impressed by it.
Wow that was strange. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say fantastic blog!
Currently it seems like BlogEngine is the best blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
you might have an important weblog right here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my blog?
Excellent pieces. Keep writing such kind of info on your page. Im really impressed by your blog.
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say superb blog!
Right now it appears like Movable Type is the preferred blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Right now it appears like WordPress is the top blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
Marvelous, what a webpage it is! This blog presents useful information to us, keep it up.
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
Right now it looks like BlogEngine is the top blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this. Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
Right now it appears like WordPress is the top blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Currently it looks like BlogEngine is the top blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?
Right now it looks like Drupal is the top blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Hey there, You have done a fantastic job. I’ll definitely digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I am sure they’ll be benefited from this site.
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.
Currently it appears like Movable Type is the best blogging platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
Thank you, I’ve just been searching for information about this subject for ages and yours is the best I’ve discovered till now. But, what about the conclusion? Are you sure about the source?
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say great blog!
Bookmarking this page for every match day. Pure entertainment.
Can I just say what a comfort to discover an individual who genuinely knows what they are talking about on the internet. You certainly realize how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More and more people really need to look at this and understand this side of your story. I was surprised you are not more popular since you surely possess the gift.
The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as much as this one. I imply, I know it was my option to learn, but I truly thought youd have one thing interesting to say. All I hear is a bunch of whining about one thing that you may fix when you werent too busy searching for attention.
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say great blog!