Two ladies who lunch do London

[Kim Shook]

53 minutes ago, Kerry Beal said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catsup!!!

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, teonzo said:

 

Cheer up Anna! You are there with a great friend, I'm sure I can talk for anyone here on eGullet and say we all love you and your road trips, so please be positive!

 

 

 

Teo

 

Truly, Teo, I jest. As long as Kerry is my friend no bad karma can ever get too close to me.

[Anna N]

 

 Now these are much more familiar to me and much more what I would’ve expected to see than a wild turkey.  

 

 Since I had breakfast about 6 AM,  as soon as the maid had mucked out my Augean stable as it were,  I decided I needed some lunch. 

 

From our trip to Farm Boy yesterday, came:

 

 

 their own branded potato chips. 

 

 

 some marinated artichokes and a spoonful of orzo salad. With these I assembled my lunch. 

 

 

 The remaining half of the chicken salad sandwich which I opened at breakfast now seasoned and textured with some potato chips.

 

 

Even without a microwave or a Control Freak I managed to assemble a perfectly good lunch.

 

 The trick now will be not to finish off the whole bag of potato chips. 

 

 I am debating whether to open a beer.  

 

 

[Shelby]

Have a beer!  Have two!

[caroled]

Unless you plan on renting a car, have the beer!

 

[Kerry Beal]

Late taking the pictures 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, caroled said:

Unless you plan on renting a car, have the beer!

 

 If you mean a chauffeured limousine, I don’t think there’s a problem there. If you mean renting a car to drive, it would take more than one beer. I would need a whole case of beer to persuade me to get behind the wheel of the car. And then someone would have to carry me there, place my hands on the steering wheel and push the starter button.  I haven’t driven for some years for which there are many, many people very grateful.

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

Have a beer!  Have two!

 Nah.  It’s not the beer that doesn’t appeal — It’s the cold. I just don’t fancy a cold beer at the moment and a warm beer is the devil’s special torment. 

 

 I have settled for some grapes and a hot cup of coffee.

 

  

 

This was a pick-me-up after my postprandial nap. 

[Smithy]

6 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

Late taking the pictures 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kerry, is this grand spread (no sarcasm, I know it was more grand when set out) because of the testing, or is this standard? It looks pretty swishy to be a regular occurrence.

[FauxPas]

On 4/26/2019 at 11:33 AM, Kerry Beal said:

Lunch put on by hotel

 

 

 

 

 

Mmmm. Is that a Nanaimo Bar?  

[Kerry Beal]

23 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

 

Mmmm. Is that a Nanaimo Bar?  

Indeed it was!

[Anna N]

So once again I did my one job and researched places for dinner. We toyed with the thought of a Cuban restaurant until Kerry pointed out the rice and beans/peas on the menu. On the off chance that they might have contaminated the plates with such fair, we settled on The Church Key. Kerry had enjoyed Sunday brunch there back in 2016  when she was here in London for a medical school reunion.

 

 Their website said that the opportunity to make reservations was forthcoming but not yet available. Kerry did attempt a phone call but was put through to an answering service. Full of optimism we set off from the hotel at about 6 PM giving little thought that this was a Saturday night in a university town. Traffic rivalled that in Toronto on a day when both the Jays and the Leafs are  playing. To add to the traffic congestion,  many streets were already blocked off for a marathon which will take place today. Eventually we were able negotiate our way to The Church Key. Kerry dropped me in front of the door while  she went to find a parking spot.

 

 When I opened the inner door,  the noise set me back on my heels.   Actually I think it set me back at least 6 inches. So when the server informed me that if I did not have a reservation then I was whistling Dixie if I hoped to dine,  I could have grabbed her á la the sailor in Times Square on V-J day, bent her low and kissed her full on the lips—gender be damned.  I quickly retreated and attempted to text Kerry to tell her not to park the car but to come and rescue me immediately.  Fortunately she had parked illegally just behind the restaurant and was there in a jiffy.  

 

While I waited for her to bring the car around, a family of three started reading the menu posted outside The Church Key. I told them to move on unless they had reservations.  They told me that everywhere they had tried to find a place to eat had the same story. Apparently the myth of starving university students was not holding up too well in London. 

 

 On our way to this restaurant we had spotted.a ramen house.  We headed back in that direction and were very fortunate to find a parking spot just across the road.  Dinner was going to happen after all.

 

 

 Tea for Kerry. 

 

 

 Warm sake for me. Apparently there must be something uncouth about drinking such a small amount of sake alone.  Always we are presented with drinking cups for two.

 

 

 Miso tonkotsu ramen for Kerry.  I swear to you she did not request extra corn just to annoy @liuzhou but it now takes only one tiny kernel of the stuff to bring him immediately to mind. 

 

 

Straight up pork tonkotsu ramen for me. 

 

 

 Sizzling duck breast Teppan-Yaki.   Wow this stuff was good. Even the burnt onions beneath the meat were delicious.  

 

 

 Chicken knee cartilage.

 

 

 Shrimp and vegetable tempura.

 

All was enjoyed in a very friendly atmosphere where we could actually hear one another speak.

 

[Anna N]

 

 Finally the sun has broken through and I can see a little blue sky.  

 

 

  Breakfast and lunch today will again be courtesy of Farm Boy supermarkets. 

 

 

 Cheese and ham sandwich. Apple juice. Mayonnaise. Chocolate chip cookies and the only apple in the world undeserving of its moniker —a red delicious. 

 

 

 Once again some intricate unwrapping was involved so that the second half of the sandwich could be re-wrapped and re-refrigerated for lunch.

 

 

[Shelby]

4 hours ago, Anna N said:

I swear to you she did not request extra corn just to annoy @liuzhou but it now takes only one tiny kernel of the stuff to bring him immediately to mind. 

I'm the same way.  The seed that I feed the birds has dried corn in it--THAT even makes me think of @liuzhou.  It would be gratifying knowing that at any given moment people all over the world are thinking of me. 🤣

[liuzhou]

I am truly gratified and moved that people all over the world are thinking about me, but remember I'm also thinking about you all and your evil ways, too! 

 

Corn in ramen?!?!?! Sacrilege! The End Is Nigh!

 

😃😃

[Anna N]

 Unless your name is Kerry Beal, getting creative in a hotel room with food is a bridge too far  for most of us. 

 

 But I tried.

 

 The second half of the ham and cheese sandwich which I opened this morning served up with a new package of Renée’s Caesar salad dressing for a dip.

 

 

 Served with (washed down with?):

 

 

 I have saved the remaining grapes and the chocolate chip cookies for an afternoon snack. 

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

Egg bites, pancakes, sausages and nice crispy bacon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kerry Beal]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[rotuts]

the food provided for the Examiners looks a lot better this year than years gone by.

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

the food provided for the Examiners looks a lot better this year than years gone by.

Every centre is different - I agree this is better food 

[jimb0]

I admit I ignored this thread at first, assuming the other London, but no, you're in my town. I hope you guys enjoy it where possible. If nothing else I'm happy to drop off a bag of caramels.   

 

Church Key is a good place for dinner. If you hanker for good hot coffee, Locomotive is the place to go; for nitro coffee, Commonwealth is excellent (near Church Key). A couple of pretty solid new restaurants in town, depending on how long y'all are staying. 

Edited April 28, 2019 by jimb0 (log)

[rotuts]

@Kerry Beal

 

not to suggest what you already know .....

 

Id go to the Top Most Top

 

that a PG pneumonic tight there !

 

and let them know how delicious the London Exams are !

 

and then

 

let the hotel TMT

 

know the same

 

we forget from time to time

 

to let the TMT's

 

realize their work

 

sometimes

 

it appreciated 

 

I guess there are more pneumonic that back in my day :

 

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/cranial-nerves-mnemonic?lang=us

 

as far as I can tell , these are PG

 

there was a version , so way back when that was not !

 

not that the spread cannot be improved :

 

No perfectly cooked Scrapple

 

and no Fries w Squeeky cheese.

Edited April 28, 2019 by rotuts (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Yes - I learned the non PC version.

 

 

[Anna N]

 On the way out of town we stopped for a little more nostalgia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Mocha almond fudge for Kerry (hope I got that right). 

 

 

 Fresh strawberry sundae for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 And apparently we missed this exciting tour.

 

 

 

[jimb0]

4 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 And apparently we missed this exciting tour.

 

 

 I wouldn't suggest them as a destination, but they are a nice aside. It's as much as you might expect; a series of still-planted tree trunks with varying degrees of sculpture.