Off Topic The Review Thread

Went to the Sky Garden yesterday....

Sky Garden - London's Highest Public Garden

Fantastic views of the city from the 35th floor and it's free to enter. You have to book in advance though, and you'll queue to get in.

We didn't have to queue though, because we'd booked one of the restaurants - the Darwin Brasserie which is on the 36th floor (there's another restaurant on the 37th floor). A fairly limited menu, but the food was very good and not madly expensive. The views from the restaurant are just stunning though, and there was no question of being rushed to vacate your table.

A fantastic experience and highly (get it?) recommended.

 

Thanks for this, it's brilliant. Best foreign language drama I've seen since Gomorrah....nearly finished Season 1, three more to go after that

 

I like limited menus. If the kitchen is focussed on getting a few things right I’m sure that ups the chances of them getting it right. The longer the menu the more likely much of it is preprepared, frozen and/or microwaved. Our local pub has a menu half a mile long and a kitchen no bigger than mine with at most two people working in there. I’d never eat there. **** knows how long the boeuf bourginon has been in the freezer. They keep the beer well though.

I’ll check that place out. Was at the Ivy Cafe in Marylebone Lane on Wednesday with my two oldest mates - school friends. I haven’t been to an Ivy for years and wasn’t sure if I’d like it, but it was good. The food was pretty traditional and predictable but good (my mates had advised against the Asian part of the menu which they had tried in the past) and pretty reasonably priced. The wine was very good but with gross mark ups which is the norm I suppose. But the staff were fantastic, right balance, attentive but not too fussy, happy to have a joke, no hint of rushing us. Which was handy as we took our time. When leaving we asked if they could recommend somewhere we could go and sit outside in comfort to smoke a cigar - and insisted we stay there at one of their street tables, which they set up. As a result we spent another £150 on booze and tips so it worked both ways.

Recommended, think it would be good for a family meal or brunch if you are not after fine dining.

 

I went to the Rajpoot in Inverurie again on Wednesday night...certainly didn't disappoint. Got to say it's one of the best Indian restaurants I've ever been in. Wednesday night in the back of beyond and it was rammed, so obviously has a good reputation locally as well....worth a 20 minute drive if you're ever up in Aberdeen, superb service and food to die for at a really reasonable price. Will definately be back there again

 

What floor was it on and did it have somewhere pleasant for smoking cigars

 

It was opposite the Wetherspoons, they had tables outside

 

We had a similar experience at the Sky Garden. Because we weren't being rushed to leave, we kept ordering more wine (four bottles between the four of us in the end) and we were at our table for four hours in total.

I've been to the Ivy Cafe in St John's Wood a few times and that was very good too.

 

… and a couple of Hamlets available

 

Went to L'Ebauchoir, near Place Bastille, a few weeks ago. Really good food and wine, reasonably priced, and as friendly a staff as you'll get in Paris. Worth checking out if you are in the area.

*Never contributed to this as always thought I'm too far, but Steels' contribution from Aberdeen made me feel I should.

 

Friendly restaurant staff in Paris! Whatever next?

 

Mr Inbetween on Disney+. Australian series about a hitman, Ray, and his life and goings on
Violent, funny, brilliant and dark. If you liked the type of programmes like Breaking Bad, you’ll probably like this…and all in 30 min episodes, so easy to binge watch.
Well recommended

 

Just finished the autobiography of Chris Blackwell’s “The Islander” founder of Island Records.
Indeed a man born into money, with all the benefits that brings (probably more through contacts and open doors than money) and his own roots very much in Jamaica. More enjoyable is his story from the 60’s through to the pandemic and all the eras of music that he was involved in (from Millie Small and the early reggae acts through John Martyn, Lee Perry, Bob Marley, Sly & Robbie, Grace Jones, Roxy Music & Eno, Cat Stevens, U2 and many more). It jumps around a bit in the years/eras sometimes, but feels like someone coming back to stories they remember. Too much going on to talk too specifically about the artists, though Bob Marley has an ongoing influence of course. You get how he loves new music, rhythms and letting artists ‘do their thing’. And while he likes to talk up his successes, he later takes on his failures and losses.
Well worth a read. Hugely interesting story. An iconic label that bucked the record label system - before being swallowed up as many did.

 

Just finished the first episode of 'Jury Duty' on Prime, and it is painfully hilarious. 'The Office' meets courtroom/improv drama.

 

I'm guessing I'm late to the party on this one but just watched the first 2 seasons of The Bear on Disney+. Really good and well thought out and the actors are superb

 

My favourite show of the last couple of years. Brilliantly acted by all, Jeremy Allen White is absolutely superb as Carmy.

The food looks great too and a cracking soundtrack to go with it.

 

I’m reading the book Slow Horses, a seedy spy thriller. It’s excellent. Was recently a TV series with Gary Oldman anyone see it? It’s on Apple TV and I’m reluctant to get yet another subscription, but if it’s faithful to the book could be very good.

 

Apparently it's on to its 3rd series now !

 

IPTV subscription? Works well for us, I get all the iFollow streams for QPR and jnr gets the UFC stuff, plus all the boxsets you could ever dream of