Thursday, 2 August 2018

The nightmare journey home



23rd July 2018

Getting home from London to the North East was a nightmare. The train driver was late. That was nothing compared to the line side fires that left us stuck south of Doncaster for over an hour. We had to get alternative connections to Leeds, then to York and then to Newcastle. Not a good start in my budding relationship with LNER who took over the East Coast rail franchise recently.

Meat on the menu at Domali

Domali Jul 18

22nd July 2018

Domali, on the Crystal Palace Triangle, had previously been known to me as a veggie cafe. On visiting it recently, we discovered meat is now on the menu. Breakfast was a full English with sausage and bacon. Very enjoyable but I'm not aware of why the shift away from vegetarian food.

Dried up lake at Crystal Palace Park



22 July 2018

We visited Crystal Palace Park, another of my old haunts and discovered the heat wave has had quite an impact on the lakes. The smaller, shallower ones had dried up and the level of the main lake has dropped substantially. We could do with some rain. We rounded off the visit by going to the Capel Manor Farm. Lots of animals to see.

Retro in Forrest Hill

Dartmouth Arms Forrest Hill Jul 18 (1)

21 July 2018

I visited the Dartmouth Arms in Forrest Hill, London, and had a 1970s retro experience! The wallpaper took me back 40 years! Otherwise a rather quiet establishment. Sadly, the prices weren't retro.

Dartmouth Arms Forrest Hill Jul 18 (2)

Dartmouth Arms Forrest Hill Jul 18 (3)

Monday, 30 July 2018

Revisiting the Crystal Palace Triangle



21 July 2018

The Triangle in Crystal Palace was our regular haunt when I was spending half my time in London. We paid it a visit to have a look at the changes that have taken place over the past year. The Saturday's farmers' market is still there but some of the pubs have changed. There are now pubs called the Faber Fox and Walker Briggs though other establishments have gone. Meanwhile, Westow House pub is expanding upwards.

Mi cocina es tuya Venezuelan Restaurant

Mi cocina es tuya Venezuelan Restaurant Crystal Palace Jul 18 1

21 July 2018

As the flat was empty of furniture and food, we headed to the Crystal Palace Triangle for breakfast. We decided to try the  Mi cocina es tuya, a Venezuelan restaurant. A small and pleasant establishment with helpful and friendly staff, we had an interesting breakfast which included scrambled eggs, a pancake and beans. Worth a visit.

Mi cocina es tuya Venezuelan Restaurant Crystal Palace Jul 18 2

Lido Restaurant Soho

Lido Restaurant Soho July 18 1

Dinner time in Soho on 20th July and we headed to Chinatown where we found the Lido Restaurant. It was a busy establishment but they had room for us. One factor in judging an eating establishment is to have a look at the amount of food left over at the end. As you can see, we ensured nothing was left! A reasonably priced meal bearing in mind that this is central London.

Lido Restaurant Soho July 18 2

Lido Restaurant Soho July 18 3


Lido Restaurant Soho July 18 4

Lido Restaurant Soho July 18 5

Lido Restaurant Soho July 18 6

Lido Restaurant Soho July 18 7