10-28 Hit and miss

Note to self: don’t always pay attention to notes to self.

Fabian had sent all the folks on his tour a list of great markets in London. I thought, it being Saturday, that I would venture out. It was quite a list, so I started Googling them to see what they were all about. I went down the rabbit hole of reviews and decided that I really wasn’t interested in buying furniture or dishes, wasn’t really interested in vintage clothes, especially since what is vintage and stylish now is stuff from the 70s and 0. Hell, I lived through those fashions the first time, I don’t need to relive them now! And the ethnic markets were described at being more about food, so I decided to go the other route and visit the Portabello Road Market, which is located in a very posh area and where there are lots of charity shops. (Remember, yesterday I got a cracking deal on a suede jacket in Bermondsey.) Google maps said it was 35 minutes by public transport or 52 by foot. Why not walk, then, right? It was meant to be a little under 2 miles, partly through and around Hyde Park.

The Elizabeth Gate:

Achilles:

The Dorchester:

About 50 minutes into my walk Google maps shut down. When I restarted it and plugged in my location, suddenly it was 2.3 miles to my destination. How the heck did that happen? As I was trying to decide whether to continue, it started to rain. Nope. No posh market was worth it. I hopped on a bus to Victoria station then took the tube home.

Bruce arrived after his latest pub crawl and we headed out for an early supper. We hadn’t had too much Indian food since we came to England, aside from Mowgli, and that seemed like a waste since England has a huge Indian population and, thus, some great Indian food. Bruce found a place in the neighborhood that looked interesting. It was called Kutir and was located in a townhouse. It was a little jewel. So pretty!

Door knocker at Kutir:

Entryway at Kutir:

We started with cocktails I chose a Bagh, a tequila based mango flavored glass of perfection. Bruce had a Chaska made with Ceylon Arrack and with a lovely mint overtone.

For starters we ordered a garlic soft shell crab and a Tandoori grouse. I’d never had grouse and had, in fact, been warned off it, but I was feeling adventurous. The crab was really tasty and crisp. The grouse was amazing. Yes, the texture was very different, but the flavor was bod, assertive and terrific.

Crab:

Grouse:

For mains we had Green Peppercorn Venison and Guinea Fowl Biryani, Truthfully, I felt a bit guilty ordering Guinea Fowl since I had just seen them in Kenya and they’re beautiful. Sadly, they’re also delicious, as was the venison. We had some lovely pappadams to go with it all. Terrific!

Guinea Fowl Biryani:

Green Pepper Venison:

That evening we were back to the theatre. It was the second night of “The Interview” at the Park Theatre. This was the story of how Martin Bashir got Princess Diana to agree to do an interview for Panorama, and its aftermath. It’s must be hard to play someone as iconic as Princess Diana. Yolanda Kettle certainly looked the part, though her wig rather overwhelmed her head, but so many of her mannerisms bordered on caricature. Not being familiar with Martin Bashir I can’t voice an opinion on whether Tibu Fortes captured his essence. The supporting players were wonderful and the script had moments of brilliance but, to me, it was neither fish nor fowl. The end of the play would indicate that the story was supposed to be about how the concept of truth was irreparably altered as a result of this interview and the circumstances surrounding it. If that was true, this play didn’t really make the case. Did I love it? No. Was it entertaining? Mostly. Would I recommend it? Probably not.