Walking. Gossip. Travel.

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  • Wymondham – Green Dragon

    Wymondham – Green Dragon

    Just a brief post, as I’ve written about the Green Dragon before.

    As an aside, this is Wymondham Abbey which is very near to the pub and we had a very quick walk to.

    And here’s the pub itself, looking quite festive.

    When I last visited it wasn’t possible to sit inside due to national restrictions in force at the time. That meant this time I was able to have a look at the interior and it’s certainly rich with history. It’s worth a visit for anyone interested in pub history and this is a CAMRA recognised pub interior. The room in which we were seated is at the front of the pub and was originally a separate shop area with its own fireplace. There’s a small hatch through to the main bar, which is a compact arrangement despite there being a relatively recent expansion to it.

    The beer tasted well kept, although the choice wasn’t as decadent as I would have ideally liked. However, the Farmers Blonde I had from Bradfield Brewery was acceptable and at the appropriate temperature. The service at the bar was attentive and polite, so the environment felt comfortable and welcoming. It wasn’t that busy in the pub, although they had a couple of larger groups in who were dining at what I assume were some sort of festive gatherings.

    We didn’t order food on this occasion, but I repeatedly hear that it’s of a decent quality and I can imagine that’s the case given the professionalism of the service that we had. It’s a lovely historic environment and definitely worth a visit, all really rather lovely.

  • Wymondham – Shapla

    Wymondham – Shapla

    After some meanderings around some nearby historic churches, in an attempt by Richard and I to complete our project of visiting every one in Norfolk (which I suspect will be never-ending as we have to work out how to get inside some churches as well as walking around them), we thought we’d sample some culinary delights in Wymondham.

    The Shapla seemed to be the best reviewed Indian restaurant in the town, so we opted for that and it has apparently been trading for over thirty years. We were welcomed promptly and although we didn’t have a reservation, we were found a suitable table. The interior decor was modern and appropriate, with the venue being clean and organised. Menus provided and the selection looked comprehensive, with traditional dishes that an Indian might have, as well as some chef specials. They didn’t have any lassi which I had hoped for, so I made do with a Coke to drink.

    The poppadoms were really rather lovely, or at least the assorted dips were. There was mango chutney, onion salad, tamarind sauce, apple pickle and mint sauce, all of which were decent and the apple pickle was a particular favourite as I haven’t had that before.

    The Roshoni Chilli Chicken Tikka which had some real heat to it from the chillies, but it wasn’t overpowering, nicely balanced. The chicken was tender and had a depth of flavour, with the shallots adding texture and the portion size being sufficiently generous. There was no lemon rice, my personal favourite, but the pilau rice I ordered was cooked well.

    Service was attentive throughout and it was a friendly environment, with the restaurant being relatively busy for a Sunday evening. I suspect that reservations are usually required for weekend evenings and there were a steady stream of customers picking up takeaway orders. All really rather lovely and I think that I’d come back here again.

  • Warsaw – Warsaw Ghetto Fighters Memorial

    Warsaw – Warsaw Ghetto Fighters Memorial

    Situated on ul. Prosta is this impactful memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto fights during the uprising in 1943. It marks where a sewer entrance was located that allowed around fifty fighters to escape the ghetto on 10 May 1943, avoiding detection by the German military. Although the Jewish ghetto had been hastily walled up above ground, the sewer network still connected the entire city.

    Many of those who escaped through the sewer network also took part in the Warsaw Uprising that took place in 1944, including a local Jewish man Marek Edelman. He was one of the leaders of the Ghetto fighting and and he died in Warsaw in 2009, out-lived only amongst the survivors by Szymon “Kazik” Ratajzer who died in Jerusalem in 2018. Edelman became a doctor after the Second World War and was hated by the Soviets, being interned in 1981 when Poland’s economy was collapsing and martial law was introduced. He is now one of the heroes of the Polish nation and was awarded the Order of the White Eagle, the highest award that the country can bestow on an individual.

    Only nine of those who escaped the sewer network survived the Second World War, Roman Bornstein, Tuwia Borzykowski, Marek Edelman, Chaim Frymer, Masza Glajtman-Putermilch, Pnina Grynszpan-Frymer, Chana Kryształ-Frykszdorf, Szymon “Kazik” Ratajzer and Cywia Lubetkin.

  • Norwich – 2021 Hike Norfolk Christmas Party at St. Andrew’s Brew House

    Norwich – 2021 Hike Norfolk Christmas Party at St. Andrew’s Brew House

    We didn’t get to hold the Hike Norfolk Christmas party last year due to national restrictions, even though of course Downing Street managed to do so. But anyway, we won’t get dragged into politics here. The Hike Norfolk event was being held at St. Andrew’s Brew House in Norwich, formerly Delaney’s and now operated by City Club. I won’t linger on the beer brewed here as it’s some of the more pointless that I’ve tasted in terms of flavour and taste (we’re not talking Goose Island), but it’s well kept to be fair to them.

    There was a mix-up or something with rooms, but Steve was in charge of that and the venue gave us a perfectly good space so all was well. We also had a private bar which was handy, although I ended up drinking water as the service downstairs was all over the place and the beer selection was weak. I won’t linger on the service though, it’s Christmas, there was a home match for Norwich City and there are national staffing shortages, so these are difficult times and it doesn’t feel very festive to be negative. The staff were helpful throughout as well, so the ambience was all comfortable and relaxed.

    Liam looking at the arrangements in the private room before the masses came up. There were crackers and I of course promptly lost the hat as I don’t like frivolities.

    There was an awards ceremony for later on in the evening, which Steve and I had written in the afternoon. It’s an important event in the Hike Norfolk calendar and we couldn’t let it not happen. Here are the eight trophies carefully lined up.

    Richard waiting at the bar in his Christmas jumper.

    The starter of ham terrine was really rather good, I liked this.

    The turkey main course was less exciting and the pub didn’t burden themselves providing the promised stuffing and pigs in blankets. It was adequate though and all hot.

    The Christmas pudding in brandy sauce was also perfectly acceptable. Portion control across meals was a bit all over the place as well, but the service was efficient and seemed well managed.

    And then came the awards ceremony that Steve and I presented and is evident from this photo (look at that trophy!), I’m delighted to have won the most prestigious award which is “Bravest Walker”. That was for my very brave walking the 100 that I’ve hardly mentioned this year…… I’d add that I didn’t write that award, although I too would have selected myself as the winner if I had of done. I was very pleased that Susanna didn’t get annoyed at me for her very special prize, so that was a result. It was good to look back on the year and the camping weekend in the Peak District of course gave us many happy memories.

    After Steve and I had done our amateur bit of presenting the awards and taking quite a while over it, Rachel took over to be rather more professional. Rachel presented the awards for distance walked during the year on Hike Norfolk walks and to be fair, mine was a little limited since I’ve been away so much. Although I was also distracted photographing my trophy which I shall be finding a prime spot for. I think we had 29 people at the event and it all went well, so here’s to a year of walking with more gossip and stories ahead…. And thanks to Steve to organising the event.

  • 2021 Pub of the Year – How Exciting

    2021 Pub of the Year – How Exciting

    Before I start on this post, I’ll mention clearly that I accept that this isn’t yet an internationally recognised award…. Unfortunately. Anyway, maybe one day  🙂   Since I’m no longer going to the beer festival in Barcelona to see any of their bars, it’s time for this exciting annual event now.

    The winner in 2019, the Hop & Vine in Hull, and in 2020 it was Goose Island in Shoreditch, London. I’m delighted that I’ve visited both of these venues numerous times in 2021, and Tony is still doing a marvellous job, as is Daniel at Goose Island.

    There have been no end of excellent pubs and bars which have surprised and delighted me.

    WHALEBONE, HULL – A pub in an industrial part of Hull that from the outside just appears to be a standard venue for locals, but inside was an exceptional welcome, an Untappd screen and a superb choice of keg and cask beers.

    COLMORE, BIRMINGHAM – A Thornbridge pub in a beautiful former bank building in Birmingham, friendly staff and a wide range of beers from the brewery. Rather lovely pizzas and well kept beer.

    MARINE, EASTBOURNE – My turning up with 16 people without booking didn’t phase this pub, with engaging staff and excellent food served promptly. Reasonably priced and an authentic welcome.

    LEOPARD, NORWICH – My absolute favourite pub in Norwich, with some decadent beers, always a warm welcome and a comfortable and cosy environment.

    THE TWO TAILED LION, LEICESTER – A micropub with a personable barman who merrily chatted away, with an excellent knowledge of beers and there was a decent choice for such a small venue.

    TOWN MOUSE, NEWCASTLE – Recommended by Tony from the Hop & Vine, this was a marvellous cellar bar with a friendly welcome, knowledgeable staff and a personable manager.

    But, excellent as all these pubs were, I’ve decided on my very favourite. Which is…. (I can sense the anticipation my three readers must be feeling now)

    DRUGIE DNO OCHOTA, WARSAW

    This really wonderful bar in Warsaw has all the essentials that it needs, a clean environment, rather lovely food in the form of pizzas, a well curated selection of beers across numerous styles (their small but perfectly formed beer menu is at https://drugie-dno-ochota.ontap.pl/). However, it also had some of the most personable staff members that I’ve come across this year. The welcome was immediate and the staff member couldn’t have been more engaging and warm, but he also made a suitably decadent pizza.

    Given also that I’m English and this bar is in Poland, the staff still were enthusiastic and keen to help so my clunky Polish didn’t need to be used at all. I didn’t have chance to visit several times to check that I still liked this bar, but I’m pretty confident that it’ll remain as a stand-out venue and hopefully I’ll be back in the next few months.

    How very lovely.

  • Warsaw – Museum of Warsaw (Infant’s Identification)

    Warsaw – Museum of Warsaw (Infant’s Identification)

    And another of my posts about things that interested me in the rather lovely Museum of Warsaw.

    This is another remarkable survival, it’s a hand-written note on linen which was placed in a pouch that was put around the neck of a child during the Siege of Warsaw in September 1939. Warsaw was initially able to defend itself during the invasion of Poland by the Germans, but despite the bravery of the Polish military, they were simply out-numbered. Over 18,000 people died in the city between 8 and 28 September 1939 and this tag was so that the young child could be identified if he was separated from his mother.

    The young child was Witold Zenon Gadomski, the son of Tadeusz and Rozalia Czerna of ul. Grochowska 365, who was born on 21 May 1939. He survived the conflict and kept his identification until it was given to the museum in the late 1970s. I can only begin to imagine what his mother must have been thinking when she wrote that during the aerial bombardments of September 1939, no doubt complete terror for the future. Whether or not his parents survived the war, I don’t know….

  • Norwich – Spice Valley

    Norwich – Spice Valley

    A couple of years ago I was able to get some free food at Spice Valley in Norwich as part of their opening weekend, so I felt it was only fair to come back and try their food. It’s taken me two years to do so, but we meandered along to see how they were getting on. Firstly, it wasn’t particularly busy, they had one large Christmas party, and just Liam and me. The environment is clean, bright and really quite comfortable, they’ve done a decent job there. As I mentioned on my post about the Dog House, I’ve got a little out of touch with the restaurants in Norwich and since Indian cuisine is my favourite, I need to get back up to date.

    The soft drinks are over-priced and nearly the same cost as alcohol. Not ideal and I was disappointed at the lack of lassi and this is the first Indian I can recall in some time that doesn’t have it.

    The poppadoms and dips. These were inadequate and generic, with one of them having so much garlic taste as to be inedible. As Will said in the Inbetweeners, “I’m not expecting sparkling”, but I want something slightly interesting…..

    The lemon rice was excellent, actually one of the best of its kind that I’ve had. I went for the Chicken Dopiaza and the sauce was pretty decent, although a little too oily. The chicken was tender, but tasteless, I’m not convinced by the quality of the meat they’re using here. It was all at the appropriate temperature and was pleasant tasting overall though, so I don’t want it to sound like I didn’t enjoy the food. The service was attentive throughout and always professional, with everything being well managed and we weren’t left waiting at any stage.

    Another annoyance was that the restaurant was listed on Amex’s Shop Small which should have got me £5 off, and despite their card machine branding noting the American Express logo, they said they didn’t accept it. I was also annoyed that I wasn’t allowed to keep the receipt and nor were they able to produce a copy other than just a total of the bill which wasn’t itemised. I had already taken a photo of the bill and it was entirely accurate, but it’s shoddy to refuse a customer a copy of the receipt and actually quite brave in case there’s a query over the total.

    Overall, attentive service and a clean environment, but nothing of real note beyond that. I feel though that I’ve returned the favour of the free food of a couple of years ago now, but the quality they had at opening seems to have dipped. It’s fair to say that I won’t be back though and I will continue my little quest to find my favourite Indian restaurant…..

  • Norwich – Lucy’s Fish and Chips

    Norwich – Lucy’s Fish and Chips

    My friend James and I have been testing chip options in Norwich for over 20 years and we continue on our quest for perfection. The quality of Grosvenor is still high, but their pricing is becoming just a little decadent, especially with the new eat-in surcharge. So, we’ve spent more time on the market in recent months and the standard here is high, meaning we are having to do a lot of testing to pick our favourite. I suspect this testing might last for another three or four years at least. This is Lucy’s fish and chips, a friendly location although they always seem to misunderstand James when he’s making the order. Always a warm welcome though.

    The advantage of Lucy’s is that they have seating and that’s really quite useful in Norwich market as there are few places to sit. There are some exposed areas at the fringes where diners are at risk of the elements and the rather bigger risk of seagulls. So this seating within the market is warm and safe from the elements and seagulls.

    I understand that not everyone has such decadent food orders here, but this is pretty much as good as it gets I think. A main course of chips, battered sausage, curry sauce and scraps, with the sausage being a proper butcher’s sausage. The portion size of chips is generous and they always have scraps available to add texture to the arrangement. And the dessert of battered mince pies in a brandy sauce, this is all clearly Masterchef standard and it’s also evidently very healthy.

    Incidentally, for those who don’t like mince pies, there are also battered Jaffa cakes and battered Cherry Bakewells for a dessert treat. Oh, and mince pies taste much better when they’re battered, a nice extra flavour to them. The cost of this was just over £4 each, a veritable bargain. A traditional Norfolk Christmas meal, how very lovely…..

  • Warsaw – Prudential Building

    Warsaw – Prudential Building

    I haven’t much thought about this building before when walking about Warsaw, but it’s the Prudential building which was the tallest structure in Poland when it was completed in 1933 after two years of work. At the time of completion it was the second tallest building in Europe, a huge statement of faith in the future of Warsaw, which needed 2 million bricks, 2,000 tonnes of concrete and 1,500 tonnes of steel to construct.

    And here it is on 28 August 1944 when the Germans used huge amounts of explosives to destroy it as part of their destruction of Warsaw. Their engineers couldn’t get the building to collapse, although they did huge damage and it started to lean a bit. This must have considerably annoyed them, as it was an iconic structure that remained standing. And, it survived the Second World War and was repaired and hence why it is still standing. It has spent most of its post-war life as a hotel and is currently the Hotel Warszawa, a decadent accommodation option in a building which is a great survivor.

  • Warsaw – Coctail Bar Max & Dom Whisky

    Warsaw – Coctail Bar Max & Dom Whisky

    When we walked by this bar in Warsaw a couple of weeks ago, I specifically said to Richard, “do not look to your left”. He recklessly ignored my advice and then looked hugely excited at what he saw, so I felt it was only fair to let him go in even though I was heading to a decadent craft beer bar. I am a very good friend…..

    Just some photos of the whole bar arrangement, which is set across two floors with the whisky bar on the top. There’s a variety of seating around the place, including lower tables and bar seats, with the atmosphere being comfortable and relaxing. The venue is open some ridiculous hours, from 10.00 until 05.00 every day of the week, which hardly makes it worth closing. Incidentally, after going in, I remembered that I’d been in here a few years ago with Hike Norfolk, likely one of the very limited number of venues that wasn’t my choice.

    It’s not exactly me is it? Here am I with my decadent and very classy imperial stouts and I’m presented with this shrubbery. OK, it tasted fine, but it’s not the sort of drink I can put on Untappd.

    The drink was individually created by the barman, who was engaging, personable and knowledgeable about the cocktail options, so there was quite a bit of theatre to the whole arrangement. I must admit that whilst Richard was enjoying this piece of theatre, I was pre-annoyed at how much it would cost, although fortunately it was actually not unreasonable at something like £6. Although that’s a high price for Warsaw, I feared that it might be much more.

    Richard then asked a question about whisky and I have to say that the barman was as knowledgeable about these as he was about the cocktails. I consider whisky to be an excellent drink which should be poured out of the barrels which is then replaced by beer so I can get a whisky flavour to my decadent beer. Whisky isn’t a drink I’ve ever grown to like, but Richard said that the selection of whisky options was excellent and he liked the options presented to him.

    Richard suggested that this was one of his favourite bars, not just because of the hundreds of whisky options, but also because of the engagement of the staff member. Service was sometimes a little slow, but I think that was more because the staff member thought that we were trying to have a longer and more relaxed visit. I was obviously focused on going to a bar which served glorious craft beers, but even I had to concede that this was a well-run venue which had a wide appeal. Definitely recommended for those who like whisky, spirits or cocktails.