Spelling & Style

It would appear that Mr Gorb has been reading my blog. He feels it's hard to read and full of spelling mistakes.

I've spent today searching for spelling mistakes, I spell check everything before it goes in. Is it really that bad?

A rather depressed gorb, at least if he'd criticised the photography I'd have understood that, now it really is crap.

The West Cornwall Pasty Co

I love pasties I do. There is nothing to eat at Liverpool Street station, well, that’s actually a gross generalisation, there is a Pontis, McDonalds, Burger King, Ixxy’s Bagels, Costa Coffee etc etc and so the list goes on. There is also a rather good sushi joint but that’s the subject of a whole other post sometime in the future. There is nowhere really nice to sit and eat, but that’s really down to it being a transport hub it’s designed to cater for Londoners on the move. My favourite on the move food is definitely the humble pasty.

The pasty is a work of genius, a very simple concept, far superior to the sandwich. If you think about it every culture has independently invented a pasty, consider the samosa, or spring roll, or burek, or calzone even the fajita and so on. These are actually just pasties. In fact everyone bar the Americans who were too busy eating burgers came up with a form of pasty.

Anyone interested in the history of the pasty (including international versions) investigate

here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish_pasty Pasties have magical suggestive powers, anyone who walks past someone else carrying a pasty instantly goes and buys one for themselves.

There are two pasty chains in Liverpool Street, The West Cornwall Pasty Co based just outside at the Bishopsgate entrance or The Cornish Pasty Co who have an outlet on the main concourse. The West Cornwall Pasties are much better, although it’s best to avoid their one if there is heavy football traffic, the Hamilton Hall Weatherspoons opposite is a bit of a flashpoint. They make pasties fresh everyday and varieties range from traditional steak, steak and stilton, Chicken Balti, roasted veggies and cheese and bacon. They even do a pork and cider version which is my current favourite. Pasties need to be eaten on the move with brown sauce. I would eat one everyday for lunch but that would make me fat, so best on Friday’s after the pub for the train home. The West Cornwall pasty people have just won themselves an award for the fastest growing business so we may expect more pasty stalls in London soon. Ditch the burger, pasties are the way forward.

Browns, 9 Islington Green, London, N1 8DU

I went to Browns in Islington for my birthday dinner (well it was actually my third birthday dinner, I like to sting it out) and was let down badly. The food was distinctly average, most of it was cold, even the coffee. It’s not hugely expensive and it’s a relatively nice place to sit and watch the world go by, but this doesn’t ever make up for bad food. It wasn’t over ambitious, the lamb shank was done well but served with cold potatoes, the ceaser salad was nice with the right balance of salad, chicken and dressing but the chicken was too dry, the hot chocolate with rum was also cold but the worst part was the desert.

I never really go in for deserts, I don’t know what came over me but I ordered a sticky toffee pudding with clotted cream. The pudding was passable enough but the clotted cream was simply margarine, probably something along the lines of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. Browns shall have to be cocktails only from now on.

Sacred Cafe, 13 Ganton Street, Off Carnaby Street, London, W1F 9BL

I’m not a great fan of shopping. I get a bit ratty and flustered and can never go “up-west” on a Saturday afternoon. I can just about cope with a Sunday or a late night Thursday excursion otherwise I suffer queue rage and run the risk of throwing a temper tantrum over something ridiculously trivial (usually not being able to take more than three items in to the changing room or not being allowed to keep the hanger after you’ve just shelled out the best part of a hundred notes on one item.) The problem with central London is that there is a dearth of nice places to temporarily escape. The trouble is that every Starbucks and Costa becomes an equally busy and hectic extension of all the shops.

The Sacred Café on Ganton Street just hidden off Carnaby Street is a peaceful of not slightly disturbing place of respite. It’s arranged cleverly over ground and basement levels and has a supply of plentiful cakes, organic and otherwise, teas, coffees and superb hot chocolates. These can all be enjoyed on big sofas in the basement watched over by Tibetan monk statues… obviously. http://www.sacredcafe.co.uk/