Two meals

When many people were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, I was quietly celebrating something far more personal and important my birthday. I had no real plans, other than just eat chocolate and plans to go out every night over the long weekend came to naught, with only a visit to Duckie to talk about.

Late on Saturday I was texted by my landlord, he had booked a table for lunch to help celebrate. Destination - La Pont de la Tour, near Tower Bridge. Years ago when I worked in the Tooley Street offices of EBSCO I would often pass Butler's Wharf and Shad Thames the home of this restaurant, and thinking how nice it would be to be able to afford to eat there, this was when I earned half as much as I do know, it's really still not something which easily falls into my price range. Thankfully I was not paying and we were eating the fixed price menu of £30 for three courses and a glass of champagne. If I'm honest I'd not do it again. The atmosphere was pleasant enough, sat as we were on the riverside terrace. The staffing was efficient and probably the nearest I'll get to fine dining for sometime. I suspect that I will never be wealthy or even silly enough to pay £1350 for a bottle of wine (no there is no decimal point missing in that figure) . The food is what I was disappointed with even at £30 I would have expected something remarkable.

Unfortunately the food was unremarkable - the haddock soup that I had as a starter could well have come from a carton from the Covent Garden Soup company , - the accompanying bread was however very nice. The main was Duck , with crushed new potatoes and peas. The Duck was nice , but there was not much of it (admittedly portion control is not my strong point) , and the dressing used on the peas and spuds was too sharp and cold. The pudding was not bad, the best of the three courses a citrus creme brule, there was a lot of it, and it could have been a sharing dish for two if the main had been more substantial. Nothing too awful then but just a bit Meh! and not what I'd have expected all those years ago when passing it and dreaming of the ability to afford to eat there.

Yesterday, two friends sent a text, they were off to Hot Stuff for lunch a cheap and cheerful Indian restaurant in SW8. It's been a while since I had any food from there, and a few years since I had eaten there, and the first time I've been there since a recent refurb and the division of the eat in and take away into two separate premises. It was as far away from the Sunday experience as you could get, a small single room with no more than 30 chairs - probably less. , one wall filled with reviews from local and national papers - all very complimentary, and outside no river view, but the dug up pavements of Wilcox Road. We dispensed with the menu - and just accepted the suggestions of the waiter.

Just over an hour later we left stuffed to the gills with delicious food (and wine which one of my fellow diners brought with him) . All for £51.00 (not each for the whole meal). A starter of chicken wings, king prawns and the best bahji this side of the North West Passage were followed by a selection of curries fish, lamb chicken and vegetable, and a platter of 'magic mushroom' biryani which I wolfed down enthusiastically, and of course the Nann bread . The size of which can be seen by looking at the photo.

So basically the weekend proved that in terms of food quality you don't always get what you pay for, (or on Sunday's case what others pay for you)