Thinking Out Loud

London
on My Mind

My first trip to London was about 25 years ago (in 1981) as an undergraduate. I had planned for a day or two in London but ended up staying more than a week (which was the entire time I had allocated for the United Kingdom). The atmosphere was very tense then as some jailed IRA members led by Bobby Sands were on a hunger strike to the death in an attempt to retain their status as political prisoners. Ten of them eventually died. On arrival at Victoria Coach Station, I was shocked at the number of English Bobbies (ie policemen) around. It turned out that someone had left a bag unattended and a call was made to report a possible bomb threat. The man had a severe scolding when he returned to claim his bag. That morning was also my introduction to a bank holiday ie a day when many other places also take the opportunity to have a holiday. Despite the tense atmosphere throughout my stay, I remember being greatly impressed by the British Museum and the skeleton of a Diplodocus dinosaur at the Natural History Museum. I also remember visiting the Royal Courts of Justice and watching an appeal that was being heard by the Court of Appeal with Lord Denning (a hero of mine) presiding. On my last night, I discovered the West End and saw Annie, a musical about a little orphan girl. After coming out enthralled, I also realised that I had wasted all my previous nights in London. To mitigate my losses, I caught a matinee of the comedy No Sex Please, We’re British! just before taking the coach to Amsterdam.

My second trip was five years ago, on the way to the 2001 Commonwealth Lifesaving Conference in Eastbourne. As my law firm had recently gone into a joint law venture with a Magic Circle firm, I took the opportunity to visit their impressive London offices next to St Paul’s Cathedral. On my way to Eastbourne, I spent two nights in London and on my way home, I spent another three nights there. To make up for lost time, I caught seven plays in those five days in London: Chicago, Starlight Express, Les Misérables, The Beautiful Game, Notre Dame De Paris, Art and The Complete Works of Shakespeare – Abridged. The highlight of that trip, though, was meeting Queen Elizabeth II at a reception at Buckingham Palace that she and The Duke of Edinburgh hosted for the delegates to the Commonwealth Lifesaving Conference. It was a real thrill to have my name announced to the Queen as I entered the reception room to greet her and shake her hands (well, her gloves to be more precise). I remember that we were briefed beforehand to be gentle in our handshakes with Her Majesty and I gave my softest possible handshake.

I was in London for the third time in September 2006, on route to the 2006 Commonwealth Lifesaving Conference in Bath. This time, I only had three nights in London before the Conference and another night there before flying home. Nonetheless, I caught five plays and they were The Lion King, The Vegemite Tales, We Will Rock You, Avenue Q and Les Misérables (again and still as magnificent).

The trip brought another opportunity to visit the British Museum and the Natural History Museum that I did not miss. The cool-looking Diplodocus dinosaur skeleton was still there. In addition, I visited the British Library, one of the world’s greatest libraries. In its Sir John Ritblat Gallery, I found some of the world’s most important historic documents including The Diamond Sutra, The Gutenberg Bible, music scores from Mozart and Chopin, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground and Leonardo Da Vinci’s Notebook. There were also letters from famous people like Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, John Maynard Keynes and Sir Thomas More and even John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s lyrics to some Beatles’ songs. 
I also got to see that famous charter of liberties, the Magna Carta of 1215. It is made of sheepskin and there are altogether four of them in existence with two being found in the British Library. The mortgage deed to Shakespeare’s Blackfriars property was also on display with a commentary to say that the authenticity of Shakespeare’s signature in the deed was in question as it did not entirely resemble his signature in the bargain and sale (ie sale and purchase agreement) drawn up the previous day. There was also mention that it was actually accepted practice at that time for legal functionaries to occasionally ‘ghost’ signatures; not something that is acceptable nowadays.

The Tate Modern was also on my list this trip. Tate Modern is apparently the most visited modern art museum in the world, with more than four million visitors a year. Housed in a magnificent converted power station, it displays contemporary art from all over the world including works from all the big names like Picasso, Joan Miro, Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein, Marcel Duchamp, Andy Warhol, Piet Mondrian, Salvador Dali and Henri Matisse. I saw Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain, probably the world’s most famous urinal. Apparently, he bought the urinal from a plumbers’ supplier and signed it ‘R. Mutt’ before submitting it to an exhibition. Among Tate Modern’s other famous exhibits are Piero Manzoni’s Merda d’artista and Jackson Pollock’s Summertime: Number 9A. Manzoni’s Merda d’artista or Artist’s Shit (yes, it is apparently the real stuff that Manzoni produced) is a can containing 30gr nett of the artist’s personal selection ‘freshly preserved’ and canned in 1961. Tate Modern’s can is No. 004 out of a total production of 90 cans. Summertime: Number 9A was created by Pollock through dripping and pouring paint over a large canvas placed flat on the ground. My personal favourite was Henri Matisse’s The Snail. This large picture was done near the end of Matisse’s life when he was weak and often confined to bed because of cancer. As a consequence he got assistants to paint sheets of paper in gouache (an opaque watercolour mixed with gum) which he cut into various shapes and pasted onto a canvas. His picture of a shell of a snail was simple, colourful and very beautiful. Apparently, whilst he was training as an artist, he was told that his mission in life was ‘to simplify painting to get rid of too much academic value and to find the essence of the thing’. The Snail was clearly evidence that he had achieved it.

Needless to say, food featured prominently on this trip especially since London is no longer considered a culinary desert. In fact, according to the Zagat Report 2005, London is one of the top few cities in the world for restaurants. In the same year, John Willoughby, the executive editor of Gourmet magazine also said, ‘Our position is that London is the best position in the world to eat right now.’ I can safely confirm their views and the following are the dining highlights of my trip.

Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s (Claridge’s Hotel, 55 Brook Street, W1A 2JQ, London)

There were two Gordon Ramsay restaurants I wanted to try. One was the Michelin three stars Gordon Ramsay (68-69 Royal Hospital Road, SW3 4HP, London) and the other was the Michelin one star Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s. Both were highly recommended by the latest edition of Time Out London but I settled on the latter because Time Out mentioned it as ‘an unmissable culinary experience’. To be safe, about a week before flying to London, I e-mailed a reservation enquiry. Fairly quickly, I received an e-mail response to say that a member of the staff will shortly be contacting me. A day later, I received a call to say that they were full for the lunch slot I wanted. I suggested two or three other dates but they were equally full. It appeared that they were only able to take reservations for the following month. I then asked about other possible time slots. They did have a table free at 2.30pm on my day of arrival and I quickly booked it.

On Thursday 21 September 2006, I duly arrived at 2.30pm, which was towards the end of lunchtime. However, the restaurant was full and buzzing with small talk and attentive staff. I was impressed. I ordered from their Lunch Menu (Three Courses at 30 pounds plus a 12.5 per cent discretionary service charge that they also added to the final bill) a watercress soup, a veal stew and an apple dessert. I also ordered a bottle of Perrier. 


Fairly quickly, I was served some hot rolls and poured a glass of Perrier. I was then served an amuse bouche of pumpkin and wild mushroom soup. It was super, especially with the pieces of hot rolls that I buttered. The watercress soup with poached duck egg and fennel cream was equally good. My blanquette of veal with tropea onions and bok choi, horseradish pomme puree was excellent. The Granny Smith apple parfait came with tiny doughnuts and was the perfect end to the meal. I could not find fault with anything at the restaurant. The service was prompt and attentive and the food was delicious. When I left the restaurant at about 4.30pm, it was still at least half full and I was smiling.

Fifteen (15 Westland Place, Hoxton, N1 7LP, London)

Fifteen is a special kind of restaurant. It grew out of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s dream to have a culinary training establishment for unemployed youngsters to help them change their lives. It is not your ordinary culinary school as it also aims to serve the highest quality food (and it is priced accordingly too). Such places usually do not have consistent standards but when one comes as highly recommended as Fifteen, I had to try it. Square Meal 2006 said the Fifteen Trattoria served ‘fantastic pasta with flavours that reflect the quality of the ingredients’ and a writer in the Australian Times rated it fifteen on a scale of one to ten. There were also good comments about the restaurant in the Tatler Restaurant Guide, the Evening Standard, Time Out, Eating Out and London Eating.

Despite the fact that I had no reservation, I tried to dine there anyway and made my way to Fifteen Trattoria in the late morning of Friday 22 September 2006. They had just finished serving breakfast and were preparing for lunch. I asked if they could take me for lunch and they said they were full. Looking disappointed, I said I would be prepared to eat at any time. They checked their reservation list and said that if I could come back at noon and finish within an hour, they could fit me in. Of course I could. I confirmed my reservation before leaving to walk around the neighbourhood. I did not want to go anywhere far and arrive late.

After I arrived, I ordered Fifteen’s ‘amazing antipasti’, a ravioli of Welsh lamb and a lemonade. I was first served some freshly baked Italian bread along with olive oil, salt and pepper on the side. The warm bread went down very well with the rich olive oil. The antipasti was a beautifully presented selection of dressed seasonal vegetables, olives, cured meats and cheese. It tasted as good as it looked. My ravioli of Welsh lamb included chestnut, mascarpone and mint in a light butter sauce and was marvellous. The lemonade was ordinary but on the whole the meal was very good.

The Vincent Rooms (Westminster Kingsway College, Vincent Square, SW10 2PD, London)


Many celebrity chefs (including Jaime Oliver) have trained and worked at The Vincent Rooms, the training restaurant of Westminster Kingsway College. According to Time Out London, apart from staff and students, only a few ‘clued-up Londoners’ dine there. In fact, before I went to London, the place was highlighted by writers of The Times and the Evening Standard magazine for its excellent menu, good value and excellent service. It was also the winner of a Time Out Cheap Eats Award and The Restaurant Magazine’s Regional Award for College Restaurant of the Year.

Again without any prior reservation, I tried my luck. I went there at about noon on Friday 29 September 2006, soon after returning to London from Bath. They were full and I tried my usual tactic of offering to eat at any time if they could fit me in. After checking with someone who looked like a lecturer, I was given a table.

I had a terrine of duck, a roast lamb and a glass of water. It was actually a Ylesbury duck, goose liver and dried fruit terrine with poached apple and dressed leaves and it was top-notch. My main course of grilled lamb cutlets with parsley potatoes, grilled fennels and mushrooms and minted butter sauce was equally superb. The service was extremely attentive but the student waiter serving me was inexperienced and rather nervous, especially when he was serving the food. Nevertheless, the food more than made up for it. It was excellent food at relatively inexpensive (by London standards anyway) prices and I would eat there anytime.

West Cornwall Pasty Co (Covent Garden, London)


Cornish pasty originated as leftovers thrown into a large slab of pasty and crimped into ‘a hopefully indestructible object that could, if necessary, withstand being accidentally dropped down a deep mine shaft’ according to a booklet entitled ‘ALL ABOUT US’ from the West Cornwall Pasty Co. 
It was apparently invented by miners’ wives for their husbands to eat for lunch and the shape of the pasty was taken from the pocket of miners. A Cornish pasty looks like a giant curry puff but tastes better. In all, the West Cornwall Pasty Co sells more than 14 different savoury and sweet fillings. I had a Steak and Stilton pasty for my dinner before watching The Lion King at The Lyceum Theatre and it was delicious. The pasty crust was fairly thick but not hard and a good mix with the tender steak and English blue cheese.

Sussex Fish Bar (London Street, London)

It was not as easy to find a dedicated fish and chips eatery in London as it was during my first trip about 25 years ago. Fortunately, the Sussex Fish Bar was near my hotel. The place is not as classy as Harry Ramsden’s but it is cheaper and the food is good. Somehow, a trip to England never seems complete without eating fish and chips the English way ie with vinegar, salt and pepper.

Richard Tan Ming Kirk

Shook Lin & Bok

© Richard Tan Ming Kirk