Sunday midday and we were off up to the West End for a reunion with good close friends, in a famous pub
to be followed by a blow out afternoon at a good Chinese Dim Sum restaurant
So sad to see this, the trees lining the streets of London all seem to have diseases
This one is infected by fungus, probably brought by the polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB) beetle
which is first and foremost a killer of trees
The beetle burrows into the trees to breed, but takes with it a fungus which then kills the trees
Even in South Africa, we have a huge problem; we are told that we will not have any oaks in 10 years
and many are already dead
For some of her friends, it had been 30 years since they had seen Lynne
We met in a famous London Pub in Chinatown, the Salisbury
Mike and Jean Walsh, Alison Jee and her husband Alistair Edwards
and Linda Jee, who surprised us by arriving unexpectedly from Leicestershire
with her son and daughter and new baby
So good to see old friends in the flesh. We keep in touch, but reality is so much better
The organiser of the event was Chris Hutton, (known to his close friends as Buddha),
Linda Jee, LRJ, Kate Dawson, Angela Redman, our hostess in Wimbledon, and Mike Walsh
The new cherub
Off to China Town, just around the corner from Shaftesbury Avenue
Sadly, the Dim Sum restaurant we visited for years has now closed, so we were off to try a new one
Lynne used to love shopping at the Chinese supermarkets here,
it's where she could pick up unusual ingredients to make Asian food
Chef Ken Hom has a lot to answer for, all of it good
and next to the Supermarket was our destination, The New Loon Fung restaurant
We had booked a table for 10 and were taken to the top floor. The restaurant is very popular indeed
Chris (whose mother was Burmese) organising our seats and the choices on the menu
Each of us could choose a favourite and he ordered enough for one each of 10 different Dum Sum dishes
Our table in the corner. When booking at a Chinese restaurant, never book for 9, its unlucky
We drank Tsingtao beer and tea with the food
and it was fabulous. Yam croquettes are very moreish,
made of sweet potato covered in a crisp kataifi-like pastry and deep fried
CHEONG FUN – 肠粉 – RICE NOODLE ROLLS
are rice noodle rolls containing barbecue pork, prawns or, here, delicious scallops
Deep fried calamari
Yum. Where to start? well luckily the selection rolled around on the revolving Lazy Susan
And they kept coming. Besides soy, they bring different vinegars and dipping sauces and chilli
It was a fabulous selection
LO BAK GO – LUÓBO GĀO – 萝卜糕 – TURNIP CAKE
Steamed cabbage roll stuffed with minced beef, with ginger
NO MAI GAI – NUÒMǏ JĪ – 糯米鸡 – STICKY RICE CHICKEN LOTUS LEAF WRAP
More lotus wrapped sticky rice
SIU MAI – SHĀOMAI – 烧卖 – PORK DUMPLINGS
another favourite, as are Har gow – steamed shrimp dumplings
We can get these in Cape Town too or make them
CHA SIU BAO -叉烧包 – BBQ PORK STUFFED BUNS
Luckily we can buy these at Chinese supermakets in Cape Town, another favourite, but difficult to make
WAT GAI CHEON GUN – 滑鸡春卷
Chicken Spring Rolls
We kept our waitress rather busy
Our bill for the feast (each) came to £23.00 including drinks, tip and all the food, very, very reasonable for London
At today's rate that is R524,19 pp
Do you think he has had too much or is working up strength to have another go?
Sadly, time to say goodbye again as, the next day, we were off to the Cotwolds. Alastair always looks grumpy!
We hope we'll see some of them soon, perhaps in Cape Town?
On the way to Leicester Square tube and home. No dinner needed that night
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