Wednesday, December 04, 2019

MENU's UK Adventure 20. Visiting around London and home to Cape Town

Most of the last week of our trip was spent in and around London, with interludes at the SA owned estates in Sussex
It still feels like home to Lynne, who was born there. Her family emigrated to South Africa in 1948,
but she returned and lived there for 27 years from 1967 to 1993
It has changed a lot; so many new buildings and other developments
We apologise to all the friends we didn't manage to see; our time in London was far too short

The tubes have space to stand in them! Well they do on the District Line
Lynne still remembered all the routes, where the entrances and exits were, where to change and where to stand
27 years of commuting will do that to you

We had Oyster cards, thanks to Angela, and were headed to East Finchley to have lunch with David Hill,
who was Lynne's boss at Heinemann Educational and then at Sage Publications

The Northern line tube trains are still fairly cramped!

David's house

We had a great lunch, cooked by David, and we caught up with him and with Caroline Lane,
another Heinemann and Sage colleague. Lynne hadn't seen them for 14 years. Caroline brought dessert

and we took a good bottle of South African wine, Bosman Adama 2017, which we found in Spar
It went very well with David's excellent quiche

Going home was in rush hour and it became very crowded

We also made a special trip by car to see Lynne's father's cousin Peggy,
who has now moved to a home in Hornchurch, Essex
She is 94 and not enjoying it one bit! She told us that she is not allowed to sit with another "inmate",
as they plot their escape if they are together
Sadly, she can no longer manage on her own at home but she is still feisty, if stone deaf

A dinner at Angela's with her sister and brother-in-law, Carol and Ian. They have both been British Ambassadors
and Carol is now Chair of an important EC committee. Not a comfortable or secure job with Brexit looming

Another fantastic meal cooked by Angela and much enjoyed, with good company and good wine

Affectionate sisters who don’t see enough of each other!

These were some of the great wines we drank while we stayed with Angela,
four of them South African, sourced by us from various English supermarkets
We did our level best to promote SA wine abroad, but the variety is somewhat limited;
the prices of good wines from South Africa are so cheap
that consumers can’t believe that wine at that price can be any good, which is why too many people don’t look at them
The Bruce Jack Shiraz was £5 (R92), the Stellenrust Chenin £6 (R111) and the two Bellingham Bernard series £12
However, we believe that we have converted several people with the bottles we bought
It was a really great evening with lots of stimulating conversation, much of it about Brexit

From our Wimbledon attic suite, we had very good views of the London skyline
Here you can just spot the chimneys of Battersea Power station which is undergoing a huge development
We could also just see the Gherkin, the Shard and Canary Wharf on a clear day

Another skyscraper going up, you can tell by the height of the cranes that it is going to be a tall building

Then a walk in Richmond Park... 

... with one of Lynne’s best friends, Kate, whom she misses very much. We had a lovely long talk,
catching up over tea and scones in Pembroke Lodge, which is a magnificent listed Georgian mansion

We watched the crows pinching leftovers from tables

Then we went for a lovely long walk in the park. Spotted these huge mushrooms on the way

The crows act like our tick birds, cleaning up the pests on the fallow deer, which roam all over the Park

This buck was quite hard to see in the dappled shade under a huge oak

And then, suddenly, five wonderful weeks in the UK were over and it was time to head home
Angela, very kindly, drove us to Gatwick airport, an easy hour’s drive from Wimbledon, so it's very accessible

Watching our Emirates A380 arrive at its docking station

And whom should we meet at Dubai airport, also flying on our plane,
but an ebullient Malu Lambert, who had been to London to collect her prestigious award
the Champagne Louis Roederer & Montblanc Emerging Wine Writer of the Year Award

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Posted by MENU at 9:09 pm 0 comments

Dim Sum lunch at Joy King Lau, Leicester Square, London

On our last Sunday in London, we had made an appointment with friends to have some Dim Sum in Chinatown. It is something we have done together since the early 1970s. Old friend Chris Hutton is half Burmese (we call him Buddha! You can see the resemblance) and we have him to thank for introducing us all to the panoply of good Asian food over the years; we are all quite adventurous. Lynne cooks it at least once a month and we have a cupboard dedicated to Asian spices, sauces and important rare ingredients
Sunday morning in Wimbledon. All residential permit parking
Angela came with us and we walked to the tube station just round the corner and up the road
Everyone seemed to be going somewhere for Sunday lunch, so the tube was crowded
We got out at the nearest tube station to our destination, Leicester Square, and it was a short walk to the pub,
The Salisbury in St Martin’s Lane, at which we were meeting the others. It was raining, but who cares
Sadly, it was our only trip up to the West End. No time on this trip for a day of shopping in Oxford Street for Lynne
Next time perhaps, and a visit to Liberty?
Chris, Lynne, Kate, Angela and Anne. The gang is nearly all here, drinking good ale and other delights
And then, off to the restaurant in Leicester Street and, to Lynne's amazement it is Joy King Lau, the same one we all went to
from the early 1970s, still there, still thriving and now run by the original owners’ children. It’s on 5 floors and always busy
We went in at 2 pm without a booking, as many Chinese eat Dim Sum for a late breakfast and it can get quite crowded then
They are open every day from 12 noon to 11.30 pm, but they stop serving Dim sum at 5 pm
They have visual menus on the wall with a very good selection of dim sum
But the menu has many more traditional Chinese dishes, also noodle and rice dishes, Pekin duck etc..
Chris asked us all to order our favourites and made sure we had enough, ordering at least two or three portions of each dim sum
Three of us ordered bottles of Tsingtao beer, the others stuck to tea,  which we all had and enjoyed
Lynne had been dreaming about this, it’s a Yam croquette, made of sweet potato mash, stuffed with meat in a creamy sauce and covered in something like shredded wheat, then deep fried to make it beautifully crisp 
We had to have lotus wrapped rice
so fragrant and filled with sticky rice, mixed meats and prawns
We had excellent spring rolls (no soggy leftovers inside those) and these fried leek cakes
Another all time favourite, open prawn, scallop and water chestnut steamed dumpling
There are different dipping sauces besides soy; we had chilli and black vinegar dips
The difference we noticed between these dim sum dishes and those we get in Cape Town is intensity of flavour and generosity
Dim sum in the Cape is good, if a bit limited in its selection, but why do they serve three dumplings for two people?
John carries a knife, so we can cut the last one in half, or we fight for the last one
Here at Joy King Lau, you get four in a serving, two each
Char su Bao, light steamed buns with barbecued pork in the middle
And, to finish, a large platter of mixed meat noodles. We all ate exceeding well and it was very satisfying food
We thoroughly recommend it if you are in London
Tea comes with the food at no extra charge; if you want more, just tilt the lid and another pot arrives
The bill for 6 of us came to an amazing £100 with a tip. That works out at £16.66 per head = R 325; good value
Down the very long escalator - "Stand on the Right please, those walking pass on the left!"
It had been a great day; nothing nicer than sharing a meal with really good friends
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Posted by MENU at 7:06 pm 0 comments

MENU's UK Adventure 19. Mannings Heath Golf and Wine Estate in Sussex

After our visit to Leonardslee, we were invited by the Streeter family to spend the night at their other property, Mannings Heath Golf and Wine Estate near Horsham in West Sussex, a few miles away. The vineyard was established about four years ago

The main building contains the members’ bar, the restaurant, the pro shop and some accommodation
They hold many events and corporate days

This is the bar

And, of course, you can also buy Benguela Cove wines there and, of course, you can enjoy a Guided tasting of the wines
for £10 or a wine and cheese pairing or a chocolate and wine pairing
And even learn how to do sabrage - open a bottle of bubbly with a sword

The restaurant was being set for a large formal dinner that night

The estate has lots of deer, which come out at sunset and cross the greens
when there are no golfers threatening them with flying golf balls. They have both Roe and Fallow deer

It is a beautiful setting, rather Capability Brown in design

Looking down the Fairway at the famed championship 18-hole Waterfall Golf Course 

They had arranged dinner for us in a private dining room

and we had steak with a good pepper sauce, nicely crisp chips and some fresh spinach

Our cottage for the night, "Fullers Cottage"

It is an old building, still with many of the original features like this beamed ceiling 

A comfortable sitting room

and a large kitchen

Next morning, after a good breakfast in the restaurant, Barry Anderson (another South African), GM of Mannings Heath 
and also their viticulturist, took us on a tour of the grounds and we headed towards their newly planted vines
and the more mature vineyards

These strange things are actually fans which are turned on to blow whenever there is a danger of frost
which would harm the vines. It prevents frost formation

They are building a new shed and we went to see that. It will be used as a function venue but, eventually,
will become part of the winery. Barry rode in front and John followed, driving us in the second golf cart
Quite exciting, the road is quite winding and narrow and a bit bumpy

We chatted to the builder

The steel structure was just going up

We also managed a trip through the woods...

.. to another vineyard, where the vines are more established. They should get their first crop very soon, when the vines
are more than 4 years old. They are growing Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to make a Champagne style wine
Here they limit the new growth to encourage more root, stem and branch development in the early years

All the information about this vineyard

We stopped alongside this large dam

which will soon be drained and turned into the underground wine cellar

There are plans to plant more vineyards. Mannings Heath also has a public 18 hole course
Half of this will be used for this new planting
We look forward to the wines that these vineyards will produce;
we suspect that, with Johann at the helm, they will be very good

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Posted by MENU at 3:23 pm 0 comments
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