Christmas Shopping Expeditions – Favourite Revival Stops!
Oxford Street, London
Shopping for Christmas presents is exhausting* and shopping in London is even worse! So we always make it a rule to go somewhere super for lunch, or failing that, afternoon tea.
On our first Christmas shopping this year we decided on Wagamama in Lexington Street for lunch.
Why? Well we knew they had a new season’s menu and it was close to our favourite shopping areas – Oxford Circus and Soho. Also the food is consistently good according to my companion, who knew from experience Wagamama always gives great value for money and an authentic menu.
As it was the first time visit for me I relied on my companion to guide me through the menu which was overwhelming in length and range. However with the helpful glossary and my companion’s guidance things became somewhat clearer.
From the new season’s menu I chose apple and lime pork ribs, Yasai gyoza – five deep fried vegetable dumplings with sweet ginger soy dipping sauce as sides, and Teriyaki chicken donburi – grilled juicy chicken glazed with orange, teriyaki sauce, sticky white rice, with thinly sliced carrots, pea shoots, spring onions and sesame seeds as my main course.
We asked for a glass of wine to go with our meal and the New Zealand Yealands Estate sauvignon blanc was an excellent choice. We shared a very very nice white chocolate and ginger cheesecake, but not the plum wine! Deceptively light with a scented, floral sweet taste it was very alcoholic!
You will find menus for each Wagamama restaurant on the Wagamama website. First find the restaurant you would like to visit and then find the current menu available. As a possible guide to a newcomer the most popular main dish is chicken, rice, curry, Yaki soba, Sides: chicken gozo and chilli squids.
Wagamama seating
I liked the clean, streamlined seating arrangement where you feel part of a large table – which takes 24 – but it is so arranged that there is a gap beween each six, so you are well separated, no feeling of being cramped. A bench under the table for coats, bags etc adds to the clean uncluttered decorative style. Being rather short I would have liked a bar to rest my feet on, but that’s a minor point. Image
As the restaurant filled up, it was a Tuesday lunchtime, the noise level rose bouncing off the walls and ceiling. I wondered how easy it would be to reduce the level of noise with noise absorbing ceiling and wall decorations.
*We heard of some recent research by The Sanctuary Spa into the nation’s festive shopping habits that showed the average Brit will walk more than a marathon whilst looking for gifts for loved ones with an average of 30 miles covered per Christmas shopper.
Phew, I’m sure we didn’t walk that far but our next shopping outing was in the Victoria area, too far away to drop by The Sanctuary Spa, although I heard they have some lovely gifts on offer, so we plumped for the Caxton Grill and Bar at St Ermin’s Hotel to have some much needed rest and restorative nibbles.
Why? The bar has a certain romance of espionage and mystery … It was the haunt of the Cambridge Five spies, Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean. Now just reopened after a massive restoration and redesign it is a beautiful, relaxing and calm oasis to retreat to.
We did have a glass a champagne to start us off – only to distract us from our aching feet and insipient headaches you understand, followed by some heavenly canapes, some beautiful savoury sandwiches, and something divine named Fish and Chip – a piece of fish and one thick chip, cooked as one in batter. Oh dear, my mouth is watering at the memory.
Fish and Chip, Caxton Grill & Bar
Suitably refreshed, the loos were top notch, we left on a high, resolving to go for lunch sometime very, very soon or even Afternoon Tea in the Library …
Val Reynolds Brown, Editor
Tear Aid – a lifeline for harassed parents
This product is a bit like turkish delight, full of promise and seemingly a godsend for parents with children when urgent reliable repairs to equipment, toys and ‘stuff’ are needed. Probably most useful during the summer months when kids are outdoors using playthings, now is a good time to stock up.
Tear-Aid is a transparent, water- and airtight patch which can instantly and permanently repair tears or holes in paddling pools, lilos, sun shades and even bicycle inner tubes. Between them they can fix tears in almost anything – from tents to beach toys to space hoppers! The patches are quick and easy to use – simply cut to size, peel and stick with no glue or mess. Each repair can last for years, saving you money on costly replacements and keeping the kids entertained all through the summer.
There are two types available – an all-purpose fabric patch and another designed specifically for vinyl products. Tear Aid patches are made from exceptionally tough, matt, abrasion resistant material that resists punctures and tearing. It is designed to provide a strength to a variety of surfaces such as canvas, leather, rubber, nylon, most plastics, paints, aluminium, stainless steel, fibreglass, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene, vinyl and vinyl coated.
Tear Aid type A (fabrics) and Tear Aid type B (vinyls) provide a simple and easy method of patching holes and tears as well as an excellent protective film solution.
An ideal stocking/tree present.
For more information or to buy, visit http://www.tear-aid.co.uk/or call sales on 01889 270 663.
Katie Goodshaw, harassed parent and occasional contributor to In Balance Magazine
Great Railway Maps of the World
A colourful and beautifully realised book that details different railway maps, past and present, from around the world. The scale of the reproductions limits the use of the book as a reference work – some of the maps can only be interpreted with high magnification – but its true worth lies in its artistic presentation of the varying styles adopted in mapping railway systems.
The accompanying text is clear and comfortingly non-specialist, and the book is enriched by the inclusion of advertising poster images commissioned by railway companies.
The book also tries to show in several cases how railway systems have shrunk – USA and the United Kingdom being familiar examples – and also how developing countries have grown their networks. The book uses these as examples only, for its aim is not to provide a comprehensive history of the railways of the world. What it does do, in its 138 pages, is to show how the functional railway could make striking use of art and design in proclaiming its identity and in marketing its services.
Author: Mark Ovenden Publisher: Particular Books ISBN: 978 1 84614 392 5
Fashion in Motion V&A Fashion Shows – Open to the public and free of charge
Yohji Yamamoto V&A Exhibition
The work of Yohji Yamamoto, the influential and enigmatic fashion designer, was exhibited at the V&A earlier this year, here is a link. The exhibition made it possible to get up close to the exhibits, view from all anglers, examine at the detail, the variety of fabrics, the unusual pattern cutting and then compare other examples of work, a fascinating experience. We spent a happy couple of hours in the various galleries where the work located.
Then a fashion show in the Fashion in Motion series open to the public and free of charge, was put on by the Victoria and Albert Museum in July and we had the opportunity to see Yamamoto garments in motion, which is so much more interesting than static models.
Laura McClelland, our fashion editor, comments: The show revealed the typically edgy Yamamoto style – both the fashion and the models who were “ordinary” couples taken from the street but far from ordinary once having had a catwalk training session, perfectly complimenting the Yamamoto neo-goth/punk styling of his clothing.
I loved the idea of the couples who were so suited for it, whispering to each other as they came down the catwalk.
The womenswear pieces shown were a selection of beautifully de-constructed fabrics and shapes that have a fluid movement once in motion. Although Yamamoto is well known for his androgynous look I felt many of the pieces were very feminine with their effortless, subtle tailoring.
The men’s pieces were a selection of over-sized tailored styles with some intricate embroidery detailing.
The latest Fashion in Motion show was on 18 November that showed the work of London-based label, Peter Jensen.
We will let you know when the next show is to be held. The tickets are in great demand so you need to be quick to get one. If you don’t manage to get a ticket the show will be broadcast live on the day. Again we will let you know the link in due course.
Val Reynolds Brown, Editor
London’s Hidden Secrets – the City’s Quirky and Unusual Sights
New guides to London are proliferating! Last July I reviewed the London Sketchbook for this magazine, a personal and somewhat quirky look at the capital that took certain areas and walked you through them.
Now, like the proverbial buses (you wait half an hour then two turn up at once!) I have in front of me London’s Hidden Secrets by Graeme Chesters, with the sub-title A Guide to the City’s Quirky and Unusual Sights. Strangely enough, I wouldn’t particularly have chosen the word ‘quirky’ to describe this one, though certainly ‘unusual’. This is a beautifully produced and methodical guide that takes you from the heart of London to the outer suburbs and describes in precise and concise terms points of interest that are certainly not on the tip of every tourist’s tongue.
Piccadilly Circus
The layout is clear and consistent: Every sight has two pages devoted to it, the left displays photographs and an ‘at a glance’ box which gives you the all important information on location, cost and opening hours. (There is a ‘health warning’ right in the front of the book in a stand-out red box to check times as they may have changed – with continuing cut-backs some places are shortening visiting times). The right page is devoted to an informative and very readable written description of the sight with a charming one-line quote at the end from the author, summing it all up as he sees it.
So let me whet your appetite with a few examples, starting right at the heart of the city. Have you ever noticed the Twinings Teashop and Museum opposite the Royal Courts of Justice? Or in particular its 18th century doorway with its two Chinese figures and the company’s golden lion? The quote at the end of this one is ‘More tea, vicar?’, a lovely illustration of the liveliness of the author’s writing.
Moving outwards, would you like to see ‘Some of the best Italian art in London’? Then head for the Estorick Collection in Canonbury, which also often has interesting temporary exhibitions and is particularly regarded for its Futurist works, all housed in a lovely 19th century building. Interested in Art Deco architecture? Then, if you’re a north Londoner like me, grab your passport and head south of the river (though not very far) to Tooley Street by London Bridge station and look carefully at St Olaf House. I’ll confess that I must have been past here on numerous occasions and never noticed the intricacies of the building before, both the Tooley Street side and the Thames side. I’ll be looking out for it next time I’m in the area.
And finally, if all Neasden conjures up for you is the magazine Private Eye, take a Tube there and wonder at ‘Europe’s first traditional Hindu temple’ with its souvenir shop (of course!) and a restaurant serving Indian vegetarian food. Named, apparently, by Readers’ Digest as ‘one of the seventy wonders of the modern world’.
I thought I was well-versed in the standard and less-standard fare that London has to offer. Since I’ve had this lovely book in my possession I’m not so sure!
London’s Hidden Secrets is published by Survival Books priced at £10.95.
Jeannette Nelson A bit of a culture vulture, Jeannette enjoys art exhibitions, cinema and classical music, but her main interest is the theatre. For several years she ran theatre discussion groups for which her MA in Modern Drama together with teaching skills stood her in good stead. She prefers to concentrate on the many off West End and fringe productions as well as that real treasure of the London theatre scene, the National.
EATING AL FRESCO – Picnic time is any time!
Punting on The Cam © Pintail Media
It’s always picnic time when the sun’s out, the river looks enticing and we’re in a hurry!
We grabbed a couple of packs of pate*, a french loaf, butter in a tub, some paper plates, a sharp knife**, something refreshing to drink, plastic cups and we were off.
Off to Cambridge for a break – why not? It’s the start of the term and yes there’ll be visitors galore, but it’s always possible to find a grassy spot on the river bank and have a great time with friends, gossiping, remembering times past, dreaming of good times to come. That’s the atmosphere we find whatever the weather.
It feels so good with the sun warming your bones on a cool autumn day, lounging on the grass, drinking in the view, admiring, or not, the prowess of the punters. We always feel better after a break away from the desk. Of course it doesn’t need to be Cambridge … Anywhere quiet and green with something to focus your attention on is good. Great for reducing blood pressure – frequent breaks from the pressures of publishing are a must for us.
We took some Castle MacLellan pates. Three of us had tried them previously. Here are our preferences, each marked out of ten, ten being the top mark.
Mushroom with garlic and thyme – 9 – memorable, would buy this regularly
Salmon with lemon juice and horseradish 9 – excellent, would definitely buy it if we saw it in the supermarket
Duck with bramley apple jelly 7 – good but not outstanding
Crab with lemon juice and Galloway mustard – 6 – good but not outstanding, perhaps more mustard would give it more of a bite
Chicken pate with Scottish heather honey – 5 – needed more of a bite to make it memorable, bacon perhaps, or garlic, personally we added some lemon juice when we had it on toast and in a sandwich.
Punting on The Cam © Pintail Media
Castle MacLelland products are available at Waitrose, Nisa, Coop/Somerfield, Spar, Booths and also in Sainsbury and Morrisons (crab only), Asda (Scotland stores only) as well as independent stores throughout the UK.
The Crab is on special offer in Sainsbury’s reduced from £1.25 to just £1 from 31 August to 20 September – four days left!
**Sharp knife is needed to open the seal on the pate packs.
Val Reynolds Brown, Editor
Miró the Surrealist – Major Retrospective 2011
Approach to Miró the Surrealist - Major Retrospective Tate Modern 2011
The major retrospective of Joan Miró the Surrealist at Tate Modern 2011 comes to an end on Sunday, 11 September.
Renowned as one of the greatest Surrealist painters, working in luxuriant colour, Miró worked in a rich variety of styles. This is a rare opportunity to enjoy more than 150 paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints created across six decades of an extraordinary career.
Give yourself at least two hours to take in this exhibition, I went round twice, using the audio commentary. I came out rather over ‘Miróed’ but completely in awe of his range of artistic styles. Overall I looked at The Farm for the longest. It has such a story to tell, I could have looked at it for hours and even then found something new to see.
This really was intended as a must-see exhibition by Tate Modern and for once I agree. If you can squeeze in a visit this weekend I think you won’t regret it.
The last exhibition tour on Saturday is at 12.15 for just 15 visitors. This costs £5 plus of ticket £15.50, concessions £13.50. The exhibition closes on Sunday. You can Book online or call 020 7887 8888.
London Sketchbook a pictorial guide book – Winners
We had six copies of this beautifully illustrated guide book to London to give away to readers of In Balance Magazine
The winners of the draw are:
G Coleman, Romford S Collinge, Blackpool A Baldan, Southend V Fieth, Welwyn Garden City K Krogulec, Nottingham J O’Neill, Shepperton
Congratulations and good luck in the next Prize Draws.
Val Reynolds Brown, Editor
Need ideas where to go for a day out?
Learning to pot - Art in Clay outdoor show August 2011
How’s it going? The school holidays I mean! Run out of ideas of what to do, where to go? Then do have a look at this website where all the attractions and venues included have been chosen for accessibility features such as disabled parking and their family appeal. You can download more than 75 reviews venues and attractions that contain all the information you need to enjoy a great family day out.
The UK’s top accessible attractions have received awards which might influence where you decide to go, see the details here.
A copy of The Rough Guide to Accessible Britain which has been updated would a good starting point for anyone who has a less able member family.
We’ll be writing more about this publication when we have used it for a little while.
Let me know if you use either of these websites and whether they were useful. Feedback is always useful. Thanks.
Val Reynolds, Editor
Real Fruit Drinks – no added sugar – Just the job for the Picnic Basket
Latest Tasting News
We’ve just tried a range of fruit drinks that contains no added sugar, just 100% natural ingredients, and which helps to fulfil your five a day diet. And very good they are too!
You can choose between still or gently sparkling flavours, we loved the sparkly Cloudy Lemon and the still Orange and Mango. The Cranberry and Pomegranate appealed to the older teens and the younger kids loved the small cartons. The grownups appreciated the good, solid feel of the glass bottles, recyclable.
Where to buy? Supermarkets and you will see them in Costa Coffee shops and in Orchid pubs and restaurants.
So what’s the story behind this range of drinks?
Founded by three friends who had all worked together at Coca Cola, Dave Wallwork, Chris Wright and Steve Cooper created the company with the simple aim of making gorgeous tasting, healthy soft drinks, and to have fun while doing it.
Feel Good by name and Feel Good by nature, the company’s ambition is to spread ‘feelgoodness’ throughout everything it does; whether that’s developing a brand new range of drinks packed full of the good stuff, making drinkers smile with their marketing activities, or giving each team member five extra ‘feelgoodness’ days off each year to help out a charity that means something to them!
Globally, Feel Good Drinks can be found in no less than 12 countries including Hong Kong, Finland, France, Holland, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, Norway and Ireland – and this number is growing all the time!
Enjoy some feelgoodness for yourself! Visit www.feelgooddrinks.co.uk or the doodling website www.feelgooddoodle.co.uk to get your creative juices flowing!
PS If you can’t get enough mango do try some dried fruit from Tropical Wholefoods, available in all good health food stores, Oxfam stores, Fairtrade shops and catalogues and of course at our favourite online supplier GoodnessDirect We love ‘em! And we are giving some packets away click here for info
