Mum’s Pat’s Roast Chicken

Pat got back from Oz recently and he brought back a secret ingredient in my Mum’s roast so he could make it for us. What a feast we ended up with!

This was my first serve …

Two more plates were to follow. I couldn’t resist! And then I paid for it … I had to roll myself home!

City Buildings

It was just another one of those gorgeous days that made me want to walk forever and ever until the sun disappeared so after brunch with James I called up Su Yin to see if she wanted to take a walk.

We ended up walking for a couple of hours around the City which was blessfully empty of its city workers. heh heh.

I may not love the city workers but I do love their buildings. Lloyds:

and of course the Gherkin

Christopher’s American Bar and Grill

Where I really wanted to have brunch was at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand but they are open for brunch only Mondays to Fridays. What is that about! At any rate as a result I was probably going to be disappointed from the outset by whatever substitute James and I ended up at.

Christopher’s American Bar and Grill sounded promising. Sure I knew we wouldn’t be expecting the same sort of brunch available at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand but I was hoping at least to walk away suitably stuffed and happy with my meal. It was a glorious day today and our table, located on the second floor of the building near Covent Garden, had nice big windows which gladly welcomed in the sunlight from the outside so things were looking good. We were seated away from the windows but if you looked carefully you could still see out to the Imax theatre from where I was seated.

Perhaps before I go further I should confirm that yes – I was in a greedy mood and I really wanted American portions – others have said they have American portions but I didn’t think they were!

My brunch was James had steak and eggs. Both seemed okay but being priced at £xxxxx didn’t seem as big portions as they should have been. My breakfast didn’t come with toast for a start, though we did get complimentary bread at the beginning with some very lovely butter, and my meal did have two little nuggets of hash brown. The chicken piece was a measly! The way the menu read I thought I was going to get something more impressive. I think we should have taken our cue from those around us – they were ordering breakfast things (such as pancakes etc.) for a starter before going on to their main meal!

Service I felt was a bit snobbish. It always felt like the waitstaff were looking down on us though I can’t point out exactly why I felt that and actually I have to say the front of desk staff was very nice – we didn’t make a reservation but she did her best to try and slot us in without having to make us wait too long.

Overall I wasn’t very impressed by my visit to Christopher’s American Bar and Grill. It was an expensive meal (for brunch) and not very filling or satisfying and the wait staff were not at all friendly or welcoming (though they weren’t exactly rude either.) It was all probably just alright and nothing more.