Archive for the ‘Friends’ Category

Earlier this year, when Oli and Jess got together, Norm made a start on the usual paperwork for a possible new application to The Circle. This resulted in us having to schedule a house party for some induction training – it’s a hard life, but you just have to get on and do it I guess.

While unfortunately neither Oli nor Jess actually made it to the party, it was a great night none the less with the party raging until around 4am and a strange hour in which everyone decided to try and pick everyone else up.

Indeed, the night ended up so heavy that Norm was unable to eat his recovery steak at the next day and I just collapsed out in front of the TV for most of the afternoon.

Last Sunday, we headed down to Distrikt for some Sunday lunch.

Rich always gets great service in there as it turns out he has been unknowingly masquerading as an Observer food critic. You have to wonder whether an Observer food critic would actually walk in with a copy of the Observer, but there you go.

Never the less he played up to the roll and recommended the lamb to us, which he said was excellent when he had had it last week 😉 . The dessert was good too though they clearly haven’t taken on our heartfelt suggestions from last time that they needed more chocolate based options.

Having another four day weekend in hand, we decided to throw a last minute soirée on Saturday. Norm did a fantastic job throwing a dinner together and once you throw in some Doctor Who and a few cocktails, you have yourself a winning evening.

We decided to take advantage of the long weekend by heading over to the beach. Flamborough seemed like a suitable choice because, given we’re in the UK, it seems a bit silly to go to a sandy beach to do some sunbathing when all you will get is wind and cold.

The drive over wasn’t too bad – most people seemed to be heading home from the weekend, so most of the traffic was going the other way. We got some sun in the morning but unfortunately, the tide times had changed quite a lot since I checked them a few days before, which I didn’t account for, so we arrived at exactly high tide.

Never the less, after a walk round the headland and some lunch we got down to the beach where we found a seal in one of the corners. Afterward we walked back round the headline, which was a good chance to get some photos.

Enjoying the long weekend, we headed over to Stick or Twist to enjoy Sunday Club – a traditional roast dinner in true Wetherspoon’s style (ie, with a beer). After leaving we went in search of an ice cream, only to find that none of the ice cream vans were to be found. What kind of lazy ice cream people can’t be bothered to work on Easter Sunday?

Following on from our cocktail based adventures we hit Wendy House which turned into a bit of an old school reunion with Sarann joining us and Norm making it down in the end as well!

Again, thanks to Kat, who I have just stolen the photos from.

On Friday, myself, Si and Sarann headed into town to grab some dinner.

We ended up at Cafe Rouge in The Light, which was looking fairly empty for a Friday night – ideal for some good conversation. Service was a little disappointing given how few people were in there but the quite atmosphere was enjoyable.

The food was mediocre, I went with the Steak Rouge which was OK, but given there are so many great places to have steak in Leeds, it wasn’t any more enjoyable than say the £6 steak I had enjoyed at Wetherspoon’s the previous Tuesday.

Afterward, we headed over to Browns for a few rounds of cocktails. Apparently they will mix anything to your order but we didn’t put them to the challenge and rather opted just to work out way through their signature menu.

After a few rounds of cocktails and the wine I had had at dinner, I found myself leaving the bar somewhat intoxicated whereas Si, the supposed teetotaler until a year ago, didn’t seem to be feeling it. Maybe Si is a secret alcoholic after all?

A few weeks ago we said goodbye to our product designer Josh as he moved on to metaphorically bigger and better things (that means his new company isn’t actually better, I’m just being poetic).

We were doing a half Otley Run or so was the plan but it turned out to be a half Otley Run in more ways than one – half of us actually bothered dropping by each pub, the other half simply drove straight from the first pub, all the way to town. Still it was nice to get round a few of the old haunts.

The evening really brought home how much Josh will be missed in the office. Not for the work he does, because he handed that all over to Jason two months ago and nobody really knows what he has been doing since then, but because he was a true bastion for Pub Club, always up for a pint and a hunters chicken baguette. While myself, Jason and Disco will attempt to carry on in his absence I rather fear Curry Club will never be the same again and West End House Wednesdays will at best be a romantic man-date only featuring myself and Jason.

In any case, I wish him the best of luck at his new job at MadeByPi.

Fonze having missed most of his birthday meal, we headed down to The Elbow Room to shoot some pool.

What looked like a slightly disappointingly stocked bar when we first approached, turned out to actually offer a great selection and we were soon enjoying some Ketel One vodka. I’m not a fan of the American style pool tables as their ridiculous size pockets mean that it’s very demasculating every time you don’t pot anything and the white goes in on almost every shot.

However we struggled on none the less and having taken the first game I suggested Fonze and Elina have a game, after all we had the table for another forty minutes so that was plenty of time for them to play and still get plenty of other games in.

Turns out I was quite wrong about that ;). A fun night none the less though.

With the anniversary of Arthur Fonzarelli having arrived once again, I organised a birthday meal at Piccolino. As it happened Fonze turned up late to his own birthday shin dig so we ended up eating the main course without him, but never the less we didn’t let his tardiness spoil our fun.

The restaurant was a reasonably up market place and this was evident from the pitiful amount of change I received back from my £10 note having ordered myself and Elina a drink.

The staff were friendly though it was sometimes a little hard to get their attention. Some of them didn’t seem to speak very good English which I always find a good sign in restaurants as it can often be because they’re actually from the country that the restaurant’s food style is based on, though of course equally it could be a placebo effect.

The food was nice, the portions were small but I didn’t come away from the meal still feeling hungry so no concerns there. I had the crispy duck for main which wasn’t actually that crispy but the sauce was excellent and duck is a fantastic meat in general. Piccolino’s real strength seems to be in it’s desserts however.

I enjoyed the meal, but given the above average bill which didn’t translate into above average food, I think I would pick one of the multitude of great restaurants in the city centre rather than heading back there any time soon.