Chris_OGrady

It’s a very good village curry house, and actually Indian, rather than your usual stock Bangladeshi village curry house. The owner there is a good character too. Mountsorrel really does have it all! I was in there on the 27th and the service was a bit slow but the food was as solid as ever! Be fuming if it ever went

I did 2 weeks in Sri Lanka in October. Colombo - go up the Lotus Tower for good views, Galle Face Hotel for an evening drink, and the Red Mosque is worth a look at. I only spent 1 night in Kandy, but you get a great view up Sri Maha Bodhi Viharaya. It you want to get about the place you can get a driver for about £50 a day (the hotels have drivers quarters). I used Kangaroo cabs- would highly recommend. My favourite part was the drive from Kandy to Nuw Eliya, where you work your way up into the hills and can stop off at the tea plantations. Nuw Eliya was the British town and almost feels like you're at some Victorian seaside resort (even though it's not on the coast). Some great hikes round there too and a more temperate climate. Would also recommend doing Sigiriya and getting down to Mirissa if you can which is more of a surfer town.

@bovril@westernpark I believe you are our resident Norwich experts! I've got a weekend there with family in May. What would be the best areas to stay? For pubs I've got Fat Cat and Ribs of Beef as a must, but will need places a bit more female friendly too. Also restaurants recommendations would be great (I like all cuisines) and any general good stuff to do in the city

Ale Wagon

The beer selection was amazing. Must have been over 10 cask ales on and some decent keg options. The Hoskins link is cool and they also do some Charnwood beers. I had an Osset Brewery guest beer which I haven’t had before and it was top notch

Haha we were comfortably the youngest people in there and had a couple of groups have a go at us (we were very well oiled). All part of the charm

Some great pints in the Ale Wagon and Real Ale Classroom last night, followed by an excellent curry at Paddy’s. All rammed as expected on a Good Friday.

Quite a nice road Rouppell Street isn't it. Feels completely out of place. I remember reading years back that it was saved by the local residents from redevelopment.

Haven't been for years. Used to love their £5 lunch thali (doubt it's £5 anymore)

yeah that's the one, been meaning to try it for a while

Both good. Chef's Flavour is better for food, but Balmoral is good for a few beers and watching the footy. Chef's Flavour feels more like a cosy village curry house inside. The owner there is very helpful and you can go off menu with him/ask for recommendations. Food was solid across the board. Balmoral food not quite as good but still more than decent enough. It's much nicer than your usual desi pub inside and they've got massive screens everywhere. Other ones on the radar for next year: Sports Lounge Oadby, The Coronation, Harrow Inn, Rose and Crown in Houghton (thanks Raj), and Avatar Dining in Harborough. Also still need to do Himalaya Tandoori but not sure if that's gone to shit

I think the Broadway is solid and good value, but i don't really enjoy the experience of sitting in there and find the separate bar/restaurant thing a bit of a faf. I also find it doesn't have any killer dishes and they seem to add a thick batter to everything. Eg mogo, paneer, aubergine comes in a very thick batter which just makes it too heavy. Haven't been this year though and looking forward to going again soon.

Had a skinful in London yesterday. Started off at The Hole in the Wall Waterloo, which was great value. Two pints of Vocation Bread and Butter for under a 10er. I do find the cask doesn't hit as well down in London though without a sparkler. There's also two great pubs hidden away round the corner off Roupell street next to Waterloo. The Kings Arms and The White Hart. I didn't go into either but the beer selection looked good and they're traditional pubs on a nice road. Next up was Craft Beer Co Farringdon which was a bit lacking on the cask front, and was very expensive on the keg front. Even the barman was warning us off buying standard session IPAs at £9/10 a pint. Nice, solid pub though and managed to find something a bit more reasonable. Then I had a few in the Eagle Farringdon which seems to be a food led pub, but had good options on Cask and Keg. Had some Five Points and Kernal. Then went to Machan Kitchen for a Sri Lankan and was so pissed at this point that I couldn't give any objective review on the food. Then had a final pint in the Farringdon spoons after

Not done Hand and Shears. Yeah, Ye Olde Mitre is always way too busy and can feel a bit touristy. Done Farringdon Tap and thought it was decent, but in these winter months I'l be craving some cask! Also easier on the wallet for us midlands peasants.

Looking forward to an afternoon on the beers in Farringdon on Tuesday. What are your top 3 round there? Hoping to get to the Sutton Arms again. Craft Beer Co was decent last time too

how do you always get to sack off Friday afternoons and go on pub crawls?

both great places!

yeah food and value was okay tbf

Bulls Head in East Leake might take the Deano crown for me. Those Turkey teeth can't wait to get stuck into the hanging kebabs!

Yeah I think it’s decent, but prefer Gurkha New Delhi in Sorrel

Will try and get it in next year! Little bit of a treck for me as I'm in Barrow

No I've not, any good?

It's just got a lot more expensive (it used to be unreal value), partly from Covid and partly for profit. It's still better value than most places in the UK. You need to go in a decent group (min of 4 people) and order lots of stuff to share. If you order the salt and pepper fish, lamb chops, chicken lollipop, a few large curries, auntie's special chips and crispy aubergine, there's a very good chance you'll love it (there's lot of other good dishes too). It's not to everyone's taste, I've taken mates there who like to have their own standard curry with a rice, and it's not the place for that. It's always a good atmosphere in there and the service is good. It's been run by the same family for like 30 years and they run a good ship. None of this separate bar/restaurant faf.

that is devastating, I've never actually been to the Salmon and don't have any desire to now

Paddy's and Little Club are my top 2 comfortably. My third would probs be Indian Queen, but that would not be to everyone's taste so maybe Broadway.