Lunching in London

Sunday morning I headed to Reading- a town west of London - for lunch with Lauren Fleming. There are multiple trains running from Paddington Station but the trick was to catch the one that took 32 minutes not 55 minutes. After careful checking I lined up on platform 8 and waited and wondered why I was alone. Fortunately a station announcement came through stating that this particular train was now leaving from platform 2. I made it in plenty of time and was able to find a seat easily. The trip was quick and uneventful. The station at Reading was much bigger than I expected but by chance, good luck or whatever, Lauren and I met at the same exit (apparently there are three). Lunch was at The Three Guineas pub which was literally right next door to the station. We had a great catch up over roast beef lunch. Lauren is doing 12 months teaching in a private IB school just south of Reading. She’s had a bit of luck in terms of securing the position and housing but she’s such a lovely person that I think she deserves it. We parted company mid afternoon as Lauren wanted to get some work done (Sunday afternoon was always a busy time for me when I was working so expected this). Typically it had started to rain so being so close to the station was a bonus. The train I wanted to catch back was delayed and I became concerned about the large number of people waiting on the platform. When the train finally arrived everyone rushed to get on and the train soon became full. However, another train was due just 2 minutes later so I waited and boarded it. It was not crowded at all and again I found a seat easily. It was raining steadily when I arrived back at Paddington Station so had a very damp walk back to the hotel. No pictures unfortunately.
Monday morning I was delighted to have calls from Sonya and David (happy birthday David) who were at Heather’s house and from Anne. It was so lovely to hear from everyone. After a slow morning getting organised I set out to catch the 27 bus over to Kensington High Street. The bus stop was only 10 minute walk and the bus took me back through many of the areas I had frequented in 2023. Once over at Kensington I had a short walk to a restaurant we went to in 2023 - a Michelin star restaurant called Kitchen W8 which has a daily 3 course set menu for £49.50. I started with a Billecart salmon champagne, chose to do the set course menu with 2 glasses of wine, had another glass of red wine and finished with a flat white coffee. The glasses of wine were a white from Spain and a red. I took photos of the two reds I had but forgot when they poured the white. I’m not a fish person so had the warm potato salad, roast pork fillet and apple tart for dessert. The food and service were impeccable although the serves were very small. The flat white coffee was the best one I’ve had since leaving Australia.
Typically it was raining when I left to catch the bus back to Paddington. A stop at the Lock House pub for beer and some chips finished off a great afternoon.Read more