A FULL TUM ON WARDOUR STREET

February 2024. Leicester Square. London.

Tuesday afternoon in central London, and it’s as busy as I’ve seen it outside Christmas. Half-term in some of the UK might have been a factor, but the trade is all from child-free couples and gentlefolk. It feels invigorating, like Manchester on a match day, and the pubs are about to get even busier.

Now we’ve done one pub I want to do another, but the French House has no Doom Bar mobile phones, and my French only extends to “When the seagulls see the trawler“.

We decide to eat big at 3pm as our night will end late,

and head for Wardour Street, immortalised by Weller on “All Mod Cons“.

Of course, Weller also wrote about takeaway curries in tube stations, but it’s hard to see anyone getting a take-out from Wong Kei, Mrs RM’s default Chinese restaurant and once known as “the rudest restaurant in London“.

These days, service is as “pleasant” as the building with its foundation stone laid by Sandra Bernhardt.

Goodness, the culture you get on this blog.

I let Mrs RM choose the meal for two @ £16.90 each; Sweet & Sour Pork, Chicken in Black Bean Sauce, Mixed Veg, Boiled Rice, endless tea.

Obviously you can have your eel or intestine or whatever, but it’s definitely at the less scary end of Chinatown menus, and what it’s lost in terms of rudeness in the last decade (though we were reminded 3 times “CASH ONLY PLEASE”) is compensated by enduring sticky quality.

Still 3 hours till our show, time for a gallery and another pub I reckoned.

I couldn’t remember when I’d last been in Leicester Square, though I used to head this way regularly before NHS meetings in Whitehall.

I know you’re not supposed to say this, but it all looked smarter and cleaner and busier than ever.

Mrs RM picked the Portrait Gallery over the National Gallery, and I took photos of famous people to test Dad on the next day.

There’s a King, and a Queen,

but the displays on the social history of the UK somehow fail to recognise the role of pub tickers through the ages, though there is this photo of the Beverley Sisters who somehow featured in the comments recently.

An hour of portraits was plenty; time for a pub.

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

6 thoughts on “A FULL TUM ON WARDOUR STREET”

    2. Bill,
      That’s as serious as a “Card Only” policy.
      A pub I was in last Saturday lunchtime couldn’t find half pint glasses for “ale”. My pint of Bass didn’t last fifteen minutes and then I had a half hour wait while others finished their half or pint. One pint is plenty on a pub crawl at my age.
      I overheard that at a darts tournament where customers booked by the table beer was ONLY served in four pint jugs which is illegal as a half pint is the one measure that must be offered.
      I had a half pint of olives in that Dog and Duck quite a few years ago.

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      1. “One pint is plenty on a pub crawl at my age” except that I had two Bathams Mild at opening time in the Bull and Bladder yesterday.

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