Casa Roja

We are back at the airport this morning with his and hers sombreros and maracas, and la Isla bonita playing from our small speaker. 

Steak and Sparklers

After those beach sprints and topping up the tan all day, it was time for another dinner.

A lot of restaurants along the sea front in any holiday resort have people outside begging you to come in with a 'ThisIsWhatWeHaveTonightAndIWillTalkAsFastAsICanIn10Seconds' monologue, and some of them are really nice places to eat too.

A few years ago, Mum and Dad found this local spanish restaurant one evening when wandering towards the old port. There wasn't a a huge open front with tables showing, just a door with a name above it. 

They took the plunge and went in to see what it had to offer.

Pizza East

It's wet January, payday seems so far away, and everyone in London seems to be taking part in Dry January after inhaling too much alcohol in the lead-up to Christmas and on New Year's Eve.

Myself included.

I spent a little bit more than I should have on presents and Christmas drinking this year, so much so that like everyone else, I am hoping payday would be tomorrow, not a couple of weeks away.

To wash away the grey and gloomy January (seriously, when will the rain stop?), me and Frankie thought a post-Christmas catch up hiding from the rain would be a good way to cheer ourselves up!

Anyone for pizza?

Imli Street Soho

So after a night of being an Italian in London at The House of Peroni, it was time for a bit of a change.

This time by adding a bit of spice in our lives in the heart of Soho.

Sham has been telling me for ages about Imli Street on Wardour St., and how amazing their Indian food is. At one point it was open and then it was closed down (You could sense the sadness in his voice when he told me that!). 
Then it re-opened, Sham was over the moon, and now we were about to have a curry catch up.

We got there early, grabbed a spot and ordered some cocktails to kick off our evening.
I went for the 'Rustic Ruby' which was a mix of grappa, violette, apple juice, wild berries and Prosecco...

Which went down perfect whilst we launched into an overdue catch up.
Sham went for the Bombay to Soho cocktail, which was full of Bombay gin, pomegranate, lime, and ginger ale. 

We ordered a few tapas-style dishes to pick at whilst we chatted and drank our way through the night, before we ordered our mains.

Now, I am a tikka masala addict. So with Sham telling me how amazing this place was for their food, I thought I should try it to see how it compared!

It was pretty decent! Not too spicy, not too bland, and the chicken was so tender it fell apart when I went near it with my knife!
All in all, pretty impressive!

It came with the standard rice, which was light and airy, and almost not enough for the masala. 
The crispy onion bhaji's made up for that though!

Sham went for the Naanwich.
Yes, a sandwich made with Naan bread, with dipping sauce on the side, and looked absolutely amazing!
It was a simple idea, and I don't know why I have never thought of it before. Inside, it was filled with scrambled paneer, peppers and rocket, and then toasted slightly to give the naan some warmth and crisp on the edges.
I am going to try to make these at home sometime. You can put whatever you want inside, though I think I might stick to Indian influences.

Apparently it was tasty! It was gone quicker than you can say 'samosa.'

The restaurant usually doesn't have any queues, which is refreshing for London! We got in there early and by the time we were finishing the last drop of our drinks before we moved on, the place was full of hungry visitors!

So my advice would be to get there early to avoid waiting, stock up on the cocktails and nibble your way through the evening - they serve food till 11pm!

London is so hard to find a decent Indian, but Imli Street was great! It tasted great, the food was authentic, and the service was good too! 

The menu can be found here, and their location is right here for you.

Enjoy! 

Five Guys

If you need somewhere quick to go for a bit to eat tonight, then this could be the place for you!

I have been absolutely dying to get down to Five Guys in Covent Garden. There has been so much hype surrounding their arrival from America to set up shop in London, so the moment I touched down from Dubai it was at the top of my go-to list.

So, I grabbed Frankie from work, and we made our way to Seven Dials with empty stomachs.
Time for a burger, Five Guys style!

We placed our orders, and waited eagerly as we watched our burgers moved closer to our pick up point.

We both went for the Bacon Double Cheeseburger and Small Fries. 

I have read quite a few reviews about Five Guys, but the best (and also mentioned on their screens) is by my friend Rose who runs The Londoner...

'Heaven in a brown paper bag.'

Ready to see whats inside?

Hello bad boy.
In the words of every hungry person out there... Get in my belly!

Here's a quick tip though... Order a small fries! There are so many of them!

The burgers tasted uh-mazing! They are up there with the big gun burger-joints of London, but with an American twist. 

The best thing about Five Guys, apart from the burgers, are the drinks. There are over 150 to chose from!
Yes, you read that right. 1-5-0.
There is this huge machine which you walk up to, chose your type of drink from Fanta, to Sprite, to Coca Cola, and then chose the flavour.

I introduced myself to Strawberry Sprite, whilst Frankie went for Peach Fanta, both of which were spot on in taste, and perfect to wash down our dinner!
Falling into a burger coma, we swigged the last of our drinks and made our way back out into the London night. 
Those empty stomachs were full of American goodness! You have to go pay them a visit, and they can be found here in Covent Garden, and they have a store opening in Islington in November!

Or if you don't have time for a sit down, you can order ahead for take away here! 

The Final Day

The final day of our Portland reunion started with a headache and the smell of last nights bonfire lingering.
The very tipsy group were actually quite drunk, and the thought of returning home to London only made us all feel worse. As we made our way out of the huts for our final breakfast, the same feeling was felt all around. 

This hangover needed a cure, and some fruit and juice was not going to be the answer. 

Jacks family has spent years building up a collection of wet suits, so there was no excuse for us to all head down to the sea for a morning dip and shake off the night before. 

Once we were all back into our swimwear, we made out way down to the 'jump spot' as jack calls it.  

With us all ready to go, we made out way to the edge and took a quick glance down. Its higher than it appears, and the water didn't look as inviting as the say before, but this was it. One by one we took the plunge into the morning water.  

The water was freezing! It made you not only wake up, but shook any remains of a hangover away. Over and over we were jumping into the sea, whilst the local walkers stopped to give us a cheer each time someone took the plunge. 

Feeling awake, we finished out final dip in the ocean and headed for a walk along the shoreline. With the light sea breeze drying us off, jack told us more about Portland than we knew. The area was used for quarrying until the early 20th century for Portland stone, which has been used to build St Paul's Cathedral and a range of other London landmarks such as Somerset house and Buckingham Palace.

The beach huts were originally for the fisherman. With each cluster of huts came a crane, which lowered the fisherman's boats down to the sea, and some of them still work today. In one of Jacks huts was a pinboard, with pictures of his family visiting Portland over the years. It was fascinating to see his elders do exactly what we were doing, showing that everyone is part of the history, and will pass this lifestyle on for many more generations to come!

At the southern tip of the island stands Portland Bill Lighthouse. Built in 1906, it warns the coastal traffic of the shoreline and also the sandbank that sits just off the coast.

  

With only a few house and a little pub to cater for the thirsty walkers, you get a real sense of being isolated from the rest of the country. Our day to day lives of meetings, social drinks and mobile phones were replaced with swimming, bonfires and good ol' fashioned gossiping without the use of our thumbs. 

Our judging panel for the Limbo Contest.

A few rounds of limbo later, and the time had come for a few of us to get ready to leave Portland. Some of the group were staying down an extra night, but myself and a few others had to head back to London. 

It felt like we had only just arrived, and were packing to leave right away. We had all relaxed into the Portland way of life once again, only to find that we were about to be hit with the London Dash once again. Luckily, the whole group would be coming off the island with us for a quick bite to eat.
Coming off the island can only be described as feeling like we were re-entering the real world. Radio 1 would place again on the radio, the roads started to fill with traffic, and our mobiles went into a hyperactive buzz with messages and notifications coming through. It was time to say goodbye to the simple life!
One of the final traditions we always kept when visiting the island, and I expect is many of your sea-side traditions too, is to head to the port in weymouth and have some Great British fish and chips by the sea.

Perfect after a weekend of failed BBQ's and diving in the sea as a breakfast alternative!

With our bellies big enough to challenge the largest of Captains, and our cars all loaded, we said our goodbyes to everyone. Those 16 hellos became 16 'see you later's', promising each other we would see each other again soon and make sure Portland doesn't go too long without a big reunion again. Engines started, Sat-Nav programmed, it was time to head back to civilization.

Three days with some of your oldest and closest friends is never enough, is it?

Timeless Portland

The best thing about Portland is the absence of alarm clocks.
Instead of an irritating buzzing sound going off in my ear, the sunshine and fresh air coming through the windows of the beach hut greeted us and reminded everyone that there was no early morning London commute to deal with.

After climbing out of bed feeling rather refreshed, I gathered my bearings, chucked on some shorts and a vest, and joined the other early morning risers outside for breakfast. No-one had looked at the time, there was no need to when you have a beach hut, the sea, and nowhere urgent to be. The locals go by their day to day business with no urgency, and this is how our day would be spent.

With the recent Ashes taking place, some of the group went for a walk to try and grab a tiny bit of signal and check the scores. For those who stayed back, we decided to create our own Portland Ashes contest with a cricket bat and ball, a chair as a stump, and two teams.

Vest from River Island (similar here), Shorts from American Apparel.

My team narrowly lost, just like the fate of the cricket ball in a nearby hedge.

When the rest of the group had come back with the scores (England were leading), we changed into our swimwear, grabbed the portable speakers, and headed to the beach. Jack has been coming to Portland since he was a small child, and knows the island off the back of his hand. Over the years he has shown us the different beaches and caves the island has to offer, as well as the perfect suntraps for tanning.
We wandered along the cliff-edge saying hello to the locals and morning-walkers, before dropping down to the pebble beach.

Not without noticing the large fossil that had found its place in the rock on our route down.

Met with the sound of waves crashing and echos from the caves around us, we got the drinks out and chose our spots for a day of sun worshiping. This was the perfect spot to watch the boats slowly sail by, letting us wonder where they were heading, and enjoying each others company.

Swimwear from Bershka.

Some of the guys decided to boost their testosterone and throw a few rocks into the sea, whilst the rest of us laid back and enjoyed the sunshine, before jumping into the sea to cool down!

The sea was a perfect temperature to swim in. You would imagine the English Channel to be cold and uninviting, but once you were in you didn't want to get out. With the water clear enough to see what wildlife was below us, we swam out to the rocks and found ledges to stand on.

Some of the group were more daring than others, swimming out far to take in the shoreline, whilst the rest stayed back and explored the nearby caves. We watched the sun move from east to west along the skyline, diving in and out of the sea exploring the hidden places Portland had to offer.

Once we returned from our aquatic adventure, we sunbathed until we were dry, then grabbed our belongings and headed back up to the beach huts.
Sun-kissed, refreshed and a little hungry, we grabbed the disposable BBQ's and prepped the food for that evenings dinner. We had brought every piece of BBQ food you can imagine with us for the feast. Burgers, sausages, kebabs, chicken, steaks, and all the sides to feed an army. This was the perfect dinner for the hungry swimmers.

However, we didn't get a chance to taste the majority of the food. We quickly found out that Tesco disposable BBQ's are not the greatest, with all 6 of them not heating up properly. Moving them to less-windy spots didn't ignite them either. We persevered with the remaining Asda BBQ's for a couple of burgers and sausages, but in the end it was a quick dash to the local Chinese that saved our stomachs.

As the evening cooled down and the sun began to set, we made our way back down to the beach for a bonfire night. This is part of the traditions we have kept going over the years, and were sure to keep it alive this time. We would go get some wood from a local yard, and build a fire on the cliff edge, ready for the evening.

Walking down to the bonfire, it felt like we had transported ourselves back to 2007 again. Time had frozen on Portland and the island remained the same, but our lives had moved forwards. It is a great feeling to know that everyone around you are still as close as we were back then.

The opposite feeling was knowing that your flip flops could fall off at any moment when you are sat on the cliff edge, with the sea lashing against the rocks below you.

With a full moon above us and the stars gazing away, the fire was lit and everyone gathered around for warmth. Keeping with tradition, Tim started the singalong for everyone to join in with. Ranging from old school classics to this years latest songs, it was perfect for everyone to showcased their improved singing skills over the years, or lack of! 

 

As the night went on into the early hours the sing-song quietened, everyone grabbed their blankets and found spots to stargaze. Being away from the big smokey city of London meant that the sky was crystal clear, letting us point out the different consolations and a few shooting stars dashing across the black sky.

Slowly, the fire died down, leaving just the embers and a group of very tipsy friend stargazing into the night sky. The perfect end to a great day.