A bit of something else: Beardyman and Comedy at the Castle

Just for a change, I thought I would jot down a quick post about something else other than what I have been stuffing my face with.

This week, I arranged a bit of an assault on my oratory senses. First a big cow containing a beat boxing madman (and friends) and then some seriously off the wall comedy at my local.



E4 are running a series of shows at the "Udderbelly" on the Southbank, in preparation for their move up north for the Edinburgh Festival. A popular venue up in Edinburgh, the "Underbelly" is normally based in the cavernous area under the George IV bridge. Instead here in London, we get a big purple upside down cow!



"Beardyman's complete and udder shambles" was a collaboration between the man himself and a few of his contemporaries, each with their own abilities (almost akin to superheroes). There was the scratcher, the instrumentalist, the other beat boxer, the electric guitarist, the MC and even his brother with his own comedic songs.

If you have never heard of or seen Beardyman, he is a sound to behold. His vocal/beat boxing ability really blew me away. Although he was supported by some very talented people, none of them could even come close to this genius. Check out some of his stuff here.



After that assault on my eardrums, I decided to indulge in a bit more EdFest related tomfoolery, this time, a couple of Festival warm up gigs down at my local boozer, The Castle. £3 on the door, a ridiculously paltry sum, we all bundled to the room upstairs and sat back to enjoy the show. Two hours later, we emerged from a sweltering room, satisfied if a little hot under the collar. The best on the night was John Gordillo and his show “F*ckonomics”. A really affable fella with some good material. If your heading up to the festival this year, check out his show.

I arrived home to find my flat slightly damp after the unholy deluge that London endured earlier that day. One of the follies of living in a basement flat with inadequate drainage. Oh well, I guess you can't have it all.

Eat : A tale of two Bistros. Cafe Marlayne and The Outsider, Edinburgh

Edinburgh has an abundance of great restaurants. Every time I come up here, I am quite amazed at the availability of decent food. However, I tend to migrate to the same haunts where I know the food is decent and inexpensive. This trip was slightly different in that this was my first trip in a few years and I was left with the niggling thought whether the old haunts would still hit the spot. I guess there was only one way to find out.

Cafe Marlayne on Fishmarket Close



This place was my little sister's recommendation. Cafe Marlayne has 2 restaurants, one on Thistle Street which is small and quaint and always busy and one on Fishmarket Close which is small and quaint and not as busy as the Thistle street branch. Located just off the Royal Mile, I would imagine that this would be thriving due to the passing tourist trade. Reservation secured, I had heard good things about this place from sisters 2 and 3 and was looking forward to a good feed.



It was pretty empty for Saturday lunchtime but soon reached "bustling" if not overly busy. That was probably a good thing with just one waitress and 2 chefs. The menu was handwritten and contained a selection of home cooked favourites. I plumped for a Chicken Supreme with bacon and leeks whilst the rest went for the Haddock and Steak.




What I got was a succulent and well cooked piece of chicken with a nice creamy sauce salty with bacon and oniony with the flavour of leeks. Nothing spectacular but perfectly palatable. The steak was perfectly cooked medium as requested and had a great flavour with a decent char, no mean feat. For £8, it was an absolute bargain! All mains come with a selection of vegetables and the huge dish brought to our table for the four of us contained the staple broccoli, carrots and new potatoes, all well cooked (al dente!).



Desserts ordered were sticky toffee pudding (far too sweet for me but my sisters appeared to enjoy it) and a coffee crème brulee which was very competently executed and had a nice subtle taste of espresso.

All in all, I don't think you can go far wrong with this place. The food is good and very affordable, costing us just over £10 a head. No fireworks but you can't get food of that quality for that price down here in London!

Details
7 Old Fishmarket Close
Edinburgh, EH1 1RW


The Outsider on George IV Bridge



This restaurant has become a bit of a destination restaurant in Edinburgh. Sister restaurant to The Apartment, it's started to build its own reputation and has been thriving now for a few years. Located just off the George IV Bridge, it has excellent views of the castle and a quirky setup inside with the restaurant split into different alcoves sections and levels.

Every time I come to Edinburgh, I always try to make a trip here for 2 main reasons, their garlicky fries and their apple and beetroot coleslaw. I know that these two dishes hardly sound that awe-inspiring but the minute I put my first garlicky fry in my mouth, I fell in love with this place.

I was worried that they might have stopped serving these little beauties but I was not let down. The question what was I going to order with it. The menu was pretty varied although I neglected to take a picture so pretty much forgot what was on it other than what I ate. I do remember that they seem to make a big deal out of their CHL line (Chunky Healthy Line I think) which is basically a bunch of stuff on skewers.



My main of venison with spring greens and pearl barley risotto was competently cooked and actually quite delicious. The only criticism was that the venison was a little stringy (is this consistent with venison as a whole?) but the greens were delicious as was the pearl barley. On the whole, I think everyone enjoyed their food and the fries and coleslaw certainly didn't let me down, they tasted just as good as the first time I tried them.



Just to highlight one common criticism of this place and that's service. I personally didn't have a problem when I went. The waitress was perfectly nice and attentive on a very busy Saturday night. I say don't always believe what you read in reviews.

To sum up, I still love this place. Come here if you want some decent food in a cool setting. It's also very reasonably priced (mains around the tenner mark on average) so won't break the bank in these credit crunch times.

Details
15-16 George IV Bridge
Edinburgh, EH1 1EE

See : Edinburgh

Another day, another apology. Sorry I haven't updated for a while. I always have good intentions but with work and social life, and the fact that looking at a computer screen is the last thing I want to do when I get home, it kind of means my blog gets neglected. However, I have been informed that some people actually do read this and may actually enjoy my posts (shock horror!) so I will make a more concerted effort to keep this up to date with all things that are good about London (and any other place I may go).

So this brings me to my latest post. This weekend just gone saw the Tehbus make the long trip north up the backbone of England to arrive in Edinburgh, capital of Scotland and home of my little sister (that's the littlelest sister, I do have 3 and need to distinguish them). Here, she was partaking in the annual Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show, a fundraiser organised by the students with all money raised going to charity.



My parents, my middle sister and I went to watch sis no 3 whilst sis no 1 stayed down south to babysit our two Shih Tzu's. Held at the Corn Exchange, the venue was very smart and after a very long wait to get our seats and a push to get the best seats akin to Hillsborough (no casualties thankfully), it all went very well. Nobody fell over (on Friday night at least) and everyone looked great and it was all very professionally done (for more photos, click here). After the event, I proceeded to Berlin (the club, not the city) for the after party. I tell you now, there is no easier way to make yourself feel old than going out partying with 21 year old wannabe models.



The next day few days were spent eating (write-ups to follow shortly) and walking around Edinburgh. As time was limited and I wanted to watch the England vs Scotland rugby match in the afternoon, I restricted my meanderings to a wander up and down the Royal Mile with a visit to the Castle for some bright Springtime views over Edinburgh.



Finally, to the game itself, I managed to camp myself in a small Scottish pub. I think I cheered a little too loudly when England scored their first try. All the Scottish eyes in the pub bore down on me so I took the conscious decision to pipe down. My father joined me at half time and we enjoyed a swift half to round off the comprehensive England victory.



The next day was Mothers day where we visited a very nice bistro round from sister no 3's place called Iglu, serving local produce. It was perfectly reasonable and tasted alright. No review here, Mothers day meal shall remain sacred (and I forgot to take pictures). When all was done, it was back to the roads and a trip back down south. It was a long return trip but well worth it.

For more pics of Edinburgh, please click here.