Guanabara, Holborn - review

So, last night was the NPG Christmas party, held at Guanabara in Holborn -

- which is a Brazillian themed bar/restuarant/club (I took a quick video scanning around the venue which you can find here)...as I mentioned yesterday we got a load of tokens for drinks, so I decided to start the evening off by using my cocktail voucher to try the classic Brazillian tipple a Caipirinhas (which is Fresh limes and sugar mixed with crushed ice & Sagatiba cachaça), they have all the glasses for the various cocktails standing by -

- so the bar has an amazing aroma of lime and mint... ;)

- ...it actually turned out to be more ice than anything else, but was quite refreshing, not sure I would have been happy to have paid six quid for one though...(video of one being made here, if you are interested)...

While we waited for the appointed hour for dinner (6pm), good use was made of the table football facilities (a pound a shot) -

- and when the moment finally came the food turned out to be completely *not* Brazillian, and not brilliant either -

- merely serviceable, a bit over salty and rather overcooked Turkey, with (and I never thought I would hear myself say this) very undercooked veg (almost raw in fact), so this definitely isn't a venue to *plan* to come for a meal - absolutely perfect for the atmosphere, drinks -

- and the chilled out vibe of the band that came on during the second sitting for food was perfect, so, a great place to come and hang out *after* dinner... ;)

Also, never really got comfortable with the idea of visiting the gents and doing your business with an enormous Christ staring down at you...bit odd...

Anyway, a good night was had by all, getting home was pretty straightforward too, "B" and I got a direct train from Victoria and then cabbed it back together, which made it nice and easy, and no mishaps had either (thank goodness) apart from me falling asleep with my KFC on the sofa and being woken up by Flyingpops at three in the morning (who had thought I had got lost in London) whoops! Sorry!! Still, not as bad as last year... ;)

See the rest of the pics on the flickr stream here (and a little gickr for you too, see, said I would use it ;) -

NPG Underground Christmas Party at Guanabara

...is tonight...Got my "welcome" pack...with a reminder of what food I had ordered ("Peru Assado", which is "baked turkey" (served the traditional South American way), and "Bolo de Chocolate" which is chocolate cake)...We get a glass of wine with dinner, plus vouchers good for 1 cocktail, 1 soft drink and either 5 more glasses of wine or beer...should be sufficient... ;)

Oh, and above, our little bit of the office, all properly decorated now... ;) Got Flyingpops' Z1 for pics tonight, so more tomorrow, assuming it goes a little better than last year (groan)!!

Update - Someone is selling their vouchers on eBay! :0

Update update - Cocktail menu here...

Update update update - Been now, pics and vids here...

RAMPAGE!

Lunch today consisted of meeting up with Flyingpops in the wonderfully named Thai Resturant/Bar - "The Rampage" in Holborn (I kept on thinking of a certain Unreal Tournament accouncement, or a bunch of big monsters smashing up a few city blocks) -

- I arrived a little early and bagged a nice table right in the window so we could watch the world go by while we ate. I opted for the "Pad Ki Mao (Hot)", which was a dish of stir-fried rice and vegetables (I spotted shredded carrot, sliced peppers and spring onions (and I tasted a bit of fennel I think, but I couldn't see any)) with griddled chicken, shredded slow-cooked pork and butterfly king prawns with chilli and sweet basil (boo, no galangal, was really looking forward to trying some too after watching all that "Douglas Chew cooks Asia" on Sky Travel! ) -

- it was pretty good too, but no-where near what I would describe as "(Hot)"...I'll go for the Thai Red Curry next time I recon to be on the safe side... ;)
Oh and towards the end of the meal one of Flyingpop's acquaintances "E" appeared in the window smiling and waving, she came bursting into the resturant to say "hi" and during her boundless "tigger-like" greeting manuvures managed to knock my pint over (which thankfully was nearly finished) resulting in much hilarity and embarrasment, followed by a very kind and quite unessesary offer of a new drink...still giggling to myself now about it... ;)
The staff were actually quite complimentary (as they were cleaning up) about the controlled spill that had resulted in no fluid actually leaving the surface of the table...!