Week Twenty
Hello there again fans, I hope the bank holiday treated you well. For me the bank holiday entailed a 10 hour drive from London to Stirling on the Friday night for a big weekend away to visit Tidmania (Rich Tidman). Host of new places for you guys to get your teeth into from Stirling to a night out in Edinburgh. Before the weekend away to Edinburgh I did go to the Big Easy on Kings Road with my old school mates. I have to say I do love the Kings Road.
Special guests include: Hayter (PRDC Chairman) Jake Huntley, Kroegs, Dico, Goldy, Syd, My biggest fan (Chris Hazell) Rich Tidman (Host), Jamie Collins, Steven Jackson, Finlay White and Thomas Grimes, Kirsty Archibald and Claudia.
Summary of Big Easy
Name: Big Easy
Type: American dining restaurant
Location: 332-334 King's Road, London, SW3 5UR
Date Visited: 21/05/14
Price: Outstanding value for money
Rating: 4.55/5
Answer to the Question: David Beckham and Cameron Diaz
Review
Now this is a restaurant. The reason for the visit to the highly recommended Big Easy was due to the formation of an old boys dinner club that has been created by Charlie Hayter who picks the venue every month. A little sad you might think but it is a good excuse for all of us to get together have a few drinks and eat an extortionate amount of food.
My biggest fan (Chris Hazell) and myself were running a little late due to a company golf day before and when we arrived the food was already on the table. On a Wednesday at Big Easy it is 2 4 1 on beers and cocktails before 7.30pm. In addition to this it is all you can eat Fajitas with steak, chicken, prawns included as the fillers.
The food was exceptional and the service was too with the waiters reloading the platters of food as soon as we finished the ones on our table. That partnered with the ice cold beers in the buckets of ice meant that this was a joy from start to finish.
There was also live music but not at an offensively loud volume like it is at the Durrel on Friday nights. The band were playing old classics and they'll sing happy birthday to you upon request which happened to Jamie Collins despite him not turning 26 until October.
Really rate this place and the value for money was exceptional with it all coming to £26 per head. Only slight downside was that it was a bit cramped which in turn did add to the atmosphere of the place. That and it did have a sauna like temperature.
Would definitely come here again on a different night as the place does a different type of food on all you can eat every night.
Not the clearest picture of the first meet of the Pine Room Dining Club
Summary of Dusk
Name: Dusk Nightclub
Type: Nightclub
Location: Dalgleish Court, Baker Street, FK8 1BJ, Stirling, Scotland
Date Visited: 23/05/14
Price: Hella Cheap
Rating: 3.6/5
Review
After taking a half day at work on Friday I set off from London at 1.30pm and after one of the most horrific ordeals I have ever experienced in a car, I arrived at Rich Tidman's establishment at 11.30pm. Desperate journey.
Upon arrival it was back to university mentality. Have a couple of beers at the flat and a few shooters before heading of to Stirling's finest club....Dusk. The place is open until 3 am (false advertising) and we were lucky enough to have VIP and a few bottles of Vodka thanks to Rich's Scottish friend Finlay White.
Here is the main man Finlay White with his reserved sign
Once in the place we were able to get 3 bottles of vodka between the 6 of us for a cool £40 each (which included entry). Admittedly the vodka was paint stripper esque but it was all we needed for the whole night. Top value and it gave us the rejuvenated energy we needed after that drive.
Scotland Crew: From left to right:
Steven Jackson, Finlay White, Jamie Collins, Rich Tidman, Tom Grimes and myself
I have to say I like this nightclub. It doesn't mess about with anything fancy it just plays decent music, has a decent enough dance floor and is priced well. Lets not beat around the bush...it isn't going to win any nightclub awards but you will have a good night.
Rich, Finlay and me outside the front
If you are ever in Stirling and its a Friday night...pop along.
Summary of Auchterarder Golf course
Name: Auchterarder Golf course
Type: Golf course
Location: Orchil Road, Auchterarder, PH3 1LS
Date Visited: 24/05/14
Price: Very good
Rating: 4.65/5
Review
After the big night at Dusk it was up nice and early to play a round of golf at Rich's local golf course. Some of us were in better condition than others and Jacko turned up with a lovely pencil bag but no clubs to go with them so he had to share Finlay's clubs for the afternoon. Very poor etiquette.
Jacko with his clubless bag
After the debacle of the golf clubs it was time to play. The golf course is fantastic and was in incredible condition. The greens ran true and the fairways were in great nick which made things nice. The course is also fairly flat and pretty short which was very important due to the compounding hangovers we all had.
My golf was consistenty inconsistent but after stringing a couple of pars at the end it meant I finished in a tidy 3rd place. Jamie Collins took the crown for the win which won him £25 pounds from his fellow competitors.
The 6 competitors
I thoroughly enjoyed this course and due to a members visitors rate it only cost us £12 which is incredible value for money. We were going to sample the food but Jamie successfully argued that we should go to the Kilted Kangaroo instead for some much needed grub.
Summary of Kilted Kangaroo
Name: The Kilted Kangaroo, Outback
Type: Bar and Restaurant
Location: 9 Upper Craigs, Stirling, FK8 2DG
Date Visited: 24/05/14
Price: Standard
Rating: 2/5
Review
This place is a Walkabout in disguise. For the loyal fans out there you know that is my old place of work so I hold the place close to my heart. This place doesn't have the swagger of Walkabout and the food isn't as good which was the sole reason for going here.
I had the burger (Shock horror) and it was distinctly average. Was I little bitter that we didn't eat at the golf club which I had suggested....not one bit. Was I bitter that despite Jamie's insistence of eating here that he ate a Mcdonalds on the way back....a little.
To the place's credit the service was good, the food well priced and the outside area was tidy. Also on a side note this place is open until 2am if you fancy a boogie.
The outside area at the Kilted Kangaroo
Summary of Morrisons
Name: Morrisons
Type: Pub
Location: 84 Murray Place, Stirling, FK8 2BP
Date Visited: 24/05/14
Price: Cheap
Rating: 3.2/5
Review
Not to be mistaken for the supermarket chain Morrisons is a Yates style pub in the centre of Stirling which was the only place showing the Heineken Cup final and the Champions League Final.
We went here after our food and settled down at a nice table in front of the screens just in time for the Heineken Cup final which was a bit of a disappointing game. Morrisons it is fair to say will not be winning any glamour awards but it fills a purpose and does a good job of it.
Morrisons the pub not the supermarket
3 pints of Guinneses came to £8.30 so there were few complaints and we did have a lot of fun in this place. One rule we played, which was introduced by Grubby, was that you were not allowed to say the word 'mine'. The punishment for this was 10 press ups. I can tell you this game is a lot harder than it sounds and especially tricky after a couple of drinks.
After the end of the rugby we had a few more rounds before it was time to head out into Edinburgh. I did have a good work out in Morrisons due to performing 140 press ups during my visit. A few puzzled looks from fellow revellers followed wondering what the hell was going on. I wasn't very good at the game.
Summary of Grand Cru
Name: Grand Cru
Type: Bar
Location: 79-83 Hanover Street, New Town, Edinburgh, EH2 1EE
Date Visited: 24/05/14
Price: Not bad
Rating: 4.15/5
Review
We had arrived in Edinburgh and after being turned away from the first bar as a group of 6 lads was not to the preference to the bouncers we ended up hear. 'No chance' the man kindly informed us so we headed over to the Grand Cru which is a cracking bar. Richard's better half Kirsty and her friend Claudia joined us and a round of gin and tonics were ordered.
At Grand Cru
We were only in here for and hour or so but the experience was pleasant. The bar definitely goes into the hip, cool and trendy category with good music played and mood lighting to accompany it.
One bad aspect of it was that one of the rounds of gin and tonics the barman forgot to put the Gin in (a key ingredient) so we were drinking tonic water for a while. Embarrassingly we had drunk over half of our glasses before anyone was bold enough to suggest the lack of Gin. To be fair the barman didn't mind and re poured 8 more drinks free of charge.
Did rate this bar very highly as it had a good atmosphere and was a cool place. Priced well too.
Summary of Lola Lo
Name: Lola Lo
Type: Club
Location: 43b Frederick Street, Edinburgh, Eh2 1EP
Date Visited: 24/05/14
Price: Good for a club
Rating: 3.5/5
Review
After a very active and long day it was time to reach the destination of the night which had been chosen by Mr Stirling/Mr Edinburgh (Steven Jackson) due to him originating from the city. Lola Lo was the choice and is situated underground/in the basement and it isn't the biggest venue but it works.
The girls had left us by this point and the 6 of us had got a table in VIP (again sorted by Mr Stirling) which was handy. The fella who sorted us the table was one heck of a salesman as he managed to convince us it would be cheaper and better for us to get 2 bottles of vodka (in one big bottle) rather than one. Finlay was sold and managed to convince the rest of us it was a good idea.
Not my proudest photo of me.
The place was riddled with hen parties which meant there were lots of straw hats and giant sunglasses floating around which, as you can tell, I made the most of. We didn't buy anymore drinks for the rest of the night due to the giant bottle of vodka and it was a cracking night.
Only criticism of the place was that the dance floor was a little small so you couldn't get out the more flamboyant dance moves in your locker. All in all we had a cracking night and with half a bottle still remaining we made a group decision that this bottle had got the better of us and it was time for some food.
Summary of Bar Napoli
Name: Bar Napoli
Type: Italian Restaurant
Location: 75 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1EE
Date Visited: 24/05/14
Price: Again
Rating: 3.85/5
Review
What a gem of a place this restaurant is. A good standard Italian restaurant that is open until 3/4am....unbelievable scenes. It did get off to a bad start as the waiter was in a foul mood and was being incredibly rude to us. He did cheer up and get a lot nicer once I told him I wrote a blog / food reviews for an online magazine. The service after that stepped up a notch with the guy becoming very pleasant and extra helpful.
The gang minus Finlay who was still trying to finish of the bottle in Lola Lo
We all ordered our pizzas and they were incredible. Nothing better than a proper feed after a night out and I must recommend this a place you must come to in Edinburgh. You will not regret it but be warned the waiter does become slightly impatient. To be fair to the guy if you have a restaurant full of people who have just been out on the tiles, I can imagine it not being a walk in the park.
The waiter and I after his mood had lightened.
Special Shoutout
Winner: Richard Tidman
Rating: 4.5/5
Heroic performance from the Lad. Organised the weekend perfectly from minute one. On cracking form as always and religiously quoted the Wealdstone Raider throughout the weekend. If you haven't seen that video go on Youtube and type in the Wealdstone Raider.
Poem Advice
Wanting all you can eat and drinks
On the Kings Road?
Then Big Easy's for you
Only £26 we owed
Off to Stirling and Edinburgh
Both very different cities
Loved going to both of them
But Edinburgh had more fitties
Once again guys I commend you if you are still reading as I admit its been a long one. Don't forget to subscribe
