Week Thirty Four
I first would like to start the week by congratulating last week's competition winner, Bex Murphy. She was the lucky name pulled out of the hat and will be wined and dined by The Financier. Well done Bex and to all of you disappointed fans out there I can understand your pain but do not worry. I received confirmation this evening that the Financier is willing to offer this special prize to another lucky contestant on a separate evening. Great news all round and details will follow shortly.
Back to this week and it included a midweek football game, a boozy lunch at the popular Honky Tonk and a night out at the prestigious Kensington Roof Gardens. All very different but all good fun.
Special guests include: Nick Farkas, Tom Farkas, Ed Cracknell, Freddie Allen, Charlie Hayter, Hannah Trees, Chris Kroeger, Oliver Newbury, Ali Gray, Jack Bunnage, Tom Wright, Tom Goldwater and Alana Buchanon.
Summary of Upton Park
Name: Boleyn Ground
Type: Football Stadium
Location: Green Street, Upton Park, London E13 9AZ
Website: http://www.whufc.com/page/Welcome
Date Visited: 26/08/14
Price: Cheap
Rating: 3.25/5
Review
The bill had been settled at Honky Tonk and after Kroeger's convincing recruitment drive, we all set off towards Kensington Roof Gardens. Owned by Richard Branson and after only hearing positive things, I was excited. I was correct to be excited as it was a brilliant evening and an truly impressive venue.
Unsurprisingly the venue is situated on top of a building and is one giant roof terrace. That description is probably not quite doing it justice as it is actually a roof garden rather than a simple roof terrace. It is deceptively big and with flamingos knocking about, along with the beautiful gardens, it really is quite an experience when you attend for the very first time.
Not for the first time this week, I found that my attire was not correct for the venue. The classic get up for this place is shirt, chinos (jeans if your feeling edgey), smart shoes and a snazzy jacket. I was unaware that we would be heading to this venue so my get up was desert boots, tight jeans and a small t-shirt. I felt a little out of place and underdressed in all honesty.
I got over it pretty quickly as in life you can't care about what other people think, that's my philosophy in life anyway...take note. I can imagine the one concern most people will have about this place is that it's probably a bit pricey and some will argue it's a bit pretentious.
Sure there are a lot of people there who do fancy themselves as a bit of a player but in general there was a really good crowd with a decent gender split which is also key for a successful venue aiming to achieve a good friendly atmosphere. The drinks were pricey, don't get me wrong, but if you chose carefully then it wasn't too bad as a bottle of beer came to £5. That's pretty standard in my eyes and if you decide to drink bottled beer all night then that's quite a cheap evening for a night out. It is difficult to drink bottled beer all night I must admit.
Overall, I must say that Kensington Roof Gardens is somewhere I will definitely be attending again as you cannot beat the surroundings, the place has a lot of class and any place situated on top of a building with flamingos running around is got to be fun. We didn't stay here all night as we headed off to the Sopranos piano bar (which is exceptional by the way) at 11ish. So whether it could work as a destination venue is a different matter.
Entry to KRG (that's what the regular cool kids call Kensington Rooof Gardens) was £10 but we were on the gueslist (they had heard about the blog) and we did get a free cocktail with that too. Standard entry for regular muggles is £20 minus the cocktail, so that isn't the cheapest. I would definitely say come here for an evening if you haven't been before. Top evening.
After a big bank holiday weekend I was sceptical that the best place for me on Tuesday night was watching football featuring West Ham United V Sheffield United in the Carling Cup second round. I was incorrect....what a fun little evening it was.
Nick Farkas had kindly used his sway with the Sheffield United supporters club to bag us all tickets in the away stand for a cool price of £15. The evening did come with it's tense moments with the hooligans of West Ham, which I didn't feel was helped by my out of place attire. Unfortunately, I had come straight from work to meet the gang at Upton Park. This meant I was in a full suit, minus the tie, and that coupled with a long winter coat meant I didn't have the look of your average away day fan.
Fantastic seats we had Upton Park
Our seats/standing positions were directly behind the goal and right next to the GSE (West Ham's hooligan firm: The Green Street Elite) who were really getting stuck in with their abuse. For the 90 minutes, I must admit I did turn into a bit of scally and embraced the Sheffield team as if they were my own. The atmosphere was electric and I didn't mind getting involved with all the Sheffield chants, of which few I can repeat on here. The game itself was pretty poor until a late equaliser from Sheffield United taking the game to extra time. Extra time was played out to a dull draw but this meant it was time for penalties. To make this better, the penalties were taken right in front of us.
It was tense but Sheffield United edged it and managed to win despite being two leagues below! Cue absolute pandominum in the away end. Me, Farkas, his bro, Freddie and Ed happily joined in with the celebrations. A few gestures were aimed at the disgruntled West Ham fans to our left and my suit unfortunately had been lightly coated in Carlsberg, a scent I carried for the rest of the evening.
It was a top evening, the atmosphere exceptional and Upton Park Stadium is impressive. In fact I really do rate it as a stadium as you are very up and close to the action, which is incredibly important. The 'hot dog' I had was questionable but thats always the case at footy grounds so it won't cost them on the rating too much. The main criticism was that the entrance to the away end wa very tricky to find which meant we always missed kick off.
Good stadium and now Sheffield United will always now have a special place in my heart. YORKSHIRE! YORKSHIRE! YORKSHIRE!
Summary of Honkey Tonk
Name: Honkey Tonk
Type: Bar and Restaurant
Location: 16a Clapham Common South Side, London, SW4 7AB
Date Visited: 30/08/14
Price: Good value for money
Rating: 3.9/5
Review
I had been wanting to come here for a number of weeks since recently opening in Clapham. This Honky Tonk (there is another one in Fulham) is where the Underdog (god awful place) used to be and the layout is exactly the same.
The reason for our visit was that a barbecue had been rescheduled and instead of having a barbecue we went to Honky Tonk instead. This was all kindly booked by Hannah Trees. Now if you are going to come to this place I think you have to do it right, rather than popping in for a quick drink. You have to do the whole hog when you come here and have a boozy lunch (oh he's bloody at it again is he). Thats what we did (big of you).
Luckily we got moved from our initial entrapping and cramped table to a nice open square table with sufficient room for all 10 attendees. Sol was the beer of choice, which was bizarre as it's a very budget beer but it sufficed (liking that word today) for the occasion. Onto the menu and it's very guy friendly, with a similar look to places like Bodeans and Red Dog Saloon. That worked well for me and I decided to experiment and go for the pulled pork sandwich after backing out of starters due to feeling a little fragile (don't tell me you were out on Friday too!).
During the period from starters to mains the drinks had begun to flow at a more regular pace, which resulted in some people becoming heavily intoxicated....no names mentioned.
ALANA BUCHANON and Hannah Trees
When you come to Honky Tonk you also get one free spin per table on the Honky Tonk wheel of fortune. I took the honour and won us a free cocktail. The table celebrated but this soon evaporated when the waitress quickly informed us that it was only one free cocktail for the whole table. That disappointment was quickly forgotten as the mains arrived on cue. They were superb. Critics out there (Ali Gray) will say that I can't give it a proper review as I only finished half of it. But that half of the pulled pork was fantastic. The one thing you normally find is that a pulled pork sandwich is a bit dry. This one wasn't at all.
The famous wheel
Anyway the rest of the table finished all the grub comfortably and the consensus was that the food was good. The bill arrived and came to just over £50 a head. I thought that was good value for what we had considering we where there about 3-4 hours. Really recommend this place as the service was very good, the atmosphere decent and the food (so the others tell me) of a good standard.
Not quite sure what any of us are doing here
Like I said earlier, if you go to Honky Tonk please do it properly as just coming here for a few drinks or cocktails will not do it justice as it will just come across as just an average bar.
Edgey shot
Summary of Kensington Roof Gardens
Name: Kensington Roof Gardens
Type: Rooftop bar
Location: 99 Kensington High Street, London, W8 5SA
Date Visited: 30/08/14
Price: Not the cheapest
Rating: 4.25/5
Review
The bill had been settled at Honky Tonk and after Kroeger's convincing recruitment drive, we all set off towards Kensington Roof Gardens. Owned by Richard Branson and after only hearing positive things, I was excited. I was correct to be excited as it was a brilliant evening and an truly impressive venue.
Unsurprisingly the venue is situated on top of a building and is one giant roof terrace. That description is probably not quite doing it justice as it is actually a roof garden rather than a simple roof terrace. It is deceptively big and with flamingos knocking about, along with the beautiful gardens, it really is quite an experience when you attend for the very first time.
This is in the lift on the way up. Really shows off the venue
Not for the first time this week, I found that my attire was not correct for the venue. The classic get up for this place is shirt, chinos (jeans if your feeling edgey), smart shoes and a snazzy jacket. I was unaware that we would be heading to this venue so my get up was desert boots, tight jeans and a small t-shirt. I felt a little out of place and underdressed in all honesty.
I got over it pretty quickly as in life you can't care about what other people think, that's my philosophy in life anyway...take note. I can imagine the one concern most people will have about this place is that it's probably a bit pricey and some will argue it's a bit pretentious.
Sure there are a lot of people there who do fancy themselves as a bit of a player but in general there was a really good crowd with a decent gender split which is also key for a successful venue aiming to achieve a good friendly atmosphere. The drinks were pricey, don't get me wrong, but if you chose carefully then it wasn't too bad as a bottle of beer came to £5. That's pretty standard in my eyes and if you decide to drink bottled beer all night then that's quite a cheap evening for a night out. It is difficult to drink bottled beer all night I must admit.
The only photo I have at the place. Good look
Overall, I must say that Kensington Roof Gardens is somewhere I will definitely be attending again as you cannot beat the surroundings, the place has a lot of class and any place situated on top of a building with flamingos running around is got to be fun. We didn't stay here all night as we headed off to the Sopranos piano bar (which is exceptional by the way) at 11ish. So whether it could work as a destination venue is a different matter.
The gang at Sopranos...worth a visit that place
Entry to KRG (that's what the regular cool kids call Kensington Rooof Gardens) was £10 but we were on the gueslist (they had heard about the blog) and we did get a free cocktail with that too. Standard entry for regular muggles is £20 minus the cocktail, so that isn't the cheapest. I would definitely say come here for an evening if you haven't been before. Top evening.
The free cocktails
Special Shoutout
Winner: Nick Farkas
Nick Farkas, an avid supporter of Sheffield United, is this weeks deserved winner for a number of reasons. Firstly he was the brains behind the trip to Upton Park to go and support his beloved Sheffield United. It was a truly unique experience and a lot of fun. Nick is also an avid supporter of another more important thing....my blog. He has also smartly bought in the up and coming Tooting....intelligent fellah. In conclusion, your continued support is much appreciated and well done on buying your first property.
Poem Advice
Upton Park's the venue
A fiery atmosphere thats for sure
Even more so in the away end
Feeling helpless from the law
Honky Tonk in Clapham
Make sure you do it well
Don't just go for drinks
Have the nice food, it's swell
Kensington Roof Gardens
or KRG for short
An awesome trendy venue
Which Richard Branson bought
Thanks again for your continued support and expect some big things in the next few weeks. Again I would like to reiterate that there will be another winner from last weeks competition. Be patient.
Remember to do the three most important things:
Like
Share
Subscribe
See you next week fans
X
No comments:
Post a Comment