Here we are again, the curry club have been out on their travels. This month we visited the Fordham Arms pub in Sharnbrook. As usual Bill had struck up a deal for us that meant one price and an easy calculation at the end. Big attendance this month with 16 of us meeting at the pub via different routes, some more direct than others. I'll try and name everyone, I'm sure I will be told if I miss someone, here goes - The Pastor, The Prof, Swiss Pete, The Drummer, Col S, Julian, Tall Alan, Tony, Nathan the eating machine, Paul I think, Bouncing Bill, Tony S, Keith, Ben, Nick & Alan B.
It was great to have Ken, the chef, come out and explain what he had cooked and set us off with poppadums and chutnies to begin with. Ken's own recipe lime pickle went down very well. Tables were specially arranged for us in a horseshoe shape and everyone had plenty of room.
So to early conversation and of course politics was on the agenda for some. Many had been down to cast their vote in the local and european elections. As you would expect when a number of highly intellectual men gather, the politics was mostly nonsense. As through a blog one has the ability to reach a huge number of people, it would not be appropriate to make any political statements. So let's just leave it as the sooner we rid ourselves of the current load of thieves and bring in a different set the better. By the way I can't spend too long on this blog because I need to fill in my tax return and I can't remember whether my mortgage on my 4th house was paid up in 1991 or 1992. It's important because I don't want to miss claiming an extra year from the tax payer.
Moving on, we commented on how non-smoking pubs were great. No more going home with a sore throat, no more having to disinfect all your clothes and rub your skin raw in the shower before you can go to bed. Over by Bill there was a conversation about the duke hop, now onlookers might think this was about some other pub, but in fact I understand it was a step given to a work colleague when he got angry with his machine - no I'm not sure either! There was also conversation about having your first pint. We still haven't concluded whether Nathan has actually had a pint as he only drinks water from a certain spring in the mountains of some far off island.
The the curries started to arrive. Several dishes of Chicken Korma, Chicken Dopiaza and Beef Madras. This was followed by rices dishes and naan, all of which looked great. It was during the curry serving that someone noticed what is one of the most peculiar fashions of today. The wearing of trousers half way down your legs! How often do we see the youth of today wandering along constantly pulling up their jeans from the knees to just under their backside? I wonder how long it will be before someone shows them a photo and they realise how ridiculous they look. I hope it doesn't stop because it makes me laugh every time I see one of the big pants brigade.
As we munched away through the curry, Nathan shared the fact that his sun burnt lips were slowing him down, he also said that if you don't chew your food properly you get smelly wind! It was at this point I decided that each month we should record wise words from Nathan. For the first of what will be known as a "Nathanism", according to Nathan, "there is nothing better than seeing more food brought out". Which was incidentally prompted by the waiter bringing out some more curry!
So, it's time to talk scoring. Quality got 4, which is very good for a pub providing curry. Quantity, even with Nathan providing a 5, got 3.94. Suprisingly low and I guess down to the prawn eaters. Price was a 4, with staff and ambience 4.13 and 3.94. I think staff should have got a 5 as Ken was clearly taking the time to talk to us. Overall the score was 20.51. Any establishment to score over 20 is good, but for a pub that doesn't specialise in Curry this is very good. The keen eyed among you will spot that I have created a seperate league for pubs now. Overall the men had a great time and Ken did very well with his curries. As usual the opinion expressed here is personal and represents our visit on the night.
It remains for me to say that after the curry had been eaten, the Prof joined Bouncing Bill and they talked about wood turning tools. The prof produced what I thought was a cigar case, containing special technical metal things with handles. Check out the picture and you will see
the Prof and Bill (his own tool in a rather strange plastic thing), deeply engrossed. The wooden tops went on about all things wood turning for ages. We rescued poor Tony S (new to the club) as he looked like he was going to grab one of the tools and put an end to it all. The wooden tops may still be there now!
For me the evening didn't end on a high note as Pastor Ian (you know the caring, sympathetic, arm around the shoulder type) observed that I am actually old enough to be Nathan's dad!! Until next month, happy currying ...