Our first appointment for 11:30 am was meeting Tina and Maxwell at L'ETO Caffe located on King's Road. Adrian was busy at work on a project. Besides working, Adrian is taking his Masters in Electrical Engineering so a very busy young man. We arrived almost on time and got a table in advance of Tina. The idea was to have brunch and then go for a walk in this shopping area. We enjoyed our meals and the service was good as well. Tina had ordered a honey cake and immediately Maxwell wanted a taste. They don't give Maxwell sweets, but he sure wanted a nibble. Eventually, Lana took Maxwell to look at the food in the window (distract him) while Tina got a chance to wolf down most of the cake. Lana and I finished what was left. :-)
Pastries in the window
More pastries in the window
Part of the Menu
More Menu
Lana's very healthy lunch of egg white omelette, avocado toast, and arugula salad!!
Randy's delicious and sweet lunch of banana and strawberry pancakes--not as healthy as Lana's lunch, but it had some chia seeds :)
Lana and Tina and Maxwell on the street outside the restaurant
The three of us (plus one) went for a walk along the street and then into some stores for shopping opportunities. We then needed to get on our way to the football match that starts at 15:00 in the Fulham area of west London. We are into the tube and then reappear at Hammersmith station. I have written down walking directions to the stadium estimated at 30 minutes. We struggle to find the correct starting street and direction. Yes, we are on the right way and find a lot of other football fans are walking towards the Thames river. As we walk closer to the stadium more fans. It is still overcast and slightly windy down along the river.
Craven Cottage stadium was built in 1896 and holds about 25,000 fans so fairly small. It is the home pitch of Fulham FC. The stadium is located right beside an urban neighbourhood and right up against the Thames river. Lots of history and character to this old place. We arrive about 10 minutes before the game begins but barely make it to our seats on time. We need to pick up our tickets at will call, but are instructed to get in a line which proves to be the wrong queue. Eventually directed to the right queue and have our tickets. Now, finding our entry gate is important. Your ticket must match the proper entry gate. We learn on entry that the seats are cut off from other sections which is why you need the right line. Yup, confusing especially when given the wrong instructions.
Craven Cottage stadium front entrance (only entrances)
Craven Cottage picture from our seats in the Home Fans area. You can see the cottage in the far left corner between the two sections of seating areas--we think this is what this field is named after?
Menu board at the one end of the stadium. I chose the Cottage meat pie and a beer. Plus, a bag of chips (English word is chips) and a bottle of water. A Cottage meat pie is warm minced beef and gravy covered in mashed potatoes in a pie crust. Pretty tasty!!
Randy holding his Carlsberg beer and Cottage meat pie
Interesting that fans can watch the game looking at the large screen telly. You cannot bring your beer into the seats.
We really enjoy the football match although the home team Fulham FC loses to the Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1. This is a Championship League match so the first tier below the English Premiership league. Awesome skills and compete level by the players. Many of the players are international players although not from the larger soccer playing countries. The fans for both teams are fun. Loud, singing, chanting, insulting and boisterous. We have free clappers to create lots of noise for Fulham. I have to laugh when the score gets to 3-1 some of the fans around us get pretty colourful with their words. Lots of swearing and using the f word to describe much of the action on the field. About 85% of the attendees are men or boys. I love the atmosphere at the English parks. The fans are knowledgeable and passionate.
**Lana here--thought the crowd commentary was even more entertaining than watching the foootball game LOL Also, you know how you watch a football game on tv and you can hear the crowd singing songs in the background--but you can't make out exactly what they are singing? I really wanted to hear the words that they were singing once we got to the game ourselves. Well, sadly, you still can't hear the exact words even when you are sitting right in the middle of the crowd!!! But it's neat how everyone knows the words and simultaneously starting singing the same song together.
The game ends a little before 17:00 and we need to be at the fancy restaurant for 18:15. This sounds like a long time, but the restaurant is located in east London.
Lana has figured out our Tube route and we leave the stadium at the 90 minute mark although there is five minutes of injury time. We hope to beat the rush out of the stadium and walk to find a cab to take us to the closest Tube station. We are out pretty quickly and walking briskly towards the nearest main road. We come across a black cab and jump in the back. The driver asks is we are his fare to Bournemouth? Hmmm, nope. These cabs are incredibly roomy in the back.
Fortunately, right behind the black cab is a two-decker bus which is going to the closest Tube station being Kensington South. You swipe your Oyster card when getting on the bus, but not getting off the bus (unlike the Tube). We walk up the steep stairwell inside the bus to get to the top floor and the awesome views. Kinda weird though being so high up and Lana says if you look at the shape of these buses you would think they would just fall over sideways as they are moving. Lots of stops and delays in the bus, but we make it to the station and then into the Tube station. A very long ride until a connecting station to the Northern line. On the second stop we get off at Old Street station. Then a nine minute walk to our restaurant. We arrive on time!
The Clove Club is a highly recommended high-end east London restaurant (Michelin 1 Star) so we are fortunate to get reservations and for Tina and Adrian to find a babysitter. We know this will be a great experience. It is listed as one of the 50 best restaurants in the world. The restaurant, staff and ambience meet all our expectations. The set menu below is 110 Pounds each and each couple chooses the accompanying wine pairing of another 80 Pounds. This place is expensive, but well worth the experience. We don't depart until around 23:30. The downstairs toilets are super interesting as they have square wooden seats and you pull on a hanging chain to flush. Lots of great conversation, awesome food and excellent wine pairings. I know that by the end of the meal and wine pairings I have had too much wine to drink!
Clove Club set menu
Clove Club wine pairing menu
Amuse bouche--beet granita and hazelnut cream.
Amuse bouche--raw mackerel on toasted seaweed.
Amuse bouche--raw mackerel on toasted seaweed.
Amuse bouche--fried chicken!!! Wow, super yummy!
Amuse bouche--buttermilk crusted haggis ball.
Hay Smoked Trout Tartare, Jersey Royal Potato Soup & Sansho
and now with the frothed potato soup
Raw Orkney Scallop, Hazelnut, Brown Butter & Perigord Truffle
Truffle Hazelwood Grilled Pollack, Grelot Onion, Cinnamon & Curry Leaf
Spring Herb & Smoked Herring Broth
Duck, Morel & Ginger Consommé (in the crystal decanter) and Hundred Year Old Madeira. You are poured the Madeira first and sample. You are supposed to leave some on the bottom before they pour in the consommé. I enjoyed the Madeira so much I drank it all. Lana was kind enough to pour some of hers into mine.
Roast Suffolk Lamb, Prune, Mustard & Mint
Brunt Clementine Sorbet & Spiced Meringue
Yorkshire Rhubarb, Sheep's Milk Yoghurt & Rose
Meat locker at ground floor entrance to the Clove Club
We have a long tube ride and then walk back to our flat. Lots of party goers in this area of east London on a Saturday night. The tube station is packed with people, but we navigate pretty well now and are onto our train travelling west. I have to yell at Lana to ensure she doesn't go in the wrong direction as she is flying down the stairwell. Uneventful journey on the tube and then we are walking from Hammersmith station to our flat. Very dark night and almost nobody on the streets around where we are staying. Quiet as well.
My Fitbit shows 12.25 kms walking today so below our usual average. We are very late to bed, but both tired. A pretty incredible day with a civilized brunch, football match and then high-end first rate dining experience with our friends. We are now more than half way into our London trip.
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