Resident's Parking.

We have seen a victory for common sense here over the last week. The council was planning to impose a residents parking permit system. £25 to park outside your own house - no guarantee of a space, a quid a go for visitors, local businesses wiped out as shoppers unable to park and everybody getting thoroughly pissed off with parking tickets when they forget/don’t give the visitor a voucher/left the second car out by mistake. There was a heated meeting on Wednesday 3rd, as about a quarter of the residents would like a residents parking scheme. True. It is very difficult to find a space, but that is the price we pay for city living, for having good bars and restaurants on the doorstep, for a range of excellent local shops. Without free parking they would all loose custom, we would loose the ‘buzz’ of Queens Rd. and the whole area would slip back down the popularity scale. Those of us who have been here a while can remember the empty shops of the eighties. One pub and a couple of takeaways. The plan has been shelved for five years. Great.

He's here.

Still November and the first sighting. Thanks God he can't see. Wake me up when it's all over.

çok tesekkür ederim!

We should give a warm welcome to the Turks who have brought reasonably priced fresh food to Queens Road. Lurking between two Queens, Indian Restaurant and Chinese Takeaway, Zesty’s is, strictly speaking, a takeaway, but it has seating and if one happens to sit down, through tiredness you understand, the guys who run it will bring your food over, to save you the effort of walking three feet to collect it from the counter. Once comfy, you may as well eat it there, to save walking home and allowing the home made bread to go cold. Three of us ate eight mezes. Three of which were stuffed peppers, as they are so good. Washed it down with a pot of tea and walked out having spent under twenty quid. This is fantastic value as every mouthful is delicious. They seem to be open virtually all the time and always greet one with a smile. Good for them. Babalas don’t seem to mind one popping over there to use their loo, especially if it’s their Timothy Taylors one is rejecting from the bladder.

One to take the edge off.

Friday night and spoilt for choice. All within walking distance. Starting foreground, left there is a fine selection of cocktails and bottled beers at Bar Dos Hermanos, our local Cuban Bar. Big and always busy. Great atmosphere. Draught beer tends not to be quite so well kept and are always a tad disappointing, but they serve quite the best G&T. Double measures of Bombay Sapphire, stacks of ice, lime and Schweppes. Moving on down there is Sansomes. Bit brash and yet to hit the spot with the locals. Mainly lagers and this new Marstons Pedigree ‘Smooth’. It’s a keg beer - easy to look after. It sounds harsh, but Sansomes is just not quite Clarendon Parky enough. Maybe cruise over the road to Babalas wine bar. Cosy and full of atmosphere. The sort of place you can peer into and usually see a familiar face, if solo drinking. My personal favourite thanks to a good choice of wines and the all conquering - Timothy Taylors Landlord draught bitter. Could then stay on the same side of the road and ease on down to Olives Bar on the first floor of the corner premises, above Subway. Not been in and I find there is a mental barrier about entering somewhere that you can’t see into. Final option would be to walk up the end of Montague Rd and visit The Clarendon. Rather naff 30’s building. About 15 years ago The Clarendon was the ONLY bar here, served great draught beers and was rammed, but has had to try very hard in the light of such tempting opposition. As it’s just a stumble too far, I’ve not been in for ages. That’s the drinks sorted. Food blog next time.

A new Bar.

Sansome’s is the new bar on Queen’s Rd, lurking behind the Marston’s lorry in the last posting. The name has been recycled from the Haberdashery shop that used to be there. The last place in Leicester you could buy a string vest. I popped in there to try the Pedigree the other night with a few friends. It was a new brew called Pedigree Smooth. A keg beer which I felt was rather a sell out to the traditions of Marston’s Brewery. I tried a couple of pints, while my friends stuck to lager. It had a similar taste and one could imagine the waters flowing across the gypsum of South Derbyshire into Burton on Trent, but somehow it wasn’t quite right. designed for the minimal maintenance required by bars these days. I felt moved to nip over the road to Babalas and have a proper pint, hand pumped by a buxom barmaid. no Pedi that night, but the Timothy Taylor's Landlord was just perfect.

Beautiful Apparition

Something you will only ever see in England. The reassuring sight of a big delivery of Marston’s Pedigree. Seen here outside a new bar on Queen’s Road, Sansomes, named after the drapery store that used to be there. The only place left where one could still purchase a String Vest.

Easy to let the mind wander for the everyday tasks and imagine the waters filtering across the gypsum of Derbyshire, south to Burton-on-Trent where noble men brew, and I mean BREW, Pedi. Oak barrels and brass pipes. Centuries of history. Unchanged methods, all resulting in the perfect pint, and I’ve supped well this evening as you may guess. Cheers and sorry for the absence.

Red Nose Day.

A wine tasting, organised by The Wine Society was, conveniently, in The City Rooms, here in Leicester this week. My son Will and I strolled down dodging various heavy showers to sample 16 wines from around the World. Rubbing shoulders with so much tweed and silver hair was novel and made even me feel quite young! Kicking off with some refreshing sparkling whites, we moved on to heavier whites, light reds and then the Clarets. A good learning experience! Favourite was wine number 7, a full bodied white Burgundy at £225 a case. At the end of the tasting the girl serving it poured the last of the bottle into our glasses as we confirmed it really, really was our favourite and we stumbled off to get something to eat.