The morning I set off to trace Scotland’s new gin trail feels like the wettest day in the history of wetness and days, a morning so vengeful that no material, artificial or natural, can really keep a person dry. When I get to the Gin Bothy I’m as grateful for..
Tag Archives: UK
A couple of hours into my experience at The Fat Duck, I’m brought what looks like bread and butter. “What’s this now?” I ask, a little too eagerly, the wine pairing tickling my edges. “Fish and chips? A reformed mulligatawny soup?” “No, sir,” the waitress says with a patient smile,..
Robert Charles McInroy and I have been playing a game together for half our lives. The setting may change, so may the conditions, but the result is always the same: he wins. This is bad news for me as our standard wager is GBP 1 million; I owe him roughly..
“We fry in bronze deodorised beef dripping,” reads a laminated sign behind the counter at Stonehaven’s Carron Fish Bar. It’s unclear whether this is supposed to deter or encourage more custom, but on a bright Tuesday lunchtime, the place could hardly be busier. About half of the people in this..
I’m sitting in the Velasquez Bar in Madrid’s Ritz, listlessly twiddling an olive inside my cocktail. It’s not just the eye-watering price of my drink that’s disappointing but the length of time it took to get here, too. I’m the best-part of 24 hours late, having spent a night in..
There’s a scene in Austin Powers where the psychedelic spy attempts a quick getaway in a steamroller. “I’m gonna floor it!” He shouts, before setting off at about 5mph, trundling inexorably towards an unfortunate guard trying to block his path. I’m suppressing a smile at the memory of that scene..
I grew up north of the Wall, where we speak with broad accents and it’s often cold. To the south it’s warmer, drier and people tend to speak clearer. So in the Game of Thrones world, that would make me a wildling and York would approximate to Winterfell. King’s Landing,..
I’m wrist-deep in the sticky viscera of a pig and chicken when it strikes me that the new sausage-making course at Kate Humble’s farm isn’t for the faint of heart – nor for devout Muslims, nor Jews, nor vegetarians of any sort for that matter. However, it is, perhaps, a..
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Thanks for writing this. I'm going to echo the people above. Write a book! If you do, I'd definitely buy it <3
I'd still recommend going. Just don't eat whale when you're there – it's on plenty of menus.
Hi Trev, nah I doubt it – it's just a bit too remote and the infrastructure isn't there.