South Of The River

The wrath of Winter returned today for an unseasonable late March blast, bringing top temperatures hovering only around the mid single digits. The onset of Spring is clearly on hold. But the heavens were more schizophrenic, ushering in bright blue skies, and then dark clouds heavy with sleet and snow, even if for brief, fleeting moments. But it was rather magical, just for a while, as I gazed upwards in the evening, peering at the snow and ice drifting silently downwards, illuminated by the dizzying light of the streetlamps, falling onto my cheeks, and dusting all that lay below.

Braving the cold, the Monday Night Dining Club convened this evening at a new location, heading south of the river for the first time. We found our way to the area around Borough Market, close to the London Bridge Tube station, and settled on this charming place called the Wine Wharf on Stoney Street – a cool two-storey wood-panelled establishment offering a wide selection of wines and spirits, with comfortable seating and live jazz music in the background, which one member dismissed as mere wallpaper.

Putting aside such pernicious English cynicism, most of us had fun tackling the poached haddock on bubble and squeak with poached egg and a pommery mustard sauce. Yummy. But what the heck is bubble and squeak? Well, you learn something new every day. Apparently, it’s a traditional English dish comprising mainly potato mash, but with other bits added in, such as leek, onions or assorted vegetable fragments. Accompanying this was a lovely bottle of chilled Chilean rosé.

What a nice setting the Wine Wharf presented. Somehow, it seemed particularly apt for us to gather there on this cold evening, surrounded by brooding and bleak Jack the Ripper-like Victorian streets, while we remained snug and comfortable within. But I’m sure when high summer comes, a different atmosphere will set in with ease.