PIZZA PILGRIMS: SOHO
11 DEAN ST, SOHO W1D 3RP
This was regrettably a fleeting visit
for our first time at Pizza Pilgrims as we had to be back in London Bridge with
little time to spare. Luckily, we were
seated immediately downstairs by lovely friendly staff. We decided to share a
salami pizza, which was demolished in record time. The pizza was thin and
juicy. Unfortunately when we cut the
pizza in half and transferred plates I lost half the toppings and they were not
generous or evenly distributed enough for my taste. I think this is where this
pizzeria falls behind some of my other favourites in London, they are a little sparing
with the toppings.
It was an interesting day as we were
seated next t a table of zombies who were celebrating world zombie day with a
zombie walk for charity. We saw many people dressed up on the streets around
Soho and on the tube in the surrounding areas.
Their sometimes very realistic flesh wounds and decaying flesh would
stop mothers with pushchairs in their tracks and terrify small children in the
carriages of the trains.
ALCOHOLIC ARCHITECTURE: BOROUGH MARKET.
1 CATHEDRAL ST, LONDON SE1 9DE
Standing in the queue for this
experience you are very aware of your proximity to the beautiful church, which
was part of the inspiration for this experimental cocktail bar. The heart of the installation is on the sight
of an ancient monk monastery and serves as the overall theme of the event.
While you wait for the allotted hour to
arrive the monastic lady on the door explains the history of the area as well
as the link between the ingredients in the cocktails and the monks who used to
live here. Precisely on the hour you are
pointed towards a door and you descend down an ever darkening staircase to a
wooden locker room. You have a cubbyhole
to leave your coat and bags and are given a plastic rain mac with a hood.
You then walk through the heavy plastic
curtains into the main room. It’s quite
disorientating at first, the vapour is white and thick and it is hard to see
very far in front of you. You breathe in a cloud of gin and tonic flavoured
vapour mist while wearing rain macs with hoods surrounded by others in the same
while the coloured lights change hue and funky music plays and thunder storms
are simulated. The mist starts as a peasant taste and the weirdest thing at first
is getting used to the sensation of breathing in something other than air, but
gradually the taste changes and it starts to taste more artificial.
While in there you can gradually feel
the moisture in the air settling on your plastic disposable Mac and your arms
and hands. Some hairstyles were also ruined in the process. But once you came
out you didn't feel as sticky as you thought you would. You also didn't feel
drunk. Despite inhaling a hefty amount you felt like maybe you'd had one drink
and not really effected.
It is a novelty and an experience to try
but it’s not an experiment of how it feels to get drunk through your skin as I
thought it might be. I’d say try it once
to say you’ve done it and try to wear your hair in a way which would not be effected
by moisture. Those are my tips. Plus the
toilets are nasty, there are flies everywhere, someone said there was supposed
to be a snake in there and it certainly is snake themed with pictures on the
wall and snaky sound effects. There is a
tank high in one of the cubicles but I couldn’t see anything inside it.
Strange.
After the experience I read this
article:
Which claims that in breathing alcohol
it avoids the liver and goes directly to the brain, which makes for more rapid
intoxication but I didn’t feel any obvious effect and I am not a heavy drinker.
I think yet again people are jumping on the negative bandwagon. As for the statement: "The last thing
this country needs is another way of ingesting alcohol," from Dr. Niall Campbell, I don’t think that we
have any worry of this becoming a mainstream alternative to drinking, it’s far
too uncomfortable and would be too much hard work.
THE OLD SCHOOL YARD: BOROUGH
111 LONG LANE, LONDON, SE1 4PH
The atmosphere is the first thing that
hits you about this place. It is warm
and friendly and lively. There is so
much to do, including table football, Mario Kart on the N64 and arcade
games. Luckily we managed to perch
ourselves on a stool as it seems like it’s always busy and especially on a
Saturday night.
Their cocktail list was an old school
booklet with cartoon drawings and the cocktails were divided into school
subjects. Unfortunately the cocktails were not very original. They mstly served
classics and their own designs were not very imaginative. In the history
section of the booklet they divided the cocktails by decade with things like a
Mai Tai from the 1940s and a Cosmopolitan from the 1990s. I had a Caipirinha as
I'd never had one before. I was shocked with how strong it was at first but the
sugar and lime combination was perfect. Rebecca had a Singapore Sling
(something she'd never had before.)
The pizzas are named after the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles and they have Italian food that looked delicious. We had
chips and garlic bread. The garlic bread was the most garlicky thing I've ever
eaten in my life. It was so strong it burnt your tongue. The chips were
faultless, skinny, salty and delicious. With a mouth full of garlic we left
happy.
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