Personally I am desperate to get tips on how to keep off news websites. I know that this is not helping prevent anxiety, but I still wake up thinking, “ooo a good eight hours since I last checked in – maybe I should just check  the BBC (you know like, to see various addictive and largely pointless headlines) and then the Guardian, both of which come with anxiety inducing pulsing update buttons.” I had no idea I had a ‘habit’. It turns out I have a ‘habit’.

On top of that, I’ve grown up on Radio Four, but every show has been derailed by COVID19, with interviewer’s asking earnestly, “well what exactly do the statistics mean?’ and receiving replies in gloom-leaden tones. In fact, there’s a problem with continuity because one day the interviewees will say, this is the critical figure and then the news will never ever ever repeat that figure again. One actually had  a really cheerful tone as he recounted predictions of impending agonies. That was admittedly worse.

And why is it soooo much easier to click on that Safari app, rather than that Kindle app, which i know is currently well stocked with good reading material. Should I hide my internet app? What if there’s an emergency and I need to Google ‘how to make gluten free granola’ at speed?!

Pre-Order “Helen and the Grandbees,” my Deptford based debut novel here https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Alex+morall&ref=nb_sb_nosswhich is currently only 3.99 on Kindle. It is inspired by people I have met in the deprived parts south east London whose tragic pasts are woven into their life perspective but do not define them. Told in Helen’s quirky voice with brief chapters from other characters, it addresses matters of identity, race and mental illness.

Thursday is ‘date night’ in our house, a chance for the two of us to spend time together when we might not have seen so much of eachother lately, and to go out for a drink – if not a meal, soak in the vibe…

(I think you may see where I am going here) 

It’s just that social distancing makes both of those scenarios, umm…. less  relevant. But keeping routines and having something in the diary to look forward to is more relevant. 

I used to have a rule of only drinking when I was out to stop me getting grumpy in the evenings. Well, that’s gone out of the window. (Someone catch that rule right now, bring it back and explain the meaning of social distancing to it – nothing should be going out, through windows or any other exits!)

And then i thought… delivery! (I’m not normally a take out kind of girl) And candles! And classical music on the Alexa!

Yes, as you probably guessed, we were washing hands between servings from takeaway boxes on a delicious Turkish delivery.

As evidenced by this blog, there are some pretty special local restaurants for eating, most of whom are staggered by the sudden loss of business, with no money to keep their staff in jobs. However some of these business are switching to delivery in order to save jobs (I checked with one if I should list them, or if they were overwhelmed, and they begged me to publicise).

Here are the links to places that will make for a really great meal who are delivering:
Occulto (Lewisham) Original review here:  http://blackheath.london/uncategorized/gourmet-lewisham-restaurant-now-delivering/ (and frankly I am already excited about this one!)

FYI the ordering details are at the end of the wine menu

Takeaway menu: https://resdiary.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/uk/13201/menus/alacarte/Take%20Away%20Food%20Menu.pdf

Wine (offered at retail price): https://resdiary.blob.core.windows.net/uploads/uk/13201/menus/setmenu/Food%20&%20Wine%20.pdf

Buenos Ares Cafe (Blackheath Village): https://buenosairescafe.co.uk

Review:

EatTurkish (East Greenwich) source of last night’s wonder meal. https://www.eaturkish.co.uk/menus

And if you have children and love beads, don’t forget Beadoir https://www.beadoirme.co.uk/Order-Information.html  who are delivering. And fun.

Paul Rhodes Bakery

Review http://blackheath.london/category/paul-rhodes-bakery/

Ordering: https://paulrhodesbakery.slerp.com/

Avocado Garden: avocaadogarden.co.uk

Great for breakfasts and healthy grains

Lea Valley Foods email orders4leavalleyfoods@yahoo.com for a price lists

Delivery Or pick up of commercially sized essentials including rice, pasta eggs to most of SE London

Tortoisetomhttp://torroisetom.co.uk

Coffee delivery, recommended by towiwoolwich.wordpress.com

The Blackheath Pantyhttp://theblackheathpantry.co.uk (but website ordering still due to be updated. Follow them on twitter for updates)

Brockleybrewery (self explanatory, although I misread free delivery as free beer and thought this had to be a April 1st for a minute!)http://brockleybrewery.co.uk

Plumsteadshire http://Common rioters beer.co.uk More beer delivery

Theatre of Wine phone 8858 6363

I will add these to a separate blog/page and update as I find out new ones.

So much for saving my ‘going out’ budget!

Have you pre-ordered my Deptford-based novel “Helen and the Grandbees” yet? Don’t wait for publication date… there might be a run on books by then!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Alex+morall&ref=nb_sb_noss

Described as “beautiful,” “engaging and moving” with  “echoes of Nathan Filer’s The Shock of the Fall and the warmth and poignancy of Sarah Winman.” Giving characters on the margins “a dignified voice despite their messy lives.”

This review was originally posted about the restaurant L’Oculto in the early days of inception. I am re-posting as an internet attack a couple of years ago destroyed it’s presence but they are ready and eager to keep their staff in jobs and keep in business whilst keeping safe…

L’Oculto apparently means hidden one. We asked because it was the name on the menu. There wasn’t a name on the door, unless you count ‘pharmacy,’ which did mean that the restaurant was really kind of hidden. We walked past about three or four times without realising that was was tapas place we were looking for.

Apparently the name reflected more than how easy the tapas place was to find. It reflected the wines and the food sources. All of these were intended to be small unknowns to bring unique experience. 

The restaurant was also filled with unusual crafts that one could purchase. 

It was definitely a unique experience. Out of all of the dishes we chose from, not a single one failed to be special. 

We managed to eat several large plates of bread… well, the bread was excellent. The bread plates were enormous, but fortunately only came in at £1.80 per person. What an unpretentious price for excellent food. 

The platters came out first, and our cheese platter came with a magnificent detail on each of the cheese sources, including which order to eat them in. This was not just a service offered on the cheese, but also on the cured meat. And no introduction to a cheese board could beat the one at L’Oculto

Combinations were unusal, but perfect. For example the mojama with pear and capers, was actually tuna with pear, in elegant spices. The dish of octopus and potato was enormous and served in the shape of an octopus. This was one of my favourite dishes.

The earthy flavours of the leeks with almonds made a great vegetable dish, and the peppers with anchovy were a great combination. 

Desserts were simple, and that is all good with me when they have been prepared properly with attention to detail. The poached plum in red wine is normally something I skip because, well, it is a pear, in red wine. But I stole some of my husbands and it was delicious, someone had really though about what to use in the recipe. I had chosen the caramel flan with cream mixed with sherry in a jug in the corner. That was petit but marvellous, nearly as good as the pears. 

Sadly, I worry that visits to competitor tapas bars will feel pale and insignificant in comparison. I may feel that I can only eat tapas here ever again… but I might not have any choice in the matter. The place was booked out, with a relatively strict approach to bending the rules. 

I’m sure that you are getting all the same WFH advice that i am… My office‘s top tip was to tell me to schedule a workout everyday to counter any isolation associated with working from home. How’re you getting on with that? Weightlifting tinned beans by any chance? Or just toilet rolls?

Before yesterday’s advice, I was meeting this requirement by cycling into the office (less risky than the train) discovering I was the only one that bothered to come in, and then feeling silly for that (although a good deal safer) and coming back to WFH for lunchtime so that I felt less silly. 

On the other hand, I did have a window seat in the office which I am missing now that I have returned to my Victorian terrace. That window seat and the wonderful flooding sunlight that everyone got annoyed about and closed the blinds to was worth its weight in bike riding. Not to mention the relatively small pots of hand sanitizer dotted around with post it notes advising us not to pocket them… (surely no one… ?)

Hand sanitizer is seeming a little less important now.

PS this week has been made significantly pleasanter by a very good, hard-working diligent friend who went above and beyond to invite us to dinner of African food on Sunday, cancelled because of Coronavirus and then distribute it amongst all of his guests anyway. Thanks Suraj!

PPS – all of twitter is awash with requests as to what to read over the social isolation. Err… My novel ‘Helen and the Grandbees’ duh! https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AAlex+Morrall&s=relevancerank&text=Alex+Morrall&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1

In some ways, The Intercontinental at the O2 should come on prescription. It’s got it all: healing powers, grumpy receptionists and pharmaceutically-priced options. Overall, I keep coming back. 

The rigmarole goes something like this. Book a massage (because you neeeeeed it – something about grey January days), add a spa pass (already a high bill is accumulating); sit in the spa thinking, the cocktail bar here is amazing, why waste my bus/Uber journey here without getting at least one drink. Then sit in the cocktail bar thinking hmm… gonna get really grumpy if I imbibe this cocktail without food and the bar menu here is really greasy. 

It should be noted at this point that the bar is very generous with its bar snacks. They keep coming. They are probably very bad for you even though you might have convinced yourself that you will successfully diet this week. Stop the bar snacks, please stop the bar snacks…

So you end up in the Market Brasserie. I don’t know about you, but Market Brasserie surely doesn’t say what it’s supposed to say to me. it sounds brash. And I like markets. It’s ‘lively’ according to the website. Not really sure what that’s referring to, though. This is where the disappointments of the Intercontinental really lie. Every other element of the visit is really enjoyable, but slightly less unhealthy food than the sliders and chips upstairs and the promise of at least one of your five a day, seem to make it a necessity. 

We didn’t order too much. No starters, and little to drink (because of, ahem, our upstairs visit to the cocktail bar), this included £6 for a tiny pot of slightly dressed shredded cabbage. I went just for prawns – that tasted of prawns, and my husband had the poussin. That was also okay.

Desserts were slightly more exciting. This combination of chocolate mouse was as pretty tasting as it looked. 

Let me underline, there was nothing wrong with this meal, but it did (that’s 2 unexciting  mains, 2 drinks and dessert) came to c. £100. You’re paying for the view. Basically. 

All this should not be read to mean that Sky Bar and its intricately constructed cocktails are not amazing, pricey but worth it if you hit a flavour you like. The menu changes regularly although we have had occasional frustrations where a few hours studying the menu, running scenario analysis and mathematically chosing a cocktail failed because on request a major ingredient was missing.

Pre-Order my debut novel ‘Helen and the Grandbees’ on https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=alex+morrall&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 described as “beautiful,” “engaging and moving” with  “echoes of Nathan Filer’s The Shock of the Fall and the warmth and poignancy of Sarah Winman.” 

… on where to eat in and around Blackheath?

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