Out to a pub with Ms Humdrum - The Merchant House, Southsea

We just had to make the most of a Tuesday sleepover, so off to The Merchant House we trotted. Mr Humdrum had already been, saying that Saturday afternoons were a little like a creche, but that he wished this pub had been around 20 years ago, when we actually went out!

The layout is more like pub rooms than a pub, but I love the idea of queuing 2x2 at the bar, as they can only serve two at a time. So civilised. Mr Humdrum chose a chocolate porter, but I tried a few gins. First Bathtub, then Mermaid, followed by Gin Lane. All served with appropriate flora and fauna. (And in a decent glass - in London over Easter weekend, everywhere served G&T in a horrid almost pint glass. Grrr.) We decided to sample their street food - burgers seem quite popular these days don't they?! Mr Humdrum didn't know how they cooked their burgers so well that hardly any fat came out, though it was not dry at all. The chef did explain it (cloches etc) but Mr Humdrum still doesn't know how. Very nice rosemary fries (one portion serves two) to accompany the Merchant burger, though one patty would have sufficed instead of two. The caramelised onions actually tasted of onion and the maple bacon was - well, mapley! Delicious.

Basics - toilets clean, glasses clean, food great, service very good. Loved the decor.

All in all, a very good evening out. Amazing how full it was for a Tuesday evening; lots of groups of people, some evening dog walkers, friends and couples like us. I do wish they'd been open when we used to regularly go out.

We will definitely be returning.

Would I Lie To You board family game review

Would I Lie To You? "The game of believable lies and unbelievable lies ", linked into the TV show of the same name. Purchased: December 2017 in Waterstones, for around £20 In a nutshell: These TV show-affiliated games usually show themselves up (Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Top Gear) but this game is fun and easy to play (if a little modified) as a family. You don't really need specialist knowledge to play, just the ability to lie! Every year for Christmas, I like to buy a board game to play, even though no games better either Ludo (in which my dad is the reigning cheater-champion, and argues to high heaven over the rules about doubling up or how to place your counters in "Home") or Rummikub (which we can now play with two packs of cards lest we forget the game). This year, Would I Lie To You caught my eye in Waterstones (other emporiums - emporia? - for book lovers are [locally] unavailable). It's a game, it says, for 2-8 players; however we dec...

A walk from Portchester Castle to Salt Cafe

Well we just had to choose the worst day of the year to walk. The date had been set weeks before - who knew there would be the worst winds of the decade almost on this very day? But we didn't want to be beaten. We will walk to the cafe. At least it wasn't raining! Parking is free next the castle and obviously, it wasn't busy this day! We set off around the outside of this medieval monument. The sea wall affords views across to Portsmouth and Gosport, and Portsdown Hill if you look behind. You can see the Spinnaker Tower in my photos, but you'd have to zoom in. The sea wall leads to a walk along a path, switching between grass (a much more sheltered area) beside a playpark, and the beach. It is an easy, flat walk, made slightly harder in the wind. After 1.75 miles, you reach the Salt Cafe (@saltcafe66). This took us one hour - that wind did slow us down! I've had a breakfast bap there before and remember it being delicious, but slightly expensive. But today, we...

That's not my Elf, he's too rude and noisy

At nursery drop-off this morning, I was handed part of Elf's transfer to school pack, you know, the bit that the pre-school teacher had completed and also that Elf had drawn in (looking worryingly like a blaze that Fireman Sam ought to be putting out instead of rescuing Norman's head from a saucepan with the "jaws of life"). Reading it, I had a sense of "That's not my child" in the way that the above tractor book is written. Surely, the little angel you've so kindly described here doesn't really exist, and certainly doesn't pretend to be my little Elf? So here is "This is not my child" book, by A Humdrum Mum. That's not my child He's too rude and noisy That's not my child He's uncaring and unkind (to me sometimes) That's not my child He wants to sit in front of the TV not run around in the garden That's not my child He won't help me take in the washing This is my child ...

A Humdrum Mum

Search This Blog