Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Burns Supper 2014 Bis

Mary fancied a Burns supper and went googling; we ended up going to not one but two Burns suppers.

Burns Supper 01 - The Ceilidh Club, Town Hall, Hammersmith on 18-Jan-2014.

Canteen style haggis, neeps and tatties followed by some dancing. It was a huge function room holding what seemed like hundreds of attendees. We sat out some and danced some. There were so many people it got a bit like Piccadilly Circus despite heroic efforts from the caller.

The piper leaving after the ode

Halfway through they did a full Address to a Haggis with attendant piper to escort the sonsie sausage in and out.

My advice to my unattached nephews is to forget the disco or nightclub and to get down the local Scottish dancing club - there were babes! And they'd be able to actually hear their best chat up lines.

Burns Supper 02 - Hix Mayfair, Brown's Hotel on 24-Jan-2014.

At the other end of the sophistication scale - a designer chef, celebrity host and a famous guest. The chef was Mark Hix, the host was writer and TV presenter Hardeep Singh Kohli (wearing turban and kilt) and the unexpected fellow guest was the acerbic critic A. A. Gill. I got to chat to all three albeit briefly.

We kicked off with a potent and delicious cocktail. As Mary was still doing the Dryathlon for Cancer Research I drank her cocktail, several whiskies and glasses of the wine which were included in the price. A misguided attempt to get our money's worth which I mildly regretted the following morning.

Address to the Haggis with Piper

Amusing anecdotes from Hardeep and genial conversation with our fellow diners.


And, of course, excellent food. We did "The Bard" proud.

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