i love my work friends. like, a lot. and this is the time of year we all sort of go our separate ways until the new year when we start back at work, refreshed and revitalised for a new year of work.* so, to spend some quality time together before we disappeared over the christmas break, i planned a night of beer and burgers for us after work last week in north London.
i found this amaaazing dealcoud.com offer for a burger, fries and a beer for two people, for only £5. a fiver for two whole meals! something in that should have warned me that this might have been too good to be true...we each bought our vouchers, and i made sure to book in advance - fitting in 10 people in anywhere at 6pm can be tricky, and we were set! the day rolled around and we gathered in the reception after work. we held hands and skipped in pairs to the bus stop, where we held up the driver and pissed off passengers with our clumsy, uneducated bus catching...
we got off the bus, and walked an eternity to zenith bar - that's when the night really started. we walked into an empty room. i mean, there wasn't even a bartender in sight. we checked the vouchers; we had the right place. we made a bit of noise, and out of the kitchen stumbled a confused looking man. i explained we were here with our vouchers, for the booking under 'erica'. well. the confused look did not cease. there was no booking. worse still, apparently they don't take bookings on tuesdays? the guy remembered speaking to me on the phone, but said that he lost track of the reservation, and didn't take my number... and didn't remember me saying 'tuesday'... we simply stared at him. i said "so what are you saying?" his reply "well... i suppose i should do something... there are ten of you, but i don't have enough food for you all". gobsmacked.
a quick group huddled confirms we are going elsewhere, and we tell the guy so. he's still confused. we've told him we will claim refunds from dealcloud, and to that - he seems shocked. that shocks him. we walked up to the high room and stumble into the first pub we saw. by this time, it was soooo cold and frosty, it was like walking in a cloud. we stopped for a drink while we decided our plan of attack. a few of the people who were dragged along last minute under the guise of a free meal decided to head home, while others had other plans to be getting on with. in the end, it was carmen, brucie, boyfriend, martin and i. hungry and tipsy, we fell into what would soon be my new favourite restaurant...
desperados. mexican is not something i can usually eat - all of the food allergies, but since i've been back from morocco, i seem to have been able to eat whatever i want! maybe all of the beige food kicked the allergies out of me? who knows! what i do know is, that i ate the shit out of all of the mexican food and drink, with not a single consequence. carmen, brucie and i each had a few starters; nachos, potato skins, fajitas, chilli con carne and riiiiibs, while the 'men' each got themselves burgers. it was the best meal i could have hoped for that night. certainly a better meal than what would have come out of that kitchen at zenith earlier.
when we stumbled out an hour later, happy and full, it was frozen. we wasted no time in getting to the tube, so that we could hurry up and get back into the warm. another random night with my work mates made good because because of beer and (eventually) burgers.
winners are grinners!
*for the manager friends who might be reading.
