{"id":688,"date":"2017-07-05T10:15:00","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T10:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/05\/hiya-again-london-lunch-at-indian-ymca-camden-town-walking-tour-tea-and-dinner-with-friends\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T04:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:59:48","slug":"hiya-again-london-lunch-at-indian-ymca-camden-town-walking-tour-tea-and-dinner-with-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/05\/hiya-again-london-lunch-at-indian-ymca-camden-town-walking-tour-tea-and-dinner-with-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"Hiya Again, London! Lunch at Indian YMCA Camden Town Walking Tour, Tea and Dinner With Friends."},"content":{"rendered":"
\nWednesday, June 28, 2017:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b>
\n
<\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\nHello Again, London! Lunch at Indian YMCA, Walking
\nTour of Camden, Tea and Dinner with Friends. <\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n            <\/span><\/span><\/b>We woke up in London\u2019s South Bank neighborhood of
\nBattersea and made ourselves familiar with our new surroundings\u2014booked through
\nAir B&B. The basement room we occupied was tiny and with the bed pulled
\nout, there was barely place for the two of us to squeeze around. And if the
\nroom was small, the en suite bathroom was minuscule. I swear we were expected
\nto wash in a basin no larger than a soup bowl. We did not have use of any other
\nroom in the house and within one hour, we wondered how we could possibly spend
\nthe next five nights there! The solution lay in using the place only to crash
\nat night. During the day, we would stay out, as much as possible, as our room
\nmade both of us feel claustrophobic. 
\n<\/span>That said, we soon realized that the place was brilliantly located.
\nAlthough it was not served by a Tube station, there were three bus lines literally
\nright outside our doorstep. One took us to Victoria from where we could change
\nto the Tube lines, another took us to Oxford Street via Knightbridge and the
\nthird? Well, we barely used it at all. We decided to put up with the claustrophobia
\nsince you could not beat the place from the point of view of its location (or
\nits price).<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>Right after showering and eating granola bars for
\nbreakfast (we had replenished our supply in Westward Ho!), we set out for NYU
\nso that we could pick up our cases which had been stashed there and bring them
\nback with us to Battersea.  <\/span>This chore
\ntook up most of the morning as I also had the chance to say hello to a few of
\nmy former London colleagues like Phillipa who was not around last week and to
\nsay goodbye to those I would not be seeing again. Reversing our bus journey, we
\narrived at Battersea with our cases, dumped them in our room and since we were
\nstarving, decided to get out again immediately in search of lunch.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nLunch at the Indian YMCA:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>Eating at the Indian YMCA was also something I had long
\nmeant to do. Many Indians based in London had told me about the excellent
\nIndian food available at very reasonable prices in this little-known enclave
\nand I had long wanted to try the food out for myself. Now, regular readers of
\nthis blog know that Indian cuisine is not my favorite (is it sacrilegious for
\nme, an Indian, to admit this?) and when I am traveling, I try out every cuisine
\nexcept Indian as I get enough of that at home! However, this place had received
\nsuch good reviews from Indians that I felt I could not go wrong. Although
\nShahnaz was rather skeptical and not really keen to try it out, she obliged me
\nand we went out in search of the spot in Fitzrovia.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>It is my understanding that the Indian YMCA is so-called
\nbecause it is a branch of the ones that are run in India.  <\/span>Also, I believe that Gandhi\u2019s stay in London
\nin the late-19th<\/sup> century had something to do with the setting up of
\nthis place. Apparently, being vegetarian, he had a very hard time trying to
\nfind food he could consume in London as a young impoverished law student (this
\nis well documented in his autobiography, The
\nStory of My Experiments With Truth<\/i>). It appears that he and a few other
\nelite Indian vegetarian students got together to try to establish reasonably-priced
\naccommodation for Indian students in London that would also provide vegetarian
\nmeals. Apparently this place was the result. I am not sure how much of this
\nstory is correct, but it adds a bit of valuable history to the place.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>When we did find it, we were directed at the Reception to
\nthe adjoining vast dining room where large numbers of people were already
\nelbow-deep in their lunches. I say \u2018elbow-deep\u2019 as a few of them were eating
\nwith their fingers in genuine Indian style. 
\n<\/span>More power to them.  <\/span>We soon found
\nout that the food was laid out at a counter in small white ceramic bowls\u2014there
\nwas chicken curry, fish (cod) curry and lamb curry. Patrons could choose
\nwhatever they wanted. There were also bowls of mixed vegetable, raita, pickle
\nand mango chutney. Rice was dished out by a chef standing behind the counter.
\nChapattis were laid out on separate plates. I declined the rice and opted for
\nthe chapattis instead\u2014two was one too many for me but once I had picked up the
\nplate, I was loath to ask for one of them to be removed. It was a decision I
\nwould soon regret as I was told to pay one pound for each chapatti which I
\nthought was absolute highway robbery. Shahnaz chose the fish curry, I took
\nlamb. When we went to the cashier, we found that we had ended up paying almost
\n10 pounds for a meal that consisted of two chapattis, a small bowl of lamb
\ncurry (or fish), a small bowl of mixed vegetables and a bowl of raita. For the
\nsame money, I would have eaten far more and in a much more sophisticated place
\nin London. The meal was tasty\u2014I will not deny that. But it was hugely
\noverpriced and so thought both of us! Well, at least I ticked one more item off
\nmy To-Do List. You can be assured I will not be recommending this place to
\nanyone anytime soon.  <\/span>  <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>We finished our meal, used the facilities and rushed off
\nto the next item on our agenda for the day\u2014a Walking Tour of Camden given by
\nFree Tours on Foot, a company that I found when scouring the internet for Free
\nThings to do in London. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nTaking a Guided Walking Tour of Camden\u2014A Musical
\nJourney:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>Camden is not a part of London that I know too well\u2014I
\nthought a guided tour with a well-informed guide would be the way to discover
\nit. I had hoped it would tell us the history of the Camden Lock and the surrounding
\nareas of Regent\u2019s Canal and Primrose Hill. I had signed up for it and had
\nreceived instructions to meet our guide outside Chalk Farm Tube station at 2.00
\npm\u2014and that was where we headed.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>It was not long before we met our guide\u2014a pleasant,
\npersonable young man with loads of energy and enthusiasm. There were about six
\nother people on our tour\u2014a very manageable crowd. It was not long before we
\ndiscovered that our guide was a musician and knew a great deal about the
\nalternative music scene. This was not my cup of tea but I am always game to
\nlearn something new. The tour wound its way through the maze of streets that
\ncomprise what was once a basic working-class neighborhood filled with factories
\nand warehouses. Today, the area has been well gentrified and is filled with avant garde<\/i> clubs, wine bars, music
\nhalls, etc. It is the in place to be for young musicians looking for their
\nbreak. The biggest musical luminary associated with the area is the late Amy
\nWinehouse who made the place her stomping ground and broke into the music scene
\nfrom the clubs she frequented. The tour took in many details of her life,
\nshowed us tributes to her by street artists as well as a large sculpture in
\nCamden Market.  <\/span>In fact, there was a lot
\nof street art included on this tour\u2014a somewhat unexpected twist. Since neither
\nShahnaz nor I were familiar with any of the artists the guide mentioned, it was
\nnot very interesting for us. There was also very little on the history of the
\narea which was a disappointment for me. Overall, we learned a lot about the music
\nscene; but ask me one question about anything we learned and I will have to
\ntell you that I can recall nothing–none of it was my cup of tea, really. We
\nfinished off the tour at the Camden Lock itself when the guide passed around a
\nhat. You could put in whatever you thought the tour was worth. We made our
\ncontribution and then hurried off to our next appointment.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nTea with Barbara in Holborn:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span>My former Holborn neighbors Tim and Barbara have moved to
\nYork (a matter that still breaks my heart) but, to my good luck, Barbara
\ninformed me that they happened to be around in London while I was there.
\nAlthough Tim was busy with business clients, Barbara welcomed me to their flat
\nwhich is on the market and has yet to sell. It was terrific to return to my
\nformer digs which was the flat next door to theirs\u2014it always feels like a
\nhomecoming to me. And to our enormous surprise and delight, Barbara had tea
\nready and waiting for us\u2014in her best china too. There were also assorted
\ncupcakes! Yess!!! <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nWhat
\na lovely evening we ended up having as we chatted nineteen to the dozen and
\ncaught up on everything in their lives and mine. This was not something I had
\nhoped to do\u2014see Barbara again\u2014or to return to my former building. But having
\nhad a chance to spend some time with her, I jumped at it. And how lovely it
\nwas! Naturally, I hope they will find a buyer for their flat soon\u2026but for the
\nmoment, it was simply grand to see her in her flat with all the living room
\nfurniture still intact\u2014as if they had never moved at all!          <\/span>   <\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nDinner at L\u2019Antipasto<\/i>
\nwith Roz and Christie:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n
\n            <\/span><\/span><\/b>And finally, our evening came to an end with dinner in
\nBattersea with some more of my closest friends in London. Shahnaz and I had
\nenough time to get home to our digs also in Battersea and change into something
\na bit more dressy before we took the bus in the direction of Tooting and got
\noff at Letchmere for our dinner date with my friend Roz. I did not expect to
\nfind her partner Christie there too\u2014I had assumed he would be in India where he
\nworks for most of the year. L\u2019Antipasto<\/i>
\nis a favorite Italian restaurant of ours and Roz and I have often eaten there.
\nNothing I have chosen from the small menu has ever been anything other than
\nfabulous. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\nSo
\nthere we were\u2014at 7.30 pm hoping to be greeted by our friend Antonio, who,
\nunfortunately, was off today. However, this did not stop us from having an
\nuproarious reunion and exchanging gifts. 
\n<\/span>Next, we were sipping red wine that Christie had ordered and surveying
\nthe menu.  <\/span>Shahnaz and I decided to share
\na starter\u2014avocado and prawns in a marie rose sauce (not sure this is entirely
\nItalian, but it was delicious) and to share two mains: veal scallopini in a
\nlemony wine sauce with mushrooms and grilled king prawns with garlic and herbs
\nserved with a risotto on the side. Needless to say, our dishes were simply
\nsplendid and made for an absolutely delicious meal that was kept interesting by
\nour non-stop scintillating conversation. Although I love London with a passion,
\nI am realizing more than ever that it is the people I know and love there who
\nmake any trips to the capital more worthwhile for me. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>It was not long before we jumped on a bus that got us
\nback home to our digs in Battersea, just a few stops away, in under ten
\nminutes. Needless to say, we did nothing more than change into our PJs, brush
\nand floss our teeth and tumble straight on to our pull-out bed once we arrived
\nhome.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n            Until tomorrow, cheerio.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, June 28, 2017: Hello Again, London! Lunch at Indian YMCA, Walking Tour of Camden, Tea and Dinner with Friends.             We woke up in London\u2019s South Bank neighborhood of Battersea and made ourselves familiar with our new surroundings\u2014booked through Air B&B. The basement room we occupied was tiny and with the bed pulled out,… <\/p>\n

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