What geeks eat…
eating and thinking in Wisconsin

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Old Smoke, art, and wildebeest

Old smoke is London’s nickname and it’s easy to see why. Our lovely weather has given way to drizzle and fog but the temps are still reasonable and if we carry our umbrellas we guarantee it won’t actually rain.

We went back to the Tate Modern and the Imperial War Museum. Both are excellent museums with such extensive collections that we were unable to see it all on our first visits. The IWM has a fascinating exhibit on what it was like to live in London during the blitz. The Tate has these huge tube slides that the boys were crazy about. I loved the Sliding Doors exhibit which focuses on perception.

After our late afternoon nap (yes, holiday is fabulous) we hopped back on the tube and headed east to Tower Hill Station. We had a brief walk to the evening’s restaurant but we managed to get incredibly lost and ended up hailing a cab to take us the short distance to Cafe Spice Nameste.

Aidan Brooks did some training at this restaurant and once he knew we were eager to eat Indian food he and his father Mike recommended that we go to Cafe Spice. We are so glad we did because it was fabulous. To be honest I’ve never eaten Indian food in a restaurant. I’ve made Indian food and I’ve eaten it at a friend’s house but in Madison there aren’t a lot of Indian food options.

Alex was looking forward to the new culinary experience but Dexter was worn out and claimed that he wouldn’t be eating. But that quickly changed. The papadums arrived and we all dug in. For starters we ordered the fabulous traditional snack mix of Bhael Poori, a potato fritter type thing called Papeta Nay Kheema na Pattice, and a lamb Dosa. For entrees Alex ordered the Wildebeest skewers, I had the Ostrich Bhuna, Dave went with the stuffed chicken breast of Saphaed Murgi ni Chaanti, and Dex had the Vindalho de Carne de Porco. We also had Peshwari Naan. Everything was incredibly fresh, full of individual flavors that really popped, and it was delightful. Alex and Dave favored the Wildebeest as their favorite and I loved my Ostrich, and of course Dexter adored his Pork. The meal was a huge success. I wish I could eat food like that all the time. It was so inventive, robust, and delicious. I have to learn how to make the peshwari naan because it was positively addicting. We had no room left for dessert though.

Today we will prowl through more museums and tonight we’re seeing a show in the west end called Jump. It is billed as Jackie Chan meets the Royals…should be a hoot.

Cheers!

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