The Cricketers — Restaurant in London

Sunday evening in post COVID-19 times can be strange, as a couple of friends and myself were contemplating whether we would like to take the plunge and actually have our first meal at a restaurant after over 4 months. I am so glad we took the plunge as our dinner at the Cricketers "naan and curries" was fantastic.

The star of the show was definitely the samosa chat followed by a close second in the chicken biryani. We also ordered the paneer Tikka roll which was fantastic in its own right, but the sure aroma and taste of the biryani and samosa chat made our meal extremely enjoyable.

With a pleasant ambience, courteous wait staff and perfect hygiene standards with all social distancing norms followed, our first meal at a restaurant after 4 months was...

Having walked by this pub many times before  venturing in, I was surprised to find it to be much busier inside than I expected. All the tables were taken, and there were no seats at the bar. Well, perhaps, it shouldn’t have been surprising as it was after all a Friday at around 6pm. I ordered a pint and a burger & chips and fell into a conversation with a regular patron while waiting for the food to arrive. When it did, I managed to get a seat at the bar and had a remarkably satisfying meal. Overall, I would describe this pub, which is not large, as being a cozy, tidy and friendly establishment, an assessment confirmed on a second visit several weeks later. It's worth a visit if you are in the area. Quiz night is on Wednesdays starting...

Last time we visited, most of the beers had run out. The few that hadn't tasted strongly of cleaning solution. Ended up having to have a bottle in the end.

It's a shame, was rooting for these guys to survive lockdown- they carried out a lovely refit when Covid hit. We'd had a few pleasant pints since then. However, it seems like there's a lack of ability to carry out the basic housekeeping needed to run a pub.

The "beer garden" at the rear was a dank little concrete area with a carpet of broken glass and rusting furniture. A bit post-apocalyptic, but not in a cool way.

I'd say "I hope that this was a one-off", but it was a sufficiently awkward and unpleasant experience that I'm not sure...