It was my first visit ever to Hard Rock Cafe, London (cant count the Hard Rock Casino in Vegas..i only got a sneak peak) and i thoroughly enjoyed it. One, because i really enjoy the usual American fare and two, its the first Hard Rock Cafe in the world (opened in 1971). Since it was a weekday we thought reservations wouldn't be necessary, but to our surprise it was packed and we had a two hour wait. There was also a concert on and so we decided to check that out. Entry was separate and four amateur bands were performing. The first band was just about to start when we walked in. I was a little over excited seeing all the rock and roll memorabilia covering the walls and Ro had this totally disinterested look on his face. A look that implies he's thinking hard about some serious issues..like hes gonna give me some gyan about life in general and the root of all our arguments...the disapproval of how we should live our lives..Well we had started off on a bad note in the train and i warned him saying we should go back if he intends to stick to the boring behaviour. But we didn't and i decided to have a nice time no matter what..If Ro didn't, it was his loss.
But as soon as our drinks came and the band was in full swing, the moods changed. Ro so totally is a music buff and he enjoyed it. I love the American joints like TGIF and Chili's and now HRC for the variety of fancy Cocktails they serve. The boring pubs in UK have wine, cider, ales or beer (100's of varieties of those but no cocktails. Now who cant go to a super market and get those?) But cocktails have this personalised feel to it and you mix and match and you get something either good or something horrific at the end).
Once in TGIF, when i was finding it difficult to make up my mind, the bar boy (gorgeously cute) told me,'I can make anything and everything love, tell me what you want. And i said, 'Go ahead,surprise me.' No actually i asked him for a Long Island Iced Tea and he convinced me I'd like the California Iced Tea instead (forgot what the ingredients were) and it was amazing.
My Berry-rita
Coming back to HRC....I had a Berry-rita which is the cranberry version of the Margarita. Was so so good, except I need to ask them to go easy on the ice the next time. It kinda gets diluted after a while. Ro had the same ol Gin and Tonic..something i also have recently started to enjoy with a hint of orange lemonade.
Two hours went by quite fast with the bands in full swing and we went back to the cafe just in time for our table. Our dear waitress Anna from Poland was at our service. Ro has this habit of striking up a conversation with anyone and everyone (fellow passengers in a train, the barber, the guy at the till, the concierge etc). I on the other hand hate having to make conversation with people leave alone strangers. I pray that my hair dresser doesn't start talking to me, i go to the self check-out section to avoid chit chats at the till and in the trains..i pretend to sleep. How made for each other are we? So yes, you guessed right..Ro got her entire life history and as he said..if i hadn't glared at him, he would have also gotten her phone number. She, in the process of yapping her life story, forgot our order and had to ask us again (no tips for you, Polish woman!).
American food..oh how absolutely tasty they are- the ribs, spicy chicken wings and steaks and sandwiches. The quantities are also humongous unlike Brit food which is bland and tasteless and variety-less. All the freaking pubs here have a pie, fish and chips, roast beef or chicken (trust me they are horrible) and if you are lucky, burgers (by now you may have realized how biased i am). Our drinks came in (I ordered a Hurricane (Keepers they are called if you want to keep the glass as a souvenir) and Ro had some rum based cocktail-forgot the name in my excitement on seeing the souvenir) followed by a Trio platter of BBQ Ribs, BBQ Chicken and Smoked Pulled-Pork served with fries, beans and coleslaw and the Hickory Smoked chicken wings with a bleu cheese dip and celery sticks (did i mention I'm off the Kelloggs diet for this week?). There was just way too much food and we ended up wasting a bit. I wanted to try the desserts, but had absolutely no space for it. Will go back another day and have it.
It was a bit expensive which was to be expected since its American fare in UK. In the US, its dirt cheap and they have a wider variety too..we used to frequently visit the TGIF's in Chicago and they finally gave us a membership card (yeah!).
It sure was a night i enjoyed after a long long time and thank you Ro for making it fun filled and not grumpy-like. Although my ramblings were about the cocktails and the US/UK comparison, I'm guessing you have at least a faint idea about the Hard Rock Cafe in general. Posting some pics to add to the fun:)
Hurricane (I got the glass as the souvenir) and the Rum drink
Some of the stuff on the walls
Madonna's Jacket (Ro was upset her spiked undies were not on display)
