Magdala
2A South Hill Park
NW3 2SB
Tel: 020 7435 2503
Date of Last Visit: Sunday, 10 February 2008
The Victims: Gerry, Ben, Christiaan, Cat
The Damage: £20ish? I still owe Ben money.
The Story: Why, when I'm not drinking beer these days, I choose to spend all my time in pubs, I cannot tell you. Why I'm also finding myself playing a lot of games (game games, not mind games), I also cannot tell you. Logic problems. Scrabulous on Facebook. Prolific (formerly Bogglific) on Facebook. Phase 10. (My new favorite game.) Hmmm.
I do like games. And games in a pub are even better. And games in a pub on one of the most beautiful Sundays in a while…now that's just a great way to while away an afternoon. Put me on an eerie winning streak, and well…
So we are at Magdala in Belsize Park and the sun is so bright and streaming through the windows that my large, "beautiful people" sunglasses are being passed around the table to protect us from the glare.
The Food: No one if hungry but me (of course) so I order the parsnip soup. Gerry follows suit. It's supposed to come with ciabatta, but it doesn't. (See, you can see ciabatta clearly listed on the menu! So I was not imagining things.) But the standard bread basket is really nice…tomato bread? So we survive.
I also order a pasta dish–pesto and spinach and tomatoes and there's a mention of Stinking Bishop but I ignore that, unwisely so as it turns out. The pasta is served over a big fist-sized wedge of stinking bishop. And this is just so much more stinking bishop than I was prepared to eat. The overall taste of the dish is one of flatness. And I find myself reaching for the salt. But who puts salt on pasta? Hmmm.
The Loos: Possess a Dyson Air Blade!
The Verdict: I liked the service. I liked the sunniness of it all. I did not overly enjoy my food, but I'm sure many people would be perfectly happy.
Coming Soon…Tokyo Diner, Oops, Abeno Too, Yauatcha macaroons
