K2 Hailsham - 25 September 2009

At the allotted time of 7.30 pm all members had taken their seats with the exception of two latecomers Mark & Del (the author of this blog). Our appearance 15 minutes late coincided with another round of 14 Cobras the theme of the evening being set.
Being late and one beer down I lost out on the spoof to have the honour of writing this blog.

On this particular evening, the restaurant was devoid of any life so much that if it hadn’t been for the MCC one would have to take the pulse of the rest of the diners; however, our very own Dr Dick kept his hands in his pockets even though there was a party celebrating a women’s 18th birthday, judging by the noise emanating from their group however, they could easily have been celebrating her 81st birthday!.
At about 10 pm and in true gentlemen and MCC fashion a raucous version of Happy Birthday was entered into, which seemed to go amiss with the birthday group but we wished them well on their early night.

In the intervening hours, the usual tests and food conversations had taken place, the Cobras were chilled, the pappadum scored well as did the accompanying condiments and given the not so busy evening all dishes arrived on time and were plentiful.
For once James the gay builder was not the centre of the entertainment but a Fez, a present that Justin had purchased for our erstwhile group commandant Henry from his annual trip to Tunisia. This was not the Moroccan Tommy Cooper type with a tassel but of local design, intricately stitched with jewels and that was just Justin’s. Henry’s was black, sequined and very fitting. I can see all members wearing MCC coloured Fezzes from now on.
NB. Author make note to speak to MCC stylist Justin

It was agreed that to help increase the Christmas fund we should all try and guess the cost in dinars of this said present. This obviously made Justin very nervous on a number of fronts. Firstly he wasn’t sure of the Tunisian currency or the exchange rate and secondly but more importantly he couldn’t remember the actual price as he later confessed that it was on special offer as a BOGOF.

Much hilarity ensued and the winner who guessed that it cost the princely sum of £2.50 (5 dinars) was newbie Darren who under no duress kindly donated his 50p winnings to the pot; this group knows no bounds to their generosity.

And now for the main reason for the gathering; the restaurant and food.
It has to be said that I am still wondering how the K2 managed second place, on 82 points given its lack of atmosphere, not the most inspiring décor, the conveniences were shoddy but easy to find, and the traditional music only really kicked in when it was time to pay.
On the plus side; the service and general demeanour of the staff was very good, well they weren’t busy and the small number of customers that were there didn’t keep them over exercised. Their ability to offer after dinner drinks and mints without hesitation and generous sized coffees be they liquor or espresso may have had something to do with them scoring highly. The clincher was the bill at £32 each, the total which interestingly the ‘acting’ headteacher, come geography and maths specialist David Pinard guessed correctly without the aid of a calculator, mobile phone or an abacus. They say that teachers and the education system is improving, DP is living proof

The starters were generally okay, except my mixed tandoori grill: the chicken pieces were cold and when pointed out to the manager he said, no wait for it” of course it is cold, it’s salad” a Groucho Marx born everyday hey.
I knew from that moment onwards that the night was going to be a long drawn out affair.

Overall the food was deemed to be okay nothing great, for once the majority ordered desserts and not just Chris and Mark our resident sweet teeth. Typical list of ice cream served in plastic coconuts, but very enjoyable nonetheless.

On the way out some of the younger members decided to mount the silver elephant on display posing for pictures that no doubt will be on youtube very soon.

On a final but personal note on this occasion and in particular the morning after, I was served notice by my family to disband any idea that I harboured of building an en suite: as best described by my daughter who awoke very early claiming that the stench wafting around the house caused her to wake up in panic thinking the drains had been dug up.