Balthazar

I had a meeting in London, today, and one of the topics of discussion was about expectations that clients and customers have when they're paying for a premium service or one where the price is clearly more expensive than the competition.

This conversation was brought sharply back to mind when I arrived at Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen, this evening. I wasn't surprised, given the location and hipster decor, that my glass of wine was expensive: the fact it was a pokey variety was pretty irritating, though. Thus, as I sought out a table and looked around, I found myself grumbling to myself, not least with regard to the wall murals: gratuitously rude. Maybe I'm getting old or maybe I would have enjoyed them if they'd been funny.

Anyway, I soon perked up when I was joined by the Minx, the lovely Katie (whom I hadn't met before) plus my old chums John and Ash. Highlights included a firsthand account of Ash's epic and highly inebriated journey home from his Christmas party and the Minx's esoteric round of drinks, which included Chartreuse, Campari and soda, and Midori and lemonade.

As a result of this, I was in a very musically receptive mood when the Minx and I moved downstairs to see Balthazar. There's a review here.