The Dock Kitchen, near the famous Kensal Green Cemetery, was the unusual venue for a Wine Society Dinner. The Wine Society, whose events are mostly in Stevenage at their wine shop, hosted a group dinner in NW London, started with drinks downstairs by the riverside windows, then a seated dinner upstairs.
The wine tasting events are far less sociable, you scarcely speak to anybody, unless you make a point of it as everybody is charging around seeking the next glass of wine to taste, spitting in spittoons and making notes. But a sit down dinner is an opportunity to meet other people as well as enjoying a restaurant.
Our event started with drinks in the Dock Kitchen bar area overlooking the water. Delightful venue, bricks and arched windows in the bar. Whole place most amusing. Case displaying items for sale including napkin holders. Paintings of people on the door to the Ladies' and Gents' toilets.
Starter
Platters to share. Chicken livers - great; Indian salad, Curried tomato, all good.
Chewy Indian breads.
Main Course
Lamb and spinach. What - no potato? More Indian breads.
Cheese
Three great cheeses paired with Greywacke Reisling 2011.
Dessert
High point of the meal. Pistachio and nutmeg cake. Paired with Greywacke late harvest Pinot Gris 2011.
Coffee: All kinds of coffee. (But no chocolates - at least not for us.)
Waiting Staff
Helpful and friendly.
Clientele of Group
My end of my table was mostly middle aged or retired couples or half couples (pair of men whose wives were at home), all either retired and/or with children in their twenties or thirties.
Cost
A three figure sum per person. But that includes:
1) Talk by wine expert, pre-dinner 'aperitif' drinks.
2) Four course meal including Indian breads, three platter starter, main course, three cheeses, plus dessert and coffee.
3) Also drinks; plus three glasses of different wines including a main course wine, a cheese wine, and a sweet dessert wine.
4) Bottled still and fizzy waters. Service included. And no charge for taking coats.
The Event and The Venue For Group Dinners
I heard and saw the speaker by pushing towards the front, but when you have a speaker in a long room over three areas you need a microphone.
Upstairs the long tables were great for getting to know people. But the speaker who had travelled all the way from New Zealand to tell us about his wines was cut short so we could start dinner. It was a pity he was not given a microphone so he could have continued the talk to both rooms simultaneously, or in succession. Some of us had booked the event specifically to hear about his wines and ask questions.
This was a Wine Society event mainly booked by married couples, so how do I describe it? Business? Or Couples? It was a private function organised by a club or business for a pre-booked event, not couples wandering in off the street, but the food was cooked by their regular kitchen.
Transport
Buses outside take you back uphill past the high walls of the famous Kensal Green cemetery. Make sure you get the right bus to Kensal Green. Cross the lights going uphill. We took one bus which went left at the lights, another took us right at the lights, and we found a hug complex with a hidden Sainsbury's supermarket, which would have been handy another time but not when we were trying to catch the last train.
Dock kitchen
Wine Society
Gunnels Wood Road,
Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 2BT
Enquiries: 01438 741177
thewinesociety.com
It costs £40 to join the Wine Society for life but you get a £20 voucher to spend on their wines in shop or on line, and you can take one or more people who are not members to free and paid-for events - just apply for tickets.
The wine tasting events are far less sociable, you scarcely speak to anybody, unless you make a point of it as everybody is charging around seeking the next glass of wine to taste, spitting in spittoons and making notes. But a sit down dinner is an opportunity to meet other people as well as enjoying a restaurant.
Our event started with drinks in the Dock Kitchen bar area overlooking the water. Delightful venue, bricks and arched windows in the bar. Whole place most amusing. Case displaying items for sale including napkin holders. Paintings of people on the door to the Ladies' and Gents' toilets.
Starter
Platters to share. Chicken livers - great; Indian salad, Curried tomato, all good.
Chewy Indian breads.
Main Course
Lamb and spinach. What - no potato? More Indian breads.
Cheese
Three great cheeses paired with Greywacke Reisling 2011.
Dessert
High point of the meal. Pistachio and nutmeg cake. Paired with Greywacke late harvest Pinot Gris 2011.
Coffee: All kinds of coffee. (But no chocolates - at least not for us.)
Waiting Staff
Helpful and friendly.
Clientele of Group
My end of my table was mostly middle aged or retired couples or half couples (pair of men whose wives were at home), all either retired and/or with children in their twenties or thirties.
Cost
A three figure sum per person. But that includes:
1) Talk by wine expert, pre-dinner 'aperitif' drinks.
2) Four course meal including Indian breads, three platter starter, main course, three cheeses, plus dessert and coffee.
3) Also drinks; plus three glasses of different wines including a main course wine, a cheese wine, and a sweet dessert wine.
4) Bottled still and fizzy waters. Service included. And no charge for taking coats.
The Event and The Venue For Group Dinners
I heard and saw the speaker by pushing towards the front, but when you have a speaker in a long room over three areas you need a microphone.
Upstairs the long tables were great for getting to know people. But the speaker who had travelled all the way from New Zealand to tell us about his wines was cut short so we could start dinner. It was a pity he was not given a microphone so he could have continued the talk to both rooms simultaneously, or in succession. Some of us had booked the event specifically to hear about his wines and ask questions.
This was a Wine Society event mainly booked by married couples, so how do I describe it? Business? Or Couples? It was a private function organised by a club or business for a pre-booked event, not couples wandering in off the street, but the food was cooked by their regular kitchen.
Transport
Dock kitchen
Portobello Docks, 342-344 Ladbroke Grove, London W10 5BU
Phone:020 8962 1610.
www.dockkitchen.co.uk
.
Their online menu says: £24.50 for three course set menu on Mondays.
Gunnels Wood Road,
Stevenage, Hertfordshire, SG1 2BT
Enquiries: 01438 741177
thewinesociety.com
It costs £40 to join the Wine Society for life but you get a £20 voucher to spend on their wines in shop or on line, and you can take one or more people who are not members to free and paid-for events - just apply for tickets.
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