B & K Salt Beef Bar and Restaurant Revisited

Mixed hors d'oeuvres.

We have already eaten the fried fish ball and some of the chicken liver. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Rye bread. B and K salt beef far and restaurant. Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Salt beef sandwich, chips, ketchup. Water with lemon.
Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
Where to eat which is friendly and fast and you are not expected to order a big meal? And reliable food which is filling for people who have literally starved all day.

(Don't ask why somebody was starving. Something to do with - no don't go there. Don't ask.)

Finally, open Sunday, early evening.

Answer
B and K. B and K is the answer to everything. How many stars?

✡✡✡✡
For my own interest, I shall give a plus or star for every good point.
✪
I must add, or rather deduct, a minus for each bad point. Or deduct a star for every missing item for the picky customer.

Picky Customers
The picky customer is not me, it's my starving relative. Okay, I admit it, two different picky customers. We both think that we are normal and the other person is picky. (Picky, in case any English speaking non British country reader is puzzled, is British slang for pernickety or fussy.)

Summary

Friendly, fast, filling, open Sunday evening, reasonably priced. You can get away with a sandwich for under ten pounds. Five stars. Almost everything. Not the answer to somebody who wants no pickled food. Back to four stars. I'll explain the pickle problem in a minute. 

Starter
I thought the starter of mixed hors d'oevre was cold and therefore fast and huge and enough for everyone. Yes, it was cold and fast and a large portion.

They brought two small plates. Yes, full marks for the plates. Back up to five stars.

Small plates, big platefuls
Why do they use such small plates? Is it to make the food seem bigger? No, I think I asked some time ago and if I remember rightly, which nobody ever does, it's something to do with the dishwashing.

Spills
Anyone small plates are a real nuisance for customers, well, at least one customer, me. I spent the whole time trying to take food off the plate with a knife and fork in scissor action. I used a spoon as a kind of mini dustbin. Back down to four stars.

I started wishing I had three hands. God, nature, whoever - bad design, only two hands. Those Hindu gods with several arms which much better suited to eating a buffet or a piled up small plate.

I was trying not to push food onto the relatively dirty table. The relativity was in my mind. The table looked clean but surely a plate is cleaner than a table?

Deciding that shifting food about on a plate in the middle of the table at arm's length was a recipe for disaster, I moved the plate as near myself as I could, near the edge of the table in front of myself. Despite the generous provision of a white napkin under the knife and fork originally (good touch that) now on my lap, I managed to get dripping coleslaw sauce down the front of my dress.

Stains
I know there's no a moment to lose with stains. Before nipping out of the back door to the toilet I tried to remove the stain by dousing with water from my water glass. The water had come up with a slice of lemon. Good again.

Bills
Ask for an itemised bill. Then you can see what you have ordered, what you have paid, and whether a tip is included.

Desserts And Take Away Food
Americans say take out. The Brits say take away.  After the filling dessert and main course we were full. We had half our main course packed up to take away. Plus a portion of lokshen pudding.

Chocolate cake or lokshen pudding? You choose. B and K Salt Beef Bar and Restaurant, Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Lokshen, Yiddish, translates into noodle for the Americans, pasta for the Italians.

Photo of Strudel and Cheesecake to take away or eat in at B & K Salt Beef Bar and Restaurant, Hatch End. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. 

The Chat

We chatted about the history of B & K, which first opened in 1967 in Edgware. The Edgware branch is still there. However, changes of name and ownership make it more complicated than that simple sentence. You can see more of the history on their website.

B & K SALT BEEF Bar and Restaurant, 11 Lanson House, Whitchurch Lane, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 6LN. Tel: 020 8952 8204.

B & K Salt Beef Bar and Restaurant, 353 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, Pinner, Middlesex, HA.

Tel 01923 518 693.

www.bksaltbeefbar.com/history

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Lovely lights at Edgware's Broadwalk Shopping Mall

Problem
Where to park in Edgware? It's free on Sunday but quite pricey in the week. You have to decide whether to park in the supermarket's car park or the long stay car park. We were travelling into town and opted for the long stay and assumed we might be longer than expected. We were stuck in traffic jams at the cross roads, and feared that we would not find a space.

Answer
We successfully parked at Edgware car park behind the bus and train station and the Broadwalk Shopping centre for over four hours (cost £4).

Story
I lived in Edgware as a child, with fond memories of eating cannelloni in Dino's every Saturday lunch time with my mother. Alas Dino's has now gone. Edgware now has Nando's and several other restaurants.
In the centre of the car park was an illuminated Xmas tree. Only later, after pausing to take a photograph, did I realise that it changed colour. First I thought it was blue, which looked odd. I assumed it was either Israeli colours, or politically correct.

However, when we returned later in the day, the tree had turned rad.

We drove around the car park and saw it again at another angle. Was it really the same tree? It was white.

Having paid for long-term parking, in order to have lunch in central London, we had time to go shopping on the way back. We then discovered that with the winter lights, the shopping centre is very attractive.

The lights within the shopping mall also change colour, red, magenta, green blue, white, and multi-coloured. Angels in white are at the corner of the central area which has a Costa in the middle.

The shopping mall has a handy mix of shops, ranging from Poundland to Marks and Spencer, Smiths, and Boots. Sainsbury's is at the back.

Tip
1 Poundland has two queues for payment. The one on the left is for self-service checkout.
2 Check for the current free car parking hours - parking used to be free on Sundays.
3 Remember to validate your car park ticket at the machine before driving out. You cannot pay at the exit point. The barrier lifts when you insert a ticket which has been validated.
4 B & K restaurant, my favourite place in Edgware, is closed on Monday. Check their opening times (which varying seasonally according to holidays).
B and K Salt Beef Bar, 11 Lanson House, Whitchurch Ln, Edgware, London HA8 6NL
Phone:020 8952 8204

Action
For opening times, see their website:
www.thebroadwalkcentre.co.uk/

The pictures in this post are of the inside and from the car park at the back.
My photo in a previous post shows a Christmas tree at the front of the mall.
All photos by Angela Lansbury, copyright 2016.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.