Harrow-on-the-Hill, Airbnb - quirky house, room with view of Harrow Spire

Harrow-on-the-Hill Church spire. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Problem
It's always a pleasure to drive up to historic Harrow-on-the-Hill. But it has no hotels. Can you rely on airbnb? I've never stayed in one. I was visiting a friend's house for a club committee meeting, which happens regularly, every six weeks. The downstairs mezzanine toilet was occupied so I asked for another and was sent to the top of the house where I got to see the whole place for the first time.

What a delight. Different paintings and curios all over the place. A warren of rooms in a house built on the hillside.

I thought, what a shame that visitors to Harrow never get to see inside an old, quirkly place like this.

I said to my friend, Gill, "You ought to be on airbnb!"
She replied, "I am."

I looked. Sure enough, she is.

Harrow-On-the-Hill's modest house fronts hide a myriad of delights. So do the tiny shop fronts and restaurant windows. The buildings extend backwards, like Alice in Wonderland's rabbit hole, opening up an entire world of weird wonders.

The Castle pub, on the corner, Harrow-on-the-Hill.

Historic Harrow-on-the-Hill school buildings in red brick.

The school's arched doorways and windows are restful and inviting, even on a rainy day.

What is Gill like? A fun lady and a forthright lady who has knowledge and opinions on every subject.

The Church And Spire
From a tourist's point of view, the most amazing thing is the house. The room they rent out has a view of the famous Harrow-on-the Hill church spire.

If you don't get to Harrow-on-the-Hill and don't get to Gill's, you can also see the spire from the Metropolitan line trains. They run fast from Baker Street (of Sherlock Holmes and Madame Tussaud's fame), to Harrow on the Hill. You can see that spire for miles around.

A few yards along the road on the corner is the Castle pub. I have eaten there for lunch with a writing group.

You can walk uphill to historic Harrow-on-the-Hill with its statue of Elizabeth high up on the wall, boutique shops and restaurants, tours of the school in season, and streets where the boys wear boaters (straw hats) in the summer term.

Or walk downhill to bustling Harrow with its department store and two shopping malls.

You can walk up and down the leafy hill to enjoy the exercise and views, or take the H7 single-decker bus to Wembley Central.

Useful Websites
To book the room with the view of the spire:
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/5902247?location=crown%20street%20Harrow%20on%20the%20Hill%2C%20United%20Kingdom&s=8e3ZEhj4

visitlondon.com
visitbritain.com
visitbritainshop.com
tfl.gov.uk (Transport for London, government site)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. I have several more posts on Harrow,  Wembley, Sherlock Holmes, London and destinations worldwide. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Let students prepare gourmet meals at affordable prices at a college restaurant in Singapore

Problem
Where can I eat well and cheaply in Singapore - without pretentious prices and service?

Answer
The restaurant of the ITE catering college. ITE stands for Institute of Technical Education. This vocational college has three branches, ITE College West, ITE College Central and ITE College East.
They serve food at Amber, Crema and Deli.
What you want is the Amber Restaurant. They are open during college terms but closed in the holidays and during exam times, so check their website.

They offer meals at these times
Monday to Friday
Lunchtime during college term time:
12 noon - 3 pm (last orders at 2 pm).
Evening 6 - 9 pm (last orders at 8 pm)

Amber Restaurant
Tel: (+65) 6431 6178. I phoned them Dec 6, 2017, and got a recorded message saying they were closed for the holidays. Plus 65 is the code for Singapore from outside the country.

School and College Holidays in Singapore
In Singapore the long holiday of six weeks is the winter, Christmas and new year break, sometimes ending for schools on January 2nd. Colleges may have longer holidays.
The Singapore schools have a four-week break for summer and another spring break (Easter) and an autumn break.

ITE restaurants will open again after the winter/Xmas?New Year break around Jan 10th in 2017 and Jan 9th in 2018.

You will find similar college restaurants in many cities worldwide. The ones run by private catering colleges tend to come and go. We went several times to two branches of Shatek in Singapore which closed.

I've read about another similar place in London, England.

I also noted one or two in the USA.

Australian School and College Holidays
Australia has the same seasonal breaks as Singapore, so that I met teachers from Australia on a tour of Harrow School at Harrow-on-the-Hill in London, when the Australian teachers had their long holiday, making it worthwhile for them to take a long break in England (despite the cold weather). Our tour of Harrow school including tea in the school dining room.

Useful Websites:
You can see a photo of the Amber West restaurant on the ITE West website. They have white tablecloths and armchairs.
http://west.ite.edu.sg/soh/sitepages/amber.aspx

 Amber West

Block 2 Level 4

Tel: 6431 0178
Email: fnbcw@ite.edu.sg

Facebook: Amber West Restaurant @FNBCW

Instagram: @fnbcw

Reviews:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Amber@West/
Price for three-course set meal about $25 including a glass of wine and coffee or tea. Nearest MRT Teck Whye. See their directions page for trains and buses. 

See my reviews of the restaurant upstairs in Pathways school in Cashew Road, opposite Cashew MRT, Singapore.

ART (restaurant) re-opens Tuesday January 2nd 2018.
http://www.aps.edu.sg/theart

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

Historic Harrow On The Hill

Harrow on the Hill station brings you to modern Harrow at the base of the hill, with a department store and all the shops you could wish for and two undercover malls and a cinema.  Exit one side of the station and you are in the modern shopping area. Exit from the other side and you have stepped back in time to historic Harrow with a view of Harrow on the Hill, topped by the church spire which you can see for miles, and from the Metropolitan line train as you approach and leave.

Harrow presents different centuries and a different atmosphere at different times of day.  First are the steep streets, narrow winding uphill. The small doors and the windows looking onto the street. The historic plaques. The corner pub,called  the Castle. The top is a road with Henry watching from one end, the famous school with statues in the outer walls at the other end. In between, coffee shop, restaurants and a shop selling school uniform and straw summer hats (boaters) for the boys.

I took the tour of the school some years ago, meeting Australians whose seasons are upside down to those in Harrow, so Harrow's summer is Australian winter holiday, and Harrow at Christmas is their winter holiday. This must increase the sense of time travel.

At every turn there's something new to look at. I noticed a red phone box. Next to it was a heritage plaque above a doorway.  

The plaque mentions The Old Fire Station 1888-1963.

Photos by Angela Lansbury.

(I have other posts on Harrow and restaurants in Harrow here on this travel blog and reviews on TripAdvisor.

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

Honey of a restaurant, Incanto, at Harrow-on-the-Hill

With some trepidation I went to Incanto Restaurant, Harrow-on-the-Hill because it had changed hands and had mixed reviews. I am glad to report that we had a delightful meal. Beyond the deli which overlooks the street is in the upstairs restart, secluded, but brightly lit by overhead windows. The mirror along one wall adds to the spaciousness.

We were immediately shown to our booked table. The dishes started with bread and oil served on a wooden platter. Then came the amuse gueule of white cheese creamed in a teeny shot glass. I assumed it was sweet but it was cheese. Tasty, like blue cheese.

My starter of pea soup had a line of fresh peas in the middle which was pleasing to the eye and mouth. Green asparagus contrasting with yellowy cream sauce was wonderful on the eye and tongue.

My main course of veal with creamed potatoes was pleasant. With three main dishes I was able to sample some of the thick steak and thick chips, as well as the third exotic looking main course of duck.

Honeycomb

Chocolate and fruit

Desserts
The highest point was the desserts.Chocolate with a melting middle and raspberries on the side. We'd seen it carried past and two of the three of us chose that. I oped to have something different on principle. By process of elimination I decided not to go for the cheeses, nor the mixed ice creams, although the flavours sounded lovely, and the dessert with meringue sounded just too sugary. That left me with a dessert which featured honeycomb. Wonderful.

For drinks I started with Prosecco. Can't go wrong. The other two shared a bottle of red wine. Too much for two, as one was driving. But the staff provided a cork so we could take the leftovers home. i had looked at the wine list earlier and noted a glass of muscat which did not appear on the dessert menu. So you have more options to go with your coffees, or instead, before or after.

The only disappointment was that although I had phoned earlier to point out that one of us had a birthday and to ask if we could have a candle, the person answering the phone had not noted this. I thought I'd also mentioned that 'The birthday boy is parking the car'.

However when the desserts had appeared without a candle, and nothing immediately after that, and the others were asking for the bill. I rushed back to the desk to ask where was the candle.

After a quick confab, that the desserts had already been served, somebody said, 'with the petits fours'. We had not ordered coffee which I presumed came with petits fours, but they brought another dessert with the honeycomb with a candle which was very welcome. We liked the petits fours of chocolate, soft nougat and ice cream.

Service from Irish Liz from Belfast was all smiles. We were all very pleased with our evening.

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

Special Service at Incanto Restaurant, Harrow-on-the-hill, The Helmsley, and a hotel in San Francisco

Special Service in London, New York and San Francisco

I thought the service at Incanto restaurant in Harrow-on-the Hill, NW London was excellent.

Napkins
When I dropped my napkin on the floor, one of the servers approached and I thought, 'That's nice. They've noticed and they're going to pick it up for me.'
They did better still. They removed the white cloth napkin which had dropped on the floor under my feet and brought a new one.

Later, when either of us left the table, in our absence the server picked up the crumpled napkin from the table and folded it neatly into a triangular shape.

Here is one of the smiling staff, David, the director.

Bustling about keeping an eye on everything are your servers.

***

New York
When I arrived in New York for a two-year stay, I was in the Helmsley hotel briefly. Breakfast was amazing. First I dropped a piece of cutlery. The maitre d was standing at the front of the restaurant with his back to a pillar or wall, watching the entrance to his left and the aisle down the centre of the long restaurant in front of him. As I dipped my fork on the floor I looked up, open-mouthed in distress, and saw the restaurant manager looking towards me. I looked backwards, wondering if I could grab a fork from the table behind, without waiting for service nor troubling staff who were far away. The young waiter serving coffees was on his continuous tour around the restaurant and a few steps behind my table. The head waiter or manager signalled to the nearer member of staff who grabbed the nearest fork, handed it to me - by the handle, of course, not the prongs, and then picked up the fork from the floor and removed it. Time elapsed under a minute.

I continued eating and our son aged about seven took a small jam pot and clutched it possessively.
"Put it back!" I hissed.
"They are being very nice to us and we must be very nice to them. They are watching us. You must not take anything. You must be well behaved and whisper and not should and not touch anything and not run out. DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING! Daddy is here doing an  important job and you are on holiday and if you get us in trouble Daddy will lose his job and you will lose your holiday."
He put the jam back

On the way out the manager smiled and beckoned to our son. I thought, 'Oh, my God, he's going to warm my son about not taking the little jam pot."

The manager gave a big grin and handed my son a jam pot, and then a second one.

We left, all smiles.

Service in San Francisco
Another time I had such wonderful service was in a hotel in San Francisco. When I abandoned my scrambled egg to take a phone call (from the tourist board) my plate was whisked away. I returned and was horrified. The staff assured me that a new egg would be cooked, not re-heated, cooked fresh. Afterwards I thanked them for cooking me another egg after my egg had been removed, as I thought, by mistake. It was explained that there had been no mistake, it was their practice to re-cook the breakfast egg when a diner was called away so the food went cold.

Incanto.co.uk

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer, photographer and speaker.

Incanto restaurant, Harrow on the Hill, update with new pictures of Food

The boys from the world famous Harrow school were on the streets wearing their famous summer straw hats, despite the rain. (I had left my straw-brimmed hat at home in favour of something more closed weave.) Then later it was sunny again.

Old Harrow on the Hill near the famous school.

Incanto restaurant with London red brick gothic style windows - from the old days when it was a post office. Outside seating for smokers. The deli with seating is just inside the front door. The restaurant is at the back but bright and airy and clean and white with overhead windows.

Whilst waiting we are served thee types of hot bread, unsalted butter with salt on the side.

Incanto cocktail of prosecco and blackcurant, and the first taste of their cuisine.

Flavourful dessert.

Complimentary chocolates, three for each of us, with the coffee. Raspberry in white chocolate. I think that marble platter is not just a pretty place, to put a set of six chocolates, but makes sure they will not melt but keep them cool and in shape.

Set lunch, great value.

I had an interesting chat with David, the director, who runs the restaurant and deli, and Emmanuel, who is front of house in the restaurant. I learned that chefs have to give six months notice. I must admit I thought it was much more exciting, that all chefs got drunk, waved carving knives, and marched out through the restaurant mid-dinner on Saturday night, leaving patrons puzzled and muttering over microwave meals on a Sunday. Apparently in upmarket restaurants it is all much more civilised.

I sat admiring the ensemble of other diners.

One boy wore a top subtly said Harrow School. Another had a bright white shirt so stiffly starched and creased and ironed it must have come out of the packaging a moment earlier.  Adults outfits ranged from one red jumper to men wearing ties and pin stripe suit to one bedecked with a bow tie - your realise that Incanto is a restaurant of higher calibre.

Ladies, if you have a leather designer handbag waiting to sit on a banquette instead of the floor, and elegant silk underwear pining for an outing, they will not be wasted but will make you feel part of the scene.

The Old Post Office, 41 High Street, Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex

HA1 3HT

Tel:020 8426 6767

www.incanto.co.uk

Incanto Restaurant, Harrow on the Hill, New Chef - and my menu translations

Incanto has recruited a new chef Michelin star restaurant chef, Peter Howarth, from Pennyhill Park.

We read the news on a Harrow newsletter. A google search threw up a picture of the chef and other staff plus restaurant photos and pictures of food on the Incanto Facebook page. I managed to read it and see lots of photos.  Now the page keeps jumping about and sending me error messages.

The Incanto website has lunchtime and tasting menus with some terms I don't know so I'm doing some research.
http://www.incanto.co.uk/index.php/restaurant/menu/

A handy explanation of organic and biodynamic wine is on their website.
http://www.incanto.co.uk/index.php/restaurant/wine/organic

Amuse - to amuse - a little free taste
Anitpasti - starters  (Italian)
carpaccio - sliced meat like salami, beef not pork?
ciabatta - bread - crusty with big air holes, goes dry fast, oval loaf
confit - pressed meat or vegetables, with lumps and strings compressed, like a thick pate or pot of corned beef, weighted and cooled
croutons bread cubes fried or baked until crisp, often in soup, sometimes in salad
Duxelles - mushrooms and onion fried (sauteed) in butter and reduced (made thicker from heat)
primo piatti -  first course
guanciale  - pillow
hollandaise - Dutch (sauce made with egg yolk, like mayonnaise, but mayonnaise mixes the yolk with oil, whilst hollandaise used butter which is richer and more calorific)
Madeira jelly - made with Madeira wine from Portuguese island in the Atlantic, in four grades of sweet to dry but mostly in England Malmsey which is the sweetest
Pain au chocolat - French bun with chocolate (pain means bread)
penne - short pasta
(pesto dressing for pasta made of olive oil and pine nuts, green colour from basil)
puree - made liquid or into a thick smooth soup or paste in a liquidiser
quail - small bird meat eaten on bone
rosata - pinkish (wine which is pale pink)
rose - pink
rum bab sponge pudding shaped like a donut ring or bombe (ball) soaked in rum
scallop - seafood
(shallot - oval shape onion with pointed ends)

Wines:
Grand Cru - vintage - highest quality in most parts of France such Burgundy and Alsace (but in Bordeaux premier cru) and in right bank of Bordeau St Emilion main village has grand cry class A and other variations
NV non vintage (not old - not a good enough year to be stored in oak barrels for long periods)
blanc de blancs - white wine from white grapes
brut - dry (wine)
extra brut - extra dry (wine)
sec - dry (wine)
Klein Kloof - (Dutch for small gap)
noir - black (French)
Pedro Ximenez
Pinot Noir - a black skinned grape - noir is black
rose - pink
Tokay /Tokaji - Hungarian


I'll bring you more news in another blog post in 24 hours time.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

See Suburban Trees In London

   Spring is the season for strolling the city, London, Washington DC, and all over England and the USA. Start, in the south, as the warm weather creeps north through the spring season. Check the weather, often on the back page of your national newspaper.
   You can walk along Hadrian's Wall which was built by the Romans to keep England and Scotland separate and prevent raids. From Easter time many Roman museums will be open.
    National Trust properties will be open to the public and you can choose a walk around the park of a stately home, starting and ending at the gift shop and tea room. Or choose an RSPB site and do some bird-watching.
   Pick a railway station in  a shopping centre and look for a walk from the station to another station or in a loop and back. London libraries have leaflets on local walks. Many walks are signposted.
   You can walk along the Thames river. Pick landmarks, statues to see and photograph, bridges to cross. A place such as a pub or tea room where you can end up for tea. For example, the Tate Gallery and the bouncing bridge.
   Take London's underground railway out to the suburbs. Go South to Kew Gardens (entry charge).

    London is surrounded by the 'Green Belt'. For example, going north, Pinner has a historic high street with the Victory pub turned into a restaurant. The Park has a pond and the Heath Robinson Museum where you can see the cartoonists drawings. Walk uphill from Harrow-on-the-hill on the Metropolitan Line to see the famous school.
   Over in Ruislip there's Ruislip lido. Walk around the Lido admiring the swans. Finish with a reasonably priced lunch or dinner in the Water's Edge carvery.
   Take the Euston line North towards Watford and get off at Hatch End station. A map on the station wall shows how you can walk along pre-historic Grim's Dyke via Grimsdyke Hotel, home of Gilbert who wrote the words for Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. In just one street, in Hatch End, I took these photos of trees in the gardens and along the verges.

Magnificent magnolia trees in bloom in white or the prized pink.

Beautiful pink magnolia blossom against a blue sky.

Looking up, even the white clouds and telephone polls and rooftops cannot spoil the view of the wonderful pink petals.

Delicate pink blossoms on prunus (cherry tree family).

Grey clouds warn of rain.

But trees like rain.

Silver birch with its elegant slim silver-white trunk and delicate branches.

-ends-

Please share links to your favourite posts.