Shut up about Barclay Perkins: Mikey

Showing posts with label Mikey. Show all posts

Thursday, 5 November 2026

Folkestone food

Just back from a few days in Folkestone. As part of my annual trip with Mikey.

"But weren't you just in Peru?" I hear you ask? Yes. I arrived back on Tuesday afternoon and on Thursday morning headed off in Mikey's car. A short turnaround, I know. But one that didn't work too badly. All I had to do was sit in the car until we got to the UK. Not exactly challenging.

Fish and chips in a cardboard box with a tub of mushy peas next to it.

I won't go into the trip blow-by-blow. As we didn't do anything particularly interesting. Mostly, we were just hanging around in 'Spoons or the chippy. Those two pillars of UK culture.

A breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, black pudding, tomato, tea and toast.

The most shocking event was on Thursday, when the East Kent Arms closed at 20:30. What the fuck? When does a pub close that early?

A breakfast of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, tea, orange juice and toast.

I didn't realise how big Halloween was in the UK. Loads of people in fancy dress on Saturday night. We met some rather nice young people in 'Spoons who were all dressed up. They were wondering where the drinks they'd ordered were. Before twigging that they'd ordered them for the right table number, but in a different 'Spoons. One in Southampton, where one of them is studying. I'm surethat it must happen quite frequently.

A mug of Tim Taylor Landlord and a glass of Aspall Cyder sitting on a pub table.

You probably want to know about the beer that I drank. I hand a couple of really nice pints of Tim Taylor Landlord in the Pullman. Some OK and some Dodgy Greene King Abbot in 'Spoons. A pint of Wobbly Bob in "Spoons that was just about OK. And that was about it.

Because even fewer pubs seem to be serving cask in Folkestone. Chambers, the cask specialist, has closed. Which had a big impact on choice. I ended up drinking espresso martinis in 'Spoons when the Abbot was tasting weird.

A pie and a tub of peas along with a cup of tea sitting on a metal-topped table.

I had two chippy meals: fish, chips and peas; pie and peas. Really good stuff. Even the peas, which are often shit in the South.

A bowl of belly pork with rice and grated carrot.

We had some rather nice Vietnamese food, too. Accompanied by a Saigon beer. Allowing me and Mikey to reminisce about our time in Saigon earlier in the year.

A plate of Sunday dinner: beef, stuffing, carrots, green beans cauliflower, roast potatoes and a Yorkshire pudding.

And, of course, we had a Sunday roast. At the Royal Cheriton, where a massive plate of food costs just 10.75 quid. An amazing bargain. In other pubs, it costs twice that. Sadly, the pub no longer sells cask beer.

I'll be back to Peru trip reports tomorrow. Luckily, I took extensive notes.

Friday, 29 May 2026

Back from my holidays

I recently returned from a trip to Bangkok and Saigon. I would write the trip up. Except that it wasn't really a beery trip. And it was with Mikey.

Just so you aren't disappointed, I am going to post pictures of my breakfasts. As I know you always look forward to those. Quite a diverse set of breakfasts compared to those on my South American trips.

I would also post photos of all the beers I drank. Except there weren't that many of them And most of them were crap. Just boring, industrial Pale Lager. I mostly drank cocktails. Why? Because I'm a decadent bastard.

Anyway, here are the breakfasts. In chronological order.

Some pork thing, rice and a glass of whisky and coke.

Two eggs over easy, bacon and a cup of coffee.

Two eggs over easy and bits of baguette.

Two different types of fruit on a plate.

Thursday, 13 November 2025

Folkestone breakfasts

I know you love to see my travel breakfasts. So here you go.

I would write more about the trip, Sadly, a couple of factors make that tricky.

For one thing, it was a pure holiday trip with Mikey. Nothing much happened. Other than eating cooked breakfasts, hanging around in pubs and buying contraband (cheese, crumpets, bacon, et.) to take back home. Not sure you'd find it that interesting.

OK, I had a few decent pints. Nothing that fancy or special. Nothing to tickle a geek's fancy. Abbott in 'Spoons. Shepherd Neame Masterbrew in an estate pub. All very mundane. Because this wasn't a trip for beer. It was a trip with beer. Vital difference, that. It's important to keep a degree of perspective. Not to see everything through a beery lens.

What's my other reason for not writing a detailed report? There's a clue in the final breakfast photograph. Why so little food?

I wasn't feeling that great on the last day. Having fallen in the bathroom the night before. And broken my arm. Pretty much identical to last year's break.

Typing is just a pain in the arse with only my left hand.