A strange martini in St. James's Park

Inn the Park. Get it?

Monday night I went to dinner with a couple people I met at the "Does STS Mean Business 2" conference. One of them lives in London, so following his recommendation, we went to a restaurant in St James's Park.

The terrace, which proved to be a very nice place to sit

Overall it was pretty good, aside from one thing. I ordered a martini, and here's what they brought:

Surprise!

Now, after Saturday's experience with the BLT from another planet, I've learned that sometimes familiar foods get reinterpreted, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Aside from the fact that this is a water glass-- or to be charitable, a very informal drinks glass-- and it contains perhaps 4 ounces of booze (thus transforming what drink afficionados call "the velvet hammer" into something more like a ball peen hammer), it was the perfect temperature... for a glass of sake. It was a warm martini.

The view from the restaurant. I think that's the Horse Guards Palace in the distance, or possibly Whitehall

Now, I don't drink much, but that doesn't stop me from thinking that martini preparation deserves a level of care and precision not normally seen outside the Japanese tea ceremony. Actually, I can tolerate a certain amount of, shall we say, the personal equation in any drink preparation; but a small, warm martini? The martini equivalent of a swaddled baby? No. Too much.

Other than that, the place was pretty good.

How many waiters does it take to turn on a heater? Apparently, more than two, since they never got it working

I got the waiter, and explained the problem. "But I offered you ice," he protested. I explained that the ice is supposed to go in the shaker, and be strained out, leaving only ice crystals that have formed in the vodka. Judging by his reaction, this is One of Those Crazy American Things, to be tolerated but not taken seriously. (I confess that I sometimes feel like going to England is one long battle with warm drinks; I always seem to manage to get bottles of water mere moments after they've gone into the refrigerator display case and long before they've had a chance to actually get cold, or maybe they just never actually turn them on.)

I traded it in for a beer, which was much better.

Technorati Tags: london, travel, UK

Comments

[Thomas Haigh]

What you don't realize is that in England "Martini" means vermouth, not the product of mixing vermouth with gin (or for the less traditional, vodka). That might seem silly, but the the vermouth bottle does say Martini on it in big letters so it makes at least as much sense as the various chocolate and fruit martinis now sold in every American lounge which do not contain any vermouth at all.

So as you declined the ice, you got a room temperature measure of vermouth. The mention of vodka must have really mystified the waiter. I'd suggest you stick with gin and tonic, which is a mixed drink the British understand. Also, you could try a Pims and ginger ale, also very refreshing.

[Alex Soojung-Kim Pang]

Good grief. Two peoples separated by a common language, indeed!

Thanks for the decoding. I should just be proud that I can now order sparkling water, still water, or just plain water, and stay off the hard stuff. Though the Pims and ginger ale sounds intriguing.