It’s amazing – and unfortunate – that it doesn’t happen more often that when traveling on business I have the opportunity to meet up with friends and colleagues beyond those directly related to the business at hand.  This week in London to visit Justgiving Towers, I made time to have a pint with M, who is now part of DMG, although he’s not the M.  Nor the one from the Bond movies, for that matter.  We visited the Perseverance in Lamb’s Conduit street, a name I never get tired of saying and typing.  And then we got hailed on which ruined my Diwali plans for sinus-clearing curry in Brick Lane.

I had a second chance at curry when La Doctorante – in UK for some study and excavation – agreed to meet up for Indian food.  We went to M’s recommendation, Cafe Spice Namaste, near the Tower Bridge.

It was definitely a departure from the Indian food I’m accustomed to in the USA, apparently featuring several regional styles and Parsee food, too.  One of the dividends of colonialism, I suppose.   We had Tarkari No Patio, a Parsee vegetable dish with pumpkin and red masala, and Bamboo Shoot, Enoki Mushroom & Chickpea Xacutti, a Goan dish that’s traditionally prepared at monsoon season.  A nice Viognier and some roti and chili cheese garlic naan rounded out the meal.  The dishes were not terribly photogenic, but were very tasty.  The Xacutti was labeled as spicy, but it seemed to us that the Tarkari was the one with sinus-clearing power.

Walking back to the tube, we spied a chunk of the old Roman wall of Londinium near the comparatively modern Tower of London, and I almost broke an ankle tripping on the rim of a giant sundial.  Oops.

In any case, keep me posted on your travel plans.  Especially if you have a good expense account.  You never know when and where we might coincide. If you’re a social media fancypants, you might use Dopplr for this. I don’t often remember to update my profile, but it’s worth a shot.