GRUB/The London Pub

The best titles are ones that rhyme accidentally!

Last night, the travelling sisters and I took Numz out for a belated birthday dinner at GRUB, a restaurant that RaeRae had passed by several times, heard good reviews for, but had never tried. Nestled on Main Street between East 27th and 28th, it's a tiny and cozy restaurant with a malfunctioning entrance door overshadowed by a hip interior. The whimsical wallpaper had cartoon cows jumping over a cell phone. You can't make that stuff up...and yet someone did--actually create it, that is.

I started with Summer Blanket--a cocktail likened to spiked peach iced tea--and ordered the tomato basil gin-infused soup and then their vegetarian cannelloni. The ragazze each had halibut with risotto (che risotto!). My drink was refreshing and my soup was humungous. I was already full midway through and knew that I would not be able to put a dent on my cannelloni and a slice of birthday cake. It was good though. I just wish it was a third of its size.

The one bite of cannelloni I had tasted good but I had to surrender after that. I also got a bit mad at myself for ordering it since I had a whole tray of Giagi's lasagne waiting for me at home. Don't get me wrong, I love my pasta, but it's possible to have too much of a good thing. And at this rate I won't need to do any cooking for the next two weeks since I have so much pre-made food.

Next came Numz's St. Honoré birthday cake from Fratelli Bakery. I wish I had more room but by the last few bites I was STUFFED. It didn't help that we also got fortune cookies (which I normally love to read and eat), and that my fortune was something crappy or boring--I can't remember which.

RaeRae was telling us about what an awesome time she had last week at London Pub so we spontaneously decided to go there. It was just down the street anyway (by car). Numz and I got there first and I was immediately struck with how many men there were. "So this is where they all go!" I thought to myself. It was packed but we still found a table between a lonely Christmas tree, the women's washroom, and a couple of pinball machines.

And of course, I was on high alert since, well...you know how I can't make eye contact with men. At least I wore my contacts.

Pretty soon, RaeRae and Numz started their own dance party (which I think took guts since no one else was dancing) and Nicky and I watched them, a bit reluctant to join in. Then I remembered a poem she once wrote about dancing the dance instead of watching it (it remains one of my favourite poems ever) and so we started dancing too. Nicky requested that the DJ play Ace of Base, to which he replied "Maybe", but then he played it shortly after and that's when all the best music started. I ended up having a lot of fun, though I wish I had not worn a turtleneck that day. It was like I was a living sauna.

This all made me think and question why I never let myself have this sort of fun in Vancouver. When I'm on vacation or when I was in Florence, going out for drinks was never something that required hesitation. Here though, I rarely ever take part in that scene. Some of it may be that I usually take public transit, and the other part may be that I rarely bend to spontaneity. But I must admit, it feels nice to throw caution to the wind once in awhile. Especially when you're surrounded by your best friends.