After a fairly busy day Keith and I were made to go out in the evening as Sophie had invited a couple of her friends around for a girly evening in. To be honest Keith and I really didn't fancy going out as Keith had decided to stop drinking until Christmas and a pub was the last place he wanted to be! We thought of going to the cinema but that didn't appeal either so after much debating we decided that for one night only, he would break his rule and have a beer.
I suggested The Swan Inn at Braybrooke as we hadn't been there for a while and it was on the way to Market Harborough where we intended to finish the evening at an Indian restaurant. It was a horrendous night - torrential rain and winds - the sort of evening made for staying in!
We sloshed our way over to the village and parked a short distance away, which meant we entered the pub looking like drowned rats! Keith had a taster of a dark beer called Titanic Plum Porter and ordered a pint before saying he disliked it! Make your mind up, man!
We were able to sit at the bar and watched with amusement as a crowd of people arrived dressed up to the nines. The women were in evening gowns while the men wore black tie so obviously something was going on! We both felt under-dressed even though there were people sitting eating and drinking who were dressed as casually as us. We both agreed it was a one-drink only pub so after downing our drinks we sloshed our way back to the car and drove over to The Queens Head at Sutton Bassett, another of our favourite pubs from the past, and one which has undergone different fortunes in all the years we've been visiting.
Tonight it was undergoing one of its less favourable periods as it was like entering someone's living room. The Queens head has never been one of the most modern of pubs (at one point in time it had the original cash register from the 1940s, I think!) and the building consists of a small front lounge with window seats and a corridor leading to the small back lounge with more tables and chairs. We think the pub was going through some sort of refurbishment as they only had two beers on pump (neither of which Keith liked) so he ordered a pint of Poretti lager and a sparkling water for me.
As we sat at the bar he pushed the lager towards me and asked if I could drink it while he had the water and then he'd drive from now on. He was seriously underwhelmed with both pubs we'd visited and, feeling a bit guilty about drinking in the first place, said he would stick to water for the rest of the night!
We had just the one drink (what a shame we will probably not go back) and then drove to Market Harborough to an Indian we've been to before which goes (or went) by the name of The Shagorika! We were able to park nearby and I was mightily glad I had one of our Berlin umbrellas with us as the rain was still tipping it down.
We arrived at what was the Shagorika to find that it's now called Dhancora. The restaurant was very quiet with just a few other tables taken but we had a delicious meal. We started with poppadums and relishes followed by Chicken Pakora (beautifully crispy) and then a curry for each of us. I chose Chicken Jalfrezi while Keith opted for an eye watering Vindaloo, but I think my dish was the hotter of the two! With some Naan bread and a side of Mushroom bhajee, we were stuffed to the gunnels at the end of the evening!
It was still raining heavily when we left and we arrived home to find the living room looking like a beauty parlour!
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