An Education

I went to see this beautiful film at my local cinema, Mile End Genesis last night, and what fun we had for Monday...

Started off the night with a curry at Needoo, http://www.needoogrill.co.uk/ which is being dubbed by those in the know (well me and Jay Rayner actually) as the new Tayyabs (its the brainchild of a former Tayyabs employer), and I have to say it surpassed all expectations.

We ordered a typically Tayyabs order, lambchops, chicken tikka, fish tikka, tarka dahl, a roti and paratha and boy oh boy! Get yerselfs down sharpish there cause the food was scrumptious, there were no Tayyabs queues and it came to a tenner.

Now Jay reckon in his Observer piece http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/11/jay-rayner-needoo-grill-tandoori that the lambchops in Needoo(ooooooooo) were the only things that didn't quite hit the mark but I have to say ours were truly delish and it was the breads that were slightly under par but am still licking my lips just thinking about them now!

And then onto the film (and some Divine chocolate from the Genesis - Rio Cinema eat your heart out) and if it wasn't for the fact that I still smelt slightly of tandoori grill I would have been transported back to a very stylish and middle class 1960s. This film is stunning looking, the clothes, the hair, the houses, the cars, the battenburg cake- everything. I wanted to go home and redecorate immediately (and make some battenburg!). And it was a great entertaining story with a fab soundtrack to boot. Made me rethink my opinions of both Nick Hornby and Emma Thompson. And that ain't no mean feat.

Also made me want to read Lynn Barber's memoirs, especially as when I went home and googled her I read that she had spent this year's Venice Biennale hanging out with Ronnie Wood and Tracy Emin at 'an endless succession of lavish drunken parties' - a woman after my own heart!