Reading Roars!

I went to central Reading bar Pavlov’s Dog the other evening - and what a surprise I got!

Pavlov’s used to be one of my favourite drinking spots in Reading. I moved on because I felt that I was too old for it. I popped in the other evening for a quick drink and was stunned to see how much had changed.

A revamp has ditched the bright and colourful interior in favour of a more subtle design. I could no longer find the foosball table. The lighting was more creative (there were beer glasses clumped together to form one light decoration). On the whole, Pavlov’s no longer looks like a hang-out for first year university students, in my opinion, but has instead taken on a look similar to the Oakford Social Club by Reading Station. Like Oakford, Pavlov’s now also sells fruit beer Fruli.

Pavlov’s has grown up.

An apology to those whose submitted comments have either appeared on the blog later than anticipated or not at all (I’m trudging through my inbox now).

I’m getting a tremendous amount of spam every day (mostly related to gambling, sexual enhancement drugs and mortgages - none of which I need), which is obscuring the messages that matter. I will look for a solution to deal with this problem. As a short-term measure, I will go through my inbox much more carefully.

I’m not a Telegraph reader. I’m more of a Guardian man. But the still-not-very-compact paper’s Footballer’s Wines, written by the ubiqituous Adrian Chiles, is delicious.

Prior to a big game, Chiles writes about the two contesting teams as if they were wine products. Different, and funny. As you might have guessed, the clubs this week getting the vinicultural treatment are Reading and Newcastle.

Interestingly, both Reading FC and Newcastle Utd “wines” are Spanish. This isn’t explained by Chiles. Reading is a red wine (because of the name, we’re told), a Gran Coronas with 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Tempranillo.

Now for the analysis.

fermentation happens when the sugar from the grapes and yeast react to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. This gas escapes as quietly as the Royals’ pre-season doubters. Reading’s red grapes were destalked and lightly crushed (breaking the skins to release the juice) before being placed in the fermentation tank, skins and all.

The tank’s temperature is controlled to retain the wine’s aromas and flavours. The escaping carbon dioxide pushes the skins to the surface where they form what’s known as a cap. Just as Steve Coppell seeks to improve things on the pitch with his substitutions, the wine maker agitates or removes the cap to achieve the colour and tannin required in the finished wine.

Chiles helpfully informs us that a Gran Coronas can be bought from the Co-op for £8.99. Curiously, this is twice as expensive as the Newcastle wine, Vina Sol (£4.43). Is Chiles hinting at riches to come? The other interesting thing to note is that “Corona” is the Spanish word for crown!

Let’s hope that Reading return to wining ways against the Magpies (weak, I know).

Reading Football Club are certainly ambitious, there’s no doubt about that, but how about this for a goal (excuse the pun), suggested this week by the club’s chief exec Nigel Howe:

I would say [the club] has the potential to be bigger than Arsenal because its catchment area is hugely beneficial…If this club started winning some serious stuff and got into the Champions League that would hugely move the Reading brand along and move the crowd on. 

It’s a gradual progression and it would take a few years to do it, but that has to be anybody’s ambition running an organisation like this - to get into the Champions League.  That might make a lot of people smile, but anything is achieveable.

That very much made me smile.  It’s more than a goal.  It’s a 60-yard-lob-over-half-the-pitch-while-the-keeper-was-adjusting-his-laces type goal.  So Reading have had a good season.  Make that two good seasons.  The Champions League, however, is seriously ambitious stuff. 

The domestic Big 4, the league within the league, have been looking pretty dominant lately, mainly, I’d argue, because of cash (Chelsea, Man Utd and now Liverpool), tradition/prestige (drawing top managers), and I suppose continuinity (Fergie and Wenger have been at their clubs for years).  Reading is an exciting club, but not prestigious, and their project has only just begun.  Also, it’d take an awful lot of cash to compete with the big boys.

I think the UEFA Cup is a realistic target for Reading, therefore.  The Champions League (a tournament increasingly dominated by the super clubs in Europe) is a realm almost impossible to reach. 

May seems like an exciting month at the increasingly interesting Global Cafe. As I’d written previously, Taste of Malaysia will be returning on Sunday 13 May. Two days earlier there will a similar event bringing food and entertainment inspired by a more southerly continent.

On Friday 11 May, a traditional Ethiopian buffet, music and dance can be experienced at the London Street venue for £15. The evening comes courtesy of the wonderful Tutu Melaku, who came from the fascinating east African country to live in Reading 14 years back.

Tutu’s food (and strikingly strong coffee, prepared in the traditional - and original - way before it was modernised by professionally certified baristas) can currently be sampled on Thursdays. This event in May promises to be even more special.

The evening after my Taste of Malaysia meal, I went East again - to Art of Siam, one of Reading’s many Thai restaurants, located at King’s Walk near The Oracle.

The Art of Siam is different. The restaurant really does look artistic, with old-fashioned wooden decorations and frescoes inside giving it a nice, traditional feel. Beautifully soft Thai music played on a loop, making the mood even more subdued. It was a shame that the location was a little less dreamlike, with the windows offering far from stunning views, but no matter.

Sitting with a bunch of others, I kicked off with a Chang, a wonderfully refreshing Thai lager (Chang is also the Thai word for elephant) with a very British price tag of £3.45. I had some fishcakes to go with it.

We continued the marine theme, ordering a Plar Gung salad:

Succulent king prawns seasoned with lime juice garlic dressing and tossed with lemon grass, lime juice, spring onions, coriander leaves and Thai chilli

The salad was fantastic, tasting unmistakeably Thai and reminding me very much of the popular Som Tum (a spicy dish containing fresh crab and papaya).

Alongside the prawn salad, we had a Pla Prio Wan (at least I think it was this), fish stir-fried with vegetables in sweet and sour sauce. This was nice, and it filled me up, but it didn’t seem as “Thai” as the salad (probably because sweet and sour sauce is an ingredient commonly used in Chinese cuisine).

Overall, I was left feeling impressed. The Art of Siam is a relaxing place to eat out, perfect for a quiet meal after work. It’s probably not the sort of place you’d want to take your kids to (or your mates for a raucous night out), but for soothing, mature sophistication, there are few other places like it.

And the Idiot of the Week prize goes to a man from Reading who rang 999 to say his wife was refusing him sex. According to The Sun:

He complained to the operator that he was being denied his “matrimonial rights” and to ask for an ambulance crew to “examine” her.

I will end here as I must make an important call to emergency services. The fridge is out of beer and I can hear the Champions League anthem blaring…

It was Taste of Malaysia time at the London Street-based Global Cafe again a few days ago, and this time I was a happy participant, rather than observer. Picking a table in the middle of the cafe, I very quickly made my way to the paper plates, my stomach growling as the buffet smells hit my nostrils, while my partner patiently waited for her turn.

Scooping a little something of each, a bit of this rice, a bit of that rice, a bit of chilli chicken, a bit of Beef Redang, I was beginning to wonder whether I was perhaps overdoing it a little. My near-buckling plate was feeling heavy and I really didn’t want to lose control. A dropped a few prawn crackers on top.

Back at the table, I piggily attacked the beef first, partly because I was so very hungry but also because it seemed the most “Malaysian” to me, if that makes sense. The first mouthful took me back to Georgetown (though not literally, of course). The warm and sticky afternoon (it was the hottest day of the year) made it feel more authentic, as I imagined myself to be once more in Malaysia, eating bits and bobs for breakfast with some very interesting flavours.

Something - a very important thing - was missing, however: liquid refreshment. There were no Malaysian drinks available, but the cafe bar did offer a strong range of fruit juices. I chose a very tropical Passion Fruit drink to take the heat out of the meal a little (in Malaysia, I had beverages like fresh Starfruit juice - stunningly delicious).

A chap with an acoustic guitar, meanwhile, kept us entertained with smooth sounding Malaysian songs, making the event a cultural, rather than simply gastronomic experience.

Still hungry, I filled and finished another plate. Bloated, I sat back against the chair and tried to concentrate on my partner’s words. I really had to get moving. Before we left, we stopped to buy some goodies: 3 jars, containing Nasi Goreng, Satay and Sweet Chilli sauces, all for a super £2!

Taste of Malaysia will be returning on 13 May 2007. I’m told that the live entertainment will be more lively then, so worth checking out.

I was on the Thames Valley Park bus this morning, in a pre-coffee daze, when I caught a few interesting words on the radio “Reading..survey..worst..[inaudible]“. I shrugged my shoulders.

Later, I was IM’ing a friend and former Reading resident, now living in Thailand, and he told me that, according to a Daily Mail article he’d read, the town has worsened. Intrigued, and remembering what I had heard on the bus, I went straight to a trusted news source on the web, the BBC.

And there it was: Reading named worst for families. It was right on the BBC homepage, as one of the most e-mailed articles. Most interesting.

I will reproduce the first four paragraphs of the BBC article:

A Berkshire town has been named the worst place in Britain to bring up a family, according to a new survey.

The Reader’s Digest poll asked 1,000 parents to list the things that make for a family-friendly environment.

The researchers then ranked places on how they scored against the criteria - which included crime rates, good local hospitals and affordable housing.

Reading was last in 408th place, while Oxford was 399th. The Scottish district of East Dunbartonshire came top.

Reading was last in 408th place. 408th. What utter nonsense is this? Time for some scorn-heaping.

I accept that Reading isn’t perfect, nor even great. But it’s a very strong town. Exceptionally strong in some areas. A Reader’s Digest spokesperson said that “community” was vital, and mentioned “safe streets, strong schools and thriving towns”.

Well, you can put a big, fat tick next to “strong schools” in Reading. Put more than one tick, if you like, for we have more than one first-class school in the town. Kendrick, anyone? It’s the best grammar school in the country. How about the Abbey School? Reading Blue Coat School? Reading School? I guess these stunningly successful schools aren’t right for today’s families. Pity. And how about higher education? We have two universities in Reading.

Reading feels safe, or safer, to me. I was brought up in the town and it has always felt safe. There are idiots who drink too much and like a bit of a scrap, but you get that in all places, right? Reading is CCTV heaven and now we’re even getting talking cameras, to make sure that people behave in the town centre.

The Reader’s Digest says “family friendly”, I say “Microsoft”. I know, because I’m there 5 days a week, and I tell you, this Reading-based technology giant is so family friendly, it’s beautiful. People there are passionate about the stuff they do, but they also know when to switch off and spend time with the kids. Or they bring their kids to work. That, Reader’s Digest readers, is rather special.

No jobless mummies and daddies in the town, either, as we have a very low unemployment rate of just 2.3%, and as the BBC article again points out, the average worker pockets £22,560 a year, “well above the national average”. I think that’s what you might call characteristic of a “thriving town”.

And look at the community/family friendly activities in Reading! The nearby Adventure Dolphin Centre (Pangbourne) is great for kids (and adults, too, though I did feel odd at the rock-climbing class standing next to 12 year olds), offering pursuits such as kayaking on the Thames, climbing, abseiling, mountain biking - and the list goes on. Then there’s swimming, watching a family movie at Vue, celebrating a birthday at a local restaurant, attending Premiership football, visiting Reading Museum, moshing at Reading Festival…

Kids can run amok in the countryside around Reading, where they can also gently feed the horses or watch llamas graze. We have some of the most beautiful hills and meadows in the country (on a par with the Peak District, I heard recently). And our country pubs aren’t bad, either. The young ‘uns can have their crisps and play on the swings.

A minor point, perhaps, but we have generally better weather down South, meaning happier faces and more hours of playing in the sunshine.

The people I know who were brought up in Reading are happy, stable and successful. My friends, whose academic abilities varied at school, are all doing ok, leading healthy, balanced lifestyles.

I’ve had my say. The following is what others think of the survey:

• Reading is an excellent place to bring up a family and it is hard to take a study seriously that does not recognise this. We would also question the methodology of this survey [Jo Lovelock, Deputy Leader of Reading Borough Council]
• …from a poll of 1,612 people across the country, which means on average they only surveyed 3 people from each town. Maybe they misread “reading” for “Reading” when asked the question “do you like Reading?” [worker]
• Considering its a Reader’s Digest poll you could understand their confusion. [worker]
• But the most polls conducted by Mori ec. only ever survey about 1000 people across the Uk and on that basis we all get told what the nation “thinks” about various issues. I’ve always thought this to be very suspect. IMHO. [worker]

I’m not a great runner, unless I’m running to catch the bus and then I’m sprinting very quickly (though not elegantly, perhaps). For those thinking of taking up the pursuit and wishing to avoid exorbitant gym fees, I recommend taking a look at a cracking new (and very web 2.0) site called Map My Run.

Quite simply, Map My Run allows users to plot running routes on a map, and these could be anywhere in the world, making it useful for existing runners (excluding myself) or potential runners (excluding myself) to locate trails. Usefully, routes are rated by other users.

Powered by Google, the site’s maps can be seen in satellite and hybrid views, and users can put down icons such as Start (useful, that), Aid, Water, Bath (not to be confused with the city), Stop (equally useful), and Pub (made up by myself, but worth adding to the site?).

Reading has a staggering 238 routes on Map My Run, led in distance by the Downs and Chilterns Circular (a bonkers 64.08 miles, quite possibly not all in one go). Other paths include the amusingly labelled “mums to Grandmas” and “Mums to Dads”, “Pangbourne - Reading bike” (erm, excuse me, this site is for runners, walkers and joggers only) and “To Pete’s”.

So if, unlike me, you want to do something sporty this weekend, actively rather than passively, how about donning a pair of trainers and jogging all the way to Pete’s place? There might be a beer waiting…

Finally, I would like to wish my esteemed colleague Robbie Upcroft, who has not had a drink in two months, all the best in the London Marathon. Robbie recently ran in the Reading Half Marathon (would a half marathon therefore be a “mara”?), completing the course in 01:44:16. Good luck Robbie, and think of the Fosters at the end of the tunnel…