Reading Roars!

VISA Europe is coming to town.

The credit card company, reports the Reading Chronicle’s Business Editor Alan Bunce, will occupy Queens Road’s Kennet Wharf, formerly used by the nonsensical-sounding 186k. Bunce adds that the transfer represents the biggest inward investment since Hutchison 3G joined the party in 2001.

Reports suggest that Chelski, sorry, Chelsea have agreed to sign Reading star Steve Sidwell, according to The Guardian’s Jeremy Wilson.

The Mirror says the club’s Special One, who has had a less than special season, offered the midfielder a deal worth a stunning £50k per week, but adds that Fergie has now also spoken to him.

So is it to be the winning Reds from up North or the London club, minus Shevchenko and (the £130k per week) Ballack?

The Reading Beer & Cider Festival is a momentous, tremendously important event in Reading’s proud cultural calendar. With the departure of WOMAD this year, the 2007 festival (only the 13th) felt even more important.

In 2006 there were apparently 13,100 guzzling visitors. This year, no idea, but surely a greater number as the queue we joined to get in on Friday night was staggeringly long. I looked at the Lenin tomb-like line of visitors and whimpered. It was going to be a two-hour wait, I thought. A two-hour boring wait. A two-hour boring wait in the cold. No cutesy characters or overhead screens (like you get at Disney parks) here. The lady behind me in the queue said that she’d seen nothing like it. “It wasn’t this bad last year,” she said. Cheers.

Amazingly, it wasn’t so bad. The queue moved a bit. Then a bit more. It was more like Sainsbury’s than a crowded airport terminal (US Immigration springs to mind). And then we were in, paying just £7 each (including glass hire).

I was aching for a beer, but there was so much choice (there were 430+ ales). We didn’t have a programme, so there was no guidance. We found a bit of space and asked the volunteer serving behind the table for a bit of assistance. After we tried sample after free sample (we could have sampled our way all evening), we both chose pints of light stuff (name forgotten), which were really tasty.

Sitting down, I felt as if I were in a giant pub. The place was busy, but there was no leery shouting. It was all rather civilised and good-natured. After my pint, I was getting that warm and friendly feeling, the queue now a thing of the past. Surely it was time for another?

It certainly was. Time for something a little different. We headed straight to the foreign beers section, now armed with a programme plucked from someone’s table. Again, so much choice! We agreed to try a strong fruit beer from the Low Countries: Het Anker Boscoulis (6.5%), described as a “fruit beer, based on wild fruits”). After much waiting, we were presented with a glass of Anker (there were actually 3 different types of Anker available, such was the choice). It was dark, rich and syrupy, tasting a little like honey. Really sensuous. Quite exciting.

It was time for a snack. There was hot Mexican food and pittas in the outside area, but I wanted pub snacks to go with the pub drinks and pub atmosphere. There wasn’t much that I could see: parsnip crisps and Mini Cheddars, but no Walker’s Sensations or pork scratchings. Anyway, if you’re hungry, you’re hungry.

A cider followed. Which cider, I can’t remember (there were more than 130 ciders and perries). It had a bit of a sharp taste. It was consumed very quickly.

I was really enjoying myself now. There was a band playing, so we went to enjoy the music. We checked out the T-shirts, badges and other items. Time was running out, however, so we went to the mini tent next door for another beer. At this point, I noticed how a few girls were sporting a balloon hat in the shape of a man’s (very long) appendage. Curious.

The evening drew to a close. We had a super time (though, how can I put this, our souvenir glasses later lost their structure) and I’m very much looking forward to next year’s event. Minus the hangover.

Did you have a beery good weekend? I did (more on that later).

Enjoy a free 5 litre mini-keg of beer (any beer) from Zero Degrees (though you will have to spend £30 or more on food first) or a fiver off your next main meal at the new Reading bar by downloading, printing and presenting this fantastic voucher.

Oh, and last week’s freebies, if you missed them.

I was wrong. I was wrong about Zero Degrees. With a name like that, I was expecting another Ice Bar. Or a bar in the Revolution mould. But Zero Degrees is different.

This sunny Thursday afternoon, straight after work, I went to have a look at this newly opened superbar next to Sahara. And I was impressed.

Zero Degrees, unlike many of the other ‘trendy’ bars in town, is bang up to date. Revolution and Bar 38 are so 1990s. The Londonesque Zero Degrees however includes a microbrewery, offering unique beers such as the plainly-labelled Czech-style Black Lager (£2.60) and Pale Ale. That’s the trick: keep it simple. Bullshit-free quality beers. No logo? You got it.

I was also pleased to see a Special Beer, rotated seasonally. I was expecting some strawberry/raspberry flavoured drink. But no, it was mango beer instead. My eyes widened when told. I didn’t have to say a word: I was offered a sample (something that other trendy bars simply won’t do) and it was stunning. Down it went, in a second and a half. Gorgeous. I was told that it appealed equally well to both sexes. Fruit beer is certainly catching on. I asked the bargirl what the name of the drink was. She told me it had no name but “mango beer”. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

The interior design was steely and stylish. A few pipes, a few vats here and there. A stack of pizza boxes in the restaurant bit added a bit of warmth to the room.

As for the customers, there was no chav in sight. There were a few business people in suits and the remainder were casual dressers. I’d be interested to see whether the bar operates a silly shoe policy. I’ve be turned away so many times in the past at various places for wearing trainers rather than smart shoes (a stupid and baffling rule that I detested).

So the bar has passed the first test (I still need to try out their food menu). They may call themselves Zero Degrees, but they’re worthy of an Upper Second.

The best things in life are free, are they not?  Check out these great offers:

Wagamama
If you’re as Wagamamaddicted as I am, you will love this voucher.  It originally appeared on the popular site for women handbag.com.  The voucher can be used at Reading’s Wagamama restaurant at The Oracle (I used it last night), gets you another main meal for free and is valid until 27 May 2007.  “Arigato, Matt!”  You’re welcome.

Jongleurs
Lighten up on Friday by going to Jongleurs comedy club for free (Jongleurs on Freeday, how about it?  Hmm, I guess a standup comedy career doesn’t beckon after all).  Ring Oliver on 0118 959 5395 for tickets (no limit on party size).  Alternatively, buy one ticket on Saturday and get another free.  You’re ‘avin’ a laugh, right?

Wi-fi
The Global Cafe on London Street offers wireless internet access for nothing.  Take your laptop, enjoy a banana-bread beer and visit Reading Roars! (or one of the million other better sites out there).  Other coffee shops charge a whopping £6 per hour.

What’s black and white, and red all over?  An embarrassed Newcastle Utd, crashing to a 1-0 defeat by Reading at the Madejski this evening.  Not a great joke, perhaps, but the result, against one of the strong clubs in England’s top flight, is yet another to be applauded, especially as the visitors included Michael Owen, back from injury.  The win lifts Reading to 7th in the Premiership.

The only goal of the game was driven in by Dave Kitson in the 50th minute.  Seol Ki-Hyeon created the opportunity.  Other than this, and two bookings for the home side, it seemed an even encounter.  Both teams enjoyed a similar number of corners and shots on goals.  

Recently, Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger commented that Alex Ferguson, on the cusp of winning the title, and Steve Coppell were his managers of the season.  I agree.  Reading are no one-hit wonders, but a quality side led by a quality manager.  A calculating, pragmatic manager who, unlike team bosses above him, steers clear of verbal skirmishes, preferring the pitch to be his battleground instead.  A manager fully capable of taking the team even further next season.  And that’s something to savour - preferably with a glass of Gran Coronas.