The Medieval banquet voucher was given to me as a birthday present. We went to London last month for a weekend so that I can redeem my voucher. We stayed near Westminster. In the evening, we took the underground from Victoria to Tower Hill station. As we came out of the tube station, we were faced with a magnificent piece of Victorian engineering The Tower Bridge. It was built in the late 1880s, it remains the most popular place to visit in the world. It was a warm summer evening, so we decided to walk across to St Katharine Docks and also to admire the beautiful view of the Tower Bridge. The venue for the banquet is in the historical vaulted cellars of Ivory house, at St Katharine docks, the most vibrant area in London. As we enter through the door, we came to a reception area. We registered and shown our voucher to the lovely receptionist. A polite wrench dressed in brightly coloured costume came and took us down to the cellars. The cellars, (banqueting hall) were not brightly lit. The arches and the bare brick walls certainly help to transport our imagination to the medieval time. At the front of the entrance, there was an area where customers can hire their costumes for the evening. Dressing up is part of the fun. It took me back to my childhood days where fancy dress party was such a welcoming event. The whole setting of the banqueting room was amazing. The table setting was simple, with few cutlery and crockery. The dim flickering touch lights on the ceiling certainly help to enhance the atmosphere. It wasn’t long before all the people arrived and the seats were filled. The entertainment begins on time. The casts were all dressed up in various costumes, there was the King, his queen, noble men, knights, jugglers, contortionists and of course the wrenches. The colours were absolutely brilliant. They were all very good singers and dancers. The musicians were playing life music which is drawn from the Medieval and Renaissance court of Europe. There were singing, dancing, and even sword fighting. We were told that if we like the show we should bang on the tables instead of clapping our hands. That must be how they did it during the medieval time. In between all the wonderful entertainments, the wrenches also busy serving up a four course banquet. The first course was spicy vegetable soup with some rustic bread which is rather tasty. Unfortunately they did not put any spoons out. It appears that people at medieval time did not have spoon, they use the bread to soak up the soup or simply pick up the bowl and drink the soup straight out of the bowl. The second course was cold meat, pate’ and plenty of pickled and salad. There was plenty to go round and the wrenches were happy to bring more if needed. The main course was roast chicken and roast vegetables and sauce. Again it was delicious and plentiful. The dessert was fruit tarts and cream. The whole feast was wash down by continuous flow of wine, beer or fruit juice. Without a doubt, it was a real feast. The trouble is I ended up with eating too much. I had a really fantastic time that evening. I would recommend to anybody. The atmosphere, the music, the singing, the dancing, the acrobat and the food were all done to a high standard. The wrenches were friendly, polite and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble for them.
