Phantom of the Opera vs. Steak at Goodman's (Xmas in London VII)

Phantom of the Opera

Today I had the best steaks of my life in a restaurant among the creme de la creme of the London bankers. Yesterday, Phantom of the Opera blew my mind off in Haymarket. Two, definetly the best experiences of their classes in a two days on a row. And with extravagant prices. Were they worth of it?

Definetly. Although these are the bills I will pay down for a while, the experiences were something you remember the rest of your days.

Our seating for the musical couldn't have been better. Fourth road of the first balcony and in the middle of the scene. We got everything; nuances of the faces of the actors and the overall staging. Perfect! Royal Circle D 23-.

It was the place to catch everything. The smallest details of the lighting and splendid craftmanship of the scene & lightning - and the finesses of the actors, who would with their singing overcast many of the professional operas.

Only negative thing were Asians which did not understanding anything of the plot and tried stubbornly to break no-photography -rule. Another odd thing was that the personnel was acting like they were bullies at the market place (shouting and annoncing sales of prosecco, cd, programme). That was irritating.

But it was the best musical I've seen - perhaps one of the reasons is, it was a gift for my daughter whose favourite musical this has been for ages. And she was probably the person who knew the songs better than anyone else in the theatre - apart from the crew. I am glad I could share the moment with her.

The price? £328 including the handling costs. Premiere of The Phantom of the Opera was in 1986. In October it had its 10.000th performance.

Goodman's City

Today we headed to a steakhouse which has been rated as the best steakhouse in London by various sources. Again this was a special treat for my daughter. She loves meat, but hadn't had a good steak since she moved here. So, she deserved the best.

In the middle of the City of London, one of the financial hotspots of the world we got the treat we will remember. I am sure the personnel saw that we were there for the food and were not the "City people". So we received excellent service with a little dash of extra compared to brokers in the other tables. Extra points for the place of that!

And the steaks? My 500g Galloway Charcoal steaked T-bone was the best steak I ever have eaten. And I've been in many of the best steak houses in US. All of us felt the same.

The wine. Italian Villa Mattielli (Valpollicella, £55) was the perfect choice with the cut.

Lastly, but not leastly, the best herring of the Helsinki Fish Market would feel ashamed to the sweet herring I had as a starter. I sent special regards to the kitchen due to that - afterall we do eat lots of herring in the Nordic Countries.

The price for 3 courses? £292.

Two fantastic but pricely experiences. Definetly worth of it.

With £1 you could release and hire theatre spectacles from the bench. Gorgeous idea!

Places in the first balcony level, fourth road were perfect.

The marketplace attitude of the personnel was annoying.

The cast of the night. Sofia Escobar was outstanding!

It was a challenge to get home. Underground strike and most impolite Asians in a bus stop made us to take a £30 cab. Here we saw the rudest people of all. Forget polite Britons.

Shots from the poster outside the theatre. Most Japanese and Chinese guests were devastated for the strict policy for not taking photos. And personnel quarded that. Many were totally stressed after the show and gave no applaused. What a morons.

Our journey to the best steaks ever started at Piccadilly Circus.

Goodman, The City, 11 Old Jewry, EC2RC, London

The special cuts of the day.

Ironically I had to came to London in order to get my best herring too!

500 g T-Bone, Scottish, natural.

Green salad as a side dish (£4)

Either Bernaise, Peppet or Stilton sauce. The pepper one was perfect!

As always, a peek to a toilet reveals the class of the place.

And the wine was the perfect choice for the steaks.

The soap and the hand creme was proved to be luxurious.

Desserts.

Mine were double espresso and some 20 year old port.

£291.38 - but the service was so exceptional we rounded it up to £300 with the change.

Slavery was abolished in USA in 1865, in Finland it was done in the 1950's

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