Stein-s

I had a delightful evening beside a willow-draped section of the Thames on Saturday when I joined Joel and Che-Yok at Stein's Bavarian Beergarden in Richmond.

Joel had plugged it to me as quite possibly London's only authentic German eatery, though later when we were sitting down, he admitted that the time you have to spend waiting in line there is perhaps more authentically British.

First you queue to make your food order, then you have to join another line at the side of the shack for your beer and any other drinks, and finally you inevitably end up queueing yet again at the back for the bog, as there is only one for each sex.

One other moan. They call last orders at the ridiculously early time of 10:10. They must have some fairly militant local residents. Still, the food is excellent and drinking a stein of lager on a summer(-ish) evening feels pleasingly decadent.