Whampreview: Going Live

I’ve bleated on about whampreview for a week or so without saying what it is. So here we go.

Whampreview combines the social side of whampgather with the frequent requests for “Where’s the best…”

Once a month I’ll announce a date and venue, which will initially be local restaurants in the West Hampstead/Kilburn area. If you would like to come along and have a meal then let me know and after 48 hours, I’ll randomly pick 5 of the interested people (or all of you if fewer than 6 people reply!) and off we’ll go for dinner.

During dinner – amid the chat – I’ll take some notes on what everyone thinks about the food, service, atmosphere. All the usual stuff really. Then I’ll write a review based on what we all think and including your comments. Probably with some sort of score and er… that’ll be that. It’s a chance to meet some local people and have a nice evening out – especially suited to those of you that can’t make #whampgather dates, or prefer smaller gatherings, but don’t want to miss out on the community thing that seems to be building.

This is how we’ll start it. If it gains traction, then I have a few ideas for expanding it so that eventually we can have a good directory of local places with ratings/reviews.

Hopefully by now you’re already chomping at the bit to get involved.So, the first venue is the Czech & Slovak National House (thanks to a suggestion by @lifes_good, who hopefully can make it!) on Wednesday November 11th. This West Hampstead institution was once in Time Out’s top 10 cheap eats in London list. Although I used to be a regular in the bar, I’ve never eaten there and I suspect most of you haven’t either!

Let me know by the end of Saturday if you’d like to go in the hat. I will post this several times over the next 48 hours so everyone has a chance to read it/put their name down.

A quick word on money: to keep things easy, I’m proposing that bills are split 6-ways unless there’s a large discrepancy in e.g., alcohol consumption. I also suggest that a table of 6 can share 3-4 starters/desserts so we all get to try lots of different food without it breaking the bank. Some places obviously offer discounts as well, so if anyone happens to know about those then please shout, but that won’t drive the initial decision as to where we go.

That’s it. Sign up and let’s see how this works!