If I can possibly help it, it's not going to be chaotic - although it has proved a challenge to get everything sorted out. At the beginning, it wasn't helped by the fact that clemo booked the table for 25, and then I went in to explain that a) I wasn't clemo, and b) it wasn't 25 people; it was more like 40! Allow for that to get a bit lost in translation between English and Malayalam, and you can see the scope for misunderstanding.
Part of the issue has also been that The Spice Merchant does not normally accept bookings for groups of more than 25 on a Friday or Saturday evening. Our original booking was therefore fine, but the new larger number gave them a problem. If we had said we'd be this big a group up front, they'd have said "No".
Anyway . . . . I went and saw the lovely Mustafa (boss man) again today, and we've agreed as follows:
- Set menu at a fixed price of £18 per head
- four tables of 10 (the configuration of the restaurant doesn't allow for one big table for 40)
- one lamb, one chicken, and one vegetarian curry (plus rice); I've asked for mild to medium spiciness. Sorry to disappoint those who like chili jalfrezi, but it's a case of trying to come up with something that works reasonably well for everyone, and which the restaurant can actually get out to us in a reasonable time, bearing in mind they will have other diners too
- drinks and any extras will be a matter for each table. You can either put £x into a table kitty, and they'll issue a table bill at the end for drinks (their preferred option), or you can queue up at the bar and buy your own individually (not recommended as the bar area can get very busy with people coming in for takeaways
- likewise any extras that each table wants can be added to the table bill at the end of the evening
Kathryn: Mustafa has been warned to expect you!!
- payment: the restaurant would much prefer it if we settled one bill for the set menu (i.e. £18 times the number of diners). I'm happy to do that on my card, or Geoff or clemo may prefer to do it on behalf of LEC. However, I'd rather not have nearly £700 in loose change in my pocket over that weekend, so, if I'm making the group payment, I'd prefer electronic transfers prior to the event. Let me talk to Geoff and clemo and update this post later
I'm sorry if that means you won't get the chance to choose your ideal meal from the menu, but with the numbers we have, it's simply not feasible. Last year, we had a table for 12 at The Spice Merchant, and I don't think anyone expected we'd have over three times that number this year (not that I'm complaining - it will be great to see everyone). I'm sure we'll have a great time and a memorable evening. The food's great, the company will be outstanding - and we'll still have the following morning's breakfast to look forward to.
Thanks for your patience, and I'll update this posting once I've talked to Geoff and clemo.
Please let me know, as I'll be confirming with the restaurant in the next couple of days. Thanks!
