Dinner in Richmond

I mentioned earlier that I would return to the travel part of things later. Well, later has become now. I suppose I should start with the fact that I am based out of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I am a nationally ranked fencer, which means that I often have to travel to competitions around the country, as well as around the world (although, I usually stick to Europe).

Well, this past weekend I was in Richmond, VA for the first of three qualifying events for the Olympics in Beijing. The first night in Richmond, we ate at the Penny Lane Pub, http://www.pennylanepub.com/. We waited for about fifteen or so minutes in the crowded and smoky bar while a table was cleared and made ready for us. This was definitely an English style pub trying to make it in the US. Many of the TVs were tuned to soccer games for those wishing to feel like they are in London. If, however, you are too tired to make the trip across the pond, you merely need to turn to a different TV and you will see whatever basketball games happen to be going on at the time.

We were seated and eventually got to order (2 orders of the Dijon Baked Chicken, and one of the Fish 'n' Chips). I can only speak to the Dijon Baked Chicken, which was actually quite good, yet a bit small when compared with the size of the fish in the fish 'n' chips. The sauce was a lemon and dijon sauce which meshed quite nicely with the vegetables, a mix of Yellow Squash and Zucchini. They looked as though they had seen better days, but still tasted pretty good when eaten with the sauce. And then, on the side, there was a scoop of mashed potatoes and gravy, which tasted like mashed potatoes and gravy should.

Many people never get past the bar at Penny Lane Pub, with its numerous draught and bottled beers (of which, I am not even going to begin to describe at this time).

Penny Lane Pub is a good place to go if you happen to be in Richmond, VA, and looking for a faux British pub with decent food. That being said, I probably wouldn't go into the city specifically to eat there.