MudBall Newsletter - Henry Shimp
How we going, Tie Podcast family? HS checking in for my first foray into the Mudball newsletter, and as per usual I’m #justhappytobehere. Returning to the states after a week in London so expect plenty of action inspired by our mates across the pond.
Let’s rock:
Drinking: A week full of basically 4 things:
Coffee (no action for our friends at Goodwalk Coffee. Hopefully you were not in the same camp. If not, let’s change that HERE)
Sidebar, Piccolo>Cortado. This is a snobby-ass take if I’ve ever taken(?) one, but I’m an honest man, and it’s what I’ve got for you.
Water. Mostly off the tap. It won’t kill you, or your wallet. I promise. (Mexico withstanding. Keep it bottled down there)
Tails of the cock. Speakeasy scene goes hard in the big smoke, and I match the energy. The usual suspects, Whiskey and Mezcal, were the week’s most common gamers.
Pints. Plural, but not by a ton. I reside more so in the preceding bullet point these days. No shade, just honesty. Post round beverages withstanding.
P’s and Q’s rode the pine this past week. Usually it’s just bullets 1&2 for yours truly, but this week we had a 4ball, AND I AIN’T MAD ABOUT IT.
Eating: Y’all know the drill. Here’s a quick ripper of what the dinner cuisines were for my 9 dinners abroad. In order of course. Yes, I’m severely OCD.
Indian. Dishoom lives in the GOAT stable. Not “The”, but among them.
Lebanese. Lamb won the night at Rovi. Nothing to see here.
Sri Lankan. Hopper is in the Dishoom sort of category. Flat out a banger. Like old school Blink-182 sort of banger.
Cantonese. Dim Sum Duck is god status dim sum. MAYBE a 200 sq foot interior with servers and chefs screaming in anything but English all night. All I could want out of a dim sum outing.
Eritrean. Basically Ethiopian, and basically a 10/10 experience. Take a trip out of your comfort zone and into enlightenment at Aduli’s if you have even a single cultured bone in your body.
Modern British. Must do, and if you choose the right joint, Hereford Road qualifying with flashing colors, you won’t be saying “British food sucks” like those who use yelp for food recs.
Indian round 2. No trip to London of more than 8 hours would be complete without a return to Dishoom. With 5 of them in the greater area, don’t be that guy who goes to the same one twice.
False Start. Norovirus is a real thing, and I spent a **hellish day with it. I haven’t been hit by a train before, but I’d have to imagine that’s what the day after would feel like. Coconut water was all that was on the menu Friday evening.
Korean: I believe 2 things about Korean food. One, many believe it is only KBBQ. And two, this is a damn shame. All the banchan, pancakes, noodles, bibimbap bowls, tofu stews, god it’s good stuff. If none of these things are ringing a bell, belief one is true, and I ask that you remedy that.
Reading: Gonna be completely honest with you fine folk. I read a lot of food reviews, lists, menus, tube maps, cocktail lists, and tap lineups, but emails, books, and other such common consumption were nowhere to be seen. While I’m excited to return to that energy this week, a week off was deserved and taken advantage of.
Thinking: Will slip in a shoutout to Heathland golf at large. This was not a golf trip, but golf was in fact played on this, well, trip. St Georges Hill, Royal Worlington and Newmarket, and The Addington were the week’s selections and I thoroughly enjoyed them all in different ways.
Heathland golf is it’s own deal. It’s like 1 part mountain golf, 3 parts links, 2 parts Sandbelt, 1 part parkland, just the tip of NorCal Mackenzie sort of action, and the balance of addictive charm, approachability, natural beauty, and restraint in design.
The strong player is enticed by the often-shorter par 4’s and 5’s that still have bite and kept honest by their hidden intricacies all the while. The weaker player still has the ability to get on/around the green in the allotted number of blows yet probably runs the score up at their usual clip once the short clubs come out. I don’t know any more if I’m a strong or weak player, but I do know that the final piece there on short clubs is basically me recounting my week as a #golfer.
Significantly, a brief exploration into the #sausageroll game. No action from Royal Worly as the locals call it, but SGH and The Addington were deep in the game. Now, I will preface by saying that for the traditional puff pastry wrapped schlonger, The Addington got it done, but SGH had a couple tricks up it’s sleeve that deserve acknowledgment. There’s a naked sausage situation to be done (stop it, now) that is at least worthy of note, and furthermore they do a fenway dog sausage with peppers and onions in a bun sort of thing that also piqued my interest. That said, the game is judged based on the OG. And when it comes to a regular ole sausage roll, The Addington’s was large, has a wonderful meat to pastry ratio, and leaves one satisfied yet not weighed down over the closing stretch. Great, great stuff.
I think that’s more than enough #content for this week’s action. A brief rundown of what we will be serving up to the almighty Algo (as in rithm) this week to follow. Thanks as always for tuning in and let us know how you enjoy this week’s stuff.
Cheers,
HS
This Week’s Menu:
Monday: MBM Text Thread
Wednesday: Walker’s first long form piece for TTP: “Golf as a Proxy”
Thursday: (8pm EST) Cole Buck-Former Stanford Assistant Coach is back at TCU as Associate Head