Another month, another social!
By Katie Garner
l-r: Joel, Katie, Rhianna and Diane
The March social is always a special one for me, as I use it to celebrate my birthday with my wonderful friends from Wychelm BC. I take my birthday very seriously, with the same if not more reverence than Christmas, often utilising the whole month to revel in celebrations, parties, get togethers and general fun. This year, I planned my badminton birthday shindig for Saturday 14th March, booking a table for 10 people at Brazilian eatery Braza, based near The Brewery in Romford. With the majority of the troops arriving for a 7.00pm start, I was looking forward to getting stuck in to the delicious spit roasted meats, the colourful concoction of cocktails and the brilliant conversations and jokes that is a must-have feature of any Wychelm social.
Sat on a long, rectangular table, I had my fabulous ladies doubles partner Kay on one side, wearing a stunning turquoise and black lace dress, whilst on my left was social regular Diane. Rock lover Helen was also present and correct, sat next to treasurer Nick, who had saved a spot at the end of the table for late comer Noel. Tube driver Gary also attended with his charming wife Kerry, Joel also bringing his partner Rhianna to take our table total up to 10 people.
l-r: Kay, Noel and Nick
Grabbing plates by the cold buffet, we then filled our plates with the array of cold salads and vegetables, as well as different varieties of rice and potatoes, before sitting down to await the arrival of the vast selection of meats that were hand carved by the waiters directly on to our plates. You could take your pick from chicken thighs, chicken wings, smoked sausages, rump steak, gammon steak, lamb steak, chicken sausages and more, keeping your individual place card turned on to ‘YES’ if you wanted the meat to keep being delivered to your plate. Switching it to the red ‘NO’ side, meant that you were skipped until you had made more space!
With reasonably priced cocktails, many of us opted for the umbrella and orange segment clad specials, although a few of the guys opted for beer, Kay and Diane ordering a bottle of wine to split. After our meats and sides we had just enough space for dessert, choosing from the selection of mousses and custard based desserts, whether you were in a fruity mood or chocolate there was something for everyone. Naturally, I went for the chocolate cake, which had a lovely smooth, set custard style texture. Delicious!
Although the service was questionable – why did we get the brand new guy? He didn’t even know the drinks 
menu?!? – the food was more than up to scratch as was the banter…needless to say, the conversation turned to popular books and now film Fifty Shades of Grey, with discussions of fingering and then offers from Noel taking the topic in a very unexpected turn! Taking shop, Kay and I discovered that we are currently leading our ladies division which led to excitable clapping, especially when we also worked out that my wedding is pretty much a week before her daughters! Diane shared about her upcoming foot op, with Wychelm wishing her all the best and a speedy recovery.
Once we had split the bill and paid up, we then headed to nearby local The Golden Lion for a concluding drink before the night’s end. Just want to say a big thank you for everyone who made the effort to attend as I had a lovely evening, despite feeling far too full after all that food! It was a fab night and I look forward to the next social, as always!
