ladytizzy asked about dining in the Lords. There are various restaurants, cafes and bars in the Palace of Westminster. I won’t try and cover them all in a single post, but rather comment on particular dining outlets in different posts.
When I am in Westminster, I try to get in early and have breakfast in the River Restaurant in the Lords. This is a new self-service restaurant and bar on the ground floor. It replaces the old Lords bar, which was a bit of a dive but very popular with researchers. The restaurant itself is not particularly grand: there is nothing much to distinguish it from other self-service restaurants, apart from the fact that it leads out on to the terrace of the House of Lords. One can thus have breakfast overlooking the Thames.
I tend to make use of the opportunity to have breakfast on the terrace. I am always conscious of the fact that this is a privilege. However, while having breakfast, there is sometimes a reminder of another notable, more sombre dimension of working in Westminster. On occcasion, the only other person on the terrace is a policeman patrolling with a sub-machine gun.
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Having lost my internet connection for the past week (A blaming B and vice versa, the usual) I’m on catch-up and felt duty bound to reply to this post first.
Trying to work out if the original was a dive because of the researchers or if it was, and remains, one of the few smoking areas.
ladytizzy: I gave considerable thought as to how to word the post in relation to the fact that the old Lords bar was a dive and popular with researchers! I think it was popular with researchers because it was something of a dive and, as you touch upon, smoking was permitted. There are no smoking areas in the Palace now.