Ryan MacMillan

During our stay at R*M, Jessica and I have had the chance to explore the winding streets and elegant views of the Southbank area. Making the best out of our hour long (and sometimes longer) lunch breaks, we uncovered some little gems in the city…

“The Chinese Place Across The Road”

This little restaurant caught our attention when passing by, mostly because the menu boasted a £10 lunch menu for 2 (which they did not in fact serve) and because of our mutual love of Chinese food. So we ordered a filling 2 course lunch, and Jessica braved her fear of chillies in an attempt to clear her blocked up sinuses. We finally made it out after 20 mins of miscommunication with the Chinese waitress.

“The Tate”

Walking along the river one day we somehow ended up at the gallery and decided to wander around. They were showcasing some interesting street art outside and some stranger art movies inside (think Clockwork Orange meets porn).

“The Skate Park”

Further down the banks of the Thames, we visited Jessica’s favorite London skate park, complete with graffiti’ed concrete walls and suitably attired kids of all ages (boxers showing, caps on backwards, that kind of thing) ripping up shapes on their skateboards. We joined them in lovingly showcasing our own “artwork” , a tribute to our great colleague who we unfortunately saw very little of:

“Squat and Gobble”

“Ohmygod I can’t believe I’m not going to go to my favourite sandwich place! It’s amazing, we have to go!” That’s how we ended up all the way in Tottenham Court Road one lunch break. Much credit goes to Jessica for this one, this place served delicious sandwiches with every filling under the sun. On the way back to the station we visited Jessica’s “favourite cookie place” and rushed back to the office, bellies full to capacity (as usual).

“Gabriel’s Wharf”

This tiny little street holds all sorts of little cafes and shops where we spent many an hour window shopping. Our favourite place serves crepes all day freshly made in front of you smeared with chocolate spread mmm…

“The Doctor”

I bet you didn’t know there was a medical centre inside Waterloo station, but we do! The MediCentre was where we headed one afternoon after putting up with Jessica’s coughing and sneezing for over a week. Checking her ears and throat it was proclaimed that she wasn’t contagious, and we were sent with a box of antibiotics and nasal spray to chase the cold away. (Update: 3 weeks later she’s still coughing. Her body doesn’t seem to agree with the English summer)

“Café Alba”

Ignoring Leo’s unhappy face at the sound of our favourite cafe, we enjoyed many a fresh salad and warming soup at this place. The friendly Italian owner even has a list of the nearby companies (which I may add,he invited R*M to join) to whom he handed out generous 15% discounts. We think it’s delicious and a great value for money – ignore Leo, and go!

“The Pubs”

After a long hard day at the office our favourite post work activity was to drag Ben from his much loved Excel sheets and force Leo out of his “zone” to kick back and relax in one of the nearby pubs, cold pint in hand. We visited The Kings Arms and The White Hart where we had many an interesting conversation. We encourage you all to join R*M in drinking Magners!

These memories and more will stay with us, and we thank the team here for putting up with us (as we have them) for so long! Thanks guys!