Red Fox Steakhouse

This weekend was spent for the large part at home working on certain chores- household, studying, money making etc. Friday night we spent a relaxing evening at home eating mexican food and watching T.V. By the time saturday night came however we felt the need to get out of the house for a little while. I looked around for places to go- and came across the Red Fox Lounge - just a stone's through from our house.

Well- What an experience- nothing you read about this place is in anyway an exaggeration. The first thing you will notice is how dark te plce is- once your eyes become accustomed to the lack of light you will take in the kitschy red booths, the ornate bar and general 50s decor. But this place is no 50s take- off or sham- this is the real thing.

We were greeted by an incredibly mouthy bar maid- I have never seen someone complain so much about having to make a drink- especially in light of the fact that she probably had been tipped well for it. However it was all good humored - and the type of banter you could listen to for hours. The other customers at the bar were incredibly friendly- inviting us to sit and join them. Everyone seemed immensely happy- and although this might seem normal for an establishment that serves alcohol, in my experience it is not always the case.

Finally the piano began to play in the corner - a great jazz pianist accompained in turns by a trumpeter, and then an old man who crooned away in a voice that started off being charming and ended by us having to leave the bar for fear of our sanity. The mix of customers was most extrodinary- much more what ones sees in Europe than here in the US. An old man delighted himself by dancing around with all the stunning young women- but somehoe nothing seemed too creepy.

Before we had embarked on our expedition to the Red Fox Lounge I had as usual trawled my way through the world wide web in search of reviews. One of the comments was exceptionally well put -

"No matter your age, sex, taste in music or socio-economic class, you're going to feel weird here -- but in a really good way."

Nothing could sum the place up better than this.