…there was a Twitter exchange. Out of this Twitter exchange arose a  misunderstanding, and from that misunderstanding there came the mighty, unstoppable force that is…

Four heroes worked long and hard to make this dream a reality. They talked, they cooked, they baked, they experimented and they fought off weariness and illness until finally, overcoming all odds, they realised their goal.

Excellent photo by and courtesy of Karohemd at www.karohemd.co.uk

A night of quizzes, geekery, blue noodles and Bantha ribs was to follow. Plushie Wookies, cuddly Darths, Stormtroopers well up for a cuddle and elegant front of house staff all combined with the chefs of the hour to make it an unforgettable night.

The venue was Tsuru. Housed underneath giant At-At legs off Bishopsgate.

AT-AT photo by and courtesy of Karohemd at www.karohemd.co.uk

Walking into what does seem to be a space age setting and seeing Stormtroopers ahead of us, did give me a very spooky – if fleeting – small frisson of fear as reality and childhood imaginings collided.

A trooper walked towards us, weapon raised. I remembered the amulet in my bag. I held it out in an effort to placate him.

“Hey, it’s meeeeeee!” he said.

I was safe.

At his request we took some photos. We were obviously still a bit scared and cold, as the first photo was blurry.

But things improved.

“Yeah, you can take a photo of me playing with myself.”

And so we entered Tsuru and found our friends Pete from Pete Drinks and Kavey from Kavey Eats.

We got our drinks, and started trying to do the quiz sheets we’d been given. The dire warning that cheating would be punishable by loss of hand by lightsabre was chilling but we soldiered on while our heroes cooked and we were looked after by the fabulous front of house people. I finally got to give Osh from The Ship a hug after promising one ages ago.

Menu photo by and courtesy of Karohemd at www.karohemd.co.uk

Fishballs with deliciously crunchy  pickled leeks were handed around, and some very tasty but very spicy pastry whirls. Umami with added heat, but so good.

Some of our party had a bit of a tussle at the table

      

but it all blew over fairly quickly.

Starters!

Summer roll stuffed with blue udon noodles and a wee man made of ham, minted pea ice and pig cheeks with caviar.

The summer roll was flavourful but I am a wuss, and it was just too hot for me. I did eat the wee man though and most of everything else except my fish eggs which I donated to Kavey.

Mains!

Oh my god. Who knew Bantha ribs would be so good?

We ate lots of them. We got sticky and greasy and it was fabulous. Tender rich beef ribs and a crispy fresh coleslaw to contrast.

Dessert!

     

Lime and lemongrass cheesecake on an Oreo crust, with strawberry coulis, basil meringues and Hendricks gin jellies.

I had to donate my jelly as it was way too strong for me, but I could have happily eaten that cheesecake all over again, had it not been quite so rich. I did have a cookie though.

After the debris from the meal was cleared away, the quiz answers were given, albeit amongst some good natured cat-calling from the more…costumed attendees.

Tex and I got a fairly respectable score and as a result, got prizes! Tex got an illustrated Star Wars book and I chose some cookies.

The overall winner was Julian Peacock, and I suspect you can probably imagine why.

We were given goodie bags too, with sparkly honeycomb sweeties, and a Darth Maul Pez dispenser.

Lovely venue, excellent food, fabulous people and a grand night.

Thank you to all involved for making everything so good, and for indulging the Inner Geek.

(Seeing my tall, manly husband trying to make a small, plushie Wookie make noises was ridiculously cute. Thank you @misswhiplash!)

For a full set of gorgeous photos by Karohemd, you can go here!

Love to all involved and yes,

May the Force Be With You, Always.