World Cup 2018, matchday 3

Refereeing
I've been really struck by how few yellow cards there have been. Compared to the club games I have been watching, it seems as if yellow cards are given less liberally which just seems a bit weird and almost old-fashioned. I think it has worked quite well but clear, deliberate professional fouls being left unpunished isn't ideal, for me. On the other hand, I have not seen it get particularly out of hand and seems to be people fairly even so it has helped the games flow VAR was always going to be a talking point but I really feel that the implementation has been excellent (so far) although I have not agreed with all decisions. The speed of review is good and I think the effect on the players already feels clear. Neymar failing to neymar a penalty out of the Costa Ricans after going to review is one of the great moments of VAR and should, hopefully, change some habits. Video assistance is all it is though, and now bemoaning VAR for not getting everything right is the next stage for those kinds of people in the punditry game. The time taken has not been onerous, in my opinion, and has really helped get some decisions spot on - South Korea's opener was incorrectly flagged offside and then overturned on review after noticing the ball had come off a German player. I wonder if VAR will level the playing field a little to prevent the big teams always getting the big decisions. FIFA have been quite brave to go with VAR in the World Cup and UEFA have been clear about not supporting it. Conceptually, I have never had an issue with getting the right decision but the time has been a problem but FIFA seem to have the implementation right here and hopefully it will be understood that the ref is in charge - and can still make howlers on handball, for example. It isn't often I get to praise FIFA so I'll take the opportunity - bravo.

Football
And so the Russians got found out. Russia played fairly well with their strong running in the first two games but looked out of their depth against a fairly workmanlike Uruguay. It was a lovely free kick by Suarez after the wall clearance but quite a ragged midfield all told. Russia have some quality but I cannot see the hosts doing too much more against Spain unless Spain are as unfortunate as they were to meet the famously dubious South Koreans in 2002. I don't think the tournament will be missing this Egypt or Saudi Arabia teams though it was nice to see Salah score in that way that he does – lofting the ball over the keeper. Uruguay may be workmanlike but they are proper workmen with two centre back and two forwards of genuine quality and that may be enough against Portugal. Though it will probably be pretty dull…


Bordering nations, Spain and Portugal, progressed as expected from day 1 but neither were particularly convincing. In 2014, Spain were excellent in patches before being destroyed by the Dutch and the Portugal and Morocco games exposed that soft jaw again. Portugal are an attritional side (as are Spain too, in a very different way) with little in the way of beauty, just workmanlike servicing of what Ronaldo might be able to do. That was enough to be winners of Euro 2016 and they probably should not be entirely written off. Iran were hopeful but miss the end product that so many improving teams lack. I won't miss them but I did massively enjoy them being a bit Spanish in their time-wasting and rolling around versus the Spaniards. Morocco can count themselves a bit unlucky and were quite impressive in patches through the three games but not enough for anything.


Classic third match dead rubber between the French and Danes gave us both the first goalless draw of the tournament and also a human rights abuse on anyone that watched. Denmark look fairly neat but the French were just so disappointing. They will always cause a threat but watching them, it is almost just by accident that they attack - there seems to be precious little construction. They remind me of a high-level videogame football team but controlled by someone not very good mashing square every so often and hoping it'll work. Peru brought a lot of noise, fervour and excitement and Australia didn't. I'm not sure either will be particularly missed into the last 16 but they will have enjoyed themselves.


Do not write Messi off, that has to be the thing to learn. And so we end up with what we thought - the two better-known teams progressing. Argentina finally looked vaguely competent and were more comfortable in the game than the scoreline suggests. The Messi goal to open the game up was a goal that is so very difficult to do but he has really made look easy. The left leg control to take the ball into space is astonishing - there is nothing you can do about that. Croatia have arguably been the team of the round with a competence and quality that has shone through. Nigeria and Iceland will both be missed to be honest and both have done themselves proud both on and off the pitch - the Iceland thunderclap will surely be one of legend. Nigeria had a young side with some eye-catching players - and not just due to the ludicrous kit.

Everybody's second team won with grace and quality is what was decided by the commentary team before the game had even kicked off but the game itself wasn't like that. Brazil will be there or thereabouts I expect but not through a particular quality of attack. They do, however, have one of the brightest passers in world football in Philippe Coutinho who has been neat, tidy and the expansive when he needs to be. He sees passes that I don't see even from the television viewpoint. Serbia will be kicking themselves for a lapse in concentration against Switzerland to let them back in and for Shaqiri, especially, to take advantage. Switzerland look dangerous whenever Shaqiri has a little bit of space and can cause a lot of grief for their opponents.


F. F. That was quite the shock. Germany out after three terrible performances has to be the story of the round. Mexico almost threw it away with a big loss to Sweden but still got through. This wasn't a strong group and South Korea looked awful so for Germany to be unable to break them down until the end was truly shocking. In the parochial commentary, Germany missed the pace and incision of Leroy Sane but as he was not seen as reliable, he would not have played. His replacement in the squad, Brandt, looked very good whenever he came on with pace and quality so I really don't think Sane would have made a difference. What would have made a difference, and German performances still defined the group here, was a set of German players that looked like they knew how to construct attacks. South Korea were no more than competent in winning but it was a pleasure to see VAR making an offside goal onside and Son running free for the second. What a set of games Germany were involved in!

Goals aplenty in previous games left this last matchday as a bit of a dead rubber. England and Belgium were far superior to their opponents and so went into the last game with good goal difference and maximum points - split on disciplinary points. And both managers decided to rest much of their first teams and blood some of the subs. As a result, there wasn't much to be gleaned, Belgium deservedly continued their run of wins but neither team was left with egg on their faces and we were not quite treated to the spectacle of the France vs Denmark match. England lacked a cutting edge and were found wanting defensively quite a few times straight down the middle. I'm a huge fan of Trent Alexander-Arnold and it was great to see him start and give a very good account of himself - one to keep an eye on. The game started with talk of where the draw was already heading and this game decided which half would host which team - and many in England would be pleased to be on the "easier" half. But these are the same people oblivious to the fact that England have a woeful record in knockout games - beating only Ecuador and Denmark in the current millennium. Why they need reminding again, I don't know, but pride so often comes before a fall.


How do you solve a problem like matching records? Goal difference, followed by goals scored followed by head to head followed by discipline. Discipline? Yep, so Japan progress instead of Senegal by virtue of having picked up fewer bookings in the three games. It is the first time I have heard if this method but it is better than the coin toss of 1990, I am happy with that. This always looked a tight squeeze with a balanced group due to the imbalances in each team but it is a shame to lose Senegal after their pace and (attempted) attacking verve was pegged back by a Japan that was under the cosh. I've generally got a soft spot for Japan but this was not an impressive display and they are pretty fortunate to have caught Colombia out. Colombia will be without James, probably, and so will not have the guile in the middle that he possesses but the more basic threat of Falcao and Cuadrado can definitely unsettle. One to watch.

World Cup 2018, matchdays 1 and 2

The Joys of the World Cup
I do love festivals of football underpinned by corrupted bidding practices and very dubious host nations so I have been really looking forward to the World Cup. FIFA are very good at ticking all those boxes these days so I am confident that I will be well served for many years.
I had wanted to do a little blog post after each round of matches but the football has been relentless, absolutely relentless. I am watching every game, as I always ^[1] do and on weekdays, I am still working a fairly standard work day so I get home at about 6:30 pm and then watch three games of football yet none of them live. This does necessitate the basic exit from much of the normal communications during the day – so no checking of the news/Internet. People I work with mainly don't think that I like football so that is a fairly simple conversation to avoid, which helps. Anyway, that takes its toll and I have felt that a fair bit more than I remember doing before.
So, looking at the games after match days 1 and 2, what have I learned?

Aesthetics
There are a lot of teams with a lot of nice kits and quite a few which are pretty rubbish and that seems to be at random. I did not particularly like the Adidas templates in the photos but they largely look nice on TV. A lot of them seem to be referencing older kits with clear links to 1990 and 1994 with some of the shapes. The Danish one has got the chevrons so all's right with the world. I am still annoyed with some of the colour choices – especially around the shorts – but the look of the games is generally pretty good. I think all the stadiums look fairly similar at pitch level but some of those pitches have been terrible and that does affect the games and the players trying to pass it.
The TV presentation has been largely the same as it usually is with a few graphical flourishes provided by the host broadcaster. The way the scores are shown and the typefaces used are not great and a little gimmicky - the branding of the world cup as a whole is not particularly memorable. It won't stick in the mind like the dots of Italia 90, that is for sure.

Coverage
In the UK, there are two broadcasters for this tournament – ITV and BBC. It is the battle of our age, and every age. And in every age, the outcome seems to be the same with the BBC outclassing ITV at every turn. I have to be honest, I am not watching as much of the ancillary stuff so I'm not so aware of it all but of the bits I have seen, the BBC is a clear winner. A possible exception is the rather magnetic Slaven Bilic ^[2] on ITV coverage. As I am watching "as live", I do skip a lot of the nonsense but I do try and catch a little analysis too although I became a fan of the "no, kick off isn't at 7:45, it is at 8pm" at Euro 2008. One interesting aspect has been the use by both BBC and ITV of female pundits which has caused uproar with all the usual suspects but for me has done a little bit of a Gary Neville ^[3] for me on punditry. I didn't think Gary Neville was a great pundit but he just highlighted how poor most of it was before – all he did was take the job seriously and decide to do some research and understanding of things before he spoke about them. Both BBC (Alex Scott) and ITV (Eni Aluko) have accepted that they should not be token and they are entirely integrated into the normal punditry model. The BBC has also had female presenters (I do think Gabby Logan is an excellent presenter) and a female commentator too which should not be a point of interest but still is. The first England match was also, at the time, the most watched TV event of the year which is quite impressive in a Royal Wedding year.
That is the TV coverage but both channels have their streaming output (again, better on the BBC with their excellent iPlayer infrastructure) and the BBC also have a VR "app" which I have tried on the PSVR ^[4] , although it is available through other platforms too. This is only available live and so I have not had so many opportunities to try it. I did try it for Germany vs Mexico and rather enjoyed it. There were three viewpoints which you could select at will – behind each goal and one in the stands on about the halfway line (I guess near the media boxes). I think I have tried similar before for other matches but there was a major difference in quality. The picture here was very good (PSVR is a lower resolution picture than the actual PS4 output) but still not ideal. You could see the whole pitch and the shape of the teams making it feel like a great seat. I have been fortunate enough to have those kinds of seats at a few games I have been to at Anfield and it makes tactical understanding much sharper. The game changer here, the one that makes it a genuinely good experience, is that there is also a fake jumbotron floating above the pitch giving you the TV feed. For me, this is the best of both worlds – tactical view from VR and the replays and close-ups from the TV feed. It was actually a very watchable experience but wearing a headset is not as comfortable as not wearing one and this was not an evening game. I think I will try it again if the stars align.

Football
You see how this is fairly low down the groupings? That isn't a coincidence. I was excited about the start but I knew that the first game was between two poor football teams and it was one of ^[5] the worst 5-0 matches I have seen. The next few games were no better but after Spain vs Portugal, the quality picked up and matchday 1 was actually pretty good. Matchday 2 has also been pretty mixed in terms of quality overall but has created some interesting matchups. Maybe the best way of assessing is to consider which match of the third Matchday to watch in each group.

A. Uruguay vs Russia
The first game between Russia and Saudi left me concerned - these looked like to two terrible football teams. Egypt were a little toothless without Mo Salah and played as if they had him when setting up but just didn't have the quality. Uruguay were lucky to win with their off day against Egypt and then were fairly comfortable to beat Saudi to face the tireless Russians that seem to have taken an injection of pure enthusiasm after a set of abject displays in the previous decade. I'm not sure it will be a great game but it is always sort of fun watching Suarez and Cavani.

B. Spain vs Morocco
Maybe Spain vs Portugal was the best match of the tournament so far with a strange ebb and flow to the game as a vastly superior Spain were caught out and complacent a few too many times. Being the obvious favourites for the group, it actually made the group quite a simple one and so we have got to the last match with both expected to win to seal their places.
Morocco and Iran have been interesting opponents with both being tricky for the big boys and I especially liked Iran using a lot of the Spanish tricks against them. Iran can actually still make it against Portugal but I just don't really fancy watching them. The other story has, of course, been Ronaldo scoring four including, finally, a direct free kick after 45 World Cup attempts. Portugal are set up to serve Ronaldo and the team seem happy to do so which is at odds to the Argentinian setup. I don't find them particularly fun to watch though, as a result, but I can admire them.

C. Denmark vs France
France have been quite poor but have six points. They look pretty disjointed and ill-prepared but have such a set of players that they may not need to be coherent for the 90 mins if one player can do something in one moment. In many ways, this is a little like how Manchester United have played for a few seasons now and France look similar. It was disappointing to see the Peruvians beaten as they have been a very enjoyable team to watch on and off the pitch but they have ultimately been not quite good enough. Denmark have looked a neat side with Eriksen able to pull the strings and Poulsen providing pace and industry so it could be a good match.

D. Nigeria vs Argentina
Well… The story of the tournament, for many people, is the shockingly poor displays by Argentina and, by extension, Lionel Messi. Argentina look disjointed and disloyal - like a Chelsea team looking to get their manager sacked as they seem to do every few years. Watching Messi in this team is so strange as it feels like he is expected to play as the 10 but people don't offer themselves. It is a very odd situation where the player that can choose options quicker and better than anyone is given none. We watch with the chance it will happen or that there will be an outrageous fall from grace. Right now, either will do. Nigeria will offer a test but they may be easier to play for Argentina rather than an excellent Croatia side or the hugely disciplined Iceland. Iceland have been Iceland - in your face and unintimidated by their opposition. That crowd, and the thunderclap is one for the world, and the World Cup, to really savour. Iceland are happy to be there but we should also be glad to have teams like this there. Croatia were excellent in taking advantage of the sloppy Argentinians and were comfortable in taking Nigeria down with arguably the most accomplished performances of the group stages. Nigeria look ridiculous in their kits and although not as dazzling as the kits, the team were quite good at beating Iceland and will be a stern test.

E. Serbia vs Brazil
A group with Brazil in it is always defined by Brazil. There is something incredibly annoying for me about Brazil, they feel like a huge marketing campaign rather than a football team and have not been a particularly interesting football team to watch throughout my football watching life. A pragmatism allied with usually some genuinely brilliant players is what they have been since winning in 1994. Thus, watching them getting hammered in the last world cup ranks as one of my happiest moments in the world cup - they were lucky to lose by so few. Anyway, another year, another reeling off of Neymar's stats and how great he is not quite matching what I see on the pitch. Brazil do have one of the most interesting passers around in Philippe Coutinho so they are not always an elaborate show pony. In their matches so far, weaknesses have been shown against both teams and the annoyances around diving have come to the fore. Switzerland have looked a dangerous side at times with Shaqiri wandering around the forward line with a true snarling, scampering menace which could break out at any time. Serbia comfortably dealt with Costa Rica and looked comfortable against Switzerland until the second half and so go into the match needing a win. A set of good, technical players allied to the heft of Mitrovic makes them a little erratic but usually fun. The permutations make this interesting and a Swiss win or draw would take them through but Serbia need to beat Brazil with Brazil through with a draw. There will be a bit riding on this game and I feel it might show.

F. South Korea vs Germany
A tight group which is tightly poised at the death after German's travails. Germany are the big beasts here and losing the first game to Mexico, deservedly, after being repeatedly cut apart was an eye-opener. Mexico are quick to counter and open space really well as they did in their second game too. Sweden have played in a fairly Swedish manner with some solidity and something approaching flair but not quite getting there. German complacency almost allowed the Swedes to take a point, or even all three, but they weren't quite able to convert to points. Leaving them needing a victory which could take them through and it is plausible that Germany, Mexico and Sweden could end up on 6 points each as South Korea have been quite woeful. Germany have a lot of quality as has been clear but they have not really been creating great chances nor looking like the champions. Yet, they have probably done enough to win and were pretty good against Sweden so should have enough to defeat South Korea. That, could leave the positions decided by goal difference and maybe even fair play… The Boateng red card could prove more costly than initially thought.

G. England vs Belgium
This group always looked a bit 2 vs 2 and it seemed likely that this last game would be a decider. You might say it doesn't matter too much but it has repercussions for the draw so it will be played for. Belgium have been pretty solid and have an enviable selection of players to choose from with many neat, nippy players to provide the physical weapon that is Romelu Lukaku and +6 for goal difference is not to be sniffed at. England didn't look too good in the first game making it hard for themselves but had not been tested particularly either. Dismantling a weak Panama side gave them the an equal pole position for the group in terms of goal difference (excellently, they are topping the group due to fewer yellow cards than Belgium) but it is again worrying that goals have been conceded to weak sides. They look a little raw and naive - and that makes for an intriguing matchup as I think both teams will go into the match with expectations.

H. Senegal vs Colombia
I didn't feel there were many standout teams in this group and the Japanese victory against Colombia opened the group up. It means four fairly evenly matched teams with wildcards for each team that I rather rate (Kagawa, Lewandowski, Mane, James) giving it a nice balance. I feel like all of the teams would have been pleased to progress but would not necessarily aim for much more than that so it is a weird group. I have a soft spot for Japan and they have been their usual neat selves (with mental blockage) but the other game has more riding on it. Senegal and Colombia can both go through and with the even nature of the teams, I feel like any result could happen in both games so it is very open.

There is a lot to play for, and a lot still to watch. It is now that it starts getting truly serious.

<sup>1. I think I have watched every available game of World Cup football since 1998 (or actually the latter stages of 1994, more strictly) not including games which are played at the same time such as the third group games. In recent years, that has been largely "as live" by recording games.↩
2. Yes, he of some fine World Cup ignominy in 1998 with Laurent Blanc.↩
3. Gary is actually on ITV but without room to breathe, he does not do much more than the other pundits to be honest.↩
4. PlayStation VR is a nice little setup attaching to the PS4. I have been absolutely blown away by at least one thing ((Rez Infinite) which I blogged about in 2016. I said at the time that nothing would be the same again. It hasn't been.↩
5. I think England vs San Marino was probably worse.↩</sup>

ロン丼牛ドン / London Gyudon 05: Sushi Waka

This would be the third restaurant that we went to that appeared to specialise in a particular kind of Japanese food but none of them had been gyudon. Sushi Waka seemed to be a sushi place, so it was still not specialising in gyudon, and took us to North London or Camden to be more specific. This was pretty convenient for me as I didn't live too far away and I know the area quite well. As a result, I had been to Sushi Waka before but had been to some other Japanese restaurants more often. My favourite Japanese restaurant is in Camden and is called Asakusa close to Mornington Crescent station and I also rather like Seto Ramen which is also nearby. As far as I am aware, neither does gyudon and so Sushi Waka it would be.

Camden is a bit of a nightlife area and there is a fairly "old" feel to the establishments in the area with the atmosphere having been set a long time ago rather than as a result of more recent redevelopment but there is still plenty of new to go with the old. Nearby the multiple Camden markets bring plenty of tourist footfall to the general area but Parkway is not so close to the market and so I imagine the restaurant does rely on regulars rather than drop-ins.

The first thing to note is that there was no "gyu-don" on the menu, only in set form. The restaurant feels different to each of the ones we've been to so far with very little pretentiousness which comes with being a more local kind of place. Sushi Waka itself must be of a certain vintage as it has a sign that gives that away if you know the details^[1]. This little fact, I love.

Camden has a few Japanese restaurants and parts of LB^[2] Camden have long been home to Japanese people which lends itself to less touristy restaurants, I hope. It was a pleasant restaurant inside but was not particularly modern feeling, or even "refreshed" with old looking décor and rather odd dining chairs which looked like conference or meeting chairs. It did not feel upmarket or downmarket, it just felt a bit local and quite unimpressive as a location. There is also a Japanese (tatami) room upstairs but we did not see that.

We didn't pick so many dishes and supplanted the order of 2 gyudon sets with vegetable korokke and some house salad and decided we'd get more if necessary. The sets came with miso soup, pickles and fruit so we felt that had enough variety, initially at least. The food didn't all come together and was served, effectively, as courses with the korokke, soup and salad coming first, followed by gyudon.

The korokke was pretty creamy and tasty but nothing particularly noteworthy (it was just something I'd not had in a while) but it reminded me of supermarket food in Japan - in a good way. The salad was fairly plain and seemed to be more an accompanying dish rather than a course but we still finished it before gyudon was brought out. Interestingly, the table was clear as we sat down with no condiments, such as soy sauce and shichimi^[3] at all so the restaurant was obviously confident in seasoning appropriately. I was less confident and so asked for some shichimi to put in the soup but only wanted to have it with the gyudon.

The gyudon was brought out in quite large, solid bowls that felt more like bibimbap bowls, such was their heft. This is relevant as it made it enjoyable to hold when eating ^[4] with chopsticks. The big bowl meant quite a decent portion of rice and meat – and the meat was quite dark with a little sprinkling of pickled ginger. That, however, is just the mechanics, how was the taste? In all honesty, I was not expecting much with the colour not looking quite right. And that taste was very good. Surprising, but very good. The meat was sweet – far sweeter than I expected or probably (thought that I) wanted but quite easy to eat. Coupled with the rice, it was a great combination as the rice soaked up a bit of that sweetness. As I mentioned before, there were no condiments on the table and so no extra pickled ginger either but the sprinkling that was in the bowl was also very good and wonderfully sharp providing an excellent counterpoint to the meat and rice. I was genuinely surprised about how good it was. I was also heartened by the quality of the miso soup which felt deep and flavoursome which again was improved by the addition of a little counterpoint which the shichimi provided. Being picky, as I devoured the bowl, it did feel a spot dry but Paul said it was a bit "wet" for him so it may just have been the way we ate it. There was no egg to top the dish but we were both in agreement about this one – it was not missed. We both left our bowls without even a single grain of rice remaining and that sweetness of the marinade goes so well with the rice by the end, having seeped through such that the balance is spot on. It is a bowl that improves through the meal which is quite an odd sensation. Eventually, after being asked about whether we wanted anything else, we were presented with small fruit plates as a sort of dessert (although there is an actual dessert section on the menu) which was at turns very Japanese but also quite uncommon – I think the first time we have had it. It was a very satisfying conclusion to the meal which cleansed the palate and also gave a fresh ending ^[5] .

As ever, it felt a bit bad to miss out on much of the breadth of the menu (in this case, sushi) due to the project but it was not such a disappointing turn of affairs as it was in Machiya. The "gyu-don set" is a good meal in its own right and the surroundings are pleasant enough but I was truly impressed by the gyudon. It was not particularly nostalgic for me, but at the same time, it kind of was. I don't think the gyudon I used to enjoy in Japan was quite as sweet and it did not set off any repressed memories (as for the Koya meal) about gyudon so it was different to what I was expecting but not a fundamental diversion so it did tick the boxes. I would definitely recommend a visit to most people as the gyudon was really nice and the restaurant presents an atmosphere of a Japanese restaurant that is not quite as prevalent as it used to be. That lingering feeling of the past and not quite modern interpretation of Japanese décor is one that I really appreciate and is not replicated too much anymore. The gyudon was great and I'd be intrigued to try some more from the menu.

Cost of gyudon (set): £12.50

Sushi Waka
75 Parkway, Camden Town, London NW1 7PP

<sup>1. The Sushi Waka sign has a phone number that does not work any longer and has not worked since 1999 as Inner London's area code for telephone numbers changed from 01, to 071 to 0171 to 020 within about a decade.↩
2. LB meaning London Borough. LB Camden is fairly dense and, although an inner London borough and so smaller than others, covers Covent Garden in the south to Highgate in the north. The Finchley Road area had traditionally had quite a few Japanese ex-pats. They weren't immigrants, they were ex-pats.↩
3. Shichi-mi tōgarashi also known as nana-iro tōgarashi or simply shichimi, is a common Japanese spice mixture containing seven ingredients.↩
4. I like to eat bowls of rice held in my left hand rather than from the table but I have to say that I rarely do it in restaurants in the UK. I don't think I have been doing that on the gyudon project either but it felt really nice here. It is all part of the process.↩
5. It was not a true ending though, of course – it was only 8pm. Not too far away on Kentish Town Road, we went to the "Dirty Ice Cream" emporium Mamason. This is a fairly new Filipino ice cream bar that I had been to before and thought it worth checking out again for a dessert and/or drink. With a selection of ice cream and sorbet flavours that are rarely seen in London, such as ube and lychee, we thought it worth a try. And it very much was as the ice cream was excellent.↩</sup>

The Lloyd's Building

Lloyd's (or Lloyd's of London) is an insurance market that could lay claim to being the prime mover in creating the concept of insurance as is widely understood^[1] and is named after a coffee house that was run by Edward Lloyd. The original coffee shop became a meeting point for those involved in the maritime trade and they came to share information about shipping which was used for offering insurance. Insurance is just about managing risk by pooling those risks so that it benefits more people. By pooling that risk, catastrophe can be more effectively managed. If 5% of 20 ships will sink, that might not seem so bad but if it happens to be your ship - you will take 100% of the loss. So, the effect of that risk is different if you have one of twenty total ships or if you have twenty ships yourself. Pooling that risk means that everyone pays a little bit more but nobody loses out entirely and as it is pretty random who that 5% will afflict, it seems like a low cost. So the financial risk is, effectively identical, but the real risk to individual participants is reduced.

Insurance works, but pooling risks only happens if you actually have multiple risks to pool and for that you needed people to be pooled together to be able to meet and strike these agreements. That happened at Lloyd's Coffee House - it was a prime example of the benefits of mixing people together.

Fast forward a few years, or a few centuries, to 1986 and a new building was completed for the market in the City of London. A building that split opinion and also, 25 years hence, became the youngest Grade I listed structure^[2] in the UK. Why did it split opinion? Because that is what modern architecture does and this structure was very modern. Like the Pompidou Centre in Paris, this building was "inside-out".

In many ways, we have to think about what the purpose of a building is and Le Corbusier, famously, described homes as machines for living. If we think about it in that way, then it allows us to reassess what the purpose of components that make up a building are. At the most basic level, you need walls and a roof but that does not quite scale up when you have larger buildings with the requirements of infrastructure. Traditional buildings have external walls that do two things - structurally hold the building up and provide shelter from the elements. Walls can be load bearing or simply partitions and that is the difference in looking at the purpose of the walls. What if we split that responsibility out a little, you could have something else that was better at holding a building up and a separate something else that was better for providing shelter. Once you separate that out, you can start having load-bearing structures that don't need to look good as they are hidden away and facades that are better for the inhabitants - this gave us the glass skyscrapers with central cores. Glass lets light in and makes a nicer environment for those inside the building. Many traditionalists in the world of newspaper columns don't seem to think buildings are for anything other than looking at from afar, however, and so changes in technology are not always seen positively. What a central core also allowed was for all the "services" (such as lift cores, utility supply etc)to be put into that central core and then allowing the space between the glass frontage and the central core to be pretty open - giving large open spaces. This centralised load-bearing structure soon became the new tradition of building skyscrapers.

What, however, could we do if we could also move that central core outside the building to leave an open, unbroken space? The benefits of an unbroken, easily adaptable space were clear for tenants of a building and that is what drew Lloyd's to the vision given by Richard Rogers as he persuaded the decision makers over to his way of thinking. Another benefit of an approach like this, a sort of exoskeleton for a building, is that the maintenance of these previously hidden things is made much quicker and easier as a result of being accessible. Maybe most famously for the Lloyd's building, the lifts are placed outside the building and that just happens to afford great views of the City of London - I assume that this is a positive unintended consequence. Does the building work for the inhabitants? Over thirty years on, that answer seems to be a clear "yes" but you have to think of stakeholders and the external view of something is important in such a central location in one of the best-known cities in the world. Well, unsurprisingly, this has been a success too - it will never be a universally loved building but it is one that fewer and fewer people are against now.

I'm not that interested in architecture - not enough to write about anyway which seems an odd thing to say after a few hundred words about a building. The point, however, is about the idea of thinking of design in a new way. Taking a step back to see the purpose of a building rather than what had gone before it seems like a sensible way of approaching problems and maybe we should all try to get back to first principles every so often to appraise what we do. I am also a big fan of making things easily accessible to make changes to when required. At work, I do a fair amount of calculation models and it is always important that we can see what is going into those - the inputs have to be clear^[3] and externalised so that you can change them easily. So that others can maintain them rather than hiding away the working components. Eventually, people get used to the look and it becomes a house style. That's what I have learned from Richard Rogers' groundbreaking building.

<sup>1. Although this may not, semi-famously, be all that well understood by some high ranking people in US politics such as Paul Ryan (amongst many, many other Republicans).↩
2. Listing structures in the UK involves giving the architecture certain types of protection and many owners would not like this to happen as it necessitates conservation which may not always be what the owner wants to do.↩
3. The Pompidou Centre, which came before the Lloyd's building, by Rogers and Renzo also externalised the structures but went one step further by colour coding the infrastructure lines to give clear indications how things worked. In some ways, like a diagram rather than real life.↩</sup>

ロン丼牛ドン / London Gyudon 04: Machiya

Ramen has a sort of level of awareness in London at the moment stemming from a number of places that became popular enough to start mini-chains. One of those, and the branches I have seen often have queues outside, is Kanada-ya^[1]. Unlike Yamagoya, they do not seem to have branched significantly from their ramen but Machiya is supposed to be run in the same vein as Kanada-ya but with different dishes. It could be said that Machiya is a return for Paul and myself as this is actually where we decided^[2] on this project and it was as a result of gyudon here. My abiding memory of that meal^[3], however, was not the meat but the baked sweet potato which was genuinely amazing. I think we may have shared a few things including a gyudon then but all memories are clouded by that sweet potato.

Machiya takes us back to the West End and, more specifically, Panton Street near Leicester Square. It has a fairly pared down menu with a few specials but luckily, gyudon is a standard item - and is in fact boxed out as if it is a highlight of the menu. The general style of the place is casual and the menu is supplanted by a specials menu which is written by hand on a big piece of paper which is in keeping with the casual style. As it happens, there was little on the specials menu with it mainly being different cold drinks due to the slightly warm weather. Paul and I noticed that items we had ordered from specials menu before were now on the menu proper (including the aforementioned yaki imo sweet potato dish). Looking at the menu again, the items that jumped out were the ones we had eaten previously but I did want to try new things^[4] so we ordered a side salad and grilled miso aubergine to go with the gyudon.

The food came out as it was ready but we waited for the gyudon before starting. The bowl was topped with a beautiful looking onsen egg and pre garnished with pickled ginger - there was nothing to add. So, we dug in. The flavour was, however, missing a bit and was not quite what was expected from the look. The mixture of onion and beef tasted a bit anaemic - lacking the bold flavour I expected and had probably not been marinated enough. This was actually a disappointing first mouthful. Diving in again gave the same impact of "is this it?" (and I don't mean the vibrancy of the Strokes' debut album) to the beef. In all honesty, the egg was excellent and a mouthful with a bit of egg and pickle was pretty nice but there was no getting away from the lack of saltiness of the meat. The sauce was fairly weak and the onions were more oniony than sweet as they were not cooked through. As it happened, the bowl wasn't that big either so it wasn't particularly filling and had a lot more rice as a ratio than I'd want too. The other dishes were far better, and the meal as a whole wasn't bad. The yaki imo still an astounding combination of yuzu, butter and wonderfully smooth sweet potato. The aubergine had a nice texture with walnut and a little kick from the garnish but as good as those dishes were, the main was disappointing and so I was a bit disappointed. The meal as a whole wasn't so voluminous either so I was left a bit unsatisfied^[5] afterwards.

The thing about this project is that it is about gyudon so I feel bad that I can't particularly recommend a place that also happened to serve some exceptional food that wasn't gyudon. Service was quick, simple and easy and I will definitely return but I doubt I'll order the gyudon as a main (though it could work if shared) when I do. The location is really convenient, the food is generally good but it is too casual to linger there for a long time. With all that in mind, I do hope people go and have the yaki imo which is genuinely exceptional. The gyudon, less so.

Cost of gyudon: £9.50

Machiya
5 Panton St, London SW1Y 4DL

<sup>1. "ya" in this case just means shop and is a common suffix as in Matsuya.↩
2. In a sort of circuitous route. Paul mentioned to me the gyudon here when I asked about Japanese food around London which kicked off a nostalgic chat about Japan in general and also our first meeting there which revolved around gyudon.↩
3. And maybe food in that whole year, such was the quality.↩
4. I remember the chicken wings were really good, as was the yaki imo and I think we had some form of katsu so we didn't re-order (except the yaki imo, I'm not an idiot).↩
5. Satisfaction was gained by going on to have dessert at nearby Chin Chin Dessert Bar which was chocolate tacos with pineapple and habanero ice cream. It was pretty special.↩</sup>

ロン丼牛ドン / London Gyudon 03: Yamagoya

I had a feeling we'd end up in the south at some point but not as soon as number 3 but here we were near Waterloo. Yamagoya is a ramen chain from Japan (the first actually "originated from Japan" place we've come to on this) and so not necessarily the obvious place for a gyudon but there it is on the menu - in the other bits, "rice", section^[1] . I guess that is similar to going to an udon restaurant (as at Koya) so fair enough. Yamagoya is actually a pretty old chain of restaurants from Kyushu dating back to 1969 and the website has some nice photos of that time.

Having already fallen behind schedule a little by 03 (which was supposed to be monthly), there is always a risk that the bottom could fall out of the project unless it is worth doing so I felt a little internal pressure in this one.

The Cut is a road near Waterloo and Southwark with two three (one is hidden, I have been informed) theatres and a number of eateries including Yamagoya but, even so, the Japanese styling of the shopfront does stand out a bit. Walking in, I looked for a door handle but noticed it was a sliding door on a button which I thought a nice touch^[2] . Once inside, it was fairly obvious that this was a far more casual environment than we'd seen thus far and also that there was an active promotion effort to sell gyudon seen by the pictures at the entrance and inside. These three elements pointed to a very positive experience for me so my hopes were raised. Then I saw Paul seated at a table… Service was effectively self-service so there were no menus at the table but only at the counter so I went to have a look and we ordered two gyudon and a tofu ramen salad,^[3] seeing that we were in a ramen shop. Once ordered, they said they would bring it over which I thought a bit odd. In a true Japanese style, the food came when it was ready rather than together which was, again, just what we wanted.

Beef on rice is all you need for a gyudon, but a little bit of egg can help it along a bit and so to see a soft boiled "onsen" egg placed on the gyudon was something that warmed the heart. There was no pickled ginger in the dish, normally a point of disappointment but, even better than this, there was a pot of pickled ginger to use. The excitement and anticipation was high!

Digging in with the chopsticks showed that the volume of beef was not so high and the egg hid that fact a little bit so it would not necessarily be a filling bowl on its own. The beef was subtly flavoured and fairly light but was, of course, flavoured by the addition of egg. Having liberally sprinkled ginger over it too, (after having tried without), it was a pleasing combination but nothing special. I think, had I not tried other gyudons recently, I would have enjoyed this a lot more but it was actually quite average. Yamagoya is a ramen place and this was also a fairly cheap meal (the lowest so far) and with this in mind, it is an entirely acceptable gyudon but not one that I would travel for. We also received a tofu ramen salad which was a really nice mix of ingredients and quite refreshing and zesty. It worked very well as accompaniment and it made the size of the meal more appropriate.

In so many ways, Yamagoya is exactly the kind of slightly westernised version that Paul and I were looking for but I don't feel like it quite had it right overall. The casual setting, the counter ordering, the pickled ginger at the table and even the sliding door were all the details that I wanted to see. If I worked a little closer, I think I would go for lunch every so often as it seems a nice, quick meal that is the right size for lunch. I would not, however, travel too far for the gyudon but I imagine the ramen may be a little better and I will almost certainly return to try that out. Being a counter service kind of place is quite appealing and the fact you can eat and then walk out is a real draw to me - this could only be better if you ordered by vending machine. Maybe another branch will open.

Cost of gyudon: £7.50

Yamagoya

49 the Cut, London, SE1 8LF

1. A little like the salads in McDonald's - which are not really there for you to order but really just to give breadth to the menu to look.↩

<sup>2. The vast majority of doors for eateries in Japan are on these sliding doors - I assume a riff on the sliding paper doors that you find in homes.↩
3. This appeared to be a cold ramen without broth but a cold sauce to pour over the top.↩</sup>

ロン丼牛ドン / London Gyudon 02: Koya (City)

There is an element of the difficult second album about episode 2. The initial rush of excitement and anticipation of a project has dissipated a little but there is still a bit of it left. With comparison now possible, do you alter direction or double down? Unlike music, where there are quite a few directions that you can go in, a project focusing on the specifics of gyudon in London kind of locks you in so "double down" it was.

The location was down to me this time, in the spirit of sharing the burden, and so I went for a place I'd heard of a few times but never visited. Koya has two branches in London - the original in Soho and an offshoot in the city. In a probably vain attempt to introduce variability into a fixed project, I chose the City one^[1] as 02. Unfortunately, Paul had not realised this and made his way to the Soho^[2] one and when that was sorted out, we went in a little later than planned.

I hadn't really looked specifically for gyudon or, more widely, donburi that much in London and doing a more specific search highlighted the dearth of options away from the west end so this was an opportunity. This was still an offshoot of an original Soho place so I guess it is hard to start something new outside of the west end. There seems to be a proliferation of Ramen places over the last few years and sushi is very popular for lunch within London.

Koya City is a fairly new place and that showed in the way it was set up and the clientele. The area it is in is a brand new building for Bloomberg^[3] and also the nearest train station, Cannon Street, has been refurbished recently. Being in the city^[4] meant that there was an expectation of other city workers (or "salarymen" and "office ladies") in the evenings and so a more brisk trade than I would expect in Soho on a Wednesday night. At 6:30, it wasn't full but not empty either so it was a welcoming sight.

The menu could be as extensive as it liked but that would be irrelevant - we ordered a gyudon each and some sides. Koya is better known for udon and it actually has quite a selection but it doesn't have that much more on the menu^[5] as appropriate sides so we ordered another main to share between us of cold udon with a sesame dipping sauce along with some fried tofu with enoki mushrooms.

I'd been recommended Koya when I had asked on twitter so my expectation was fairly high but also tempered by the knowledge that it was still going to be a restaurant. Japanese restaurants generally bring food out as and when it is ready but we were fortunate to get everything at the same time including a miso soup each.

Seeing the gyudon brought a mixture of pleasure and disappointment as it did not seem there wasn't much meat but there was a sprinkle of pickled, red ginger. Mixtures of disappointment and pleasure are what I live for so things looked positive. I tucked in and, what was this feeling? Was it what I thought it was? Was it natsukashii ("nostalgic")? Yep, that's what it was. Dredging up taste memories that I'd forgotten about, I was very surprised. Japanese gyudon is actually pretty salty I suddenly remembered, it isn't just a cheap meat, it is stringy and sort of tender. I wasn't sure if I was implanting this into my brain but Paul concurred. I dug in deeper into the rice. As it happened the volume of meat wasn't great so there was quite a bit of rice underneath which initially felt like a bit of a con. But, that rice was subtly flavoured by the meat and light sauce to make it really quite moreish. Digging in deeper still for a rounded mouthful of rice, meat and a little sprinkle of ginger gave those flavours and then rounded it off with the sharp flavour of the ginger which, again, was definitely hitting the right notes of my memory banks. This was pretty impressive and better than I was expecting. It felt a bit like an alarm going off in my head. And, it actually was an alarm going off but not in my head - the restaurant had a real and repeated problem of the smoke alarm going off. It was not ideal and although kind of fun the first couple of times, it was significantly less so the next eight or nine times.

The miso soup was actually a little different to what I expected too and even came with a spoon with which to have it. This kind of threw me and I did use it initially before realising that was too weird. The soup was without seaweed but did have radish to change the flavour which took some saltiness out of the meal making it a nice offset for the gyudon itself. The tofu was also a bit more coherent and stayed in cubes rather than falling apart.

And so, on to the "sides". Koya's extensive noodle selection made me think that they probably know what they are doing so we went for a simple udon to get a bit of the purist flavour and with a thick, creamy dipping gomadare (literally sesame sauce). The udon itself was cold (you can have hot udon too, we both fancied cold to go as a side) as was the sauce so it had an almost salady feel. Again, this was good but the gomadare was maybe a little thicker than it needed to be so the amount of sauce was a bit uneven and could mask the flavour of the udon. I'd recommend it but I think I would have preferred the simplest of dishes which would be zaru udon (cold udon dipped into a simple tsuyu sauce). The other "side" was an actual side rather than another shared main and was a more subtle tofu dish than I was expecting. The wording "Fried tofu with mushrooms and sauce" gave a different impression to the lightly fried large tofu piece we actually got. Again, it was of a certain style that did not quite work perfectly but was still very nice and easily finished. The tofu went quite well with the gomadare which allowed us to offset the surfeit of sauce on one dish with the subtlety of the other.

Overall, I was really surprised at the meal due to the gyudon. In many ways, this felt more Japanese due to the subtle elements to the dishes but the surroundings were a clear, clean "every restaurant" in many ways with little to distinguish it from a neighbouring burger restaurant or pizza place. That is not a negative, per se, and it still looked quite "cool" and I actually enjoyed the fact that the staff were not all oriental and it gave a better indication of the context of the location. The food felt sort of incongruous in that way but I will definitely be back. The spoon with the soup would normally be a massive sign that we were about to get a novelty meal but this indicator seemed less about unwitting capture and more about accessibility, which is a noble aim. The gyudon was the best I have had in a very long time but I am intrigued by the other offerings so I'm sure I'll go to try those too. Koya City seems less of a sharing kind of place than other Asian restaurants with its focus on difficult to share donburis so that is worth considering if you fancy a visit. And you should fancy a visit.

Cost of gyudon: £11.60

Koya city
10-12 Bloomberg Arcade London EC4N 8AR

(other branches are available)

^{1. This decision was entirely unaffected by the fact that the City branch was closer to my workplace, near City Hall. And anyone who says it was is guilty of slander. Or libel. Whichever one it is depending on the method of communication.↩}

^{2. Brilliantly, Paul was quite smug as he answered the phone as I called him. "why is Saif calling, probably to tell me he is running late. But I am on time, I am great." is probably close to what he was thinking. It was nice to give him the opportunity to be smug and then also the quick correction of his emotions.↩}

^{3. I was asked to refrain from taking photos in the arcade, the creeping takeover of space by private organisations that make it feel public, I guess.↩}

^{4. For those not in the know, "the city" in London refers to the area administered by the corporation of London and is sometimes also referred to as the square mile. Although not exclusive to the area, it is known for being a financial hub and so has many professional services in the area too.↩}

^{5. It has a three page menu, one page for different udons (btw the lack of italics suggests that this is a loan word in English and so I am applying English grammar - so udon can be pluralised even though the original language has no plurals), one for drinks and one for everything else, including gyudon.↩}