Blast from the past

A long time ago, I worked in the the Census Department, then housed in Somerset House in the Strand in London. A building on a site with a long and illustrious history. Starting out as a town house for the Duke of Somerset in the 16th century, it went through various more or less royal uses, to be rebuilt at the end of the 18th century as a government office complex, vaguely analogous to the GOGGS of Westminster at the end of the 19th century. This last being a building in which I spent quality time. All this from reference 2.

At some point, it was decided that the building was too grand for civil servants, and they were gradually chucked out in favour of a collection of generally arty organisations, not least the Courtauld Gallery, which prior to that had been housed in an obscure part of Bloomsbury, not far from where, as a student, I lodged for a year.

Along way, mainly during the late 1980s, I spent time in a poky little restaurant in Lisle Street in Soho called Poons, best known for its wind dried meats - a Chinese version of the French saucisson sec from Waitrose which I make do with now. At that time Lisle Street included a mix of businesses, including a poky little shop selling telephone equipment, some of it probably leaking out of the nearby telephone exchange. Not being as squeamish in those days as I later became, I once bought a telephone handset there for next to nothing. Eventually pulled up by British Telecom (this was long before they were privatised) who could somehow detect that I had two handsets connected to the one exchange line. But they never inquired into the origin of the handsets.

Over the years, Poons evolved into something rather grander, although I believe the family hung onto the restaurant in Lisle Street for a long time for sentimental reasons. Perhaps they still have it. Perhaps I will check in Street View, although I dare say it would be quicker to ask Gemini.And thinking with my fingers, I don't suppose the chance of my making a mistake in Street View is any less than the chance of Gemini making a mistake. Although any mistake by me is only likely to be a false negative: false positive most unlikely.

Furthermore, the fine baker, Dugdale & Adams, noticed at reference 5, was not far away.

Then yesterday (Sunday), we had the piece at reference 4 in the Financial Times.

And the foregoing all comes together in that it seems that Poons have now spread their wings as far as the interior of Somerset House; a flashy destination for people with money. A far cry from the poky establishment that I once knew.

And I learn that their heritage is Macau, then Portuguese, rather than China proper.

I suppose it would be a bit of fun to visit them in Somerset House. Maybe they would indulge me as a heritage visitor? But I dare say also that it would be a bit pricey, a bit out of my league.

PS: I close with a quick peek at the menu, which tells me that that has moved on too, complete with chunks of French, although the wind-dried meat survives, in the middle of the snap above. And it is all just about affordable.

References

Reference 1: https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/.

Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somerset_House.

Reference 3: https://www.poonslondon.com/.

Reference 4: ‘Great highs and thudding lows’: Jay Rayner reviews Poon’s, the Strand: This kind of Chinese restaurant without stir fries feels like a joke without a punchline - Jay Rayner, Financial Times - 2026.

Reference 5: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/08/batch-572.html.