 Tuesday - day 4 (continued) After taking the train back to London, we took the tube up to Piccadilly Circus and had a leisurely walk to the Covent Market area with several stops at gift shops where Linda purchased postcards and tried to find a hoodie that her daughter would like. Tonight's supper was only about a block from the restaurant where we dined the night before. Established by Thomas Rule in 1798, Rules is the oldest restaurant in London. It serves traditional British food, specializing in classic game cookery, oysters, pies and puddings. Rules owns an estate that provides wild game in the fall, but we had to "settle" for seafood this time of year. I began with the foie gras and smoked duck terrine with apple & calvados jelly for £14.95, Unfortunately, it sounded much better to me than it tasted. I was happier with my main, which was the Tuesday pre theater special - a gratin of scallops, prawns & lobster with spinach & cream for £18.95. Very nice! Linda went with the grilled halibut with braised fennel & dandelion for £23.95. She thought her halibut was quite good, but the fennel & dandelion were too bitter. The highlight of the meal was the £12.95 British Cheese Selection that we had for the dessert. I really enjoyed some great cheeses during this trip! The cheese came with a large selection of crackers and celery & apple. Unfortunately the apple was not sliced and we didn't have a sharp knife to cut it.
Following the meal, we walked 180 degrees around the block to the Adelphi Theatre for the one West End show that we had purchased tickets for in advance. Love Never Dies by Glenn Slater and Andrew Lloyd Webber is the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, set 10 years later in Coney Island, New York. Love Never Dies had just premiered a few weeks earlier and received mixed critical reviews, but after reading the review at Theatremonkey, I had decided it was worth a try. Theatremonkey has been a valuable resource on previous London trips. I purchased the 2 CD set of music from Love Never Dies in advance, and we were already familiar with the music. I am particularly glad I had heard it several times in advance - on the first listening I did not care for the music, but after having heard it several times, I I like many of the songs a great deal. We were both blown away by the staging of the show. The costumes and set were beautiful and quite effective. The opening scene on the boardwalk at Coney Island was very convincing and left me with my mouth hanging open. I enjoyed the first half of the opera a great deal. I didn't care quite as much for the show after the intermission, but still enjoyed it. I found Love Never Dies much more enjoyable than The Phantom.
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