apshelbourne

Probably, Kim. It's not a big village, and the chippy is the only one.

Sorry about that, Kim. I think it opens on Sundays in high season. I'm sure I've lunched there in August. The fish & chip shop is pretty good. And there's an off-licence (liquor store) opposite that does some good local ciders (the hard stuff, that is) and beers.

Probably the nicest Sunday lunch venue in Beer is Steamers. Fresh, local produce; plenty of seafood. The three pubs are OK, but nothing special. Me, I usually take my fish and chips and a bottle of cider down to the beach. By the way, we call them chinos, too.

Personally, i don't buy sausages unless the pork is organic or, at the least, outdoor bred. 70% of British pork, and nearly 100% of imported, is from pigs reared indoors in intensive conditions, comparable to battery chicken farming. I just don't want anything to do with that system.

Plymouth's a bit of a a desert. Tanners has an £18 3-course set lunch, which can't be bad. Haven't been for a few years, but it still gets good reviews. Personally, I usually end up at Positano, an old-fashioned, totally unreconstructed, family-run Italian restaurant. Not really up to eGullet's high-falutin' standards, but I always have fun and eat too much. Or go down the Barbican and sit outside eating one of Cap'n Jasper's half-yard hotdogs.

For Sunday lunch with a difference, you could try Riverford Field Kitchen (about half an hour away, need to book). Most reviewers have raved about it, Mr Coren gave it 9/10 ("the lunch of a lifetime"), and numerous friends insist we go whenever they visit us here in Somerset.

@prawncrackers If you're thinking of a rendang, do try Dos Hermanos' recipe. It's the biz.

Heck, Howard, why not push the boat out? Don't you know it's Christmas?

The only lamb sausage I'd consider would be the merguez. Lamb & mint and lamb & redcurrant are pretty boring IMHO. But a nice juicy merguez to throw in your tagine, or serve with couscous... I've used: 1kg lamb (about 25% fat) 8 cloves garlic 1 heaped tsp each of cayenne, paprika, cinnamon, fennel, cumin, ginger and black pepper 3 tsp harissa 2tsp salt Make into chipolata thickness links, but twice as long. But I suppose I've now taken this thread away from UK cooking!

Tesco ditto.

Most of the dishes quoted so far are 60s or 70s fodder, surely. My most treasured (?) memories of the 80s are of nouvelle cuisine. To perfectly recreate that 80s ambience: 1. Get an industrial chemist to redecorate your restaurant. Don't forget the chrome chairs, black tablecloths and a floor covering that looks like graph paper. 2. Put two small slices of rare roast beef on an unfeasibly large plate. Add three barrel-cut new potatoes and a maximum of four green beans. Dribble with jus. Cover with a very big silver cloche. 3. Place covered plate in front of diner and, at a cue from the head waiter, lift the cloche. 4. Luxuriate in the admiring gasps and mutterings of "Is that it? For a tenner?".

I notice that the Blessed Giles has delivered what I think is the most unfavourable review I've read so far.

The FEB (and its regional variants) is a marketing concept with no more genuine tradition than the Ploughman's Lunch. I never heard the term used until the 1970's. It was referred to in my youth simply as a fry-up or fried breakfast. The English, until recently, have never taken to breaking their fast at a cafe or restaurant, so most people's breakfasts have reflected individual tastes, available time and money. My old Dad, rest his soul, ate two rashers of back bacon, a fried egg and a slice of bread and butter every morning. Mam, who had to cook it, breakfasted on industrial strength tea and Players Navy Cut. The inestimable Jeeves had a penchant for lightly grilled trout, I recall. Posh folks of the time would not turn up their noses at kippers, devilled kidneys, mutton chops and kedgeree (on the same plate?). But now every hotel, B&B, cafe and supermarket would think it impossible not to offer their own version of this ancient British eating experience. Bundling up a bunch of easily cooked ingredients into the FEB marketing package is just a neat way of selling stuff to people. The only constants seem to be egg, bacon and sausage. Common additions include mushrooms, tomato (tinned or fresh), baked beans, hash browns, black pudding, fried slice (bread), sauteed potatoes and white (or hogs) pudding. But I've often seen "Vegetarian FEB" advertised, so the Lord knows what the essential ingredients really are. End of ramble.

£11 for pollock & chips? Ee, by 'eck, you Londoners must have loadsamoney.

Tim - just to say that your comment on the fried gnocchi, Ms Thurman and the chocolate has given me more chuckles than anything else in the last week. Thanks for that.