PSmith

Well looks like Noodles & Co will be on my list of establishments to visit in the US when I am wanting something "chainy" http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2590823/Please-DO-NOT-tip-waiter-Noodle-restaurant-implements-unusual-gratuity-policy-respect-does-not-cost-anything.html

Personally I also tend to ignore the Michelin accredations as well. I prefer to go for value for money and use Trip Advisor or recommendations from friends when I am eating out in unfamilar areas.

Excellent - I love a bit of food humour. I posted an example on my blog yesterday - not for the easily offended. http://www.thecriticalcouple.co.uk/

I saw that. Actually Ristorante pizzas are quite good. My pizza of choice when I want a night off from cooking.

Seems that Marcus Wareing has fallen foul of the food hygiene rating recently http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2362746/Kitchen-nightmare-celebrity-chef-Marcus-Wareing-hygiene-inspectors-fail-Michelin-star-restaurant-finding-flies-E-coli-risk.html

Not if you wear a hearing aid. My Dad was profoundly deaf. Wearing a hearing aid just amplifies sounds. The ear cannot hone in and be selective so you can hear a conversation. He used to lip-read a lot, but that only works when you are facing the person speaking. If we were going out for a meal, I would ring and check to make sure they didn't have any music/tvs etc, so we knew we had a reasonable chance of holding a conversation. Once we went to an "a la carte" restaurant only to discover one of our fellow diners had a young child. Normally not a problem, but this one was allowed to run about between the tables and then stand behind its chair rocking it on the stone floor meaning that my Dad missed every fifth word that was being said.

It just seems to me that the "sanctimonious twits" thing is stonger with vegans and vegetarians than it is with meat eaters.

Oh my. If I dined with people like this, I would be asking the waiter (with a sneaky wink of the eye) if he could provide the GPS coordinates of the cow that provided the milk for the cheese.

Nutella - straight from the jar on a spoon. Occasionally I have a dollop on ice-cream. The cold ice cream makes it go chewy. Add a pancake or two and I am in heaven.

On the "Customer is not always right" thread the following post from gfweb was made which I can relate to I did a really bad thing last week. I lied to someone who wanted to invite themselves to a meal we were having in a restaurant with friends. I made up some excuse to put them off - because they were a pain in the arse vegetarian. We have been out to restaurants with them before and they once demanded to see the kitchen to make sure their veggie fart burger wasn't cooked on the same grill as the meat ones. My other half and I were cringing with embarrassment. They have also had a strop to the server about menus not having enough vegetarian options. So when they found out we were having a meal with some other friends locally, they dropped big hints that they would like to join us, but I managed to supply enough excuses for them to get the hint that we didn't want them there. Guess I am off their Christmas Card list now. *snigger* So how obliging are the rest of you carnivores to your veggie friends?

Good thread revival that I must have missed first time round. Personally I would never dream of asking for something to be changed. My OH hates mushrooms, so he rarely orders something with mushrooms, but if he does, then they are left on the side of his plate for me to help myself.

Article on the BBC website today http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22846846

Interesting. I only tend to use Morrisons for their excellent dry cleaning service. Next time I will have a good look round. We went there only last month. The OH and I were lounging around in our track suits at home and then decided to take the dry-cleaning to Morrisons. Normally my tracksuit only gets worn indoors or at the gym, so I was just going to change into my jeans when the OH suggested we went as we were, as we would fit right in with the rest of the customers. LOL

It is the bacteria can be in the meat rather than what it may pick up. The liver as an organ, detoxifies chemicals and aids digestion. Therefore, it is probable that some chemicals may remain in the liver. The UK NHS guidelines are for liver to be thoroughly cooked. http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/homehygiene/Pages/Foodhygiene.aspx My partner tends to only like his beef cooked through. Not cremated - but no blood. I can eat medium rare, but I often find I prefer the taste and texture of fully cooked beef. If I was serving steak or roast beef, then I would tend to cook it without any pink meat - unless I had a guest who particularly had a preference and I would cook the roast beef so part of the middle is pink, giving the other guests the meat from the ends. However, most of my friends seem to now prefer their beef "done". It maybe an age thing.

Indeed. Many people think that food poisoning is a bit of sickness and diarrhoea, but it can be way more serious than that as Michael Winner found out on several occasions. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050750/Michael-Winner-poisoned-dinner.html

Do you have an advance copy in your possession or have you heard something I haven't?If I were to speculate, I would say it is a book about the techniques they used to take those photos. Looks like it is just a book of photos "We didn’t want to add captions on the images that would distract from their impact, so we have instead included a chapter in the back of the book that presents some short but interesting backstory for each photo."

I have eaten pigeon on several occasions mostly acquired on a rural shoot however. To be honest, we only normally bother with the breast. No plucking, or jointing, just cut the breast meat out using a sharp knife.

Can I ask a question? Why? Why would someone want to buy a book of food photographs with no recipes?

Now if you talk to your average diner who has little or no direct experience of the restaurant trade, they will tell you that when they leave a tip, they expect a fair proportion of that tip to go to the kitchen staff, not just the FOH. Personally, I feel that it should be shared. I know of FOH who earn a good wage thanks to tips - well over average wage.

Twyst - you are so right. I have an issue with dairy products being an eczema sufferer, but I won’t ever phone up a restaurant in advance to ask for a non-dairy meal. I much prefer to try and work round it or even throw caution to the wind and enjoy the full experience – dairy included. I have an acquaintance who has just invited herself over to an annual lunch. However she is a vegetarian (the attention whore type) and I know the restaurant involved is not vegetarian friendly. I cannot face the drama of her realising that she will have to make do with a plate of chips. As yet I have managed to fend her off.

Thanks Robert - I always enjoy your posts. I saw the TopTable offer, but currently we are pretty busy - so passed it over. However, I don't think I will bother.

Couldn't see a thread on this already, but this week the World's best restaurant list was released. If anyone is interested, there is an explanation on the website as to how the scoring system works. http://www.theworlds50best.com/the-academy/manifesto/ Personally, I feel it is a lot of PR fluff. Loving this photo of some of the judges tho' (check out the brown suit 4th from the right)

This news item made the papers this week in the UK, when a hostel for the homeless in Glasgow got glowing praise. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2314546/Jokers-Glasgow-hostel-homeless-5-star-reviews-TripAdvisor-sending-countrys-100.html At least TripAdvisor realised what was happening and took down the reviews. Must admit that I do use trip advisor for hotels, but rarely for restaurants. I use either local knowledge or personal recommendation. However, I added a review to a hotel we stayed at recently and gave it a good report. Yet someone else who stayed at the same hotel, the same weekend slated it. Personally I wont give a bad review. This article makes interesting reading and a few people would do well to take note. http://mcslimjb.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/11-reasons-your-yelp-reviews-suck-and.html

The situation in the UK is very different to the US. Waiting staff ARE on minimum wage - for someone over 21 that is £6.19 an hour. It would be very easy for someone working in a good rural restaurant to double their minimum wage with tips. In fact someone we know gave up their admin job to wait on tables as she could earn more once the tips were factored in. They were getting £16k a year in an office, compared to £24k in a local restaurant. However, we rarely tip bartenders in pubs and not everyone will tip wait staff in a pub either. So a tourist in the States from the UK, may naturally assume that the situation is the same.

Personally I find a lot of the latest kitchen appliances a bit "Emperor's new clothes" for me. I would say that the next great kitchen "tool" is the idiot who falls for this stuff. (In the UK - tool is slang for a fool - in case it is not the same worldwide). I haven't got on the SV bandwagon. I have not been impressed with efforts of friends, especially as one seems to like their food very bloody. My local favourite restaurant refuses to use SV but relies on talent and quality ingredients to produce good food. The chef once produced an amazing chicken dish from simply wrapping the meat in paper and cooking in the oven. I am of the efficiency and economy camp with kitchen appliances. It has to either save me time or money. Coincidently my breadmaker has done both. If I can't create a great dish buy using good quality ingredients or a good combination of flavours, then I have failed as an amateur cook.