Worst meal eaten in the UK so far

[Tonyfinch]

Mine was definitely at The Cinnamon Club-a pale,craven shadow of Indian food.

[Simon Majumdar]

Without the first thought of a seconds hesitation beginning to think about imagining crossing my mind, my worst meal in the UK was

GORDON RAMSAY @ CLARIDGES

Shoddy Service

Crappy Room

Ordinary Food

Extarordinary Prices

I would rather pour acid over my testes than go through that experience again

S

[tony h]

nothing beats the British Museum staff canteen

[Lord Michael Lewis]

I would rather pour acid over my testes than go through that experience again

S

What kind of acid?

[thom]

I would recommend citric or possibly acetic, rather than the more feisty sulphuric or nitric versions.

Not that I have done extensive research regarding acid/gonad combinations of course...

[Lord Michael Lewis]

Not that I have done extensive research regarding acid/gonad combinations of course...

I have, and I'd recommend Hydrochloric. It also has the added bonus of being present in vomit.

[thom]

Ah, the connoisseur's choice...

[Gavin Jones]

Hmm. For the true experience Hydrofluoric is your man.

It is whatever the correct term for hydrophilic is, and so 'burrows' away from the initial site looking for tasty water of which your body has plenty.

I instance this as I heard of a case where someone had actually self-medicated with this, and yes on the genitalia.

[Miss J]

I instance this as I heard of a case where someone had actually self-medicated with this, and yes on the genitalia.

Er - what was the illness?

Miss J

[Gavin Jones]

I believe the gentleman was afflicted with a wart.

I understand the wart went...but not unaccompanied.

[Scottf]

I'll get this thread back on track

For me it's Locanda Locatelli. Perhaps worst is the wrong description, more disappointing. Food was quite good but small for me, and the tempo of the meal was startling fast.

However (sorry for going outside UK again), most disappointing meal by far was Astrance in Paris - Just didn't live up to the hype for me.

[Simon Majumdar]

If we can go outside the UK, then my worst meal would definitely be La Regalade.

So many people whose opinion I respect had said it was great and it just wasn't the night we were there.

Scott, if you think Locatelli was fast try being in and out of a three course meal in just over 45 minutes. I don't move THAT fast if immigration is after me.

The food was very ordinary and in the case of a special of crevettes, actively nasty.

I see that some people had a decent meal there recently, so perhaps it was an off night.

raises another question, can a restaurant be allowed to have an "off night" on a Saturday..?

[mogsob]

Haven't had a disappointment in the UK even close to the monumental disaster that was my dinner at Craft (NY).

[Basildog]

Simon.no i don't think restaurants are allowed off nights,Saturdays or any other.Consistancy is what its all about.If we start allowing "off" nights its the thin end of a rather nasty wedge

[Jonathan Day]

Unquestionably a series of dinners and lunches at a hotel in Liverpool. Gristly meat, vegetables that had been cooked to death, glue for gravy, sandwiches with the bread curling at the edges with unidentifiable paste inside.

A colleague staying in the same hotel was bitten some mysterious bug; the bite became infected and swelled up to the size of a tennis ball.

I don't remember the name of the place and would guess it has been closed for awhile. I trust that this degree of anonymity avoids libel exposure for eGullet...

[cabrales]

Empire -- The subject of a prior thread. I'm surprised the facility has not closed for want of business by now.

[Kikujiro]

Empire -- The subject of a prior thread. I'm surprised the facility has not closed for want of business by now.  

Although it has renamed itself. Now called Myna Bird. Menu still the same, apparently, and so presumably is everything else. Now it has an awful name to fit ... I walked past the other day and there was a waiter pimping outside, which is presumably a sign of sorts.

[SamanthaF]

Le Trouvaille - the second visit. Considering I had eaten there the week before, and had my best meal of the year to date, I could have been eating in a different restaurant on the next visit.

[Scottf]

Locanda Locatelli - an apology.

I'd forgotten about a meal I'd had at La Trouvaille that Sam has reminded me about. You are certainly not the worst meal I've had this year

[Wilfrid]

I can recall several meals which arguably rose to the level of attempted murder: at the Southampton Hilton, at the Hawthorns Hotel in Bristol, and at Hujo's in Soho (which is now the estimable Le Pigalle). Oh, and the Gay Hussar tried to assassinate me once too.

[anil]

......

GORDON RAMSAY @ CLARIDGES

.....

S

Imagine, even before I read all the posts, I had Berkeley in mind. With Claridges, I'd say it is something about Savoy that I cannot put my finger on ....

[tony h]

John Burton Race (October last year). Expensive and quite inedible. I actually wrote & asked for a refund. He refused but invited me back as his guest. The second time was actually worse (detailed elsewhere on the board).

[Basildog]

Gay Hussar tried to assassinate me

Was that not a News of the World Headline?

[Matthew Grant]

Without doubt Lindsay House. Awful food (one dish ws left by nearly everybody who had ordered it), drafty table next to raging fire, shoddy service.

[magnolia]

Is Lindsay House the one in Dulwich or environs, which is owned by a guy who lives upstairs? If so, I ate well there for my birthday in 2001. It was nothing over the top spectacular, but it was far, far from my worst meal of the year. Might have been partly the setting and the weather (both memorable, as only a nice day in England can be memorable!) Service was nothing special but nothing bad, either.

Everybody´s worst meal of the year seems to be from a high end or name restaurant. Seems weird that nobody´s worst meal is from a local crappy joint or doner kebab house where you got trichinosis or food poisoning. I suspect those meals get deleted from the mind, whereas as someone else mentioned, upscale or celebrity places disappoint because you expect so much more,