May 31st, 2009
Before going to the theatre last night we looked for somewhere to have an early spot of dinner. Not having thought about it, ahead of time, proved to be a mistake. We entered this restaurant/cafe at around 6pm and there were a few tables taken by families and racegoers (drunk).
The menu should have given the game away. It was extensive, printed on hard plastic-cum-cardboard and had French titles for what turned out to be typical poor English mass catering food.
It was too late to leave and find another restaurant so were persevered.
The white wine arrived and our glasses were both filled to the brim (an indication of the clientèle they usually get, me thinks). Before I realised, the waitress had gone, leaving the white wine bottle on the table in full view of the albeit now descending evening sun. No cooler was offered….
I tucked the paper napkin (I hate these things with a passion hard to describe) onto my lap while we both sampled the selection of breads and dips. Awful. Stale mass produced bread sticks (clearly out of a box) and a poor imitation of classic French dips.
The service itself, I should mention though (apart from the bottle cooler incident) was friendly and reasonably quick. The surroundings themselves were faux French cafe in styling. The wooden floor however, only echoed the immense noise of glasses and coffee cups being stacked behind the bar by someone I took to be the manager. I know this, because she was grumpy with her staff and if looks could kill, she would easily strike you down at 20 feet. It seemed she was taking her attitude out on the crockery. It was deafening.
Anyway, the mains arrived. I had opted for Demi Poulet or as it turned out, half a cheap chicken and chips covered in garlic oil. Paul went for the beef bourguignon and a side salad. I have to start by commenting on the salad. It was limp, lifeless, small and cheap. Probably the worst I have ever seen served up during an evening meal.
Back to my main, the chicken and chips were just about OK. The value though, when compared to the price paid was very poor indeed. Paul’s meal was just as bad. The beef bourguignon was tough, the sauce had some weird underlying taste to it. I thought it had chirozo in, so goodness knows where that flavour came from.
We settled up and quickly left promising never to make this mistake again.
Pryordurkin rating 1 star.
Posted in Food and Drink