The Pryordurkins

Posts Tagged ‘breakfast’

For reasons that are still unclear, I found myself having a spot of lunch at the Monks’ Retreat on Friar Street in Reading last Wednesday.  Along with two colleagues, I arrived at just after 1pm and the place was very busy indeed.  The clientele were predominantly elderly, unemployed or strangely confused looking (I fell into the last category).  The temptation to run after being inside for no more than two minutes nearly overtook my otherwise calm casual self, but I managed to resist and we sat down at a recently vacated table.  Sitting to our left were a bunch of drinkers who looked as though they had been there since breakfast was served, but despite an atmosphere that felt like it would kick off at any moment, we ordered up some food.  My colleague went for the £2.95 Ham, Egg and Chips Lunch time special.   I resisted this and went for the roast chicken at £6.50 (the chicken served up was the strangest looking chicken I have ever seen; it was like a baby chicken with big breasts! – Goodness knows what went into it (and now me) to make it grow like that.)

The service was quick and within moments of sitting down having ordered, our food arrived.  As it happens, it was what it was.  Cheap and cheerful food.

As we left I noticed a monk climbing a rope towards the exit.  I knew how he felt and would probably not return either.

Pryordurkin rating 1 star.

Phone: 0118 950 7592

Tuesday gone had me dining with a colleague at the Royal Tandoori Restaurant, part of the Royal County Hotel on Duke Street in Reading.  From the outside window looking in, it didn’t particularly appeal; what with the plastic table covers and paper napkins, but at around 8pm with the snow falling at the treacherous street underneath, anything would have done.

We were shown to a window table and after a little wait were offered up drinks and popadoms while we looked through the menu.  After a little while our order was taken and I went for the Onion Bhaji starter with a Chicken Dhansak main.   The food itself was good, although the quantity was a little on the mean side.  Accompanied by a Cobra beer it was a welcoming warming meal.

The restaurant itself also serves as the breakfast room for the hotel, which explained its sheer size.  Not a great place for a romantic meal I guess, but one that probably undertakes several functions.  The service was efficient and friendly and all in all, we were happy with the meal just completed.

The total bill came to just over £41 for two people including drinks which was reasonable value indeed for the meal just had.

Pryordurkin rating. 3 stars.

This week had me staying a couple of nights at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Reading.  Sitting on the River Thames, it was easy to reach by car as I came into town from the general direction of Oxford.

I immediately thought this hotel was going to be nice as I pulled up.  Not only did I find a car parking space right in front of the hotel; it looked modern stylish and well kept as I headed into the reception area.  I was immediately greeted by a friendly chap who had all the paperwork prepared and having simply applied one signature I was on my way to the room.  The lift door was a little slow in closing, I thought the floor button wasn’t working but apart from that it was smooth and importantly clean.  Entering my room, I was again very happy.  It was large, had a view of the river and included a seating area along with a desk and reclining chair to work at with full internet connectivity available.  The bathroom although small was well appointed and sparkling clean.  The complimentary toiletries were of reasonable quality and the towels soft and fluffy.  Even the loo roll was more your Andrex, than your Aldi variety, which is a nice touch.. literally!

Anyway after I’d unpacked my case and hung the suit up I decided to try the Spa.  The pool as you can see was very good indeed. Not your usual mis-shaped hotel pool, but properly square and 17 metres long, which allowed for a decent stroke.  The Spa also included a very nice gym with a good range of equipment, although I only saw it through the window as I relaxed in the Whirlpool.  Heading out, I passed a steam room, sauna and a number of treatment rooms.  With nice chill out music playing in the background I could easily have forgot I was in Reading and might have imagined I was back in Cyprus.

With all this exercise behind me I decided to order up room service.  Again I was delighted.  The quality of the food really surprised me.  None of the usual thrown together affair usual to hotels, but a well cooked meal.  My rib-eye steak was cooked medium rare as requested and came with chunky chips cooked in Goose fat.  (Note to Paul) They were cooked so well, they were not greasy at all.  Nice, light and very tasty.  A lovely meal all in all.

A good nights sleep lay ahead after I turned the air conditioning down to 18 degrees and waking up the next day I felt refreshed and ready to face the world.  Before that breakfast in the restaurant lay ahead.  A good breakfast was available with healthy choices all round.  I went for cereal with added sunflower seeds which were to the side with other nuts and optional extras (a nice touch).  I skipped the fry up, more out of will power than anything else, because it looked great.  The coffee brought to my table was  also very good.  Smooth, full flavoured and freshly made.

The rest of my stay continued in the same veign.  The service was excellent and because this is not one of the biggest Crowne Plaza hotels you come across it always had a nice local warm welcoming feel about it.  I look forward to going back next week.

Pryordurkin rating.  5 stars.

Hotel Reservations: 0871 423 4896

Hotel Front Desk: 44-1189-259988

We decided to stay at the Crowne Plaza at Gatwick-Crawley both before we flew out to Cyprus and after we returned.  We paid around £79 per night and for this had an excellent room.  Recent renovations have made this hotel very stylish and modern indeed.  Our room was clean, crisp and very comfortable with a good sized bathroom and flat screen TV.  The hotel has recently returned to the Holiday Inn family having previously been a Crest Hotel and Quality Hotel.  The lobby, restaurant and leisure centre have all had a makeover to great effect.  The only thing we worried about were the steps from the men’s changing room to the swimming pool.  They were steep, sharp and when wet, very slippy.  Despite the warning notice telling you to take care, we fully expect someone to come a cropper on those stairs.

The food served up in their restaurant named Cube, was adequate.  Breakfast was fine and with the two ‘experienced’ ladies working during the morning, it had an air of a comfortable friendly B&B.  We really enjoyed it.

If Gatwick airport itself was not so god damn awful, we would not hesitate to stay at this hotel again, especially with their little extra touches like fresh coffee served up early morning for people travelling to catch flights and the variety of complimentary newspapers and friendly service from happy staff.

Pryordurkin Rating. 4 Stars.

Our holiday in Cyprus ended as it had begun; in style.  We finished our final day with a four hour session in the Spa. Two Pampered Poofs having the full works (Thanks Lee  ), we started with the full Thermai Experience that includes a variety of heat rooms and ice rooms followed by a deep tissue Indonesian Massage for Paul and a Australian Aboriginal Kodo Massage for Michael, followed by an early evening dinner where to our complete joy (Marg will understand why), we met up again with Thomas, the stunning waiter we met working at the resort last year.  We pointed out that we remembered him for his good service (and stunning good looks – but we whispered that bit!) and we think he remembered us and our Australian friend! Our week was complete   We will load the photographs into our gallery soon.

Wrapping up we headed off to the airport, content with our lot and having completely forgot about how cruel the pyordurkin effect can be at times.

The plane boarded on time; we had good seats and we set off ahead of schedule.  We even landed in Gatwick 15 minutes ahead of time.   This is when it all went horribly wrong and we just knew the pryordurkin effect was now also back from it’s holidays.

It started with us having to wait 15 minutes on the plan while they found some steps for us to disembark.  The heat and temperature of the passengers was rising when we eventually started to move.  The babies and kids by this point were tired, crabby and playing up. We got onto the buses to be hearded back to the airport terminal to find massive queues at passport control.  Thirty minutes after landing we eventually got through passport control to then discover a problem with EasyJet baggage handlers. Apparently they were ’surprised’ by the arrival of six ’scheduled and on time’ flights arriving within the same hour and were therefore unable to off load the luggage from each plane as it arrived.  Utter chaos….  By this point there were screaming kids, it was 2.30am and my temper was well past its best.  Having landed at 12:50am we eventually got out of Gatwick baggage pick up area two hours later to then discover…. wait for it, there is more…. that the first shuttle bus to our hotel would not leave until 3.16am.  So in the freezing cold (5 degrees) we stood around waiting and waiting and waiting.  I was cursing and swearing under my breath by this point.  Of course the shuttle bus was late!.  When it did arrive I was ready to draw blood as we took our seats.  The driver then gently informed us that he would be making a small diversion on the way to our hotel, via the depot to change drivers.  Apparently he had finished his shift.  I was incredulous..

Falling into our hotel beds at 4.00am having landed at 12:50am I was too wound up to sleep, so tossed and turned for the next few hours eventually giving up and jumping into the shower at 9.30am telling Paul to get up, it was time for breakfast.

A brief respite over breakfast was had.  It was served up in the hotel which I’ll review later, by two nice ladies and we checked out ready to continue our journey home…..

We got to the railway station at Gatwick to discover the trains were not running through to Kings Cross today due to engineering works.  Instead we would have to get off at London Bridge and drag our cases through the underground, which of course, was jam packed by other miserable looking travellers.  Eventually getting to Kings Cross, now hot and sweaty, we boarded the train to York and took our first class seats (by this point I was ready to pay anything to avoid people and get home in comfort).

The train arrived into York having sat outside for five very long minutes while a platform became free. As soon as it did crawl in, we legged it to the taxi rank and joined what seemed like tens of thousands of other people trying to leave York by road.  It was a long journey that hit pretty much every red traffic light on the way out of the City centre.

We finally arrived at home sweet home……  Wait.  That is not the end of it…..

Opening the letters that had piled up while away I spotted an invoice for the windows we’d recently had repaired.  Instead of the £300 we were ‘verbally quoted’ it was now asking for £800!  Words cannot describe…….

So anyway, there you have it, we’re back home from a wonderful holiday in a wondereful hotel on a wonderful island, to find life returns to normal with a bang.

Clearly feeling guilty having caused so much trouble in Switzerland, the Pryordurkin effect has taken a holiday as well.  With it safely out of harms way we arrived at our holiday hotel to be greeted in style.  Discovering champagne on arrival and another freshly chilled bottle in our room, got us off to a great start. Monday was therefore a joy and the evening ended quite early with a nice Italian…meal.  Tuesday has been quite busy so far!  The day started late with breakfast in the club house, followed by a little stroll before a light lunch poolside.  We then endured a couple of hours in the Spa, having a double Swedish Massage before retiring to our own private pool, to take a little sun while drinking a drop of the complimentary red wine.  This evening will see us joining the general manager who is throwing a cocktail party for (we like to think) a select few guests

All in all the holiday has been trouble free, very relaxing and going to plan.  Here’s to the pryordurkin effect taking more holidays itself.  Hoping the weather back home is great for you

The moon, stars and planets must all be aligned at the moment, because the effects of combining a Pryor and a Durkin are truly kicking in today.  The morning started with me asking when I woke up; “Why does the clock say 5.40am?”, followed by, “Why didn’t the alarm go off?”.  We had set the alarm for 4.30am because Paul needed to catch the 6am train from York to get to Heathrow for his flight to Switzerland.  I won’t repeat what Paul said, when I repeated (and this time he heard me say) “Why does the clock say 5.40am?”

Having accepted the 6am train was no longer an option, we checked the train timetable and realised that with a bit of luck the 7am train would still get Paul to Heathrow in time for his flight.  So we got ready and headed to the station after a spot of breakfast.

Having bought the tickets at the station, the lady then kindly pointed out that there were service restrictions today and the train that normally takes two hours to get to London, would take three hours as it was going via Leeds.  She added for good measure that the 6am train was not affected and had run on time! I pointed out to her that she was not helping our mood.

Paul’s face sank. He would miss his flight.  We um-med and arr-ed a bit and then realised the only way was for me to drive him to Heathrow.  Thankfully the roads were quiet and I dropped Paul off at the new Terminal 5 just after 10am, turning round to drive straight back home again.

Paul caught his flight and had landed in Switzerland before I was anywhere near home.  The traffic coming back was horredous with holdups being caused by the repairs to the carriageway at the spot where we saw a car veer of the road and into the barriers, on our way down!  (the other side we might add!)

With an all day meeting ahead I needed to get to the office early to do some printing. I therefore skipped my hotel breakfast and popped into Eat at 350 Euston Road to pick up a Latte (£1.90) and a Bacon Butty (£2.65).  Unlike it’s competitor Pret A Manger, who I reviewed a little while ago (read it here), I actually enjoyed my purchase from EAT.  The latte was hot, made with freshly ground Colombian beans and served up by a cute Spanish bloke.  The Bacon Butty was just as good.  Although it was ready prepared, the gentle heating by the double sided pannini heater machine thingymajig, made it warm, crispy and a delight to … eat (dare I say).

I was a happy bunny with my lot at 8am today.

Rating. 3 Stars.

Question. What happened to good manners and polite society?

Example A)

I sat for breakfast at my little square table this morning.  To my right was a young girl.  Within minutes of sitting down, two other young girls sat at a table to my left.  You get the picture by now.  I was in the middle.  Did that stop them talking about last nights shag or how much they drank and who they fancied; at the same time leaning backwards and forwards so as to see each other past me.  Not a bit of it.  I gave it a couple of minutes thinking they would realise how rude it was to talk over/past/through someone.  Five minutes later, they clearly had no concept of how rude this was.   I could take it no more.  I asked in a slow voice, with a face like thunder, whether they had any concept of what was rude.  Looking completely blank, with mouths ajar, they didn’t need to tell me the answer.  With that they left looking back in a way only teenage girls can.

Example B)

On Monday as I sat on the train praying for a quiet event free journey, a large weathered gentleman whose nose betrayed the drinking of far too much red wine over his time on this planet sat down opposite.  The next thirty minutes (and to be frank I have no idea how I lasted this long) were full of him, snorting, sneezing, sniffling, coughing and clearing his disgusting throat using a combination of sleeves and ‘what looked like’ green hanker chiefs.  I had to move to another carriage before running the risk of throwing up.

Answer.  They are long gone.

PS.  You couldn’t make this up!  I’ve just been joined at my table on the train home by two race going gentlemen at Doncaster.  Dressed in suits, but clearly drunk, the last ten minutes have included more swear words than I have heard all week.

Me Grumpy? …….

While I was busy trying to ignore the slurping and sucking noises made by my fellow guests at breakfast I suddenly found myself all of a fluster.  A strikingly tall good looking American chap sat right down beside me and started asking how I was, how was my breakfast and what I was doing later today!  Not knowing whether my luck was in or whether this guy had lost the plot, I managed to mumble in a high pitched whine “My breakfast is fine but I have no idea who you are”.  He then looked as shocked as I did, stood up, said “Oh good” and walked off.  I noticed later that he was asking other guests how they were as well.  It turns out he is the new manager.

That reminds me, I need to book myself into this hotel next week as well