Restaurants?

[WILF 52,207]

7 minutes ago, gnasher16 said:

I think people who love eating out can sometimes be their own worst enemy we,ve often got to a stage where we,re eating out so much you start to use nice restaurants as little more than cafes and it actually spoils the whole experience....for me eating out in a group is a cherished social occasion that i love to do so doing it too often loses its value....it doesnt help when you are surrounded by nice restaurants and i hate washing up so eat out probably more than we should ...i have a handful of my favourite restaurants me and a pal owned one for a while but again you end up using it like a cafe when dining out should be an exciting and stimulating experience.

 

One of my favourite areas at the moment is Shoreditch in East London theres so many new places opening up all very close to each other all very different and not silly posh.....Quaglinos,i can tell Wilfs a Fortnum & Mason man 

Food is and should be a social experience mate, you will remember years back that if someone came to your house you would feed them.....it was just the done thing.

My poor old mum used to be up at all hours cooking for my old mans pals at all weird and wonderful times of the day and night and you would all sit round and talk and eat and generally do like a generational bonding type thing.

Its where a young lad kept the company of men and you learned men stuff.

But, I understand the too much of a good thing way of looking at eating out.....it’s like anything, when it’s commonplace it ceases to be special.

Im lucky in as much as, for some reason, the men in my family have always cooked (probably something to do with all being greedy b*****ds)  and I like cooking so it’s a pleasure to do and better still because I get to use stuff I produced.

Kids get sick of it to be honest, they are like “Dad, for f**k sake, can’t we just have waffles and beans ?! “ 

When eating out, company is as important a component as any other imho

Fortum & Mason indeed......it ain’t me that’s the football club chairman ya flash f****r ! Lol  

[Accip74 7,112]

One of the worst experiences this year thus far.....

Last May we finally book the local ‘posh’ place for our anniversary. We’d only been talking about it for 5 years

So we get seated with a fairly warm friendly manner, but it’s belgium so often a little weird & never over top...... look round & no one in there looks like us, generally a stuffy looking typical Belgium bourgeoise crowd, but hopes are high!

First course I push the boat out and order a 28 quid starter & when it comes its 2 prawns, 2 slices of avacado & a spoonful of sauce made from peas which tasted as average as it sounds. Deep breath & hope I’ll be blown away by the main course....... wrong! It’s nice, but ‘nice’ like I do any day of the week at home. Nothing to actually complain about, just massively deflating. The posh restaurant facade & prices was just bullshit, but an education.....

 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Accip74

[Born Hunter 18,019]

22 minutes ago, WILF said:

Food is and should be a social experience mate

That's so true! The more social it is the better. Not necessarily more people but more social.

Like I said before, I want to be stimulated and excited on many different levels. And it's all centred around good food. It's the catalyst. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Born Hunter

[DIDO.1 22,870]

I once loved eating out but the Mrs has knocked it out of me by eating out so often. When I told her to give work up after the baby she just got into this habit of lunch out every day, we were eating out every Friday and if we went out for the day we would have to go in a pub or restaurant. It was costing a massive chunk of my income and it started to be one of the only things we have fallen out about. 

Plus I do pest control in loads of places and once I have seen the kitchens and cooking staff there is only a small percentage I'd eat in. For me it's become a chore. 

My idea of heaven now is a full day of hunting then getting in a country pub with a steak and a pint, no women or kids ruining my meal!

[WILF 52,207]

13 minutes ago, Accip74 said:

One of the worst experiences this year thus far.....

Last May we finally book the local ‘posh’ place for our anniversary. We’d only been talking about it for 5 years

So we get seated with a fairly warm friendly manner, but it’s belgium so often a little weird & never over top...... look round & no one in there looks like us, generally a stuffy looking typical Belgium bourgeoise crowd, but hopes are high!

First course I push the boat out and order a 28 quid starter & when it comes its 2 prawns, 2 slices of avacado & a spoonful of sauce made from peas which tasted as average as it sounds. Deep breath & hope I’ll be blown away by the main course....... wrong! It’s nice, but ‘nice’ like I do any day of the week at home. Nothing to actually complain about, just massively deflating. The posh restaurant facade & prices was just bullshit, but an education.....

 

Horrible experiences like that mate, it just sort of leaves you deflated and feeling a bit of a mug......however, I would always make a point of complaining.....from a Michelin star to a sausage Sandwhich off a stall, there’s absolutely f**k all reason to be two bob about things and they shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.

It just displays a bit of a f**k you attitude which, in any walk of life, if you are providing a product and a service and a man is paying you an agreed price you just shouldn’t have......it’s just basic manners that you attempt to do your very best for anyone and provide something good, be it a service or a product.

However, I think it’s also important to tell people when they do things well.....not enough of that happens either.

[WILF 52,207]

I suppose the test of a good gaff is that, when the bill comes, you don’t give a monkeys what it comes to.....you ain’t even thinking about it.

[mushroom 14,340]

Went to a fantastic restaurant in Gent, can't for the life of me remember the name... I had Stoofvlees in

I love eating out here too, some amazing restaurants in Barca. El Nacional on passeig de gracia (BCN's Mayfair) is crazy good. Several different food places under one roof.. you'll find me spunking my money on oysters, seafood and cava

I'm in London on business a lot next year... Any good restaurant suggestions? I'll be based in the city but don't mind travelling about, say within an hour on the tube from Tower Bridge.

[WILF 52,207]

One place that got suggested to me last year that I wouldn’t go is that roof garden on the walky talkie building.......I’m not paying any f****r £13 for a boiled egg, I wouldn’t care if I was a billionaire.

Id get the piss taken right out of me by my pals if I pulled a stunt like that.

Poland was a weird one, they eat all this mixed fat and wheat shit!

However, I had braised veal cheeks and mashed potatoes while I was there and that was handsome.

[lurcherman 887 13,483]

I just had lobster with mince pie .. lovely 

[WILF 52,207]

10 minutes ago, lurcherman 887 said:

I just had lobster with mince pie .. lovely 

Have you had scallops and black pudding mate ?......they go really well together 

[WILF 52,207]

51 minutes ago, mushroom said:

.. I had Stoofvlees in

 

What’s that mate? I can’t make up my mind if it sounds howling or lovely ! Lol 

edited to add: Just looked it up, that’s looks right up my street....I’ll be cooking that mate.

Edited November 6, 2019 by WILF

[mushroom 14,340]

7 minutes ago, WILF said:

What’s that mate? I can’t make up my mind if it sounds howling or lovely ! Lol 

In a nutshell.... Belgian beef stew

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/user/4862541/recipe/stoofvlees-flemish-beef-stew&ved=2ahUKEwiY__W269XlAhUD_RQKHRtVAfMQFjAKegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw1O12nmb5HtS26cY0nZJbg9

Edited November 6, 2019 by mushroom

[WILF 52,207]

Does anyone here still eat tongue ?......not that processed shit from the supermarket but a proper tongue?

I keep mine off my cattle and braise them long and slow with onion, they are absolutely out of this world.

[shaaark 11,692]

7 minutes ago, WILF said:

Does anyone here still eat tongue ?......not that processed shit from the supermarket but a proper tongue?

I keep mine off my cattle and braise them long and slow with onion, they are absolutely out of this world.

 

7 minutes ago, WILF said:

Does anyone here still eat tongue ?......not that processed shit from the supermarket but a proper tongue?

I keep mine off my cattle and braise them long and slow with onion, they are absolutely out of this world.

Yep, eat it now and again, also most offal. My mrs won't cook it, so my stepmother does it for me, like you say, braised. Fecking lovely grub .

Also, mentioning belgium, belgian stew, delicious

[WILF 52,207]

11 minutes ago, shaaark said:

 

Yep, eat it now and again, also most offal. My mrs won't cook it, so my stepmother does it for me, like you say, braised. Fecking lovely grub .

Also, mentioning belgium, belgian stew, delicious

I also love liver, kidney and heart but oddly enough I like them fried or roasted quiet tough with plenty of black pepper.

I like pigeon done the same way.