I only ask because I'm confused.
Quite a few years ago we went on a weekend break to one of the Warner's establishments. It was somewhere in the nether regions of our country and we saw a Four Seasons tribute band (That's Four Seasons as in Frankie Valli and not Four Seasons as in spring, summer, autumn and winter or Four seasons as in Vivaldi).
Anyway food was included in the weekend and it was pretty acceptable and not half bad which I believe made it half good if you follow my reasoning.
We went with friends and there were six of us. It was decided that we should pay extra and go to what was described as a "fine dining experience" in a separate restaurant. So we paid extra to have food that I thought at best was no better than the food we would have got anyway and possibly was worse.
To me fine dining is down to the marketeers (yes them again). If they decide what's on the menu is fine dining. Then it will be fine dining. Not so.
You will know we spend a good proportion of our time up in North Norfolk and recently went to two very different pubs. The Wiveton Bell feels like a pub for the "country set" whoever they are. The menu states that food there is a fine dining experience. So there we were. My starter was miniscule. A tiny piece of Salmon with a squiggle of something white and a squiggle of something green - neither of which tasted of much. Ok it tasted fine but there wasn't a lot of it. Then I had fish and chips. Now fish and chips aren't fine dining. They are fish and chips, however they are dressed up.
The batter was dark, very crunchy and quite hard. This wasn't fine dining. The sweet was bog standard sticky toffee pudding. I left a review on the internet and gave the food two stars out of five.
A few days later we went to the Robin Hood Pub in the main street at Sheringham. This made no pretence to fine dining which was just as well because it wasn't. But what it was was good bog standard English wholesome food at a reasonable price without any pretentions and the steak and ale pie was very tasty.
So never be conned by the words "fine dining" or the flowery language on the menu. I always look for something that will fill me up, something I like and something that is good value for money.
Mind you I could never describe the food when I was growing up as fine dining. It wasn't my mother's fault. She was probably a very good cook but was never able to give vent to any fine dining pretentions. My father was what would be called "a fussy eater." He wouldn't eat any sauces, he wouldn't eat anything salad-wise. All he would eat was bland and without any seasoning. He had a particular aversion to onions - which I love.
That's why when I went to college and we went to a Chinese restaurant, I always had pie and chips or something similar. I couldn't take the spices and sauces of a Chinese or Indian meal.
Then I met my other threequarters. Whisper this gently because I don't want her to get a big head, but she is an excellent cook. Much of what she cooks is fine dining. And she seems to be able to conjure food up at the drop of a hat and in super quick times. On Thursday we had seven family guests for lunch. We only got home around 10 am but by 12.30 she had conjured up a full meal involving salads, salmon and sweets and a very strange dish which was a mix of beetroot and fruit jelly (yes that's right I did say beetroot and fruit jelly).
As a consequence of getting married to this kitchen Goddess, I now eat virtually anything and love sauces and am happy to try anything new (beetroot in fruit jelly for instance). Ok I don't eat sprouts (apart from a token one at Christmas) and wouldn't eat chicken out of choice. But apart from that anything goes. I suppose you could say that I've had my tastebuds tickled.
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I really do try and keep away from politics in my blogs but I do have to mention those two by-election results that were even more damning than had been predicted.
There is no doubt in my mind that this Government is the worst I have lived through and that includes Margret Thatcher's Government in the bad old days.
Yes our Government led us through lockdown and I would applaud what they did with that but all that is forgotten amid the sleaze and the way Boris Johnson feels that he can bulldoze his way through our needs, desires and emotions. It really is time that this buffoon fell on his sword. There is no way the party can win a general election with him in charge. I will just leave it at that.