Chips with everything. (Pub Food.)

[T00ts]

Your husband sounds like a saint Toots. I will do a lot for my wife but going shopping with her isn't one. I just give her my card and find a coffee shop to sit in for the six or seven hours it takes her to pick everything up and over and then come back without buying anything because they did not have anything in her size but bigger.

 ::  ::  He'd be happy to hear you say that. He was no saint just an ordinary guy but we were very good friends as well as in love. We made a good team and I guess we put ourselves out for each other most of the time. eg I learned a lot about football because he was a bit of a bigwig locally, but I did escape the promised/threatened trip to the cup final at Wembley. He had complimentary tickets every year but I was always working - luckily! Equally he learned to be a stage manager for me. No mean feat!

[Borchester]

Y



My husband always complained that I was impossible to buy for. One day we were out together and I stopped dead in front of something in a shop window. When I turned to speak to him he had disappeared into the shop to buy it. His argument was that my reaction meant it came home. It is still something I love dearly but the story makes it even more important.

Your husband sounds like a saint Toots. I will do a lot for my wife but going shopping with her isn't one. I just give her my card and find a coffee shop to sit in for the six or seven hours it takes her to pick everything up and over and then come back without buying anything because they did not have anything in her size but bigger.

[papasmurf]

Much as we deny it I think most women appreciate a big gesture every now and then but you have to be very determined.

In my case that is when I do the cooking, I was able to cook a Sunday roast dinner from the age of eleven. There were no passengers in my mother's home.

[T00ts]

I have the same problem with Herself. Every time we go out I say, "Look, I am taking my girl out. So pick somewhere decent and let me worry about the bill."



But she still goes into a decline whenever she sees a menu that includes anything more expensive than  4d for chips and mushy peas. Time was when we would go to an Italian place where she had a fine time because she loved the food and I always paid with a tenner. Then she discover that was the tip and that my debit card was underneath...

You need to go upmarket enough for her menu to have no prices. It's difficult to justify 'loads a money' on just one meal when we know full well that it would feed us all for a week or more. It would work for me if I was built up to it over time. For a special occasion, birthday or something, if you booked a date and made it very clear what you wanted, not just because you love her etc but maybe it was on your bucket list.



I had Michelin star dining on my bucket list and after I lost my husband and had a big birthday my whole family came and I picked up the bill. My husband already knew it was something I wanted to experience and my family played ball because they knew how I felt. They never let me pay a bill for those sort of occasions but I made it very clear from the outset that my late husband was paying and they went with it.



Much as we deny it I think most women appreciate a big gesture every now and then but you have to be very determined. My husband always complained that I was impossible to buy for. One day we were out together and I stopped dead in front of something in a shop window. When I turned to speak to him he had disappeared into the shop to buy it. His argument was that my reaction meant it came home. It is still something I love dearly but the story makes it even more important.

[Borchester]

Some proper food is all I look for, which exceptionally I did have  two weeks ago, at  pub by Kemble railway station.

They had an offer of 1/2 price main courses for all of January. My wife and I had a lamb roast dinner for £6.50 each. (This was on Friday lunchtime.)

I have the same problem with Herself. Every time we go out I say, "Look, I am taking my girl out. So pick somewhere decent and let me worry about the bill."



But she still goes into a decline whenever she sees a menu that includes anything more expensive than  4d for chips and mushy peas. Time was when we would go to an Italian place where she had a fine time because she loved the food and I always paid with a tenner. Then she discover that was the tip and that my debit card was underneath...

[T00ts]

My wife rarely has disaster when cooking. Even when she decides to do a recipe we have seen on Japanese, South Korean, or French TV.

One recipe we can't try is "road makers" lamb. It was made by French road making crews back in the past. (It would be illegal to it for sale to the public.)

Basically it is a joint of lamb wrapped many many times in paper and lowered into the tar boiler.

Weren't tar fumes etc carcinogenic? I used to love the smell when they were tarmacking the roads as a kid. I should think they got 10/10 for invention and probably thoroughly enjoyed it while they knew no better.

[papasmurf]

Spoken like a true well trained gent. I bet your wife is really proud!

My wife rarely has disaster when cooking. Even when she decides to do a recipe we have seen on Japanese, South Korean, or French TV.

One recipe we can't try is "road makers" lamb. It was made by French road making crews back in the past. (It would be illegal to it for sale to the public.)

Basically it is a joint of lamb wrapped many many times in paper and lowered into the tar boiler.

[papasmurf]

You don't go to a pub for haute cuisine.

Some proper food is all I look for, which exceptionally I did have  two weeks ago, at  pub by Kemble railway station.

They had an offer of 1/2 price main courses for all of January. My wife and I had a lamb roast dinner for £6.50 each. (This was on Friday lunchtime.)

[T00ts]

I have to disagree. Getting  decent chips seems next to impossible. I have rarely had decent chips unless my wife cooks them.

Spoken like a true well trained gent. I bet your wife is really proud! I guess chips are like anything else, everyone's favourite is different. Some like french fries, some like big fat soggy ones, and everything in between. It's all a bit subjective. I am not that bothered about chips at all especially with salad, which is a particular pet hate or even worse gravy. If I have a preference it would be properly crisp on the outside while soft in the centre and served as a side dish where I can take it or leave it. Other than that I can be quite a cheap date as I don't do alcohol although a pint of Henry goes down really well in the right circumstances!

[Borchester]

My wife and I have noticed that with few exceptions pubs all seem to have the same menu these days.

It is chips with everything and burgers, or "ethnic" food.

Anyone got an explanation as to why?

Because that is the way God meant things to be.



You don't go to a pub for haute cuisine. You go for a bit of a craic, the footie on the telly and some real food. Once upon a time this country had an empire and it was built on beer and beef and baccy. Then everyone started having fits of the vapours because they were worried that the salade was grown on the wrong side of the hill. So we lost India and that was that.

[papasmurf]

I agree chips are quick and involve no real cooking talent.

I have to disagree. Getting  decent chips seems next to impossible. I have rarely had decent chips unless my wife cooks them.

[T00ts]

Outsourcing



Too many places these days just reheat stuff arriving on a truck, fry up chips with it and serve it up...

I agree chips are quick and involve no real cooking talent. Go to a 'proper' restaurant and there is rarely a chip in sight and even then they are not chips like your local chippy. Having said that of course you get clean table cloths and folded napkins as well - oh and they serve from the left.

[johnofgwent]

Outsourcing



Too many places these days just reheat stuff arriving on a truck, fry up chips with it and serve it up...

[papasmurf]

My wife and I have noticed that with few exceptions pubs all seem to have the same menu these days.

It is chips with everything and burgers, or "ethnic" food.

Anyone got an explanation as to why?