A Restaurant Called Bad Taste
Over the years, after eating in many restaurants that just didn’t cut or even in some cases, have the mustard, C and I used to muse about the ideal restaurant.
As we both had a Brooksian sense of humour and were a great fan of his films, there is a lot of scope for an establishment, which is a complete send up of some of the pompous places you find in cities like London. And not just London! One of the funniest meals we ever had was at a two-Michelin star restaurant called La Bonne Auberge in Antibes. The story is here.
Any restaurant must have good food and because I’m a coeliac, it would also be gluten-free as well. This could actually be an advantage as some odd creations, like Dundee Lamb Chops are gluten-free. As is spam! In fact, to create a menu that is probably gluten, lactose and nut free with good vegetarian options would not be too difficult.
The waiting staff would be the easy part, as any large city has large numbers of wannabee actors and others who want to make their name in show-business. How they would dress would be a matter of personal taste, but head waiters like that dreadful tenor in the insurance ads would not be out of place, especially, if his suit was artistically soup and sauce stained.
The possibilities are endless.
But like Mel Brooks has shown, you have to be very professional to get something that is truly awful.
Incidentally, I’ve searched the Internet and can’t find a restaurant with the name of Bad Taste.
Greek Restaurant Bills
Greek restaurant bills are really simple. They give you a printed tally on the table and then you pay in cash when you leave, adding a tip if you want.
Very simple and seems to work, providing you don’t want to use a card.
Not seen any plate smashing though!
Return to The Talbot
I ate in The Talbot at 109 Mortimer Road in de Beauvoir Town, Hackney N1 4DY for the second time last night. They remembered from my first visit that I was a coeliac, although I had said when I booked earlier in the day. The waitress, who is Italian and has a pregnant coeliac friend back home, then checked the menu with the chef. She came back and told me that only one dish from about twenty or so contained gluten and that was the vegetarian option.
In the end, I had a polenta and potato cake with mushrooms, followed by baked hake on mashed potato and greens.
If you don’t know the area, it’s just a few minutes walk from the new Dalston Junction station. Parking is easy. It’s also on the 76 bus route out of the City.
If you are or are not a coeliac, it’s definitely worth a visit.
A Gluten-Free Lunch in Beautiful Surroundings
I had perhaps intended to have lunch in Carluccio’s in Smithfield, but on the way I walked behind St. Paul’s to take a photograph of the Temple Bar.
Temple Bar
Instead of passing through, as I intended, I spotted a sign saying restaurant and pointing to the crypt of the cathedral.
So I explored and found a restaurant with a full coeliac, not just gluten-free menu. It was more than I needed, so I approached the adjoining cafe and asked if the soup was gluten-free. The waitress said she was a coeliac too and said she’d check and also get me some gluten-free bread if I would like some. In the end I had some excellent parsnip soup and one of Fentiman‘s exotic soft drinks for about eight pounds.
So now, I can add a hole-filler to my walking routes around London.
Carliuccio’s Gluten-Free Offering Gets Wider
I had to go to Addenbrooke’s today and as no-one could bring me home as it was a late appointment, I decided to go to Carluccio’s in Cambridge before and have a decent lunch.
They have added some good soups to the menu, by making the standard ones gluten-free and deleting the bread. In other words they hit both markets. I followed it with veal with a caper and tuna mayonnaise. It wasn’t on the gluten-free menu but it was on the specials and gluten-free. Veal may not be to everyone’s taste, but it was very good.
So they seem to be making a statement about how to serve coeliacs.
Lorenzo’s Ristorante in Crystal Palace
On Friday night, I went out with friends to this restaurant in South London. They were very friendly, the owner checked everything and all in all it was a good meal.
So if you’re in that area, it’s worth trying out. They have a web site at www.lorenzo.uk.com. I think they’re within walking distance of the train station at Crystal Palace, which is now on the London Overground.
Every Town Should Have One!
Nottingham is one of the best places to visit as a casual visiting supporter, as the station, town centre and the football ground are all within about twenty minutes walk. I have eaten in the centre before a couple of times and have never had a problem. I walked up the town to a restaurant I know, called French Living, where I had a simple lunch of an ommelette with all the trimmings and a glass of house wine for just £9.85.
They are a bit more than a restaurant and bistro, as you’ll see from their web site. They sell cheeses and other products andare also in quite a few respected guides.
It would be nice if this concept of shop/restaurant/bistro was to be repeated all over the country. After all judging by the full restaurant on a wet Saturday in October, it is a concept that works.
Especially with a one course lunch with wine for just £9.85!
Carluccio’s Is Open In Bury St. Edmunds
As I said I might earlier , I sampled the new Carluccio’s in Bury St. Edmunds today.
Strangely, I had a little trouble finding the restaurant, as it was tucked away in a corner of the arc Shopping Centre and the maps in the Centre didn’t show it. But thinking about it later and it was positioned, where many would either come from the cinema or the car parks. But I don’t use that cinema, as it almost exclusively shows American films in 3D and I don’t drive.
This was my first visit to any of the restaurants, since a new gluten-free menu has been brought in. It’s a bit different and it might be slightly larger. I had some bresaola followed by a mushroom risotto, all washed down with two glasses of lemonade.
One of the things I like about the restaurants in my present state was innocently illustrated by a two-year-old sitting with his parents. He managed to tip his food all over the floor. I worry about doing that with my gammy hand, but I know that if I did, it wouldn’t be too much trouble for the staff.
However, I behaved myself and thoroughly enjoyed my meal.
Who’d Have Thought of it in Bury St. Edmunds?
Bury St. Edmunds is not thought of a town for anything risque! It did once have an eBench in the Abbey Gardens, but who’d have thought a wine bar would mix sausages and burlesque in the town?
But they have according to the local daily paper, the East Anglian Daily Times.
Carluccio’s Risotto is Now Gluten-Free
Carluccio’s new gluten free menu has this satatement.
Our risottos are gluten free. We serve a different one every
week, so please see our Specials Board or ask staff for details.
I had a serious and very good chicken and spinach risotto in their Spitalifields branch last night.
The only trouble with Carluccio’s, is that there aren’t enough of them.
The Anonymous Widower 