What's for lunch?
One of the best things about being British on a Sunday is the great Sunday roast. It's a meal when the family all sit down together and traditionally demolish a carcass of some kind surrounded by an assortment of vegetables.
My Mum is good at roast dinners. I was lucky enough to visit her last week when she, from apparently nowhere rustled up roast lamb, what appeared to be 6 vegetable accompaniments, Yorkshire puddings and to follow three separate puddings. Delicious.
Today I went out for lunch at one of those fancy gastro pubs. When we arrived there was even a man under an umbrella telling us where to park - parking attendants at tourist attractions get on my wick, but that's for another day!
We were seated in a waiting area and someone came and took our drinks order, I didn't even have to stand at the bar with a tenner in my hand! Then a gentlemen with a voice and manner like that of a presenter on the QVC channel talked us through the menu.
It is at this point that I get a little bit annoyed with eating out on a Sunday. When I go out to a nice restaurant I want to try something a bit different. I want some nosh that is going to challenge my taste buds, indeed perceptions; I want something that I would not normally eat at home. The menu of these pubs in a Sunday replace their normal fayre with a list of roast dinners.
Today was no exception; Roast Beef, Roast Lamb, Roast Turkey or indeed a bit of all of them. The other options were also not that exciting, Pie and vegetables or Haddock in Ale batter with marrow fat peas and triple cooked chips. Oh and something with lentils, I hate lentils, indeed if I was ever a guest on Saturday Kitchen lentils are most likely to be my dish from hell.
Any other day and the menu would have contained something that would have made me sit up and take notice. I ended up choosing the Beef, I was told it was served pink, was that ok? Of course as pink as you like. It was of course delicious and was served with roast and boiled potatoes, carrot and swede mash and assorted green vegetables, not to mention a huge Yorkshire pudding.
But it didn't blow me away and left me a little disappointed. It was a little bit whatever.
And the menu didn't have any cheesecake on it!!! By the way in case you were wondering I avoided the Creme Brûlée!
It looks impressive and complicated but with practice the Sunday lunch is a meal that can be conjured up fairly easily. Discussion often centres around the optimum way to cook the joint, what temperature is required to get the perfect blend of moistness, tenderness and pinkness that ensures the meat is cooked to perfection. The roast potatoes are an art form in themselves, how exactly do you get them crunchy and caramelised on the outside but fluffy and soft on the inside. Yes, a Sunday lunch is easy to conjure up but to make a perfect roast dinner, well that is altogether something else.
Today I went out for lunch at one of those fancy gastro pubs. When we arrived there was even a man under an umbrella telling us where to park - parking attendants at tourist attractions get on my wick, but that's for another day!
We were seated in a waiting area and someone came and took our drinks order, I didn't even have to stand at the bar with a tenner in my hand! Then a gentlemen with a voice and manner like that of a presenter on the QVC channel talked us through the menu.
It is at this point that I get a little bit annoyed with eating out on a Sunday. When I go out to a nice restaurant I want to try something a bit different. I want some nosh that is going to challenge my taste buds, indeed perceptions; I want something that I would not normally eat at home. The menu of these pubs in a Sunday replace their normal fayre with a list of roast dinners.
Today was no exception; Roast Beef, Roast Lamb, Roast Turkey or indeed a bit of all of them. The other options were also not that exciting, Pie and vegetables or Haddock in Ale batter with marrow fat peas and triple cooked chips. Oh and something with lentils, I hate lentils, indeed if I was ever a guest on Saturday Kitchen lentils are most likely to be my dish from hell.
Any other day and the menu would have contained something that would have made me sit up and take notice. I ended up choosing the Beef, I was told it was served pink, was that ok? Of course as pink as you like. It was of course delicious and was served with roast and boiled potatoes, carrot and swede mash and assorted green vegetables, not to mention a huge Yorkshire pudding.
But it didn't blow me away and left me a little disappointed. It was a little bit whatever.
And the menu didn't have any cheesecake on it!!! By the way in case you were wondering I avoided the Creme Brûlée!
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