If only I'd been wearing an 'I'm blogging this' T-shirt.
I've been away from base for the last couple of days, and yesterday was persuaded by my considerably better half to try out a vegetarian restaurant in Marylebone High Street called 'Eat and Two Veg'. I'm pretty much a career red meat eater, but was prepared to give it a go. Big mistake.
We were shepherded to a table rammed into a corner and were constantly jostled by the people on the next table, who had arrived after we did. Strike one for poor table arrangement, especially given that the place was not exactly rammed with customers. Furthermore, my lady friend had to suffer a very badly positioned air con unit blasting cold air straight down her neck. So far, so pretty far from impressive.
We ordered at circa 1.10 ish, and the rather suspect looking juice drinks turned up, accompanied by some industrial grade French bread portions in a cake tin that looked like a stranger to professional dishwashing. At 1.35 ish we were getting a tad restless, and got up to ask the waitress what was going on. Bear in mind the place was far from full, and although I do not like waiting staff that hover, anyone who deserves to be termed a waiter or a waitress ought to be keeping an eye on 'their' tables, otherwise we are more in the realms of food porters, rather than customers having to get up to find a waitress. We were told, 'just another five minutes'. Given that we had ordered the vegetarian equivalent of fast food, five minutes from scratch would have been about right.
Another 5-10 after that the manageress (?) came over and half-heartedly 'explained' that the order hadn't gone through because the printer had run out of ink or somesuch, and it would be 'another 5 minutes' and would we like another drink in the meantime. I think the drinks were going to be on the house, but by this time I'd had more than enough, told the manageress that it was completely unacceptable and we were off. They had the grace not to attempt to charge us for the drinks. My companion reckoned the manageress was a bit taken aback by this, so maybe veggies are routinely prepared to put up with non-service. I'm not, and allowing the incompetent to get away with it serves no-one's interests.
So, that's my handy hint for the day - don't attempt to eat at 'Eat and Two Veg' in Marylebone unless you just love being badly seated and messed about / ignored by incompetents who are a disgrace to the waitressing profession.
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on Tuesday, August 08, 2006 at 10:53 am.
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"Vegetarianism is harmless enough though it is apt to fill a man with wind and self-righteousness" - Robert Hutchison, address to the British Medical Association, 1930.
I've known a few who fit that description....
Paul McCartney's a vegetarian. He's not a bad chap. Too bad he got mixed up with that stinker Heather Mills.
tehy're all a bit weedy and pale in my experience and thus unlikely to complain
Verity, he should have just had a fling and not married her, it did seem rather rushed.
I like a bit of vege myself, but find they are not very well catered for in France, is that right Croydonian?
I've always found Paul McCartney deeply irritatimg....
Ellee - vegetarians are a bit thin on the ground across the channel, and veggie options beyonds omelettes and salads rarer still. Last year I had the pleasure of trying to find anything beyond that for a then girlfriend when in Lille. I failed and was then emotionally blackmailed into trying to order off menu for her in quite possibly the worst Chinese restaurant in France.
ellee seymour - McCartney was on the rebound. His wife of 30 years had died of breast cancer, as we know, and in 30 years, they'd only ever been apart for one night. I think he was utterly adrift emotionally on top, of course,of grieving.
Up pops a seasoned opportunist with long blonde hair like Linda's and I think he thought he'd found a new anchor. It was much too soon for him to be thinking about a formal commitment, as you say. But I have a suspicion that the urgency came about because Heather was intent on striking while the iron was hot.
Anyway, being a vegetarian has not stopped him from having £830m in the bank. George Bernard Shaw was a veggie as well, but he goes on the list with PCF's Gandhi, etc. Socialist whackos.
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