Yeuk
For several reasons, we didn't have anything out of the freezer for tonight's dinner. As the Maypole now does food - and we used to eat there a lot, enjoying plain and good food - we decided to try it.
Inamac ordered fish pie, which she tells me was good. I ordered gammon, pineapple and chips because, hell, you can't mess that up.
Oh yes you can.
For a start, they asked me how I wanted my Gammon steak. Did I want it "well done" (apparently, this means 'burnt'.) Gammon is either cooked or not cooked, not rare, not medium, not 'well done.' I wanted mine cooked.
It arrived. Leave the gammon aside - we'll get back to that later - plus a grilled pineapple circle, plainly cut from a fresh pineapple - fine - but without the inedible centre removed. Plus a tomato and pineapple salsa (superfluous), two (undressed) lettuce leaves, half a beef tomato - grilled - and a courgette cut to resemble something vaguely octopoid, where the arms were cooked and the body wasn't. Plus some excellent chips.
But the gammon... For a start, the chef had seen fit to coat it with what appeared to be bits of dried rosemary, which did not complement it at all. Then I tasted it. After a while I came to the conclusion that the chef had cooked it on the same grill as he had cooked the triangle of fish skin which decorated, shark-fashion, Ina's fish pie. This theory is confirmed by the fact I have felt like throwing up since (fish makes me throw up.)
I have informed Ina that if they can destroy something as simple as gammon and chips it is highly unlikely she will get me in there for anything but a quick drink and a bag of crisps.
Incidentally, there are no eggs on the menu because the chef 'can't cook them' (or, for that matter, make coffee) and he said that he hates eggs so doesn't cook them. In the Brewers, up the road, I can get superb ham, beautifully cooked eggs, and chips that are just as good. Admittedly, they cost more, but, believe me, I'm willing to pay...
Inamac ordered fish pie, which she tells me was good. I ordered gammon, pineapple and chips because, hell, you can't mess that up.
Oh yes you can.
For a start, they asked me how I wanted my Gammon steak. Did I want it "well done" (apparently, this means 'burnt'.) Gammon is either cooked or not cooked, not rare, not medium, not 'well done.' I wanted mine cooked.
It arrived. Leave the gammon aside - we'll get back to that later - plus a grilled pineapple circle, plainly cut from a fresh pineapple - fine - but without the inedible centre removed. Plus a tomato and pineapple salsa (superfluous), two (undressed) lettuce leaves, half a beef tomato - grilled - and a courgette cut to resemble something vaguely octopoid, where the arms were cooked and the body wasn't. Plus some excellent chips.
But the gammon... For a start, the chef had seen fit to coat it with what appeared to be bits of dried rosemary, which did not complement it at all. Then I tasted it. After a while I came to the conclusion that the chef had cooked it on the same grill as he had cooked the triangle of fish skin which decorated, shark-fashion, Ina's fish pie. This theory is confirmed by the fact I have felt like throwing up since (fish makes me throw up.)
I have informed Ina that if they can destroy something as simple as gammon and chips it is highly unlikely she will get me in there for anything but a quick drink and a bag of crisps.
Incidentally, there are no eggs on the menu because the chef 'can't cook them' (or, for that matter, make coffee) and he said that he hates eggs so doesn't cook them. In the Brewers, up the road, I can get superb ham, beautifully cooked eggs, and chips that are just as good. Admittedly, they cost more, but, believe me, I'm willing to pay...