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bullfrog

18th December 2012, 09:59
I'm lucky enough to have eaten at The Fat Duck, and even luckier to have gone there in the very early days of its reincarnation as a temple of molecular gastronomy, when the prices were still (reasonably) reasonable and you could still making a booking only a week or so in advance. I'd been intrigued by the review in The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2000/nov/11/weekend7.weekend4?INTCMP=SRCH) and suggested to Mrs B that it sounded remarkable and worth a visit. And so it was - the atmosphere and service were warm and welcoming, with no air of pretension, just an evident enthusiasm for what they were doing. No one raised an eyebrow when we stuck to the house wine,and I suspect they wouldn't have cared if we'd drunk tap water. Having experienced many 'special' meals out eating food that I or my wife could easily have cooked at home (and sometimes better) it was a real treat to know that not only could we not have created that meal, no other restaurant in the country could have done so either.
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rosalind

18th December 2012, 11:57
Sounds wonderful, bullfrog. I think the essence of a memorable meal (well, if it's so because of the food!) is that no-one feels exploited. Tasting excellent and being served properly should be taken for granted. Having a great view helps, too.

One of the best plates of food I ever ate cost one euro in a restuarant in Crete. It was just potato chips cooked in foil over a wood fire, served with a freshly made tomato sauce. A river had been divided and ran through the covered and outside parts of the place (eat your heart out Charlie Dimmock)and you could sit on a bridge or beside the water; under a canopy of vines if too hot. I've tried to cook chips like that and never succeeded.
Superb.
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pastille

19th December 2012, 00:37
ChrisE....having been a waitress during my student days, I totally love that chumbawumba song....thank you.

Bullfrog, I am a wee bit jealous of your Fat Duck experience. If I ever won the lottery, I would indulge ....wait a tick....I don't do the lottery. Oh well!

Just watching a repeat of a Xmas special with Heston....love it...what an experience it must be.

Hope your "anniversary" broadcasts went well.... X
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pastille

19th December 2012, 00:43
By the way....if any of you are in the Fife area....please try The Peat Inn, lunch time menu...amazing, and half the price of their evening menu...suppose that's normal.

Truly amazing food, reasonably priced and locally sourced....my mouth is watering just thinking about it...
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rosalind

19th December 2012, 08:41
Agree about the Peat Inn, pastille. had Dinner B and B there once, really fantastic, both the food and the accomodation. Still wonder what the sheet-turner-down thought of the chocolate paint I'd left out by accident...... (happy grin)
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bullfrog

19th December 2012, 10:00
@Rosiland - One of my most memorable meals was in Crete. The late ex-Mrs B and I were there on a last minute £99 holiday in the early 80s, staying in a tiny village near Chania. It was out of season and the village taverna was closed, but we discovered that there was one not too far away up in the hills. We managed to find it but were disappointed to find nothing happening - the place was dark, with just two men playing Tavoli. One of them saw us turning away from the gate and rushed over, dragging us in and sitting us down. He had virtually no English and I have no idea what we ate that night, he just brought whatever he had, but it was wonderful, and later he sat and told us, mostly in sign language how he'd been to England as a child for an operation. His abiding memory of the trip was being driven in the doctor's car - a 'Yag-wah'! A few nights later we went back to find the place absolutely heaving with what looked like an enormous family party. Again we turned away in disappointment and again he rushed out and brought us back. He fetched another table and added us into the middle of the party, which turned out to be the entire village celebrating the island's saint's day. It was the full-on Greek restaurant experience all-singing and all-dancing, but for real, not for the tourists.
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rosalind

19th December 2012, 12:41
Lucky you, bullfrog, and how good that you went along with it. I've had the experience of not knowing what I've been eating in Crete- it looked like a bowl of set cream- but never the dancing. The late Dr R. managed to converse with a daughter-in-law of the house in German but I was happy just eating and looking at the fabuous view over Chania. And trying not to spit out the retsina.
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aristophanes

19th December 2012, 12:59
You two are making me jealous. We had a stay in Chania booked several years ago but that was one of a series of trips that didn't happen (one of which was to London, cancelled because of the volcanic eruption). By the way, over here it's the French restaurants that tend to be pretentious (yes, GK, I know, they're just appalled by American vulgarity :]), though perhaps not as pretentious as your typical Starbucks (I will NOT use their silly jargon).
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rosalind

19th December 2012, 13:17
Did you walk the Gorge, bullfrog? We did, twice. The first time some French lads on the tour bus fell over when they got to their hotel- they had arrogantly worn beach shoes and were clearly more used to eating and drinking than walking. 17 km, what's that?
(the first mile of the Samaria Gorge is down steps)
Well worth booking another trip, aristo
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bullfrog

19th December 2012, 15:03
@Rosiland - we did, but only once...

@Pastille - yes thanks, it was nice to meet up with some of the other presenters. A jolly time was had. I'm now sitting here ploughing through songs for my Christmas Day show (pre-recorded, obviously)
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