Three of us had a carvery meal in Pontefract at the weekend.
It was in one of those modern pub/restaurants.
Can't remember the name to post a link, but most members will be familiar with the type of establishment.
I was very impressed with what we had.
The roasts were all good meat - a slice off a big joint is usually tastier than a slice off a small one.
The vegetables needed careful selection, the carrots looked tired and overcooked, but the cabbage was as good as I've ever had in the house.
There was a choice of gravy and all the usual extras.
Some minor criticisms, the stuffing balls tasted 'packet', and the cutlery looked like rejects from a works canteen.
Overall, the meal just managed to scrape into the treat category, which for what they charge is remarkable.
I usually leave dietary advice to whatever Dog is calling himself this week, but a combination of lean meat and boiled vegetables sounds healthy to me, which dining out rarely is.
What do you think of carvery food and other budget table meals?
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In case you missed it: www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=6172&m=146782&v=e
Last edited by: Focus on Mon 6 Jun 11 at 09:39
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>> In case you missed it
Another vote for Toby Carvery. Meals at their Swindon & Newbury locations have been excellent so far. Trouble is, you tend to make a pig of yourself (well I do anyway) of the unlimited veg which you serve yourself with and then have trouble making room for dessert afterwards. Far better than these carvery's that only give you two of everything. I don't care much for calabrese, and asking for extra roast potatoes, carrots, or cauliflower in place of the calabrese, you sometimes get the feeling you've commited the ultimate sin.
Same with all day breakfasts. Although I like eggs, they play havok with my digestion system. Some places will serve an extra sausage and rasher of bacon in place of the eggs, whereas others won't. In the case of the latter I let them serve me the fried eggs (paid for them anyway) and then swap them for something else from another family members plate when they've brought it to the table.
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 6 Jun 11 at 10:31
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Our local Marstons owned pub does a carvery for two people for a tenner.
The meat portions (pork, turkey, beef, ham) are huge and there is a choice of at least five vegetables to which one helps oneself.
Wonderful value, but a 250 ml. glass of decent red is £4.50, which rather spoils the budget!
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I've always had good experiences with these:
www.crowncarveries.co.uk/
Lots of pubs in the Midlands but now buying and rebranding smaller chain pubs around the UK. The carvery costs all of £3.69 in the week - cheaper than a drive-thru and far tastier. They could charge 7 quid for it every day and it'd still be good VFM.
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Mon 6 Jun 11 at 14:11
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>> I've always had good experiences with these:
>> www.crowncarveries.co.uk/
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Cheers, might give that a go as there's one down the road from SWMBO's favourite Morrissons.
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>>I usually leave dietary advice to whatever Dog is calling himself this week, but a combination of lean meat and boiled vegetables sounds healthy to me<<
S'OK ... if ya wanna commit Insecticide :}
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Just avoid the killer bean sprouts.
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Used to use the Toby carvery on the edge of Christchurch regularly, thankfully all three offspring like their veg. so the 'as much as you like veg.' always went down well, meat joints always pretty good. However the price crept up to a shade under eight quid a pop, so used local alternatives. I notice they've now gone back down to a fiver or thereabouts so might try them again. Can be a bit of a nightmare in summer as it's unsurprisingly popular with tourists.
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Two main courses for £8.50 at my usual Toby alternative, the Walkford in Highcliffe:-
tinyurl.com/3tuqtcd
Note executive wind + solar powered speeding sign ;-)
www.hungryhorse.co.uk/menus.php
Gastropub it ain't , but decent potions, well cooked and quick service.
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>> Not so cheap at my nearest Greene King.
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>> www.gkpubs.co.uk/pubs-in-sunbury-on-thames/magpie-pub/
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looks like the much the same menu as the 'hungry horse' sub-brand but with a quid added here and there for the privelidge of over 21s only, and less offers.
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>> And a riverside view.
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True; about 5 mins. drive from the Walkford to the beach on a good day.
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>> 2 main courses for £10.
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>> www.pub-explorer.com/themedpubs/twoforten.htm
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One not too far away from me in Lyndhurst, will check that out.
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Iffy said:
>> What do you think of carvery food and other budget table meals?
I think carvery restaurants are awful. Some years back our company went to one for the Christmas meal, and mine was appalling. It was all pre-prepared, from cheap ingredients, and extremely bland, no doubt because the staff did not have basic culinary skills. Mine was boiled pasta wrapped in pastry, and served with a vile white semi-liquid substance. I could have cooked far better using simple ingredients.
There was a Chinese restaurant in Reading that did a sort of eat all you like, except it was cooked to order. I thought it was incredible value, and well cooked. I'm not usually a fan of all you can eat as the quality is often so so, with food that has sat around too long. There was also an Indian restaurant called Chutney's near Euston Station in London that did an all you can eat on Sunday lunchtime, and that too was good. Only veggie though.
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Carvery type food has to be the most variable quality of anything in the whole country. I have had some delicious meals and some real shockers. None of them got roast spuds right tho, as these can only be served crunchy straight from the oven.
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What do you think of carvery food and other budget table meals?
Let me guess this lot was in the £5.95 price bracket and your moaning? Go cook it yourself and lets see how good you are.
Or was this two for a tenner?
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"no doubt because the staff did not have basic culinary skills."
Went into a Little Chef last year and requested an omelette but was told that my choice was not available but I could have fried eggs instead. I asked how could this be and was advised that the omelette required "omelette mix" and they had run out.
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>>the omelette required "omelette mix" and they had run out.
Daughter worked at one of these chain eateries between terms. A customer complained the 'clam chowder' tasted nothing like it should. Daughter disappeared to the kitchen and re-appeared with a bucket sized container and proudly pointed out the words clam chowder printed bold thereon.
I don't think she lasted long there.
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I think carvery's do differ in quality but also in price.
The best I have had was at The Grasshopper Inn at Moorhouse near Westerham on the A25. The food is excellent, the surroundings and the gardens are a delight.
The worst was at a Table Table on Sunday at Brampton Hut.
It's usually average but last week it was below average.
Pat
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I think careful selection can help, particularly with the vegetables.
They are probably OK when first put out, but not so clever 45 minutes later if not enough people take some.
The carrots were like that on Saturday - very tired looking - but the cabbage was fresh.
The meat joints are large and if anything their flavour will improve after standing for a while.
Having said that, my other carvery tactic is to arrive in good time, before 1pm.
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I believe that much of the beef on offer in carveries must be pre-cooked in a water bath and then flashed in the oven to produce the "roasted" look and flavour.
I cannot see how a large joint can be the same colour and "cookedness" all the way through if any other method is used .
Water bath, or "sous vide" cooking is not a bad thing; it is widely used in restaurants. Researching it on-line, it seems that maintaining a constant temperature throughout the process is the key.
Domestic water baths are coming to the market, but will initially be expensive.
Last edited by: Roger on Tue 7 Jun 11 at 08:24
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>> Having said that, my other carvery tactic is to arrive in good time, before 1pm.
1pm would see you in the queue outside the door. The olds like to totter in quite early round here, 12:30 being the peak mobility scooter time.
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...1pm would see you in the queue outside the door...
The previous visit to Pontefract was Mothers' Day.
Arrived at noon, there were people leaving.
I thought I'd forgotten to put a clock back or forward.
"We open at 11am," I was told.
That's a bit too early for a roast dinner.
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Well Zero, When you're up in Wales on your Holidays I can seriously recommend this place for Sunday lunch
www.frongoch-gardencentre.co.uk/index.php
Cheap, plentiful locally produce, carved off the joint as you want. It's about 25 minutes from where you're staying and the added benefit of a long forgotten RAF base (RAF Llandwrog) just down the lane, now laughingly called Caernarfon Airport...has a moth eaten little museum attached. This is where RAF started their Mountain Rescue teams. Another bonus is a nice beach for you an FiFi and Nicole to walk off the home made puddings.
Coffee served here:-
www.bwytylleu.co.uk/
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>> I think careful selection can help, particularly with the vegetables.
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>> They are probably OK when first put out, but not so clever 45 minutes later
>> if not enough people take some.
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My strategy is to select my veg. from the middle layer of the serving pot, the stuff on top has often dried out under the lamps, that at the bottom ends up swimming in water, so the middle is usually optimum.
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>> There was a Chinese restaurant in Reading that did a sort of eat all you
>> like, except it was cooked to order.
That's the Furama on Friar Street. It is still going and is a bit of a 70s throwback decoratively speaking. It's still "all you can eat", but the staff are at pains to point out to all customers that this doesn't mean "all you can order", and you will be charged extra for any unfinished dishes.
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>>and you will be charged extra for any unfinished dishes.
Time to resurrect the Doggie Bag.
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I have seen people ask for them in the Furama...................not a good idea.
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The only two widespread outbreak of food poisoning stories I've ever done have been from buffet restaurants.
One was Chinese, and the other was serving a variety of cuisines.
Neither were what I call carveries, although one of the reasons for my 'arrive early at a carvery' tip is it will almost certainly be clean to start with, but a bug may have developed after a few hours.
The outbreak at the mixed buffet was not the direct fault of the restaurant - it was traced to a customer who had unknowingly passed a bug onto the food as he served himself.
So there's also less chance of being poisoned if not many people have been through before you - another reason to arrive early.
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>> ...................not a good idea.
I think it's fair to say that they are no longer fashionable.
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I had meant that it wasn't a good idea from the perspective of the reaction with which the waiting staff and management of this particular restaurant meet requests for doggie bags.
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Mega thread drift, but it is my thread.
Alanovic - Fulham have signed themselves a good manager - can't think of anyone better who might have been available.
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I agree, if you add "anyone better who might have been available AND was prepared to work at what is essentially still a small club." I.e. the likes of Ancelotti would not demean themselves by managing such an "unglamorous" team.
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I thought about adding that, but I would put Jol a little higher, he would also be a good signing for a bigger club.
I can't remember the ins and out of him leaving Spurs, but I remember thinking the board shot themselves in the foot, and his departure was a big set back.
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Yes, I think it's quite a coup for us.
Looking forward to the Europa League draw now and hoping for Neath or TNS/Oswestry.
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A decent dinner - Focusless
