Table talk
Besides, chopsticks and cornflakes don't mix
The Meurice hotel in Paris makes sure that it provides a full Japanese-style breakfast for its guests from the Orient - but it is only available by way of room service, not in the main restaurant. "We were a bit worried that other guests might not want the strong smell of fish that early in the morning," confided a hotel spokeswoman. Rather reminiscent of the problem British Rail used to have with breakfast kippers.
I'm sorry, was that the pimpkin soup… ?
The Halfway Inn in Box, Gloucestershire, is offering Christmas Day diners a rather unappetising starter, if an advertisement in the Festive Dining Guide 2000, published by the Stroud News and Journal, is to be taken strictly at its word. The advert lists a selection of starters from spiced pumpkin soup to scallops with a herb salad. But Table Talk's favourite has to be the boudin of dick foie gras.
They're in a fine pickle this time
It's not often you feel sympathy with McDonald's, but the latest lawsuit filed against the hamburger giant in the USA is almost enough to have you breaking out the Kleenex. A woman in Tennessee is suing her local branch for $100,000 after she was allegedly scarred by a hot slice of gherkin from one of its hamburgers that fell on her chin. Apparently, the second-degree burn from the "defective" and "unreasonably dangerous" burger caused her "physical and mental pain" and left her permanently scarred. If that wasn't enough for McDonald's, the woman's husband is suing for another $15,000 for being deprived of the services of his wife.
What exactly are the proper channels?
A colleague was forced the other day to book lunch at Oliver Peyton's Atlantic Bar & Grill as part of an undercover seat-counting operation. It seemed that this was the only option after a routine telephone call to find out this seemingly harmless detail was rebuffed with the chilling response: "Vy do you vant to know zis? Ve do not give out zis sort of information. Please go sroo ze proper channels." Can this frosty reception be put down to Peyton's mistrust of his neighbour Marco Pierre White, who sailed his Titanic restaurant around Atlantic's legal icebergs, or is there something we should know about the number of seats at Atlantic?
No stereotypes here, bah goom, ecky thump
Whoever said romance is dead has not visited Dunsley Hall Country House Hotel in Whitby recently. It is offering couples the chance to get away from it all and enjoy a romantic weekend - Yorkshire-style. The break features a dinner of Barnsley chop, chips and mushy peas, a crate of beer in the bedroom, and videos of rugby league matches. Couples receive thermal socks to wear in bed and, to encourage them to stay under the covers for longer, the central heating is turned off in the bedroom. All this luxury for just £160 per person. What a bargain!
0-181 in two seconds? Wish our car was that fast
Caterer asked De Vere's Daresbury Park hotel last week how many bedrooms it had, only to be abruptly told by the receptionist "zero". On realising her mistake, she quickly added: "Oh, I thought you meant how many rooms do we have available for tonight." For the record, Daresbury Park, in Warrington, Cheshire, has 181 bedrooms.
