Meals

At the Restaurant

The Old Mill,

The Quay, Wardleton, Sussex

Open: Tuesday-Sunday

5 - 11.30 p.m.

This week we decided to look at a small family-run restaurant in the village of Wardleton. 'The Old Mill' is newly opened and overlooks the River Wardle, and we had heard several favourable comments about it. Because we had been advised to book early, we managed to get a nice table with a view of the quay. We were made very welcome and the service was excellent because it is a small family business. The proprietor, Jeff Dean, runs the kitchen himself and his wife, Nelly, showed us to our table.

Although the choice of items on the menu was very extensive, it was rather traditional. A long menu always worries me, because a large menu often means a large freezer! We started with Wardle Trout and although it was fresh, it was spoilt by the number of herbs. For my main course I chose the pepper steak, which was the speciality of the day. I thought it was almost perfect because the chef had chosen excellent meat and it was cooked just long enough.

My wife ordered the roast lamb, and although the quality of the meat was good, she thought it was a little underdone. Though the vegetables were fresh, they came in very small portions and were rather over-cooked for our taste. However, the bread was fresh because it had been baked on the premises. I have often complained in this column about the difficulty of finding any restaurant which serves a fresh fruit salad. Luckily, this one did. Even though it must have been very time-consuming to prepare, it was a delight to see, and I had a second helping.

As usual I chose house wine, as this is often the best way to judge a restaurant's wine list. It was a French-bottled table wine which was quite satisfactory and reasonably priced. The bill, including coffee and brandy, came to $37, which was acceptable for the class of restaurant, although that did not include service.

Nashville Superburger Bar,

Leicester Square, London

Open: 7 days a week, 24 hours a day

A new American fast-food chain has just opened its first restaurant in Britain. 'The Nashville Superburger Bar' is just off Leicester Square. Because of the success of McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken, I was interested to see if Nashville had anything new to offer.

The restaurant was so brightly-lit that I wished I'd brought my sun-glasses. Once I'd got used to the light, I rather liked the green and orange plastic decor, which was very futuristic. The place was spotlessly clean - almost antiseptic! Although there was a long queue, service was incredibly fast. The menu was limited to a variety of hamburgers and prices were very reasonable. I had the 'Giant Superburger' which was served with a generous helping of French fries. Although the burger itself was rather tasteless, there was a large selection of relishes on every table and the French fries were the best I've ever tasted. This kind of establishment obviously caters for young people in a hurry. I was amazed to see that many of the customers preferred to eat standing up even though there were seats available. Most of the customers were under 25 and alone. Everybody seemed to be drinking milk shakes and although I'm not very fond of them I felt I should have one. Not much can go wrong with a milk shake and it tasted as good or as bad as any other. Although it's a quick and efficient way of taking nourishment, you wouldn't choose 'The Nashville' for a quiet and romantic evening with a friend. Although I wasn't in a hurry I was in, fed and out in ten minutes. It reminded me very much of a motorway filling station.

Post-reading

What do you think?

What does a family-run restaurant mean?
Which restaurant do you prefer: a family-run or a fast-food one? What does it depend on?
Is it compulsory to book a table early?
Which restaurant would you choose to have dinner with your boy / girlfriend: which is brightly-lit or a restaurant with candles on the tables?
If you go to a family-run restaurant of the kind described above what will you choose for your main course?
Do you like to have dishes with a large number of herbs?
What is your traditional menu at McDonald’s?
Do you like to have a large selection of relishes on your table at a fast-food restaurant?
What salads do you like?
What drinks do you order in a restaurant?

Exercise 7

Translate the following text into English:

У нас, як не дивно, є все. Ви можете покуштувати португальську, німецьку, китайську, японську і будь-яку їжу в численних ресторанчиках, розкиданих повсюди у Києві. А якщо ви прихильник індустріальних методів приготування страв, будь ласка – у нас відкрилися Макдональдси та інші, відомі у всьому світі фірмові заклади.

Ще не впадають у вічі на кожному кроці піццерії, але піццу можна замовити й по телефону. Можна швидко розшукати бістро з гамбургерами та іншими бутербродами, а також кафе, пивний бар. Крім того, ви знайдете шинки, закусочні, забігайлівки, котрих ніде, крім ближнього зарубіжжя, немає.

Exercise 8

Translate the following passage into Ukrainian:

"I never eat more than one thing. I think people eat far too much nowadays. A little fish, perhaps. I wonder if they have any salmon." Well, it was early in the year for salmon and it was not on the menu-card, but I asked the waiter if there was any. ‘Yes, a beautiful salmon had just come in, it was the first they had’. I ordered it for my guest. The waiter asked if she would have something while it was being cooked. "No," she answered, "I never eat more than one thing. Unless you have a little caviar. I never mind caviar." My heart sank a little. I knew I could not afford caviar, but I couldn't very well tell her that. I told the waiter by all means to bring caviar. For myself I chose the cheapest dish on the menu and that was a mutton chop.

(S. Maugham)

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