Leaving tips

Though regardless of whether I pay by card or cash, and I have had good service, then I will leave whoever served me a cash tip.

However stories like this in the Observer really annoy me.

Fresh evidence that one of the country’s biggest restaurant chains is using scare tactics to deter waiters from asking for tips in cash has been uncovered by the Observer

Employees of Tragus – which owns Café Rouge, Bella Italia and Strada – have come under pressure to ensure service charges are paid by card, and at least one waitress has told the Observer that they are being threatened with dismissal if they do not generate enough card tips. Some have been told that undercover staff posing as diners will check that gratuities are not being pocketed. Cash tips go directly to staff, but those paid by card go to the company.

Waiting staff are underpaid, overworked and easily replaced. However they are the key to a good restaurant.

No one ever goes to a restaurant to just eat food, you go for the whole dining experience, and that experience includes good customer service.

It doesn’t matter if the food is excellent, if the service is awful, you won’t go again and importantly you will tell others how awful it was too.

Ginger Beer

Had a ginger beer today, first time in ages.

Ginger Beer

Not really a proper ginger beer (well it came in a can from marks and spencer) but it was not bad.

Two years old

Today marks the second anniversay of Time to eat. With over three hundred posts and nearly 21,000 visits I hope everyone has found something interesting to read and as a result cooked a new dish, or cooked an old recipe better.

Tesco Barbeque Moroccan Style Lamb Chops

Tesco describe their Tesco Barbeque Moroccan Style Lamb Chops as

Delicious lamb shoulder chops, with a Moroccan style marinade, ideal for a family BBQ

Well were they?

They are easy to cook, from frozen in the over for about twenty five minutes.

Tesco Barbeque Moroccan Style Lamb Chops

Well let’s just say they are only £2 per pack. The lamb shoulder chops are not the best cut of chops available and the marinade was okay.

Let’s just say for £2 they were value for money, but if you are looking for high quality lamb, look somewhere else and making your own  Moroccan marinade.

Calves Liver

Back in November last year I visited the Alba Ristorante in London with some friends.  I had the Smoked Duck Salad followed by the Calves Liver. The Italian name for the calves liver dish was Fegato alla griglia con spinaci & patate; in English, grilled calves liver with spinach & saute potatoes.

Back then I blogged about the meal and said

I am not normally a great fan of liver, lambs liver is quite strongly flavoured and pigs liver much too strong. Most of the time it appears to be served as liver and onions and the liver is dry and tough. However I had read many reviews about calves liver so this was an opportunity.

I was impressed.

It was beautifully cooked and was delicious. The flavour was exquisite and the accompanying spinach and potatoes were done well too. The texture was fantastic, it almost melted in the mouth. It had been grilled to perfection and was medium as was recommended to me and as asked for by me.

I decided that I would try and recreate that moment and cook some calves liver myself.

Hmmm.

I cooked it quickly on my griddle, it looked nice, however it certainly did not have the texture and flavour of the liver from the Alba.

Don’t think I will be cooking it again, going to leave it until the next time I visit the Alba.

Credit Crunch Literally…

Britain eats its way through recessions. When the going gets tough, the tough, it seems, tuck into pudding, says Michael Blastland in his regular BBC column.

Read more.

Wow foodie pictures

Though posted on BBC News last year, these foodie pictures are still very impressive.

Food Picture

Incredibly, everything you see in this image can be found in the kitchen. Photographer Carl Warner has painstakingly captured all kinds of food in a series of still lifes.

See more.

Is it time to take tuna off the menu?

Is it time to take tuna off the menu?

BBC reports on how some food outlets are removing bluefin tuna off the menu.

The bluefin tuna is one of the world’s most impressive fish – a predatory cruiser of the open ocean that can zoom through the sea at the rate of 40mph and grow to the size of a small car.

Bluefin tuna – the staple of sushi boxes the world over – is on the brink of extinction, with its plight highlighted in a new film. Sandwich seller Pret A Manger is changing its stance on tuna, but should the rest of us follow suit?

Read more.

Photo source.

The happy herb

From the Guardian

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ends his look at summer herbs with chervil, because it always brings a smile to his face

Mango

Got some “Ripe and Ready” Mangoes from Tesco and was surprised by how sweet they were, in many ways too sweet to eat.

Going back to melon…