Hey peeps, I hope you are all well.
The Easter holidays are here, and that means it is high time I tackled the allotment. A couple of weekends ago my Dad came and helped us do some digging, but I knew I would have some time over the next couple of weeks.
On Sunday my plan was to head there as soon as I woke up. Unfortunately on Saturday night I was meant to pick up Andy but my car wouldn’t start. It has been a bit temperamental lately, but did just pass its’ MOT (and have a service) -usually if I try it a few time it starts up, but this time the scary red “STOP” light came on. So Sunday morning turned into phoning the breakdown people, and waiting for the person to come out. Amazingly, he fixed it without me needing a new battery or starter motor! But it meant time had got on, so I spent less time digging. Luckily I had pancakes for breakfast as I didn’t get back until about 4pm!
I sometimes add fruit to the pancake before I flip it, but this then means that the fruit sticks to the pan. This time I added it after I had flipped it, which meant the berries were warmed through in the pan- good plan Batman.
The night before I cooked some apple in the oven, but didn’t end up eating it, so I added that to my next pancake- warm apple pancakes are delicious.
Digging fuel right there!
On Sunday evening we went to see Muppets Most Wanted, which I loved! The last Muppet movie was great, and during the first part of the film I was a bit worried that I would be disappointed (I hate it when my expectations are high like that) but it was such a fun film, with some excellent “real” actors in there too. Worth a see for sure.
On Monday morning I was going to have a run, but it was raining, plus I had not got as much digging as planned, so I headed to the allotment first thing. I did more digging, weeding and even used the mower again.
Then it was porridge time! I keep forgetting about the rest of the Matcha powder, so I added it to my porridge. I thought it would go very green, but it didn’t, and it stayed in lumps (so no photo- it didn’t look good!) but I liked the flavour. I still can’t place it, but thankfully it tastes nothing like normal green tea.
Then I was off to London! I ended up getting into the centre earlier than I thought, so I wandered to Wholefoods for a drink, before meeting some friends for afternoon tea:
Moan alert! Originally I had booked a deal on Groupon for a chocolate afternoon tea. The email came through, but it would not let me book a table before the deal ended. Then the deal ended but I still could not book it. I emailed Groupon who said there was a problem with paypal, and really I should not use Paypal because payment can be delayed. I emailed back to say they should put that on their site, and should have contacted me as soon as there was an issue because then I could have bought the deal again with a different payment method. I then checked my Paypal account because I didn’t think I had paid that way- I hadn’t. Then they emailed back to say that actually I had paid with credit card, which was fine, but they had a “technical glitch” and no vouchers were issued to anyone, and they then refunded me. Anyway, the way they handled it really annoyed me, so in the end I looked on afternoon tea.co.uk for a different offer. Not sure I would use Groupon again after that.
Anyway, the place we went to was very relaxed- with very comfy chairs, so great for catching up. However I had requested one vegetarian, and when the lady brought our tiers over she said “this one is vegetarian; cream cheese and cucumber, smoked salmon” (at this point I laughed rather loudly- I was just not expecting that! So didn’t even hear the third sandwich)-she had no idea why I was laughing so I swapped that one with one of my friends! One of the dessert options was panna cotta which I am sure always contains gelatin so I left that one too. The scone was lovely, and the carrot cake and macaroon were delicious, and the chocolate cake was quite nice. We had one refill of tea, and I would have liked another, but the servers were a bit too relaxed and didn’t check on us that much. It was good to not feel hurried, but at one point my friend noticed some mould in her cream, and it took ages for someone to come and replace it. We were given some champagne to make up for it, but as I don’t drink it was down to my friends to have mine. Overall it was a lovely way to spend the afternoon, but I think the service could have been better. And honestly, salmon is NOT vegetarian!!!!
Trip advisor review is being written!
Do you ever contact places after bad service? I do sometimes, especially with things like incorrect vegetarian items (I am a one woman crusade against the use of parmesan in “vegetarian” meals!), but I read reviews far more frequently than I write them!
you have given me a fab idea to take mom for afternoon tea soon 🙂
ps I never used to complain but as I’ve gotten older I do, maybe it’s an age thing for me or it’s because I have worked hard to to be or get something then I want it to be right.
Good idea- hope you and your Mom enjoy it 🙂
Hhahhaaa. Thats so funny!!! Kinda like when im asked do i eat eggs then? since im vegan. Err no!! Some people are so naive. Oh well. Least you could mix with your friend’s food too.
Exactly! I don’t expect everyone to know, but you would think a chef would know seeing as they ask for dietary requirements…
I can’t believe that anyone in that works somewhere like that doesn’t know that vegetarian does not include fish, that’s crazy! Doesn’t sound like you had good service at all though, at least you had some good company with your friends 🙂
Yes- I did leave them feedback (the good and the bad) because they really should know that!
Groupon can be so hit and miss- sometimes I’ve had great service with them, sometimes it’s been an absolute nightmare!
Sounds like the afternoon tea was good despite the mouldy cream, vegetarian salmon and slow service!
I have had some good deals with Groupon before, but I know they are not good for the companies who use them either- the cake decorating courses I went on started being through there but the lady running them said that Groupon were a real pain, so I am going to use other websites for deals instead now.
I am too timid to complain (even in writing…), but my Mum is the Queen of complaining and getting results. She will wrangle over almost anything, and she always has the quickest wits and the best arguments – she’s really passionate about fighting for customer/consumer rights.
*sigh* at the salmon is ‘vegetarian’ problem though. Parmesan and gelatin were absolute pet hates of mine as a vegetarian, and in some ways it’s even worse as a vegan (a shocking number of people seem to think that vegans eat fish but no other animal products…where the Hell has this idea come from!?!) because I have wanted to smack some people in the face over honey. I don’t care how it’s spun; honey is NOT vegan!
xxx
What????? I mean, I know some people are pescatarian but say they are vegetarian, so that is where the fish thing comes from (that annoys me enough) but vegans eating fish? Fish are one of the worst foods ethically! I have never heard anything so ridiculous! Dearie me!
It is why I prefer eating at home to eating out though because at least I know what is in it!
I think it’s very ignorant that these days people don’t understand the meaning of vegetarian and what that involves, especially in a food establishment. I hope the chocolate treats made up for the major blunder.
The carrot cake was very nice! It was good to spend time with friends, but really the chef needs to learn some basic food rules!
As you know I had an awful experience last weekend at a carvery. I don’t tend to complain if it is clear that the waiters/chefs have tried their best to rectify the problem as I have worked in the business and know things do go wrong despite best efforts! But it does annoy me when staff clearly haven’t tried to sort anything out or prevent problems from happening.
As I said on my blog, it annoys me when the vegetarian option is either a pasta or a pie as well. I can’t believe they gave you salmon as a vegetarian option!!!
I used to work in a bakery and so I do see the other side of things.
Your experience was not good either!
Yes the salmon was silly and I laughed because I just was not expecting it- the poor waitress was not English and I don’t think she had any idea why I was laughing…
How annoying about the Groupon thing. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Groupon. It just seems like companies are using it to sell their ‘sale items’ or awkward times at a restaurant/cafe when things are really quiet. Apart from a couple of sports massages, things haven’t been great for me from Groupon. I’ve stopped checking anymore.
I would have sent the salmon back – but then that’s me. I can get quite indignant! The afternoon tea does look nice though – I like the small items. I’ve yet to have small and many items. It just seems to be a huge slice of cake, scone and sandwiches. But then I do quite like that too…cake is cake after all 😉
I loved your “good plan batman” – we always say “good plan Stan”.
We always say that- probably because it rhymes? Never thought about it before!
I would have usually sent it back but the service was iffy anyway, and my friend was happy to swap!
I think little cakes are more traditional afternoon tea, but I don’t always like the little cream ones and things, so would probably choose a proper slice of cake if it was an option.
That sounds rubbish about Groupon, I’ve used them a few times and not had any issues thankfully. I definitely would have complained about the salmon, that’s ridiculous, I actually think it’s very confusing when people call themselves vegetarian yet they eat fish a) that isn’t vegetarian and b) it just make it way confusing for restaurants etc.
Yes- I once had an argument with someone at work because she had a friend who was “vegetarian but ate fish” and I spent ages telling her that her friend was not a vegetarian, but in fact a pescatarian- I got very annoyed! But then I also have a vegetarian friend who still eats gelatin…. out to confuse everyone!
That is quite impressive that they decided that salmon was vegetarian! However, pardon my ignorance, but why is Parmesan not? (I am not vegetarian but friends are, so I would had to accidentally serve something non-veggie).
I tend to go for the Trip Advisor route, though I like to think I am balanced as I also comment if somewhere has been particularly good. I rarely complain in a restaurant as I will eat practically anything, but I am more likely to complain if it is just the two of us rather than with a group of friends.
No worries- a lot of cheese is vegetarian, but some cheese is still made with animal rennet- the rennet starts off the process- and animal rennet is the lining of a cows (or calfs?) stomach, so not vegetarian, Parmesan is one of those “protected status” foods, so it is always made with animal rennet, so never vegetarian. You can get imitations (hard style cheese or something) that could be vegetarian, but parmesan never is. A lot of restaurants know this now, for example Pizza Express will state that to have something vegetarian have it without the grand padana cheese (or whatever it is called).
I get a bit paranoid with other things- a friend was cooking for us once and was about to add Worcester sauce to the meal (which contains fish)- I don’t think a lot of people know. And I don’t expect my friends to know these things either, but I do expect chefs to know!