Thought for food important

HOW do you shop? What sort of thought process do you go through, if any, when you decide to go out and buy something? For instance, at the risk of being accused of being sexist, it’s obvious that there is often a difference between the way the majority of men and women go about shopping.

The latter, it appears, are prone to treat the subject as a leisure pursuit. You, madam, may not but it seems that many do – choosing their destinations in the same way that others might plan a touring holiday. And the truly amazing thing is that frequently, they can come back empty handed, yet satisfied.

Being a man, I obviously miss the point of shopping for pleasure. You may consider me boring but, unless it’s an interesting looking food market, I make a list of what I want with an associated list of where I can get them and then I go and do it as quickly as possible. In fact, internet shopping would be ideal apart from the fact that it doesn’t let me have what I want now.

However, the common thread seems to be that we consider what we’re doing and make intelligent decisions.

It’s the same when I’m choosing somewhere to eat. I’m not a fan of wandering along the high street of an unknown town, looking at menus and trying to decide which restaurant to enter. I think most people are the same. If they know they need to eat, wish to kill some time while enjoying themselves and want their hard-earned cash put at minimal risk, then as much information as possible is handy. Possibly a few referrals or at least some information from the owner or management as to what the restaurant’s general philosophy is.

Of course sometimes it’s necessary to trawl around and take pot luck such as when on holiday. I still try and find out as much as I can from the internet, the place that I’m staying or off other locals. But if none of that’s available, I’m sure I’m the same as you, using all the experience I’ve gathered over the years, examining the menu, glancing at the interior, maybe having a quick conversation with the staff and, if all seems to match what I’m looking for, taking the plunge.

And that’s what I did the other evening. I was with a colleague in a town new to us. We’d actually been searching for examples of good British cooking using local produce. I’d even gone on the web and downloaded a few details. So, clutching the printouts tightly, we made our way to each one in turn, only to find that either they were empty or they’d been lying on their websites. We didn’t fancy any of them.

So what to do? And as we wandered, we came across a Thai restaurant with a welcoming-looking interior, a few tables occupied and an interesting and informative menu. Popping our heads inside, the lady in charge was charming and welcoming and so in we went. And our gamble paid off as we had a super meal. Unfortunately, the table next to us didn’t.

With us being in the industry, eating out can be a little bit of a busman’s holiday and you can’t help noticing what’s going on. Our neighbours had finished their meal and the waiter came to clear, asking if they’d enjoyed the food. It transpired that they hadn’t. First, they complained that there were no chips even though they specifically asked if it might be possible to rustle some up. Second, they found the rice rather sticky and didn’t like it. And third, the meal was spicy, they didn’t like spicy food and found that spices tend to hide the true taste of any meal.

Now, this restaurant was on a main street in a busy commercial area, there were many restaurants nearby and some of them even seemed to specialise in chips because they proclaimed it loudly to passers by. It beggared belief that, instead of choosing one of those, they’d chosen a Thai restaurant that said Thai Restaurant over the door, displayed a Thai menu with full descriptions next to the door and repeated the message on the menus they were given from which to choose their meals.

Maybe these folk had been let out especially for the day because it makes you wonder how they spend the rest of their money. Would they complain that the umbrella they’ve just bought kept them too dry or that the holiday they’d just chosen in Egypt was too sunny?

Maybe we should put people through tests before they’re allowed to make purchases to check that they’re able to make such a decision. Certainly the lady running the Thai restaurant would have agreed. We were the last to leave and spent some time with her trying to cheer her up. “Why did they come here?” she asked. They’d demanded a discount, left grumbling and totally spoilt her evening. I know we’re in a business where it’s essential we make our customers happy but it’s pretty important we enjoy it too. Had those customers got too much money? They certainly had more of it than sense – although they had eaten all the food. And maybe they were the same people who came to Oldfields, a restaurant specialising in British food, and subsequently damned us on Trip Advisor for not serving pasta.