[woofa.express]

Dining away from home.

English food never appealed to me. Too much is processed, insufficient fruit and vegetables. Fry and bacon: Australians are accustomed to lamb’s fry but English fry is from the pig and not pleasant.
We once stopped in a tiny village about 2 hours west of London. Just 5 buildings in this town- a quaint little pub and church, a cricket ground and 2 houses. Idyllic place with old established English oak trees. Prior to booking in to the hotel I asked if their dining room served vegetables and was told yes they did. Great. We moved in, enjoyed drinking some beer, chilled beer and not the usual warm stuff they serve. Then to the dining room and without perusing the menu I asked for a big plate of vegetables only to be told “it is Friday we serve vegetables Sir”.
In another incident, Italy this time, I went to a hotel dining room and was ushered by an extremely bad-mannered waiter. He was annoyed I didn’t speak Italian. He didn’t speak English either. Following a pleasant meal I went to this rude fellow and said “you would have to own this hotel. No person would give you a job, you are such a rude and bad-mannered man. You are a disgrace.” Well he took my hand and shook it so hard I thought my arm would pull from my shoulder socket. I felt vindicated as I departed that dining room.
The French are reputed to be quite rude. Well I always started a request with a greeting in French. It was clear I was making an attempt at their language and they responded cordially.