General Chat

I remember Berni Inns .......

...... my brother liked them, and insisted on taking us to at least 2 when we were visiting the UK in the mid-1970s

ann

they just zap the ready meals in microwaves all done in no time

sally w <3

There used to be a roadside chain called AJs which were excellent. Their food and service were far,far superior to Little Chef but that's not really difficult anyway!

We were in the Chichester one when a coach party came in, not even pre-booked. The manager, a consummate professional, turned it round in twenty-five minutes.

Goodness Liz. How can they justify booking in such huge parties on one night, unless they increase their kitchen and waiting staff. And it will be soooo noisy too. Hope you get your meal ok.

I remember Berni Inns, they were good. I used to enjoy going to Bella Pasta but they went downhill, and I walked out of one of the ones in Norwich because of poor service.


Going tonight to Brewer's Fayre, I managed to get a table at 6.15pm, as the girl told me they had two large parties in at 7pm, one of 35 and one of 19. I can't imagine how they will get all those meals out without one person finishing theirs as another starts lol

Must make sure we get our order in first

Lizx

In the early seventies when we lived in Southampton we used to invite my mum & dad over and take them to the Berni Inn, which was at the junction of Portswood Rd and Welbeck Ave. We used to have delicious meals and the restaurant was always cosy and the service good :-)

my son delivers microwave meals to resterants and says you would be surprized at the resterants and pubs that have themloads of chains and posh places even ones with 5 stars and celebity chiefs

if you ask to look at the kitchens they have banks of microwaves in them

sally w <3

I too had never visited a Carvery until this year.

I met up with Susan NZ, Cooper and Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend. I was pleasantly surprised.

Decent food and well priced.

:-)

Even Wetherspoons vary. (even the same one on different days). We have three we go to near us, all are usually good but we have had indifferent meals in each of them. We do avoid the Gloucester one if Gloucester are playing rugby at home. do like their Ham, eggs and chips.

Ah, Braintree, home of 'Cholesterol Corner' (near Freeport), a waypoint marker for us when visiting rellies. There do seem to be endless roundabouts in that area.

"The clientele in any establishment in central Braintree are never going to be anything other than rough around the edges, and this place certainly does not buck that trend."
(Trip Advisor)

If it befalls you to visit Braintree and you are looking for a decent place to eat at any price then hard luck. Once a small and busy market town Braintree is nearly entirely surrounded by ring roads and by passes while the town centre such as it is denies access by car. Sainsbury is easy to access though... Most of the population live in the developer housing estates which encircle the town all built in some kind of faux Essex style. There is a Weatherspoons in Fairfield Rd converted from the old Embassy cinema ( it has the original name of "the Picture Palace" ) next door to the old police station. It has a decent pint of beer and good value steak at least.

Hi Sharron, try HIGHDOWN carvery. on the road between Littlehampton& Worthing. Midweek, £6 something verygood

Wetherspoons is alright, food for when you are hungry but, then, they have a super salad which is truly super.

Maybe I just struck lucky with the Toby, I don't know, but the planets must have been in alignment for me that day. No doubt you do need a quality chef and the right time of day to get that good a good carvery but we certainly had them on this occasion.

There is a Toby very close to o.h.'s son's new home so we might try that next time, would take them out to lunch but they don't like going because the little girl who is almost 4 is so naughty when out. Sad really, and a shame they haven't taught her better. She kicked off in a supermarket when o.h. was with his son and her, and both of them were so embarrassed. Seems she does it a lot, but she still came home with a Kinder Egg. She dominates the whole family and is so hyper and demanding, her little brother will learn bad habits from her as he grows up, I fear.

We sometimes use the Wetherspoons or Yates in Chelsmford if we are in town and want something quick and cheap.


Lizx

We tend to avoid them like the plague. Most range from mediocre, if you are lucky that is, to absolute rubbish.

I was reading a recent report which suggested that they are also poor value too, emphasising the cheapest most filling foods which are deliberately placed at the start of the line.

Before we came to Eastbourne to live we used to go to the Toby in Peacehaven. It was usually very good but on one occasion hubby had roast potato that was rotten all the way through but not noticeable from the outside.

It didn't put us of going there though.

I have always found our local Toby Carvery very good. I think that because they are so busy the food is always freshly cooked - it doesn't lay around in heated trays for hours on end. What I find amazing is the amount of food people get in to a take away box. I think they can probably feed a family from one box so a very cheap way of eating!

Our family love Toby Sharron, I don't drive but when my daughters visit my mum we take her to Toby's in Langley we find it good with the wheelchair the staff is very helpful and friendly and the food very good. When it was my mums 90th birthday a few years ago which happens to fall on Christmas day my brother SIL and myself took her there and we had a lovely Christmas dinner.

When I go to my daughter in the Wirral we always go to the in Chester.

We have tended toward Harvesters before because the salad bar is always good even if the other food is nothing to write home about but now the food is so bad that even the salad bar can't entice us in.

Maybe this Toby is a one off, I don't know, we have not used Toby before, but it was excellent.

Tend to avoid 'chain' pubs as the food is vac-packed and just heated up. My nephew works in a Harvester and, although he has a lot of experience in the trade, is not a trained chef. Have found the food mediocre to OK but nothing special. Usually disappointed with carveries as the focus is very much on the meat (which is normally good) with overcooked or re-heated veg. Don't like piles of meat, much prefer to have lots of nice veg.