If Paradise Is Half As Nice...

A couple of things: today we went over to Beaumaris for our usual Monday light lunch of soup, chips and Bass ale. I've written before about the taking over of this ancient hostelry [The Bull Inn, blog posts passim] by a chain and its gradual decline in standards. Today we turned up to find the bottom bar and the snug - the heart and oldest part of the place - closed 'for renovations'; with a note directing punters to the newer Bistro and top bar behind, where we found a long queue [across the Bistro floor!] and frankly harassed staff [the old, experienced crew have magically re-appeared - from where?], to be told that there was a minimum thirty minute wait for food. We turned tail and headed back to Menai Bridge and The Anglesey Arms for soup, chunky chips and onion rings [washed down in my case with a couple of pints of John Willie Lee's finest bitter]. Excellent so it was. 

On Saturday last, the monthly lunch club gathered at The Oystercatcher in Rhosneigr, where we've dined a good few times before, usually excellently, but on this particular occasion we were served what can only be described as sub-prime food at premium prices. I'll give my meal as the exemplar. After what is admittedly an always splendid starter of hummus, harissa, deep-fried chickpeas and a piece of flatbread; I reasoned that as I'd eaten a bit too much meat the week before, I'd try the vegan variation of the Thai Prawn Green Curry to compensate. What arrived at the table was a Thai Green Curry with the prawns subtracted from the sauce and substituted with halved boiled potatoes with their skins on, over-firm green beans, and practically raw broccoli: not exactly a winning combination, and bloody expensive to boot. The experience will not be repeated.

Which brings me on to the above pictured light bite. As the chunky chips, onion rings and Lee's bitter this lunchtime were so good and indeed very filling, I decided that all I wanted tonight was a very light supper; so I made the above ramekin of a tapas of leftover roast chicken, thinly-sliced Spanish air-dried pork sausage, finely-chopped anchovy fillet and sun-dried tomato [yes, I still use 'em] and chilli-stuffed green olives; all dressed with olive oil, chilli flakes and black pepper [it was delicious, by the way]. If I can do this with stuff from my fridge and pantry - off the cuff and for little money - why can't an allegedly first-rate restaurant sweat the details and get it right? All I needed to add to this little, cheap, pot of flavour was the pictured glass of good, moderately-priced Chilean Merlot - the bottle costing less than a glass of like wine in the restaurant - evening sunshine and a cool breeze. That's my reality today, folks: perfect...