We ate out last night, not so much to help out but to enjoy a cut price meal, subsidised by the taxpayer. Somewhere in the back of my mind was the realisation that someday soon, my taxes will rise to cover the cost of Dominic Cummings’ ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme, announced by his chancellor Rishi Sunak last month. It was our third cut price meal this month and, just for the hell of it, I’ll review each one, although in one instance I shall not reveal the name of the providers of the worst experience. I don’t want what I think to cost people’s jobs, regardless of how shit the experience was.
Here we go, then:
- Firstly, we ate at Atomic Burger on the Gloucester Road which is a perennial favourite of ours. Excellent social distancing by staff, seats well apart, everything ordered and paid for on line, service excellent, food even better. Rating: 9/10. Marked down from 10 only because they don’t sell any draught beers or ciders.
- A pub not a million miles away from us. A slimmed down menu with many regular items missing, so it was burgers again. However, this time they were burnt on the outside and undercooked in the middle. Add to that, on the night we went the pub had no gas so there was no draught anything, neither beer or soft drinks. Dismal experience but marked up because the staff were doing their best. 2/10.
- Finally, Las Iguanas at Cribbs Causeway. Again, a slimmed down menu that became even slimmer because the restaurant was so busy. But to be fair, what they did have was very good and the service was superb. And they did have a draught beer, even if it was only the miserable third rate Corona lager. Marked right down because the menu was so threadbare, it was nonetheless a decent experience, even though social distancing did not seem to be a priority for staff or customers. 6/10.
Thoughts in general:
Going to the pub or restaurant is obviously not the same as it was. The social aspect, which refers specifically to the pub, is no longer there. If I want to have a drink with, say, my partner, I might as well have it at home at what will be a fraction of the cost. With a pared down menu, I feel much the same about eating. In the time it takes me to walk to the pub and order a burger, I can cook a store bought burger or make my own, again at a fraction of the cost.
And I am not going to lie about COVID-19 being in the background. In a closed and largely sealed environment, like a pub or restaurant, the virus is free to work its dark magic. It takes one infected person in a confined space to pass on the virus to everyone. Whilst I wasn’t sitting down in fear of my life, every time someone went near me, I did think about COVID-19. That’s me and it might not be you. Until there is a vaccine or a cure, I don’t think I’ll feel any different.
I think I’m used to the ‘new normal’ and I don’t like it. So, I’ll experience the new normal a lot less than I used to, which wasn’t much in the first place.
