Should Samuel open a deli?

katiejane

@ Colette - doh!

sophie

yes it's lovely. don't put much on at all, you should hardly be able to taste it. it just gives a little exotic background hint. does anyone else do that? i got it off my mum.

rainbow_carnage

not with cinnamon, but i recently learned that pretty much any recipe can be improved with the addition of paprika.

and re. the sandwich vs big mac thing, why don't they ever mention other nutritional factors. the m&s sandwich is not only delicious, but was probably made under slightly better conditions than the burgers. i would rather have real (high-calorie) cheese than the plastic goo they use at mcdonalds. gregg's came out the best in terms of saturated fat, but it's because they don't use real butter. mmm. hydrogenated vegetable oil. doesn't that just scream lunchtime goodness!

i ate the m&s brie and grape sandwich every day for about a month. it's fantastic.

Emma

The brie and grape sandwich was DELICIOUS but I haven't been able to find it in M&S for a while.

I've started taking my own sandwiches to work, it makes me feel virtuous.

tosscat

Yeah, not to mention poor old syrup sponges getting the axe.

katiejane

raspberry royales are still going strong though

samuel

Hi Geoff , i am always happy to chat to anyone about possibilities . We should hook up for a chat , maybe not next week ..but week after that.....would that be good ?
Its been really great to get everybodys input ...very interesting !

rainbow_carnage

We went to the Italian place in CE this afternoon. The coffee was alright and the food was edible, but the service was crap. Also, apparently they don't do breakfast dishes after 1pm. On a Sunday? How difficult is it to poach an egg at 4pm.

unaesthetic

and no bloody marys

tosscat

Re. the poached egg thing - most places seem to find it impossible to poach eggs properly any time of the day. I was shocked to see how Pick More Daisies do it - the cling film method!

poxy

<i>Also, apparently they don't do breakfast dishes after 1pm.</i>

For the same reason McDogs don't sell breakfast after 10:30am... Breakfast is usually the cheaper meal with reduced profit. Thus making you buy a more profitable meal if you missed the morning happy hour. Also, if you go in early enough for breakfast there's a slim chance you may go back later in the day for another meal.

It's all economics, innit?

andy

And McDs make all their margin on the drink anyway. They make very little money on each burger, a bit on the chips and loads on the drink. That's why they invented Extra Value Meals - to encourage drink sales. It's basically the world's biggest coca-cola shop

katiejane

I'm always to late for an Egg McMuffin. So much so that I've perfected my own version. Mmmm.

tosscat

What do you call it? EggMuffin?

rainbow_carnage

The eggs Benedict were £6.50. The aubergine dish I wound up getting cost £7.50. The mark-up on the latter must've been much less than on two eggs and a muffin. So even the economics don't make sense. For an extra £1, they've lost us as future customers. I can't see myself ever getting there before 1pm.

Oh, and the coffee prices were a rip-off. A large espresso was a reasonable £1.75. An Americano was £2.50. Huh? It's just an espresso and hot water. I wouldn't have noticed if they charged £2.50 for the espresso, but this was just annoying.

So I'm still looking for the perfect cafe. I miss New York. There's a city that knows how to do a proper Sunday brunch: eggs Florentine, hash browns, coffee and unlimited bloody marys. That's a brunch that's worth getting out of bed for.

Agaton Sax

I disapprove of the word 'brunch'

What's wrong with saying 'elevenses'?

unaesthetic

i never eat breakfast/brunch/elevenses/lunch/whatever before 1 or 2 pm, so the correct nomenclature doesn't bother me.

Giles

I love it in the Simpsons when Homer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunch#Culture"> claims to have discovered a meal between breakfast and brunch</a>

There have been quite a few comments in other discussions saying that the Italian in CE is a bit hit and miss.

samuel

In Nz we served breakfast all through sat and sun .... that meant you could have a good night out and get a breakfast / brunch all through the day , whenever you wanted to get up ! Poached, fried , benedict , hash browns ...whatever you wanted . The customer gets what the customer wants ,Good breakfast and strong coffee all through the day !What coffee do you all like ....i am quite keen on momoth .

rainbow_carnage

I love Monmouth coffee. Also, whatever filter they serve at the Nordic Bakery is good.

I'm not sure that a customer should always get what he wants, but if you have an egg and a kitchen in which to cook it, it really shouldn't matter what time of day it is.

katiejane

I heart Monmouth. I was in their Borough market branch today. They don't charge for fluffies (and I'm happy to report that my kids weren't screaming) and they had loads of lovely looking bread, butter and jam on the tables, which you helped yourself to, for £2.50 per person. I think it's better than Flat White. The coffee's cheaper for one thing. It should never exceed £2.

hellojo

Despite loving buying as many things as possible from Pak Supermarket, Woodys and the other veg shops, it'd be great to be able to buy the things that you can only get in Tesco somewhere else i.e.
non processed brown bread (rather than having to go to the beigel bakery or exchanging my right arm for some at Londis)
good cheese - even Tesco now only sells about 3 kinds
meat that hasn't been reconstituted or left out for days