And what about this panini (and all the others on the menu)? Panini, as every British pedant and every Italian knows, is plural. What Maxi's and, indeed, thousands of other cafés are offering is one panino. So, I reckon that if I went into an establishment offering panini at, say, £5.95, I would be legally entitled to at least two, and possibly three or four. Or five. For £5.95 I could feed a whole party of hungry friends. Enforcing this, though, just might lead to a slightly uncomfortable situation and a less-than-satisfying dining experience.
Against my better judgement, and desperate for a late breakfast, I returned to Maxi's at the weekend. I'm rather partial to what is often described as a BLT. No, not an errant Radio One disc jockey, but a sandwich (often a panino) filled with bacon, lettuce and tomato. Maxi's menu advertised a BLT but announced in brackets that it didn't contain lettuce! Thinking back to my mayonnaise gripe I wondered if this lettuce-less BLT was another bought-in, microwaved speciality of the house. It probably was. And, anyway, shouldn't it have been described as a BT, thus making it even less appetising? Think too of the many other possibilities:
FISH AND CHIPS (NO CHIPS);
GAMMON STEAK WITH PINEAPPLE (SERVED WITHOUT PINEAPPLE).
I settled for the full breakfast. A little disappointing as Maxi's apparently doesn't do frying. (Could it be that microwave again?) Two very lightly poached eggs with whites like tissue paper popped and spilled watery yolks across my plate.
All my own fault for returning, I suppose. At other tables diners seemed relaxed and I didn't detect one debate about Italian singulars and plurals. Still, you can't displease everyone.
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Laughed out loud, or lol as they call it on social media. Yes, I vowed never to back to Maxies after being served tomato soup that looked like watered down tomato sauce with some dried herbs sprinkled on top. And yes, I am always suspicious of an extensive menu in a sparsely populated restaurant. My rule of thumb now is that I don't like to go anywhere where I look at the food and think, I could cook that better. But sadly, my budget means that I need to compromise my values.
ReplyDeleteCould have been worse - the BLT could have been minus the B. But thanks for the warning - will avoid.
ReplyDeleteAch don't know what's happened to "cooking"...was in Smokestack, Broughton Street today and overhead customer asking for egg, either scarmbled or poached, on toast or bread. They were told "we don't do eggs that way...we do full breakfast or suasage on roll with a fried egg". Customer asked if they'd do a bacon "bap" with an egg. The response was positive. The customer ten asked for a bacon bap with the bacon o the side and the egg in the "bap". It was agreed...not microwave problems it seemed, just sheer intransigence or (surely not) bloody daftness.
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