Restaurants

[Tom]

Got to say the burger I had at Solita in the northern quarter was easily the best burger I've ever tasted

Chuck steak and bone marrow burger with lancashire cheese and brisket chilli

[MCMC1875]

Can anyone recommend a decent place to eat in Preston town centre?

Going out next Tuesday for some beers with a few mates but haven't eaten in Preston for ages

Not too bothered what type of cuisine, so long as it's decent and not a long walk

The Continental, South Meadow Lane, www.newcontinental.org.uk , excellent value for money, good riverside location, 10 mins walk from railway station.

[K-Hod]

If you are eating with your mates then Duk and/or Pond would be Ok I think. Tapas style.

Lovely there. I had a spicy stew when I went, they weren't lying about the spicy!!

[Gav]

Duk and Pond is just Pond now, on Cross Street.

Heathcotes is the best, but at this time of the year not cheap and not the place for a night out with the lads. The Olive Press downstairs at Heathcotes could be good

A bit late I know, but:

Unfotunetly for me I was in The Olive press recently and it was terrible. Going the same way as the Bolton and Clitheroe ones did, downhill fast.

Stay away would be my advice

[thenodrog]

Been thinking about this. We make our own beef burgers. 750gm minced beef, onions, bread crumbs, seasoning, egg. Mix together and you have 8-10 burgers very quickly. We tend to jazz them up a bit but that's the basics. I haven't tried but I reckon it could be bulked out further.

The beef is the main cost at £4, which puts the burgers at around 40p each.

Tesco value burgers are £1 for 8, 12.5p each. How do we expect low income families to make the correct choices? Cheap filling food or nutritious home made food at three times the price?

I could make 750g of mince go much further though.

Thenodrog I heard a news item which stated horse meat sells at £600/ton and beef £3000/ton. The beef price seems broadly consistent with your figures. Have I read them correctly? Are these prices for what one would consider quality meat - not mechanically rescued scrapings etc?k

I was thinking about this in relation to Tesco and McDonalds. At £3000/ton a "quarter pounder" has a beef cost of 33p with McD selling at £1.99 - £2.69. I'm not sure if that's good or bad news but it possibly suggests the meat quality is better than I imagined.

Tesco say there value burgers are 100% British beef. How then does Romania get involved MF Tesco?

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/tesco-price-comparison/Frozen_Meat/Tesco_Everyday_Value_Beef_Burgers_8_per_pack_397g.html

This report from the FG goes far toward backing your figures and suspicions up Paul. Beats me why the supermarkets and retailers who fraudulently peddled this condemned horse meat haven't been up before the beak. We all know that the likes of Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's purchase absolute power with political donations so I guess it's just a case of money talking?

Quote from the FG...........

"A RETAILER asked a supplier to produce a 4oz ‘gourmet’ burger for a unit price of under 30p, according to an interim report on Britain’s food system in the wake of the horsemeat scandal.

The report by Professor Chris Elliott, of Queen’s University Belfast, suggests retailers should be made accountable for the financial demands they impose on their suppliers.

The report makes a number of recommendations for the authorities and food industry to address the problem of ‘food crime’, including the establishment of a ‘Food Crime Unit’ within the Food Standards Agency (FSA), a change of governance to make the FSA a ‘more robust organisation’ and, above all, an emphasis on putting consumers first.

The horsemeat scandal broke in January when a Tesco burger was discovered to contain 29 per cent horse DNA at the start of this year. After an initial focus on Tesco and ABP, the company that supplied the burger, the scandal rapidly mushroomed as horsemeat contamination was found across a range of products supplied by a number of well known companies across many countries involving co-ordinated criminal activity.

Prof Elliott’s report, commissioned by Defra and the Department of Health earlier this year, stresses that food crime is a global problem and that the scope and extent of the problem in the UK is not known due to limited intelligence.

The food industry’s own testing for horse DNA earlier this year identified contamination in 1 per cent of UK samples and over 4 per cent in Europe.

But the report sheds light on some of the ‘murkier practices that go on often unnoticed within food supply chains’ that appear to lie behind the large-scale international fraudulent substitution of horsemeat for other meats.

For example, Prof Elliott reveals how one meat supplier told him in confidence of a meeting with a retailer in which the supplier were asked to produce a 4oz ‘gourmet’ burger for a unit price of under 30p.

The supplier believed that by using the cheapest beef available priced - at 264p/kg from older cows rather than prime beef - and factoring in other fixed costs, the lowest possible unit price for the burger would be 59p.

To produce a 4oz ‘gourmet’ burger at a cost price of less than 30p, the supplier calculated that the average price of beef would need to be just 85p/kg.

Prof Elliott concluded that one way to meet the demands of the retailer would be to switch to beef supplied from premises that were not EU approved at approximately 140p/kg. In addition, use of offal, such as heart at between 70-110p/kg, and mechanically separated meat (MSM) at around 120p/kg would further drive down the unit cost.

Accountable Prof Elliott suggests retailers should be held accountable when they make such demands. His report says: “If a retailer were to secure a foodstuff for a price well below the recognised market price, then it might be inferred that the most obvious way the supply was meeting that price was by committing the offence of fraud by misrepresentation.

“In such a case I suggest that it is for the retailer to be able to produce evidence that they checked that there were no grounds for suspicion of the product being counterfeit or adulterated, because in such a case the counterfeited or adulterated goods would amount to criminal property.”

He said any party that can be shown to have profited from criminal property ‘while knowing or even suspecting that it was such’, would be culpable under the Proceeds of Crime Act 20023, which covers the transfer, acquisition and possession (also known as ‘laundering’) of criminal property.

But in the report’s preface, Prof Elliott says a ‘significant change in culture’ is needed to deal with the threats of fraudulent activity that exist along complex supply chains. “My review to date has identified a worrying lack of knowledge regarding the extent to which we are dealing with criminals infiltrating the food industry. I believe criminal networks have begun to see the potential for huge profits and low risks in this area.”

“The food industry and thus consumers are currently vulnerable. We need a culture within businesses involved in supplying food that focuses on depriving those who seek to deceive consumers.”

“A food supply system which is much more difficult for criminals to operate in is urgently required. Government, and in particular a more robust Food Standards Agency has a major role to play partnering these efforts.”

Defra Secretary Owen Paterson said: “The UK food industry already has robust procedures to ensure they deliver high quality food to consumers and food businesses have a legal duty to uphold the integrity of food they sell. It is rightly highly regarded across the world and we must not let anything undermine this or the confidence of consumers in the integrity of their food.

“We will continue to work closely with the food industry, enforcement agencies and across local and central Government to improve intelligence on food fraud and our response to it"

Edited December 18, 2013 by thenodrog

[K-Hod]

My girlfriend went to 'The Buddha Lounge' (Thai/Cantonese Restaurant) at Ramsbottom for her works do last Saturday, giving it a try this Sunday after she recommended it and brought the menu home.

[Mike Graham]

'Twas a guest at the Skylon Lounge at the Royal,Festival Hall in London on Tuesday evening.

Fantastic view over the Thames from our window table and equally super food and service to follow (scallops, mutton, chestnut cake).

A decent wine list followed by my favourite Pedro Ximinez sherry to finish off a memorable meal.

Duk and Pond is just Pond now, on Cross Street.

Heathcotes is the best, but at this time of the year not cheap and not the place for a night out with the lads. The Olive Press downstairs at Heathcotes could be good.

Sorry but I cannot stand Heathcotes any more. He dumbed down the quality across his chain in order to make more and more money (pity he didn't set enough aside to pay his tax). I don't like microwave food which is what Heathcotes do. A mere shadow of his former self and 2nd rate (if that) eateries to boot.

[ABBEY]

Auberge again last night 10/10

Looking forward to Christmas Day there.

[T.J.Newton]

Hazy trunts

[Tom]

Hazy trunts

Is this Cockney rhyming slang?

[T.J.Newton]

Yea for peeps who dont cook their own crimbo dinner

Edited December 19, 2013 by T.J.Newton

[ABBEY]

It's called lack of room in the house for everyone nowt to do with being lazy . Just remembered posters who stop me from posting . Heather grunt

[donnermeat]

Yea for peeps who dont cook their own crimbo dinner

Oh T.J....'peeps'.....'crimbo'......that's two to add to the RANT thread!

[T.J.Newton]

I wasnt really being serious, touchy mollocks

.

P.s. I know you hate me(boo hoo!) and I think your an ogrebut its good that your posting again because this place has become pretty sterile.

Edited December 19, 2013 by T.J.Newton

[yoda]

Auberge again last night 10/10

Looking forward to Christmas Day there.

Hows the old place doing,

is Gareth cooking?

[Tom]

Think Gareth is retired now or had to at least pack it in for a while but haven't heard anything recently

Top bloke

Edited December 22, 2013 by Tom M

[ABBEY]

Gareth is cooking . He had a stroke but doing good .

[Tom]

That's great to hear that's he's back running the kitchen was sad to see what happened to him

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

My wife and I went to one of the Tapas bars on Deansgate on Saturday night, La Vina ? the one on the corner just down from Waterstones. Very average tapas, I've had better for free in rural Spain.

[thenodrog]

My wife and I went to one of the Tapas bars on Deansgate on Saturday night, La Vina ? the one on the corner just down from Waterstones. Very average tapas, I've had better for free in rural Spain.

Not really surprising that when you think about it is it Tyrone?

Edited December 23, 2013 by thenodrog

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Not really surprising that when you think about it is it Tyrone?

No not really, when I show the locals a photo of the prices on the menu's over here they fall about laughing.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[thenodrog]

In your shoes I think I'd work on an 'ignorance is bliss' premise and a 'need to know' basis. Knowledge is power rem

Edited December 24, 2013 by thenodrog

[Paul]

My son and his girlfriend went to the Clog and Billycock yesterday and said it was "alright." One orange juice, one shandy, two starters, two burgers (one of which was cold but they'd waited so long couldn't be bothered to complain) for £57!!!!!!

For £57 I'd expect a lot better than "alright" - seems RVI still have a lot to learn. The C&B remains off our list. We are planning to try the Indian in Abbey Village this week.

[MCMC1875]

Anyone been to the Newdrop near Longridge recently?

[Tom]

We went a couple of years ago and it was very old fashioned in style and menu

We went again 6 months ago on a family meal and it was much more modern inside but the food still somehow seemed dated, not terrible but not somewhere I would choose to go