Shopping day lunch

ah, today is sunday. as yesterday i was mostly out shopping with my mum, dodging the puddles and walking oddly in flip flops and soaked jeans (it’s june damn it! i will believe it’s still summer) i was at the mercy of bought food.

this can be a bit of a pain as, having dropped the wheat and grains,  it becomes apparent just how much of the menus are bulked out with pasta and bread buns so i was pleasantly surprised to see on the specials menu at bill’s a salad of griddled asparagus, avocado, goat’s cheese and soft boiled eggs. it’s the second time i’ve been to the restaurant in reading, and the food really is exceptional (for the price – i’m not going to claim it rivals petrus!) so i’ll be making this a regular event. the breakfast is great – full english with decent bacon and sausages, and the bubble and squeak eggs benedict is gorgeous. unfortunately the service is terrible 🙂

i put a smiley there because, although the service is poor, the staff are actually very apologetic and friendly and seem to want to put things right. this might be due to their breakfast menu running until 1pm at the weekend, over-lapping with the lunch menu starting at midday – a bit chaotic for a kitchen preparing fresh food. or it could just be that the waiting staff don’t know what they’re doing – i had to wander off to find my table some cutlery and serviettes! but as i said, the food is good and the staff aren’t rude so it’s still an enjoyable experience.

as i had my mum staying over, i had someone else to cook for in the evening – yay! this is where my cook-it-until-it’s-done or you-eat-when-it’s-ready style of cooking is a little awkward. i didn’t realise quite how much i potter when i’m cooking, so dinner was actually served at about 9pm. oh well, we’re european not yanks 😉

dinner was pumpkin and beetroot, roasted with cumin and chilli and pomegranate molasses, and feta and a salmon ceviche with mango. oh, and a bottle of sauvignon blanc. and a yummy chocolate and passionfruit dessert from sainsburys 🙂

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