h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'll pester you about directions next week. I'll stay at the Premier Inn Deansgate Lock, and I haven't booked breakfast. Full English is my favourite, and the fish and chips sounds great, too. Thank you.

No worries. For a full English, any of the local Wetherspoons are cheep, cheerful and of a fairly acceptable quality.

we have a holts in the village...
they do carvery...
it is perhaps the least successful carvery in a twenty mile radius...

Why doesn't that surprise me?

Excuse a dumb Yank for asking but what exactly is a carvery ---is that when a restaurant has various places within it where servers carve off meat for patrons? Is that part of an English breakfast? Wow, you guys must really dream hard to cope with all that protein for breakfast.

it tends to be more of a dinner thing rather than breakfast...
carved "freshly cooked" meat and roast veg + other slop... I mean delicious side dishes

Thanks for the explanation. That makes more sense.

>>I mean delicious side dishes<< - such as? All the vegs I've ever eaten in England were totally overcooked.

Sounds like a restaurant chain called Boston Market over here.

Delicious side dishes...heh, heh...

Here's an average review of an average carvery: http://www.bestsundayroast.co.uk/kent/the-crown-inn-bromley-lunch-review

You pay a few quid, they give you a few slices of a roast meat of your choice, and then it's all you can eat starch and vegetable-coloured mush.

It's the best way of replicating the "it ain't cooked until it's dissolved" school of cooking favoured by my late great-grandmother.

There aren't any good carveries in the city centre, but there are a fair few in driving distance. If you really hate yourself.

"All the vegs I've ever eaten in England were totally overcooked."

My mother-in-law-to-be cooks her Christmas sprouts like this.

Add sprouts to cold water
Boil for 20-30 minutes
Drain
Leave to cool
Cover in foil and place in oven for a further 30-40 minutes
Wonder why handsome future son-in-law is weeping into the gravy

For balance, my mum blanches hers in boiling water for a few minutes, then fries them off in olive oil and bacon. She's widely considered to be a far better cook than L's mother.

I despise sprouts, but the way your mother cooks them sounds actually edible.

I mean Brussels sprouts, of course.

That tends to be what you have at Christmas...

I know, but there are always exceptions from the rule.

*taking notes*
Thanks for those tips!