"Is Pepsi okay?"

Tonight we went out to dinner for Rosemary's birthday, six of us plus Dad's girlfriend and her daughter. Rosemary wanted to go to a Harvester and chooses the one in Cuffley.

Of course, they don't take bookings and the manager's face drops slightly as my brother calmly asks for a table for eight. We manage to get a table right by the salad cart and kitchen. It is worth mentioning that the kitchen is partially open and you can see the chefs flame-grill just under the serving bar.

So anyway, we order a round of drinks, fairly straight forward. Mentions of coke ("Is Pepsi okay?") and diet are called out, the manager hmm-hmming away. My brother gets left without a drink. A waitress comes over, takes our order, and adds a drink for Chris with it. Starters arrive with the main courses, which was slightly weird. My sister ordered garlic bread and... well, I guess they just have a weird method of making it. The bread was green. I'm serious here! The bread was clearly green in places, with the obligatory flame-grilled lines and garlic-herbs scattered across it. And it wasn't a diagonal slice of baguette; it was a wedge. Like the corner of a loaf or something. Needless to say, it wasn't consumed. The rest of us are carving away at the overcooked chicken dishes, so flame-grilled that I have to borrow a steak knife to cut some of it. It's not the best food in the world and no-one completely finishes their meal.

Then dessert. We think about passing but, come on, the whole point of eating out is to have dessert! Coffee and tea is ordered and it arrivesd before the dessert, so we place plates on top of the mugs to keep the liquid hot until we've finished eating dessert. Whilst eating, a flame leaps out at the chef's face and he drops the knife he's carrying. And then, he picked it up and continued to use it, scraping chips onto a plate with it! That was the last straw really. The desserts are very sweet and our stomachs are not responding well. The main course was bad but this is just too much. Some of us start to feel less that 100%. One of us starts to get bad stomach cramps. Bad food...??

So yeah, not a good evening. Of course, poor little Rosemary thinks its her fault cos she asked to go there but its not, so we've been reassuring her and saying the contrary. Dad complained and got the bill slashed. My Dad's girlfriend and her daughter go straight home, not feeling all that well themselves. Yet another restaurant to add to my 'don't go there' list!!