Egypt4u

I make no bones about letting it be known that I love going out and meeting up in coffee shops, restaurants and pubs HOWEVER .....

Two days ago I met up with a girlfriend for a chat. We can usually easily kill 2 to 3 hours and we do solve all the problems of the world but she loves to meet in one specific restaurant that I really don't like and kinda inwardly groaned when she again said where she'd like to meet. Then I started to think 'why' don't I really like this place?

It is located on a really busy corner and you have to drive up and around to get into the parking lot although it is a really easy exit back out. Parking is also sometimes hard to get there as this place is quite popular. Inside is a nice reception area, wood furnishings with a large semi-circle stone fireplace behind. Full windows along all the front and side walls but granted you overlook the parking lots and the busy intersection where you get to see the 1 big shopping mall. There are open tables and booths, lovely upholstery and carpeting. Menu is pretty varied, a bit pricey but probably only by $1. The girls are quite pleasant and attentive but for whatever I'm just not 'in tune' with this place.

In my wondering 'why' I've been mulling over what I do like about all the different places I go to and have concluded I do tend to prefer quiet pubs and coffee shops over restaurants. I quite like big fireplaces and most of our places here either have a real one or a fake one on the wall and if given the choice I like sitting where I can see the water and watch the ships pass (not that all places here have a water view). I like good service and do like it when the girls are swinging by often with tea or coffee refills (If I drive I never drink ever so my beverage of choice is either tea or coffee). Preference is also for a bit of a subdued atmosphere with faint background music so it isn't like your in the tomb of silence but I also appreciate a level of noise - hum of voices in the background maybe describes it.

Overall I still haven't figured out why I don't really like this restaurant but curious as to what is your most important criteria for making a decision on where to go to sit and eat and talk? What makes you decide this place vs that place?

We are really not keen on Pub Grub. We find little finesse in pubs that serve food, it is never fresh and portions tend to be too large. Our local exception is The George and Dragon at Fordwich that manages to achieve good ambience, good service, and good food, but this is an exception.


As for restaurants, good attentive service and food prepared with fresh ingredients is a must. You may have to wait a little longer for your order but you know it is not something frozen and just defrosted in a microwave. We usually order some nibbles for while we are waiting like olives, shrimps, whitebait. Always water on the table and wine or a beer.

Well, I'm a really cheap date, because I prefer to eat at home.

Ruby Slippers wrote:Well, I'm a really cheap date, because I prefer to eat at home.

But we eat at home three times a day RS so a little treat a couple of times a month makes an enjoyable change. And if the ambience and service are good, it is more of an event than the daily routine.
We are out for lunch on Wednesday and although it is my turn to pick up the bill, on this occasion my sister and her husband insist it is their treat. I am not arguing

Grandad, I suppose I'm a bit of a tightwad! I have an elderly friend who regularly eats out in places where it costs upwards of £100 a head;afternoon tea at the Ritz and Savoy; buys designer clothes etc. and then wonders if she can afford to put her heating on now that her stocks and shares have plummeted to the degree that she can barely pay her bills! She is a gardening fanatic and spends hundreds on garden plants, watering systems and a gardener once a fortnight. All of which I consider an obscenity, if you can understand me. I'm a fairly good cook, who is not interested in food, but enjoys feeding other people. So my 'treats' lie in other directions.

I am afraid there are lots of people like your friend RS. I think in reality they are snobs. I know the sorts exactly as you describe.

My daughter will stop on the way from the airport when I arrive at Que Tal - which is How Are You? in English. I don't usually eat bread products, but here the bread is irresistible, I usually have what is basically a large crispy crust roll filled with smoked salmon, avocado on a bed of salad anointed with a little home made mayo. The coffee is excellent and it's a favourite with the locals, not a Touristic place.

I think I may have mentioned before that the staff treat me like their Granny nothing is too much trouble.

I am drooling MD

Oh, did I say they also have a well stocked bar and no "licensing" hours as far as I can tell. So if you fancy a small nip with your morning coffee, then welcome as are well behaved dogs and children - either inside or at tables on the pavement. Best of all it faces north so is cool and shady. I love it.

@ Grandad - You SOLVED my query about this place - The FOOD when it arrives has probably been frozen and re-heated! Nothing is ever fresh but it is presented nicely. I've never really liked or enjoyed this place although my one gf loves going there often and loves it.

Here "Pub Grub" is always fresh fresh fresh. Most of our Pubs feature whatever the daily catch is and/or home raised local chicken/beef/port and most Pubs have a fairly extensive menu. Atmosphere and ambience is mostly good too. I'd guess that most people here actually prefer Pubs to restaurants partly as while the food is good in both you don't need a Reservation to go into a Pub and the cost of the same level of mean is one half to one third less than you'd pay at a Restaurant.

On the subject of costs I mostly prefer going out for breakfast or lunches. I really rarely go out for supper as the supper menu (often a clone of the lunch menu) goes up considerably in price. I've never been sure of why this is allowed but it is the norm here.

I do like going out for coffee + scone and if given the choice will typically opt to do this in the coffee shops as they fairly pleasant places with fireplaces, TVs, interesting lighting and comfy seating. Almost like mini-pubs and my modus operandi for going out it usually to talk anyway.

My preference is NOT bright lights, to sit in a booth where I can easily talk over other people chatting (although I don't mind occasionally eaves dropping in on other peoples interesting conversations happening in the next booth! ) and be able to watch a fire place. I like servers to be prompt and to check back with me once I get whatever I've ordered and then to monitor if I need more coffee/tea and bring it 'round.