Why do a lot of people seem to rave about Nando's?
My friends think I'm a freak because I very rarely eat Subway or Nando's; as far I can tell it's just, not especially good quality, grilled chicken that has been marinated in peri-peri sauce. Am I missing something here?
>>14200 >MSG is magic
Indeed. Shame the cute panda bottles are difficult to find over here, I can't be arsed dealing with bags of crystalline powder in the kitchen. Maggi seasoning is a good second option but less versatile than pure MSG.
On a side note Ajinomoto has a really interesting corporate history and makes all kinds of weird and wonderful chemicals. The ongoing lacking supply of game consoles/CPUs/GPUs is rumoured in part to be due to a shortage of a substrate widely used in semiconductor manufacturing which they have a monopoly over.
>>14202 >Indeed. Shame the cute panda bottles are difficult to find over here, I can't be arsed dealing with bags of crystalline powder in the kitchen.
Just pour it from the bag into a jar of some sort. Same as you might do with sugar or flour.
>>14200 > Also, MSG is magic and you should buy a big bag of it right now.
MSG is great for sprucing up a dish, but it's one of those ingredients where getting the amount correct is much better than overdoing it. A 250g bag should last you a couple of weeks at least. I find that if a dish calls for salt, using half the amount of salt and about a quarter the amount in MSG works quite reliably. There isn't really a savoury dish that doesn't benefit from a pinch of MSG, even if the ingredients are already rich in it.
>>12767 >If you ever saw the episode of Who's the Boss on the BBC about Brewdog a few years back you'd have seen how the owners are a pair of monumental bellends.
Former BrewDog employees have accused the craft beer company and its co-founder James Watts of fostering a “culture of fear” where workers were regularly bullied, insulted and “treated like objects” by senior staff.
The open letter, signed by 61 former workers, also alleges that senior staff at the fast-growing Scottish brewer pushed workers to cut corners by ignoring health and safety guidelines or on occasion bypassing customs checks when shipping beer overseas.
“Growth, at all costs, has always been perceived as the number one focus for the company,” the letter alleges. “Being treated like a human being was sadly not always a given for those working at BrewDog.”
Not surprising at all, their entire "we're cool punks who are your mates" marketing has always been very obviously bullshit, even before I knew the founders were posho cunts. And a quick look on their wikipedia page, the 'controversies' section is pretty fucking lengthy.
>the Portman Group ruled that the labelling for Pink IPA breached Portman's Code of Conduct, upholding complaints from members of the public that the phrase "Beer for Girls", used on the packaging, was likely to appeal to under-18s.[45]
See? It's a storm in a teac-
>In a statement responding to the ruling, BrewDog dismissed the Portman Group's findings, saying "We’re as bothered about this Portman Group ruling as we are any other – that is, not at all."[46]
God, what utter wankers.
To be fair to Brewdog, they pretty much single handedly brought craft beer and ale to the masses. They can't compete with a nice bottle of Hobgoblin though.
Up until around 2007 the CAMRA guys were predominantly the older anoraky types who were into trains, and warhammers, and star trek (i.e. the good old days), then after Brewdog got Brits drinking IPA it's all these younger trendy types who care less about the beer than they do about doing tiktok dances with taps in the background.
This is the target market that has led to the recent trend in marketing all those expensive canned ales (Yeastie Boys and the like).
Breeding used to make decent beer, then they saw the money coming in and did what any corporation would do. Embraced wokism, encouraged dense people who had no idea of investment to give money. Because it was alternative. Employed socialist alternative types that bought into the Brewdog new model brewery. And all got suckered.
>>14494 Craft beer's main conceit is that it's a break from tradition inasmuch that tried and tested malt/hop combinations are thrown out of the window in favour of serving up hyper strong, hyper bitter hop syrup that makes your teeth itch to people who are willing to pay a premium to be seen to be drinking shit.
This isn't to say all older beers were good, I mean, did anybody ever try Webster's Yorkshire/Pennine Bitter?
This weekend I've tried the McDonald's festive stack. In other words, it's a bacon double cheeseburger but with added onion marmalade, crispy onion bits and one of those plasticky cheese slices that don't really melt.
It took almost 20 minutes to receive the order despite the fact that, for once, the place wasn't overrun with Deliveroo drivers.
This is essentially a loaf made of flour, mushroom, onion and carrot that you pour a pomegranate glaze on halfway through cooking and then shred with a couple of forks to make 'pulled lamb'. It was alright in a wrap with a bit of veg and salad but I wouldn't say that it tastes much like lamb.
Weeping at the thought of how beautiful a drive-thru chippy could be, if done well. A friend of mine and I often fantasise about buying a food truck and doing a mobile one. He's Polish, so we would call it Chipski.
They seem to have leaned a bit too non-traditional for my liking, nachos seem like a red flag, but I will certainly have a go - if the setup is that you order, then park in a bay and wait for your order to be cooked on demand then they are onto something. If they're trying to McDonald's it they can get fucked.
>>14877 I don't trust chippies that sell non-tradtional and/or non-seafood stuff. I like the fancier chippies that sell shell fish, and a battered sausage is a staple; but the ones that do nachos or kebabs or pizzas or curry, never good.
>>14878 Right with you. The only encouraging thing on that menu is they charge 25p more for mushy peas than gravy/curry sauce; I'm expecting something good there.
I went to the Leeds McDonald's people say is 'disgusting' for my 30th birthday and had an awful time
I pulled in to the McDonald’s from the busy Easterly Road, which is next to a major roundabout. Blimey, it was busy. There were lots of cars in the car park, queuing up to order at the drive thru.
I remember visiting the drive-thru when I was younger, in my early twenties. It was late night, a group of children in tracksuits came over to our window as we pulled in and asked that we order them five dozen chicken nuggets. When it came to making our order, with the massive addition of nuggets, staff requested that we not order for them. They claimed the teens were making trouble and intimidating them. That’s just something I think about whenever I pass the Oakwood McDonald’s.
The exterior of the McDonald’s had changed vastly since I had last visited. I noticed there was now a big sign up, warning people not to park for longer than 90 minutes. This seemed like a fair and generous amount of time if you were visiting for a meal – perhaps not so fair if you were there hosting a birthday party, however. Fortunately, I wasn’t having a party, I was just there for a quick bite. As I mentioned, it was busy with cars entering so I was really relieved to see lots of zebra crossings scattered around the large car park. It made me feel a lot safer.
When I entered, I was met with disappointment. I wanted to experience the customer service, an element of the Maccies which had come under fire online. When I approached the counter, there was no one stood behind the service desk. One member of staff however was slumped with her back over the counter, scrolling through her phone. I asked her if I could be served at the counter. Her eyes darted in panic across the McDonald’s, looking for another member of staff.
“You can wait here but you’ll be waiting a while,” she said. I accepted this and went over to one of the digital display counters. There were a couple dozen of these dotted around the venue. I ordered a Big Mac meal (£5.79), a Filet-O-Fish (£3.59) and an apple pie (£1.09). I really wanted a milkshake to go with my meal – perhaps even a McFlurry but this wasn’t possible. I was told the ice cream machine was broken. Utterly typical. So I went for the Apple Pie instead, it wasn’t quite as fitting for a birthday treat but it would have to do.
I picked table service and wandered away to find somewhere cosy to sit. It is quite a large space in the dining are and I managed to find a seat tucked away in the corner. The uncomfortable wooden bench happened to be opposite a small children's play area. While I felt this was quite innovative for a Maccie D’s, it was cordoned off with bright yellow tape. It felt like I was sitting opposite a McCrime-scene. My fast-food took 11 minutes to arrive, fortunately I wasn’t in a hurry but usually McDonald’s arrives within five minutes of an order. Perhaps it had something to do with requesting table service, who knows.
I wasn’t the only person feeling impatient for my food. A pair of rowdy teenagers with their hoods up and wearing tracksuits were asking the cleaner angrily ‘where’s our food?!’ I felt sorry for the cleaner as he was in a precarious position. He politely told them that he’d check on the status of their meals. I felt like this whole interaction put customers in the venue on edge.
I also started to feel a little silly, clutching on to my 30th birthday candles and my party hat. As the clock was ticking, I began to think about my life. The series of decisions and events which had led to this moment. This moment on the eve of my birthday - hours before I progressed into the next decade of my life - as I waited for my food. I thought about the successes and mistakes I had made in my life. It’s at moments like this when the cold hand of existential dread sends shivers down my spine. I began to lose my appetite and feel a little sick.
The tartar sauce was sprayed across the corner of the burger and was smeared across the box, plus the cheese had been slapped beneath the burger. The fish burger clearly hadn’t received the care and attention to detail I was expecting. I had to scrape the burger bun across the cardboard box to collect the contents back into the sandwich. The rest of food was up to an adequate standard which was consistent with all the other McDonald’s I had visited. The Big Mac with its famous sauce was blissful. The fries were crunchy and delicate, although they became cold as I was eating which dampened my spirit during the meal. The apple pie only remained slightly warm when I dug into that.
It was probably the most disorganised McDonald’s I’d ever visited but I’m not blaming the staff, and especially not the man just mopping the floor or the woman scrolling through her phone at the counter.
>>14992 Is Leeds Live a newspaper? Is that review likely to have been printed on actual paper? This would be the final insult to trees if so, to know your brethren were felled to accommodate a manchild's blog post about McDonald's.
(Obviously I am very sorry if the shite journalist in question happens to post here).
>>14993 A lot of local newspapers have fallen under the 'Live' umbrella, e.g. the Hull Daily Mail is Hull Live online, the Birmingham Mail is Birmingham Live online, the Stoke Sentinel is Stoke Live online, etc.
They're all owned by Reach, who also own The Mirror, Daily Star, Daily Express and OK Magazine, amongst others, which is why you'll constantly see stories regurgitated from one of the local papers they own into the nationals and vice versa.
Actually, looking into it, I think Leeds Live are completely separate and are just looking to piggyback off the Live branding.
McDonald's drive-thru in Leyland blocked by angry man who refused to wait for sausage and egg McMuffins
The stalemate began at around 9.30am shortly after the customer, Stuart Yates, 55, drove up to the restaurant on Churchill Way and requested the two breakfast meals.
He said: “A week ago I got made to wait in the car park for over 15 minutes. A lad spotted me and said ‘oh, it’s him again’, because last time I complained. They said go and wait in the car park… I said ‘I’m not going anywhere until I get my food’.”
The drive-thru lane has been closed and police have been called to the scene.
I've learnt that the best thing to order from McDonald's is whatever their wrap of the day is, which is usually some form of fried chicken in sauce. It costs about £3.90 for a medium meal with full fat Coke, so it's cheaper than their burgers and tastes a lot nicer too.
We were in Frankie and Benny's earlier, which isn't the sort of place I usually choose to go to, but everywhere "better" had queues coming out the door, and at the end of the day it's always nice enough for what it is.
The poor staff must have been having a nightmare of a shift, though. We overheard a waiter telling the matron that they'd run out of pizza dough, so she had to tell everyone as she sat them down that there was no pizza. One couple behind us was ordering we heard the poor waitress say "I'm sorry, we don't have that." about three times before the woman asked "Well what DO you have?!"
Anyway we had a blue cheese burger with bacon on and some beef brisket on the fries, and it was lovely. A lot better than I remember their food being, but maybe I was just hungry and craving something greasy, smoky and indulgent. We were probably the only customers in there who were satisfied.
Been to Pizza Hut for the first time in years, £11 for their lunchtime buffet and £4 for unlimited (sugar free) soft drinks so you might as well get the free water instead. What struck me was that they were heavily pushing people towards scanning the QR code on the table and ordering that way, which meant that the front of house staff had very little to do and were mainly stood around talking to each other.
Tip screens before I've had any service, received any goods (drinks/food), or even really had a chance to decide if the service has been good. How about no?