Anyone reading this will think I do nothing but eat out!
I don't think anyone does read this, though...
SC
Sunday, 3 August 2008
Eating: The Peninsula Hotel, Guernsey
Where we ate:
The restaurant at The Peninsula Hotel
Les Dicqs, Vale, Guernsey, GY6 8JP.
When we ate:
1pm
Saturday 2 August, 2008
What we ate:
Homemade vegetable soup or melon with berries
Locally caught plaice, chicken breast in Guernsey mushroom sauce or Mediterranean vegetable lasagne and salad, all served with sauteed Jersey royals and fresh vegetables.
Profiteroles with chocolate sauce or banana and chocolate mousse
What we drank:
French Chardonnay
What we paid:
We didn't! It was a treat and a lovely one at that, despite the sad occasion. The three courses of food plus coffee cost £12.95 per person.
Where to feed twenty-one people aged between 1 and 79 at lunchtime to mark a special occasion?
Sadly my boyfriend's grandfather passed away one year ago. His widow organised a memorial occasion for the extended family to get together and mark the date, but we wanted to remember the happy times so some fabulous food was also required.
Any gathering of more than two persons and anything involving family is always chaotic in terms of arrangements and this was no exception. Chinese whispers concerning the start time meant that some of us waited in the bar for an hour before the others arrived. However, on pain of a public ticking off from a grieving grandmother, twenty-one family members were present and correct by 1pm which was the lunch time that had been Chinese-whispered to the hotel (if not the guests!)
What we didn't realise was that the hotel had been more than kind and opened the restaurant especially and exclusively for our lunch. The chef and the waiting staff were there just for us and if they resented it they did not show it at all. The food was delicious and the service was warm and efficient. The bar staff who kept us watered while we waited for the fashionably late were also very friendly. A special table, with floral decorations, had been set up so that all twenty one of us were all able to sit together and a high chair was also provided for the youngest member of our party. As we had the restaurant to ourselves we could have quiet for a memorial speech and a few tears, then make noise while we chatted and wander around sociably after we'd eaten. The two little children were delighted to be spoiled with a free run of the entire restaurant to explore.
We left feeling pleasantly full and contented, despite the sad occasion, at 3.45pm as the staff had been in no hurry to evict us from the comfortable, smart surroundings of the hotel restaurant from which we had a view of the patio area and enticing outdoor swimming pool.
I felt that we were well treated and that the tasty, hot food was extremely good value. The only improvement would have been a little more fresh air to cool us down on such a hot day.
Will we go back?
Yes, in happier times, we hope. We'll also ask to use the pool!
The restaurant at The Peninsula Hotel
Les Dicqs, Vale, Guernsey, GY6 8JP.
When we ate:
1pm
Saturday 2 August, 2008
What we ate:
Homemade vegetable soup or melon with berries
Locally caught plaice, chicken breast in Guernsey mushroom sauce or Mediterranean vegetable lasagne and salad, all served with sauteed Jersey royals and fresh vegetables.
Profiteroles with chocolate sauce or banana and chocolate mousse
What we drank:
French Chardonnay
What we paid:
We didn't! It was a treat and a lovely one at that, despite the sad occasion. The three courses of food plus coffee cost £12.95 per person.
Where to feed twenty-one people aged between 1 and 79 at lunchtime to mark a special occasion?
Sadly my boyfriend's grandfather passed away one year ago. His widow organised a memorial occasion for the extended family to get together and mark the date, but we wanted to remember the happy times so some fabulous food was also required.
Any gathering of more than two persons and anything involving family is always chaotic in terms of arrangements and this was no exception. Chinese whispers concerning the start time meant that some of us waited in the bar for an hour before the others arrived. However, on pain of a public ticking off from a grieving grandmother, twenty-one family members were present and correct by 1pm which was the lunch time that had been Chinese-whispered to the hotel (if not the guests!)
What we didn't realise was that the hotel had been more than kind and opened the restaurant especially and exclusively for our lunch. The chef and the waiting staff were there just for us and if they resented it they did not show it at all. The food was delicious and the service was warm and efficient. The bar staff who kept us watered while we waited for the fashionably late were also very friendly. A special table, with floral decorations, had been set up so that all twenty one of us were all able to sit together and a high chair was also provided for the youngest member of our party. As we had the restaurant to ourselves we could have quiet for a memorial speech and a few tears, then make noise while we chatted and wander around sociably after we'd eaten. The two little children were delighted to be spoiled with a free run of the entire restaurant to explore.
We left feeling pleasantly full and contented, despite the sad occasion, at 3.45pm as the staff had been in no hurry to evict us from the comfortable, smart surroundings of the hotel restaurant from which we had a view of the patio area and enticing outdoor swimming pool.
I felt that we were well treated and that the tasty, hot food was extremely good value. The only improvement would have been a little more fresh air to cool us down on such a hot day.
Will we go back?
Yes, in happier times, we hope. We'll also ask to use the pool!
Eating: La Perla, Guernsey
Where we ate:
La Perla Restaurant
North Plantation, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 2LH.
When we ate:
7.30pm
Friday 1 August, 2008
What we ate:
Garlic bread, lasagne and sticky toffee pudding (Girl Friend)
Homemade fishcake, plaice and an extremely virtuous pass on desert (Other Girl Friend)
Prawn cocktail, plaice and apple pie (Another Girl Friend)
Prawn cocktail, local crab salad and meringue with berries (me)
What we drank:
Two bottles of light, semi-sweet, French Chardonnay
What we paid:
£70 including service
Girls' night out in Guernsey can take a variety of routes. There's a mortgage's worth of cocktails on offer at Laska or a bargain bucket of vodka Red Bull at the Red Onion. There are cheap and cheerful pizzas at Valentino's, chick flicks at the Mallard, pampering at OGH or modern tapas in the sultry surroundings of White D'Or. The brave can dance around their handbags in Barbados, the braver can dance below the watchful crowds on the balcony at Folies and the "oops got drunk too early" can dance into tables at Christie's.
We're a bunch of townies so we're spoilt for choice within stumbling distance of home. We chose to meet for a Friday night dinner in La Perla as the food's quality and price (£10 per person for three courses) and a lively atmosphere are all guaranteed at this island institution for Italian food. Plus we'd be right in the heart of St. Peter Port nightlife for a drink or a dance afterwards.
I visited La Perla for a quiet dinner with my boyfriend less than two weeks' ago and had a lovely evening. On our girls' night on Friday we ate from the same menu and food, wine and service were consistent with my previous visit. The restaurant was full, but we were not rushed to order or to finish our meal, which allowed us to feel very relaxed despite the lively bustle around us. We ended up enjoying a leisurely three hours there and I was startled to discover that our "wine of the month", for £10.95 per bottle, was more than drinkable.
Will we go back?
Yes, wearing skimpier clothing. It does get pretty hot in there, especially in summer!
La Perla Restaurant
North Plantation, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 2LH.
When we ate:
7.30pm
Friday 1 August, 2008
What we ate:
Garlic bread, lasagne and sticky toffee pudding (Girl Friend)
Homemade fishcake, plaice and an extremely virtuous pass on desert (Other Girl Friend)
Prawn cocktail, plaice and apple pie (Another Girl Friend)
Prawn cocktail, local crab salad and meringue with berries (me)
What we drank:
Two bottles of light, semi-sweet, French Chardonnay
What we paid:
£70 including service
Girls' night out in Guernsey can take a variety of routes. There's a mortgage's worth of cocktails on offer at Laska or a bargain bucket of vodka Red Bull at the Red Onion. There are cheap and cheerful pizzas at Valentino's, chick flicks at the Mallard, pampering at OGH or modern tapas in the sultry surroundings of White D'Or. The brave can dance around their handbags in Barbados, the braver can dance below the watchful crowds on the balcony at Folies and the "oops got drunk too early" can dance into tables at Christie's.
We're a bunch of townies so we're spoilt for choice within stumbling distance of home. We chose to meet for a Friday night dinner in La Perla as the food's quality and price (£10 per person for three courses) and a lively atmosphere are all guaranteed at this island institution for Italian food. Plus we'd be right in the heart of St. Peter Port nightlife for a drink or a dance afterwards.
I visited La Perla for a quiet dinner with my boyfriend less than two weeks' ago and had a lovely evening. On our girls' night on Friday we ate from the same menu and food, wine and service were consistent with my previous visit. The restaurant was full, but we were not rushed to order or to finish our meal, which allowed us to feel very relaxed despite the lively bustle around us. We ended up enjoying a leisurely three hours there and I was startled to discover that our "wine of the month", for £10.95 per bottle, was more than drinkable.
Will we go back?
Yes, wearing skimpier clothing. It does get pretty hot in there, especially in summer!
Sunday 3 August 2008
The rain it raineth every day. At least the rain has rained all of this day. It's raining, it's pouring, it's raining cats and dogs: every one of the cliches applies to today's downpour.
The flat is dark, but noisy with the sound of rain lashing down outside each of the six open windows. All of the internal doors are wide open as the torrential rain hasn't allowed the oppressive temperature to drop. Fresh air is definitely required even if it brings with it a musical accompaniment that sounds like a sopping wet symphony: splashes for the violin, sploshes for the cello, big fat drops for the bass drum, tinkling drips for the triangle and an ongoing deluge for the horns. The lack of light saps my energy and I feel bored, restless and mostly lethargic. My boyfriend is doing D.I.Y. in the garage, presumably he's building an ark as it looks like we'll need it. He has even grown a full, unkempt, biblical beard in preparation.
On Wednesday I ate several helpings of nostalgia pudding and wrote wistfully about my arrival in Guernsey three years ago when I moved here on a permanent basis. The weather then could not have been more different to today. It was warm, sunny and bright, picture postcard weather that could only reinforce the sanity of my decision to emigrate from London. My first lodgings then were beside the beach at Vazon and each morning I walked the length of the beach, sometimes on the sand, sometimes on the path (look out for horses) to catch the bus from outside Crabby Jacks.
It was a happy and healthy two months when I lived out in the pretty parish of the Castel, overlooking the west coast and the ever-changing sea, but as the light faded progressively faster as the evenings made their way into autumn I felt it would be wise to move closer to town and to the netball court where I had begun to spend most of my free time. That was how I ended up living in a corner of a gorgeous, stylish house in the Ville au Roi. By total coincidence the Ville au Roi is the only quarter of Guernsey that looks anything at all like England. Another rarity for the island is that the Ville au Roi's convenience store, Jeffrey's, stays open until midnight.
The sound of the rain is almost addictive. I am finding it impossible to devote more than my fingers to writing; my ears and brain are drawn to the concerto of water surrounding the flat. In a moment I shall handwrite a thank you card to my boyfriend's grandmother who took us and the rest of her extended family to lunch yesterday as a form of memorial to her husband, my boyfriend's grandfather, who passed away one year ago. Yesterday was a sad occasion, but it was still wonderful to see everyone and to enjoy each other's company. Life is way too short.
SC
The flat is dark, but noisy with the sound of rain lashing down outside each of the six open windows. All of the internal doors are wide open as the torrential rain hasn't allowed the oppressive temperature to drop. Fresh air is definitely required even if it brings with it a musical accompaniment that sounds like a sopping wet symphony: splashes for the violin, sploshes for the cello, big fat drops for the bass drum, tinkling drips for the triangle and an ongoing deluge for the horns. The lack of light saps my energy and I feel bored, restless and mostly lethargic. My boyfriend is doing D.I.Y. in the garage, presumably he's building an ark as it looks like we'll need it. He has even grown a full, unkempt, biblical beard in preparation.
On Wednesday I ate several helpings of nostalgia pudding and wrote wistfully about my arrival in Guernsey three years ago when I moved here on a permanent basis. The weather then could not have been more different to today. It was warm, sunny and bright, picture postcard weather that could only reinforce the sanity of my decision to emigrate from London. My first lodgings then were beside the beach at Vazon and each morning I walked the length of the beach, sometimes on the sand, sometimes on the path (look out for horses) to catch the bus from outside Crabby Jacks.
It was a happy and healthy two months when I lived out in the pretty parish of the Castel, overlooking the west coast and the ever-changing sea, but as the light faded progressively faster as the evenings made their way into autumn I felt it would be wise to move closer to town and to the netball court where I had begun to spend most of my free time. That was how I ended up living in a corner of a gorgeous, stylish house in the Ville au Roi. By total coincidence the Ville au Roi is the only quarter of Guernsey that looks anything at all like England. Another rarity for the island is that the Ville au Roi's convenience store, Jeffrey's, stays open until midnight.
The sound of the rain is almost addictive. I am finding it impossible to devote more than my fingers to writing; my ears and brain are drawn to the concerto of water surrounding the flat. In a moment I shall handwrite a thank you card to my boyfriend's grandmother who took us and the rest of her extended family to lunch yesterday as a form of memorial to her husband, my boyfriend's grandfather, who passed away one year ago. Yesterday was a sad occasion, but it was still wonderful to see everyone and to enjoy each other's company. Life is way too short.
SC
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
