May 2009 Archives

Well done Glynn Purnell for topping the judges' vote with his fish course in last night's installment of Great British Menu.

The spiced monkfish, red lentil and coconut dish looked fantastic and, from the reactions of the judges, seemed to taste good, too.

It now has to go to a public vote and the result won't be known until Friday. But I'd be stunned if the dish didn't make it to the banquet for homecoming service personnel this summer.

Like all Bluenoses, Glynn is incredibly talented....

That excellent BBC2 series Great British Menu has reached its closing stages, with the eight finalists lining up to present the dishes they hope will give them the chance to cook for returning British service personnel at a swanky banquet this summer.

Starters were presented last night and Glynn Purnell's corned beef, beetroot and brown sauce combo didn't go down at all well with the judges - coming second last.

Fingers crossed his fish, main course and dessert do better over the next three nights.

But don't forget that there's a public vote, too. So get behind Glynn, who went all the way last year. Get voting.

There are some things that are just plain wrong. Like eating crisps on the bus at 7am.

The wrongness of such an act is compounded when the crisps are cheese and onion flavour.

And just imagine how wrong it is to immediately afterwards open a bag of salt and vinegar crisps to scoff.

Such was the behaviour of a man sitting directly behind me as I travelled to work today.

As the only bloke this side of 1957 who doesn't use a mobile phone, perhaps I'm biased.

But I hate the intrusive things - especially in restaurants.

I visited the brasserie at Malmaison last night and was horrified at the number of people who sat using the things, some of them to the exclusion of their dining partners. Such behaviour is appallingly rude.

I think there should be an absolute ban on mobiles in restaurants.

If people want to make phone calls and eat at the same time, let them visit their nearest Subway branch.

Is there some sort of shortage of exotic fruit?

I'm sure that at this time last year the stalls at the open market at the Bull Ring were groaning under the weight of honey mangoes, passion fruit and figs, all at an incredibly low price.

This year, there are a few under-ripe mango and no figs or passion fruit that I can see.

Anyone know the reason?

In these credit-crunched times,businesses will be looking (with rather more rigour than MPs) at how they spend money.

Which posed a dilemma the organisers of Taste of Birmingham for corporate hospitality has been a major source of revenue for the event and has helped bolster attendances.

Fear not, businesses.You won't have to miss out on the first night fun at the festival at Cannon Hill Park on July 9.

Log on to taste.visitbirmingham.com/tasteofbusiness to find out how you can get free tickets for the first night's Taste of Business, being billed as the city's biggest business networking event.

Eating out is a treat. So imagine the pleasure of eating out at two of Birmingham's finest restaurants on the same day.

First came a cookery school followed by a four-course lunch at Simpson's. Then that night I sampled numerous new dishes at Lasan based on the management's recent tour of India.

Strangely enough, next day I wasn't very hungry at all.

But suddenly, the appeal of trousers with elasticated waistbands seems all too apparent...