Taipan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 9:39 am
I used to drive through France and back again each year. The problem we always had with good food, was where to find it! Oddly, a packed restaurant was no guarantee of it either. Sometimes we'd get lucky in small bistros but most times we'd end up using a chain in the hope some consistency, my favourite being Hippopotamus!
A wine merchant advised me to go to city train stations for dinner as its govt run and has properly trained chefs in? We did try this once and we did indeed have a decent meal but we often stopped in villages without a big train station so it wasn't much help.
Depending on what you want, quality or quantity.
If pile it high is your priority, find a 'le routier'
For quality, look at the mdj and price it up mentally, then see how many locals are eating there!
Mr Moofo wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2024 11:38 am
French food is vastly over-rated
Compared to.........
Just been out to a local resto, baked camembert, pavé de cabaillaud a la provencale, caramel brioche glace et Chantilly €36
Better quality than 90% of UK eateries, including places like The Ivy (which imo falls into the VOR category)
Frito Lay is the anme of the company that owns Walkers , Lays, Doritos and a bunch of other stuff.
They are owned by Pepsi.
When Frito game to Europe, i cam remember a meeting with the Technical President when he said " We want to be the Coca Cola of the snacks world - but don't quote me on that"
The formulations will vary country top country - dependant on what the local taste profile is. Belgians like dill pickle flavour, the French Chicken Roti , the Germans Weiss /Rot sauce and paprika
The rest of Europe is having the UK type flavours rolled out to them - so in markets that used to hate salt and vinegar it's now quite popular.
Cheese and onion profile is probably not the same in the UK as it is in Germany, France or anywhere else. But also Walkers have been constantly revising the C&O profile to make it cheaper. It tastes nothing like it did 15 years ago.
Taipan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 9:39 am
I used to drive through France and back again each year. The problem we always had with good food, was where to find it! Oddly, a packed restaurant was no guarantee of it either. Sometimes we'd get lucky in small bistros but most times we'd end up using a chain in the hope some consistency, my favourite being Hippopotamus!
A wine merchant advised me to go to city train stations for dinner as its govt run and has properly trained chefs in? We did try this once and we did indeed have a decent meal but we often stopped in villages without a big train station so it wasn't much help.
Depending on what you want, quality or quantity.
If pile it high is your priority, find a 'le routier'
For quality, look at the mdj and price it up mentally, then see how many locals are eating there!
That's where we've come unstuck though. Been in really busy restaurants and not been impressed and surprised even, but yes, not expensive places. Seems the smaller, equivalent priced places try harder ime?
Taipan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 11:03 am
That's where we've come unstuck though. Been in really busy restaurants and not been impressed and surprised even, but yes, not expensive places. Seems the smaller, equivalent priced places try harder ime?
You can't go wrong with TripAdvisor reviews really. Look at recent-ish reviews as some places (especially tourist destinations) inevitably change hands frequently and the good/bad reviews from a few years back may not apply.
Mr Moofo wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 10:33 am
Frito Lay is the anme of the company that owns Walkers , Lays, Doritos and a bunch of other stuff.
They are owned by Pepsi.
When Frito game to Europe, i cam remember a meeting with the Technical President when he said " We want to be the Coca Cola of the snacks world - but don't quote me on that"
The formulations will vary country top country - dependant on what the local taste profile is. Belgians like dill pickle flavour, the French Chicken Roti , the Germans Weiss /Rot sauce and paprika
The rest of Europe is having the UK type flavours rolled out to them - so in markets that used to hate salt and vinegar it's now quite popular.
Cheese and onion profile is probably not the same in the UK as it is in Germany, France or anywhere else. But also Walkers have been constantly revising the C&O profile to make it cheaper. It tastes nothing like it did 15 years ago.
A good friend of mine used to work for Flavourite back in the day, and iirc they supplied the entire UK crisp industry.
It was always round to Jane's on a Friday night for free crisps.
Last edited by Sadlonelygit on Thu Sep 12, 2024 1:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Taipan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 9:39 am
I used to drive through France and back again each year. The problem we always had with good food, was where to find it! Oddly, a packed restaurant was no guarantee of it either. Sometimes we'd get lucky in small bistros but most times we'd end up using a chain in the hope some consistency, my favourite being Hippopotamus!
A wine merchant advised me to go to city train stations for dinner as its govt run and has properly trained chefs in? We did try this once and we did indeed have a decent meal but we often stopped in villages without a big train station so it wasn't much help.
Depending on what you want, quality or quantity.
If pile it high is your priority, find a 'le routier'
For quality, look at the mdj and price it up mentally, then see how many locals are eating there!
If you want to pile it high, there are LOADS of Buffet Volantes which do a wide range of dishes, including my favourite, sushi !
I don't know if these sorts of places are dying out in France but I've had quite a few meals, mainly in rural France but more than once in Paris and there were quite a few on the N roads, where you pretty much got what had been prepared on the day and it was like sitting down to a meal cooked by your mum! (Assuming your mum was a a good cook ). Quite often you'd be sat near a table of chaps who were on a work gang nearby, or a couple of lorry drivers etc. Not very expensive, just a well cooked 3 course dinner watched over by 'Maman'. Limited opening times too.
I loved 'em.
Doubt is not a pleasant condition.
But certainty is an absurd one.
Voltaire
Taipan wrote: ↑Wed Sep 11, 2024 6:45 pm
Lays are Walkers, or more accurately Walkers are Lays everywhere else but the uk.
They are both owned by Pepsi but that is about it. They are made in different factories in different parts of the world. They may both do Cheese and Onion but that does not mean they are the same. If that was the case then we would all just buy ALDI cheap shit.
Wrong, I worked for Walkers for 19 years and exactly the same product could be packaged as Lays or Walkers.
I can eat a few flavours of Lays crisps as they are Gluten free. When last checked i cant with Walkers. Mostly due to the use of Malt Barley in the flavouring. That to me is an ingredient difference what is important to flavour.
Count Steer wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 12:56 pm
I don't know if these sorts of places are dying out in France but I've had quite a few meals, mainly in rural France but more than once in Paris and there were quite a few on the N roads, where you pretty much got what had been prepared on the day
Nope, they're all over. "Menu du marche". Expect to pay c15€ for 3 courses.
Count Steer wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 12:56 pm
I don't know if these sorts of places are dying out in France but I've had quite a few meals, mainly in rural France but more than once in Paris and there were quite a few on the N roads, where you pretty much got what had been prepared on the day and it was like sitting down to a meal cooked by your mum! (Assuming your mum was a a good cook ). Quite often you'd be sat near a table of chaps who were on a work gang nearby, or a couple of lorry drivers etc. Not very expensive, just a well cooked 3 course dinner watched over by 'Maman'. Limited opening times too.
I loved 'em.
Sounds very much like the 'Menu del Día' places I've been to in north eastern Spain - *very* limited choice but at least one course is either meat or fish and you get a starter, main, salad, wine, water & pudding for not much money and the customers are builders, office workers & tourists like me.
Count Steer wrote: ↑Thu Sep 12, 2024 12:56 pm
I don't know if these sorts of places are dying out in France but I've had quite a few meals, mainly in rural France but more than once in Paris and there were quite a few on the N roads, where you pretty much got what had been prepared on the day and it was like sitting down to a meal cooked by your mum! (Assuming your mum was a a good cook ). Quite often you'd be sat near a table of chaps who were on a work gang nearby, or a couple of lorry drivers etc. Not very expensive, just a well cooked 3 course dinner watched over by 'Maman'. Limited opening times too.
I loved 'em.
Sounds very much like the 'Menu del Día' places I've been to in north eastern Spain - *very* limited choice but at least one course is either meat or fish and you get a starter, main, salad, wine, water & pudding for not much money and the customers are builders, office workers & tourists like me.
They get that, the French get cuisine du marché, we get....
...Greggs.
Doubt is not a pleasant condition.
But certainty is an absurd one.
Voltaire
). Quite often you'd be sat near a table of chaps who were on a work gang nearby, or a couple of lorry drivers etc. Not very expensive, just a well cooked 3 course dinner watched over by 'Maman'. Limited opening times too.
