A lovely friend invited me to lunch today to meet up with a whole lot of girls I don't often get to see. As it was my birthday (days back) I got to choose the venue and opted for the New Orleans Pub Lunch as its something new and its been years since I've actually been to one.
The first thing I noticed was the little blackboard on the side of the road had disappeared, which is a good thing on one hand as it was fairly tacky, but bad thing on the other hand as now no-one remembers the Lunch. This was pretty evident by the fact that apart from another table of four people, our table of 9 was the largest and loudest one there.
Now when you think Pub Lunch - immediately the first thing that comes to mind is the actual Pub! In this case it is a small counter in the corner near the pool, which is not a problem - after all the most important thing about a Pub is the actual drinks. This is where the issues started. No Gin at all ! Everyone knows if Ladies go to Lunch, they drink Gin and Tonic. I am sure if there was a rule book on Lunch Etiquette it would be in there somewhere. The drinks on offer were very limited so after a lot of backwards and forwards , I settled for a Shandy.
The lunch menu arrived and to my disappointment it was just a miniature version of the normal dinner menu. Presentable and tasty but totally mis-represented as a Pub Lunch. I had visualised Plowman's platters, salads, pickles, anything but a normal meal. And no dessert in sight as by the time we finished lunch at 2.30 the Chefs had gone off duty and there was no one to prepare any pudding.
It all about "Terminology". Pub Lunch indicates relaxed lunch with great drinks, probably sitting around informally. Table D'Hote Lunch indicates a set menu, laid out tables and more formal environment.. Sometimes its the smallest details that need the most attention !
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