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Original poster

Items that you no longer see on menus.

636 replies

DeathAndParsnips · 10/09/2023 17:53

Which foods do you rarely see on menus now? I was watching some old adverts on YouTube for Little Chef and such which made me think of this.

Do you still get melon as a starter? I used to love that as a child. Also a glass of orange juice as a starter. I went to a hotel in around 2010 and they still had that as an option on the menu. I found it rather charming.

OP posts:
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23
Crucible · 11/09/2023 00:10

I had a prawn cocktail (homemade ) last night for dinner as it was all I could eat in the heat.
I miss egg burgers from Wimpey.

HeyThereDelilahhh · 11/09/2023 00:16

Baked Alaska!

Barnowlsandbluebells · 11/09/2023 00:18

This is a great thread!! For everyone who said baked alaska, it's a favourite at Bryn Williams' Porth Eirias.

dontbenastyhaveapasty · 11/09/2023 00:24

GregoryFluff · 10/09/2023 21:44

Not from a menu, but for nostalgia's sake

A potato wrapped in tinfoil at kids parties with cocktail sticks stuck in like a hedgehog, with pickled onions, cheese and cocktail sausages, maybe sometimes pineapple?

Do people do that anymore?

Yes, at all my kids’ parties - cheese and pineapple on sticks and tiny sausages on sticks - my kids love them!

definitely no onions involved though, and never were back in my youth either.

jackles · 11/09/2023 00:27

Chicken Maryland
Lemon Merangue Pie

Surely2023IsTheYearForMyRainbowBaby · 11/09/2023 00:34

coxesorangepippin · 10/09/2023 21:44

Dessert trolley

😌

There's a restaurant near me that still has a dessert trolley. Their fresh fruit and cream meringues are amazing.

ScaryGrandma · 11/09/2023 00:34

My sister used to be responsible for making desserts the sweet trolley in a posh restaurant in the 70's. She made fresh desserts every day and anything left at the end of the evening was eaten by staff. I'm sure it's not like that now desserts aren't kept on display.

user1477391263 · 11/09/2023 00:44
. Not a menu item as such, but Berni Inn rings a memory bell! Love this song, esp the ref to anything called “gateau” as being just “cake in drag.”

That Day We Sang - The Berni Inn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HFHwdMqZ3Y

user1477391263 · 11/09/2023 00:46

“Windsor soup.” No idea what it actually was. “Oxtail soup” isn’t seen much these days either.

Mojodojocasahaus · 11/09/2023 00:50

And the other thing in the hotel with the dessert trolley was that it was silver service! The height of sophistication!

Their napkins were pink and folded into little fan shapes too, Infact the whole restaurant was quite pink with acres of plush damson carpet and pink swaggy pelmets with little tassels on the windows.

Tereseta · 11/09/2023 01:05

Our local bakery does black forest gateau and it is my favourite 😍 my dh ordered a full one for my birthday cake and I was in heaven!

Tereseta · 11/09/2023 01:11

In its glory!

Items that you no longer see on menus.
Financiallyopposite · 11/09/2023 01:11

I'm a chef in a very popular village pub. We keep more 'traditional' things on our menu for the more mature customers. If we took off our prawn cocktail (most popular starter) or spotted dick pudding I think there'd be a riot!
Liver & bacon is always a sell out when we put that on our mains. Personally I couldn't think of anything worse to eat!

SuperNewMe · 11/09/2023 01:15

Aw loving this thread 😍 #nostalgia
Came on to say orange juice as a starter, never really see that anymore.
Also used to love chicken in a basket

StormzyinaTCup · 11/09/2023 01:22

Crucible · 11/09/2023 00:10

I had a prawn cocktail (homemade ) last night for dinner as it was all I could eat in the heat.
I miss egg burgers from Wimpey.

A prawn cocktail is the perfect choice during this spell of hot weather.

Nanaof1 · 11/09/2023 01:37

17caterpillars1mouse · 10/09/2023 18:10

Came on to say egg mayo with paprika as a starter. I used to waitress at a masonic lodge in the mids 00s and it was often on the menu. I used to love eating any extras

Also love a black forest gateau and melon and Parma ham. Whitebait as a starter too

Can someone please describe what an egg mayo with paprika is? Is it the same as a deviled egg in the US? I got that a prawn cocktail is a.k.a. a shrimp cocktail. Also know what a trifle is (thanks to Food Network) and banana splits are the best. Would love to try lemon sorbet in a half lemon and shrimp in an avocado half. I'm now getting hungry....

AdaColeman · 11/09/2023 01:52

@Nanaof1 , Egg mayonnaise is hard boiled egg, one or two, halved or quartered, some times on a bed of lettuce, sometimes without lettuce.
The egg is covered/coated with mayonnaise, which has been stirred or let down with a little cream so it flows, then decorated with a sprinkle of powdered paprika for a bit of colour contrast.
An alternative decoration is long slivers of anchovies arranged in a X over the egg, the height of sophistication, this!

sashh · 11/09/2023 02:00

EverythingYouDoIsaBalloon · 10/09/2023 18:55

Veal. For obvious reasons, and it's quite correct that it's not considered an acceptable dish any more. It didn't half taste nice though.

Nothing wrong with veal, it's a by product of the milk industry.

The crates were evil but they were banned decades ago.

DoesGoodSculptures · 11/09/2023 02:55

Corn on the cob as a starter. Not the easiest thing to eat in an elegant fashion, but one tried*

For those lusting after French Onion Soup. Try this until you track down somewhere where it can be made and served to you by professionals: https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/french/french-onion-soup
Don't be tempted to reduce the time simmering. The soup, not you.
It is addictive - I made this with offspring the elder and during the simmer period we often crossed paths in the hall as we tried to sneak into the kitchen for another taste, without the other knowing.
She's a dark horse that Delia.

*wiped the extra butter I'd insisted my boyfriend ordered for me (as I didn't want to look like a total pig and well, hey, he was a lot bigger than me so it was more acceptable), off my chin with a napkin, rather than any clothing or tablecloths in the vicinity, cos one is well classy an' that.

French Onion Soup

There are few things more comforting than making a real French onion soup - slowly cooked, caramelised onions that turn mellow and sweet in a broth laced with white wine and Cognac. The whole thing is finished off with crunchy baked croutons of crusty...

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/french/french-onion-soup

LemonTreeSkies · 11/09/2023 03:38

purplecorkheart · 10/09/2023 19:03

An mixed grill used to be a minute steak, a sausage, a slice of gammon, some chicken, chips, grilled tomato and some pineapple and Chips in my local town. Seemed to vary around Ireland but always similar

OMG I forgot about the mixed grill. Back in the day they’d have a piece of liver and a kidney as well ❤️

NeunundneunzigHorseBallonz · 11/09/2023 04:05

Osso Bucco… (I make a magnificent one!)

Croquembouche. Tried making this once. Had sticky up to my armpits and where I live is too hot and humid for the crackle to stay crackled. Was like a giant fly trap.

Ambrosia salad - thank god this seems to have died. How they could call something with marshmallows, tinned Mandarine segments and “desecrated” coconut a flipping salad, I don’t know. It was diabetes in a bowl.

Frogs in a pond. Now you’re talking! Even I can manage that one!

SuperNewMe · 11/09/2023 04:06

@EverythingYouDoIsaBalloon

Veal. For obvious reasons, and it's quite correct that it's not considered an acceptable dish any more. It didn't half taste nice though

@sashh Nothing wrong with veal, it's a by product of the milk industry*

I'm not a vegan or even a vegetarian but that's surely a matter of opinion -
Veal is the meat of the male, who is tossed aside in the milk.industry (by product if you prefer that term) as they're obviously not needed for milking so taken away from their mothers and killed for their meat to eat
People are going to differ on whether that's wrong or fine.

NeunundneunzigHorseBallonz · 11/09/2023 04:06

French onion soup was one of the best foods available when I lived in the Netherlands. I kind of thought every restaurant had exactly the same menu though.

sashh · 11/09/2023 04:33

SuperNewMe · 11/09/2023 04:06

@EverythingYouDoIsaBalloon

Veal. For obvious reasons, and it's quite correct that it's not considered an acceptable dish any more. It didn't half taste nice though

@sashh Nothing wrong with veal, it's a by product of the milk industry*

I'm not a vegan or even a vegetarian but that's surely a matter of opinion -
Veal is the meat of the male, who is tossed aside in the milk.industry (by product if you prefer that term) as they're obviously not needed for milking so taken away from their mothers and killed for their meat to eat
People are going to differ on whether that's wrong or fine.

Surely it is better that they are killed for meat rather than just killed?

A couple of years ago I went with a couple of friends to the local FE college's restaurant, run by catering students, and they had a mixed grill.

It consisted of a lamb chop, a sausage and a beef burger.

We were not impressed.

Back in the 1980s pubs seemed to be in competition to make bigger and bigger mixed grills.

Sheraprincessofflower · 11/09/2023 06:13

I miss all of these so much. I’m going to add breaded garlic mushrooms with garlic mayonnaise - they were always on menus in the early 90s.

and melon with Parma ham was considered the sophisticated starter in the late 90s and early 2000s. Haven’t seen it on a menu since then.