Items that you no longer see on menus.

[DeathAndParsnips]

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.

I'd have to go south for Derbyshire, but the soup would be worth it!

Particularly in pubs - chicken in a basket.

I saw a recipe for black forest trifle somewhere, I bet that's good. With plenty of kirsch.

Banana split

I went to catering college in the 70s and we had to learn how to do all those flambé dishes at the table (with interesting results from some of the less competent students ).

Anyone else remember that ridiculous trend for huge silver domes served over your dinner plate?

Did people really used to have orange juice as a starter? I remember this being a menu option for my school leavers ball over 15 years ago. I remember thinking how odd it was then.

You can just have a glass of OJ as your drink if you wish? Bizarre

Ham, egg and chips.

I give you the joy of the Toby Cottage menu - have been here once and it was fab

https://tobycottage.co.uk/menu/

has anyone mentioned deep fried Camembert with cranberry sauce?

Ohhhhh mine too. I so miss it.

Try a River Cruise - they all have cheese board on the menu as either an alternative to a pud or an extra course if you're still hungry !

I remember those!

Plaice
Eton Mess

I was once serving Poussin (about 10 of them) from a silver flat dish and dropped one in a woman's lap 🙈
That was all a bit Fawlty Towers. Mortified.

Mushroom risotto

P and o do too. Lovely option to have

Cheese boards are an option pretty much everywhere I eat out!

It was the Red Lea. It wasn't particularly posh, more that sort of well kept but slightly faded grandeur that you expect at Georgian/Victorian seaside resorts iyswim. We had a seaview bedroom, with a little coffee table with two tub style armchairs, so you could have your tea or coffee looking out to sea. Plus a gym and little pool, and small sauna and hot tub in the lower part of the building. We indulged in the pool, sauna and tub - which sat two comfortably with room to stretch out.

This was luxury by our usual standards, which is usually Travelodge or Premier Inn. 😅 It was a special occasion after all! We had a lovely weekend (stayed three nights) there, and I went to see a band I follow at the Spa there, which is a beautiful building. I wouldn't have originally envisaged spending our silver anniversary weekend in Scarborough, but we had a great time.

Did people really used to have orange juice as a starter

They did. It actually makes sense because it's such a light starter, rather like melon. It was something nice to have if you didn't want three heavy courses and orange juice is so sugary that it makes sense to drink it in small quantities. (Not that I do but it's logical.)

Crepe Suzette

Until I read this, I thought I must have imagined the orange juice as a starter. I convinced myself it was ludicrous and I'd made it up.

@UnctuousUnicorns Thank you! I really liked Scarborough the last time I was there so I'll definitely have to visit that hotel.

We had a lovely melon starter at a wedding a couple of days ago.

I'm desperate for a crepe viande. There used to be a French restaurant years ago that we ate in a lot and the crepes viandes have to be the most delicious thing I have ever eaten in my life. Restaurant is long gone sadly, and I always check out creperies wherever I go and I've never found anywhere else that serves them!

All this chat about a ploughman’s lunch has reminded me of one of my late Dad’s corny jokes…

I enjoyed a ploughman’s lunch in the pub today but he was f*** raging ! 😆

Brandy snaps!

And it’s quite hard to get decent profiteroles these days, I order them if they’re on the menu but they’re rarely the good old-fashioned dark chocolate and fresh cream ones.

@genesis92

In the 60s and 70s freshly squeezed orange juice was not widespread to buy in stores. It was often frozen in cardboard cylinders and very expensive. It was a refreshing treat to have as a starter. I remember as a kid stopping over on a long journey between home and our Welsh holiday at a hotel near Welshpool and seeing fresh orange juice on the 'Specials' board and the manager raving about it.