to think if you are only going away to Spain for a fortnight...

[squeakytoy]

you really do not need a "taste of home"...

Just reading the reviews for the place we are staying at next month.. (stayed in the resort before, but never this particular apartment complex) and I just love reading reviews...

"lovely place, but shame there was no british pubs close by"

well thank the lord for that!

"wicked holiday, found an amazing bar that did a full english and you could get a brill sunday roast for 5 euro wiv yorkshire pudding"

ffs its over 90 degrees out there.. why the hell do you want a bloody roast dinner???

When I go to Spain, I want to eat spanish food, enjoy spanish culture, and feel like I am on holiday.... is that asking too much?

I know. I do wonder why some people bother going abroad. Went to Israel many years ago, expecting to immerse myself in middle eastern life on a Kibbutz. Came home feeling like I'd spent a month in a hot, dry version of Bognor. The only non-western food I could find was the (very mmmm yummy) falafel stands on every street corner, but everything else seemed to be dishing up either burgers and chips or bad indian-style curries.

Falafel sellers did very well out of me for a while there.

I hate going abroad and being faced with the sort of crap I can buy at home.

When I go away I try and find where the locals go and eat there.

I go abroad to get away from the s**t that can be passed as food here

my sister in law and hubby bought an apartment in Spain for their retirement.

They are chuffed because it's nearly all Brits there so just like home, only sunnier.

Twats

On our last holiday we found an "english shop". It was selling cut bread for about 7 quid a loaf and people were buying it! last time i checked Spanish supermarkets sold bread. Some people just shouldn't be allowed passports.

I spent a fortnight in Sri Lanka once and couldn't get a curry for love nor money!

think the 'taste of home' places are generally catering for those who have moved there but are so sun-stroked (is that a word?) that they no longer realise.

Before a recent trip to Rome, I was looking at reviews on Trip Advisor and ended up in stitches with laughing.

To be fair, most of the ridiculous comment were from Americans..

"didnt like the carpet in the bedroom, it was a horrible shade of blue"

Do you sleep with your eyes open??????

"not enough vegetables for breakfast"

would you like carrots with your porridge sir?

"very noisy at night from the traffic"

errrrr, you were staying in Rome, it is not known for its peaceful rural location

"there was a sex shop three blocks down from my hotel"

are you complaining that it was too far away?????

I loath all the English tourist things abroad they make me cringe.

We can't really afford abroad, so we stay in this country and sample the lovely countryside and history we have.... when/if we can go abroad I'd want to do the same over there. Not spend a fortnight visiting "English pubs" that I'd avoid in England too.

When we were kids my parents always used to go in Sol hotels during the peak holiday season for the Spanish. It was so much nicer being surrounded by Spaniards than English.

I also have friends who have houses in Spain, on English estates. I end up talking to the cleaners and workmen just so I feel like I'm abroad and can practice my Spanish.
Of course my friends haven't learnt Spanish, even though they've had the house for years... but they're the first to complain about people coming over here and not learning the language, not paying taxes, sponging off the state.

Sorry didn't intend to have such a rant.

Rant away! I totally agree with you.

The places we go to are always the locals bars, and the spanish restaurants.

I try my best (probably fail miserably) to speak in Spanish to the locals too.

We have friends who run a bar in the resort we go to (hence our repeated visits there) but they dont highlight it as being an "ENGLISH" bar.. thankfully.

One (late middle-aged) man used to come down to every meal and announce
"We need a bit of rain".
In Turkey. In July.
Ha flippin Ha. After day 3 it got a tad annoying.
Sod off back to Basildon why don't you, if you so desperatley want rain

how could you not get a curry in sri lanka

this is why i am not keen on big package type resorts where chips is served with everything (though enjoyed my moussaka and chips in greece)

Ooh, I so agree with you all. We had a fabulous holiday to an Aparthotel Croatia a couple of years ago because there were very few Brits there, and the ones who were there were like us and wanted to eat local food, drink local drinks and generally immerse themselves in the local culture. Most of the visiors were German, Slovenian and Norwegian. We felt like we were properly abroad.

One of my friends is a travel agent and she says it depresses her when about 65% of her customers book holidays to these all inclusive prison camps holiday complexes. I would hate to stay in such a place and prefer to self cater so that we can eat out or buy from local shops and markets.

I go abroad to get away from the st that can be passed as food here

Interesting comment ineedabodytransplant.

If true shit is passed off as food here and food abroad is vastly better, then I wonder why I got a very bad tummy upset in a number of countries for no particular reason and when I had practiced safe food and water hygeine. In contrast I have had about 1 tummy bug in the last 10 years when in the UK.

Food in the UK must truly be shite with all the stringent hygeine guidelines and variety. You can pretty much get any type of food here, what is the problem and what is it that you truly cannot find or find so objectionable?

"I go abroad to get away from the s**t that can be passed as food here"

I don't eat in the sort of places that serve up s**t. There are loads of excellent eating places in the UK. You must have been very unlucky in your choice of places to eat out.

i loved out holiday in italy last year, it was a little resort no english or germans only italians. they get the odd english or american as it was a fashionable place for writers and poets years ago

its near where my friend lives

i think the food here jsut does not compare to france and italy, especially italy it is just fantastic and in thailand too. italy and france are passionate about cooking and the quality of food, it is all quite new for us here bt yes we have higher standards of hygiene than many countries but yet to taste any street food that is better than you get in bangkok

I've been to Italy and to me it isn't vastly better than food you can get here. Italian food is samey, samey, samey!

Taste is 100% subjective thus no one will ever have the same opinion.

Don't knock that we have food that wont make you very very ill.

Decent food in the UK comes at a high price... decent food in many european countries is probably the cheapest prices. I doubt anyone could really argue with that either.

Decent food in the UK comes at a high price... decent food in many european countries is probably the cheapest prices. I doubt anyone could really argue with that either.

I would. In some European countries and with the current euro exchange rate food and eating out in general is very expensive in the eurozone.

I think what robot meant is that foreign dishes are altered to cater to a British palate so it is difficult to find anything authentic here.

Its all greasy Chinese or Indian takeaways and those horrid doner kebabs.

Of course you can find some decent restaurants that cater for an authentic taste, but they are rare.

italian food differs greatly from region to region, but we shall have to agree to disagree

i do not knock it i just do not think the food here is on the whole particularly high standard. we have some great restaurants and cafes but it is not standard where most of italy and france it is (apart from big resorts lots of tourists lots of crap food places worldwide), even in motorway petrol stations you will have a deli with great hams, salami and fresh bread they are more passionate and fussy about their food

i am hungry now

And lets be honest, traditional dishes from Britain are hardly viewed as some of the finest in Europe, in fact, quite the opposite.

And the point Freudian just made is very true too.

I agree with Freudian.

In Rome, the best places to eat are definately the little local places, hidden round the corner, not in the tourist spots..

In Prague, exactly the same....

In Lanzarote, we go to a place that looks like little more than a beach hut, yet it serves the best tapas, at a fraction of the prices you pay in the main part of the resort, the menu is not printed with an english version, or photos of the dishes either...

In London, if you go to a cheap restaurant, you get cheap food, of poor quality, poorly cooked, and if anyone can advise me differently, I will be happy to give it a try.

I had the horror of having to book a Ibiza holiday 10 yrs ago when my 3 eldest where all in Greece with the in laws- we wanted a cheap and cheerful holiday last minute and all that came up was Es Cana - I have never had a better holiday..quiet, beautiful bay, great nightnife....and I can say I've done Ibiza lol - not the south of the island sex shows and all that palaver though

Some of the comments here are priceless.

Pissed off that Israelis don't favour an exclusively middle eastern diet and favour some Western foods? :o

Annoy the cleaners and gardeners in your friend's apartment complex so you can use them to practise your English? :o

Think you are a better class if tourist if you make sure to mingle with the natives? :o

Think everything about Britain and British people is shit (except yourself)? :o

Then come to the Costa Del Self-Obsessed Loser