To think that garlic bread is a stupid side for pizza

[UnderperformingSeal]

Here, have some bread and cheese to eat next to your bread, tomato and cheese.

OK, the takeaway places have been doing this forever, and they must do it because people will buy and eat it, not that I understand why. But OH and I were recently at a familiar high-street chain Italian restaurant probably best known for pizza and pasta, and three out of seven side options were forms of garlic bread - and the rest were variations on fries! No salad, no roasted veg, not even slaw. If this were not poor enough, eight (8!) starters were bread-based too, another was merely olives (which I love but they're a nibble, not a starter) and the bread-and-cheese-free one I wanted and had been looking forward to all afternoon was sold out. Perhaps no wonder.

I moaned at them about all this, and their lame excuse was that it's a reduced menu post-lockdown. Fine, but other restaurants are offering reduced menus too - still with variety. I'm not an Olympic swimmer and don't need to carb-load like one so ... reduce the feckin' stodge?

YABU, garlic bread is the food of the gods and I will eat it with anything

It's like I can't understand why anyone would want a curry with rice and chips. Rice OR chips yes, but both?

[quote UnderperformingSeal]@viques Years and years and years ago I somewhere found a tin of macaroni pudding, I think by Ambrosia (the rice pudding people). I loved both macaroni and Ambrosia rice pudding, so what could possibly go wrong?

It was - how can I put this? - disappointing.

Never saw it again.[/quote]
@Underperformingseal

Still available apparently, Tescos have it, a 400g tin for £1.00

Mind you, I am assuming it wasn't you who wrote the description.

A day in Devon is a day well lived, and a passion for our home is poured into everything we do. From the first beads of morning dew glistening on the lush grass, the chattering streams running between
the rolling hillsides and the misty sunsets over the quiet farms, it's Ambrosia's home. At our Devon creamery we let nature do the talking.

They missed out the bit about the macaroni being rolled by hand on the plumply dimpled thighs of rosy cheeked dairymaids...... Perhaps they ran out of space.

I have noticed over the last few weeks that people are getting fat.
It might have been the lockdown.
I thought it was where I lived but I noticed it in a neighbouring town too.

The shocking thing is that it seems that a large proportion of children are noticeably overweight. Not all of them, but many.

YADNBU I was wondering the same in the supermarket yesterday when looking at the pizza for £5 option "starter and main". Cheesy bread alongside cheesy bread. 🤷🏽‍♀️

@viques
Really? Perhaps I was just too traumatised to look for it!

And I certainly wouldn't have written guff of that magnitude about it, even if it had been me.

I was once served a baked potato with crisps on the side. It's maddening because I would never consider double/triple carbing and yet am immensely fat! I bet all you lasagne with chips and garlic bread people are thin.

It'll be the cost margin they make on it. It's cheap to make and store, far cheaper than salad, which goes off, or roasted veg.

[quote UnderperformingSeal]@viques
Really? Perhaps I was just too traumatised to look for it!

And I certainly wouldn't have written guff of that magnitude about it, even if it had been me.[/quote]
I'm annoyed to discover that people get paid to write that magnitude of guff. I think I could have had a very satisfying and lucrative career as a guff writer ..

I am assuming you don't have to actually eat the stuff first, perhaps I could have had a tasting assistant, some little intern grateful for a few mouthfuls of nostalgic yet decadent unctuousness.

lasagne with chips and garlic bread people are thin

That sounds great and I'd love it - as three different meals.
Where's the ve

When I went to university, the first meal I had in the Hall of Residence was macaroni cheese with sweetcorn and chips. It was a long time ago, but I still remember. The pudding was apple crumble and custard. Yellow food.

@viques
You and me both. OH is good at producing guff, too

In places like Portugal, Spain and France, pizza is a meal onto itself so we serve without sides (except perhaps some salad).

The double (sometimes triple) carb thing is weird to me, especially with lasagne which is such a rich dish!

However, I have no problem with British battered fish with chips or even fish fingers and chips! Just feels right.

@SuzieCarmichael

I agree. But the question then arises - what DO you eat garlic bread with? I like the idea of minestrone as a PP suggested. Steak or chicken I guess, instead of potatoes? What other options are there?!

In my country it’s a side for barbecue, made on the grill but we don’t barbecue burgers

@Zaphodsotherhead

It's like I can't understand why anyone would want a curry with rice and chips. Rice OR chips yes, but both?

Curry half and half is a proper Cardiff delicacy.

Ah ok. But is that in addition to bread rolls, eg. Hotdogs? Or do you mean BBQ more like ribs and so on?

No bread in our barbecues (other than garlic bread!), when the meats are ready, we normally slice everything and share between everyone - a bit like tapas, I suppose . We normally have them with rice, salad, cassava, maybe some grilled cheese. We traditionally barbecue big bits of meat (more like a roast joint sized piece) rather than burgers, though some people use steaks instead as it’s quicker.

God that sounds amazing. Can you come and cook for me please ?!

@SerenDippitty

I would be completely out of my depth in Cardiff! Double carbs! Just nooooooo.

Yanbu. Garlic bread and dough balls are a ridiculous side order to a pizza.
My stomach couldn't digest all the heavy bread.

Egg fried rice with chips and curry sauce is a special exception to the double carb rule. I might have it twice a year but those are holy days.

yanbu I long for bread-free starters and sides

@SuzieCarmichael if you’re anywhere near South Wales, I’m up for it!

garlic bread is a lovely side for something moist and high in vegetables like ratatouille, mushroom stroganoff etc.

We only ever have garlic bread with soup.