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Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby herbidacious » Tue Aug 11, 2020 2:03 pm

I half thought Tas had gone. They were consistent, and I think pretty good. The one we met up at on Farringdon Road (which never had a lot of people in it tbh) has been a KFC for a while now (with a perpetual pile of bags of crap outside it pre lockdown). :( The whole area has gone downmarket eatingwise. I imagine this will work well when it becomes the biggest interchange in London.

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby scullion » Tue Aug 11, 2020 5:02 pm

truro pizza express is in the coinage hall (victorian). it was one of the only chains that i could think of that we have been too, round here (other than maybe pizza hut when the young were - young) and hubbox - a (south) west country based chain.
we have a couple of the coffee shops, and some of the fast-food places - especially at 'takeaway corner' just off the a30 at pool.
we do have plenty of pasty shops.

I've never been to a carluccio's, cafe rouge, jamie olivers's italian (have been to 15 cornwall), nando's, yo sushi etc, i doubt there's any of them this side of plymouth. no wagamamas (although i have been once - in reading), zizzi (once in cheltenham and once in hitchin), prezzo that i know of down here, either. (we would have to go to plymouth or exeter for a greggs - if we wanted one).
they will have come and gone without us.
there are lots of individual restaurants though, which we have been to.

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby Seatallan » Tue Aug 11, 2020 6:01 pm

Scully, we frequented the Wagas in Reading- perhaps you were there the same time as us... :D

Never had much time for Carluccios. Went a few time to the Reading one and was disappointed on every occasion. The other one I found disappointing was Loch Fyne (not the original one, but the franchises). Again, had a series of not very good meals (including a horribly oversalted fish pie). I also found the staff were unwelcoming and off-hand.
Food, felines and fells (in no particular order)

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby Pepper Pig » Tue Aug 11, 2020 6:14 pm

It is just that isn't it? They are franchises. Have done three Loch Fynes. Hertford, Beaconsfield and Elton near mum. All discernably different. Same with Carluccios. The one in Pinner is OK, the one at St Pancras much better.

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby Stokey Sue » Tue Aug 11, 2020 6:50 pm

One thing I will say for Nando's - round here they have taken over semi-derelict pub buildings and restored them well and maintained them, they do not bring down the neighbourhood

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby Earthmaiden » Tue Aug 11, 2020 7:53 pm

Presume you went to the Reading LochFyne Seatallen? Went there once for a work do and it wasn't great. Been to the one in Bath several times (some years ago) and it was lovely.

The Carluccios at St Pancras is the one I've been to most but the others I've been to were all good. Again, some time ago now. I had a lot of friends who liked eating out but current friends not so interested (good for the figure at least!).

Wagamanas, very disappointing but love the cookery book.

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby herbidacious » Tue Aug 11, 2020 8:00 pm

I used to go to the Smithfield Carluccio's a fair bit before he sold the chain off. Post sell off, they did do a rather good chocolate B&B pudding at one point in the Bromley shopping centre one. (Bromley is chain central. You'd be hard pushed to find somewhere that's not a chain there, and when we have tried it's not been good.)

One of the reasons I have ended up at the Carluccio's at St P is that there is no where else to eat a proper dinner, other than the pub and the hotel place, unless you leave the station... and then it's always heaving round there. Hard to get a table. (We are usually talking 6ish on a Friday before going up to my mother's.)
i.e faute de mieux

But that probably applies to all chains.

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby Busybee » Tue Aug 11, 2020 9:29 pm

We have had great meals in Fortnum and Masons in St Pancras station Herbi, again before getting on the train to venture back ooop north.

I do think you have to book though.

BB

Edited to add my sister went into York today to take her children to Nando’s- they have never been and wanted to be like every other teenager who goes there. The queue outside of the shop was so long that they didn’t attempt to join it, and ended up driving back towards home and ended up in a Harvester on a out of town shopping place. Not my kind of place but the girls loved it, added advantage is that it was fairly easy for my niece who is following a low Fodmap diet to find stuff to eat.

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby Badger's Mate » Tue Aug 11, 2020 10:56 pm

We've been to Carluccio's in Cambridge and one of the London branches. Pleasant enough, we preferred them to Prezzo's or Zizzi's.

I'd forgotten Loch Fyne. The Hertford one, which shut a while back, was a bit variable; I remember my cousin's wife getting quite aeriated about some livestock in my salad. My first visit was to the Norwich branch, which was fine the one time we went. The original place in Scotland is delightful. If you want a fishy dinner hereabouts you're much better off at Lussmann's.

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby herbidacious » Wed Aug 12, 2020 11:56 am

Busybee I have pretty much given up on eating out before going to my mother's. When my husband worked in Smithfield he would come and meet me, to see me off (sometimes) and we'd eat, but his office is a bit further away now. I tend to catch a tea time train 'now' anyway (or did.) And I am often too anxious to eat...
I intend avoid trains as far as possible for the forseeable future...

We have a Nandos in Sydenham which opened last year. Always packed and full of loud teenaged girls... Having a chain opening in Sydenham is actually perceived to be a good thing. (Because the alternative is usually a nail bar, chicken shop or charity shop...)

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby Pepper Pig » Wed Aug 12, 2020 1:34 pm

I am very pleased to report that our local White Brasserie opens on August 24th. They’re part of the Brasserie Blanc chain and do a very acceptable seasonal lunch. What’s more my very fussy OH loves them.

https://whitebrasserie.com/

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby karadekoolaid » Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:25 am

What’s more my very fussy OH loves them.

How comical that we´ve both got one in the family, PP!
My wife doesn´t eat onions, but that´s not too much of a problem. I don´t eat meat. We work it out.
My sister, however, seems to have a repertoire of about 8 dishes that she actually likes.
Back in 2015, we went to a fabulous Curry place ... she had omelette and chips :crying1 :crying1

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby PatsyMFagan » Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:02 am

Pepper Pig wrote:I am very pleased to report that our local White Brasserie opens on August 24th. They’re part of the Brasserie Blanc chain and do a very acceptable seasonal lunch. What’s more my very fussy OH loves them.

https://whitebrasserie.com/


We are going to the White Bear (Ruislip) on Wednesday to sample the Eat out to Help scheme.. but we will also be going back for a meal at the weekend soon too :thumbsup

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Re: Restaurant Chains Closing - sad or not?

Postby Pepper Pig » Mon Aug 17, 2020 10:56 am

Oooh let me know how it goes Pat. Although OH isn't actually up to eating out at the moment as he has a hip problem. We have a GP appointment this morning.

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