Horror story in London

[hairy.bob]

Arrrggghhh and Yuk to boot! I was sprinting from meeting to meeting on the Horseferry road yesterday and was desparate for a coffee. Eschewing Starbucks I did what I promised never to do again and went into Pret for a double espresso - YUK and Blegghh it was like sucking on charcoal briquette. In fact it was so bad I took it back and got my money back which they happily gave me!!! It can't have been isolated as on the way out I bumped into an old friend who was just abandoning a cap which he said also tasted burned.

Later... went into a coffee shop at the other (river) end of Horseferry Road and ordered a double espresso - watched in horror as they picked up a PF from the counter, examined it, saw that it was still full of grounds and after trying to knock them out resorted to trying to dig what was clearly a very cold and *very* solid cake out of the PF with a fork. I didn't hang around to find out if they were successful.

Much later... went to Casellas just of Salisbury Sq (just off Fleet street) v good espresso - slightly fruity at the start with general smoothness a slight bitter lingering after taste and just the right amount of body. It was so good that I stuck around and had another just for the taste of it.
Didn't watch the technique but would happily recommend it to anyone around Fleet Street in need of a coffee in working hours.

[pault]

I found the "quite happily" bit funny!!

British service staff just seem immune to the notion of having pride in what's being offered to the customer ...

I once returned a croissant that had been microwaved to oblivion and was inedible - same cheerful return of money - no hint that they realised what they were doing was just totally unacceptable ...

moan, moan ...

Grumpy Paul.

[RobC]

I have a very good friend who always asks for a doppio when he drinks espresso out - undoubtedly he gets either an Americano, 8floz cup filled by running the portafilt shot a few times (eugh) and even once a latte (?). On return of the offending beverage and asking for the manager an (almost) correct replacement is supplied for free. But is this savvy buying or preying on the ill advised chains?

I found amusing at the weekend that a 28 year old european businessman purchased a £120,000 Ferrari and within 15 minutes of driving from the dealer had written it off and caused another £120,000 worth of damage to parked cars and buildings - the moral being even the most advanced equipment and ingredients are worthless in untrained hands.....

[Gouezeri]

the moral being even the most advanced equipment and ingredients are worthless in untrained hands.....

Whereas a good hefty wooden mallet.....
D

[hairy.bob]

To be fair, the most advanced equipment and ingredients can also be (and often are) worthless in even the best trained hands in which case the wooden mallet is the only alternative for any sanity...

[hairy.bob]

To be fair, the most advanced equipment and ingredients can also be (and often are) worthless in even the best trained hands in which case the wooden mallet is the only alternative for any sanity...

[RobC]

To be fair, I do love my Mallet. Maybe too much. Never liked the shape of this laptop either.......

[wang]

I once ordered a cappacino in a shop which looked nice enough, saw a pitcher frothed to the brim with giant space foam and decided to cancel my order politely. Watching most 'baristas' froth is a very harrowing experience in dublin.

[Gouezeri]

Which brings me to one of my rules of thumb... only ever drink in bars/cafés where you can actually see stuff being prepared... if the barista can hide behind a machine, you probably don't want to see what they are making... but if you can watch over their shoulder (preferably while in a queue), you can follow all the steps and see whether they are doing things properly and whether you mightn't be better off with a bottle of water or something similar from the fridge instead of that double ristretto you fancied.... I also like to get a good look at the grinder as well.... if it's holding enough beans for a week and the doser (easy Paul... easy....) is dutifully being topped up so that there's always a good 100g of stale coffee... then there's a fair chance I'm going to order something with lots of milk in it, if anything at all....
And if all else fails... now where did I put that mallet....
D

[moccafaux]

A woodenh mallet is always the correct tool to use on any 20something year old who drives an expensive car.

[hairy.bob]

Sometimes, (most mornings) you could just stop that sentance after the word "old" - grump, grump, grump....