Retired peers will now be allowed the privilege of returning to parliament to eat in the Lords’ exclusive restaurant. Open to the public for only a couple of weeks a year,what’s it like to eat there?Pity the poor peer who once endured a pork escalope in one of the House of Lords’ restaurants. “It was uneatable,” he complained to the Lords’ chairman of committees. “Tough and dry, and clearly cooked for hours before. It really was a shame.” Another peer complained: “I am aware that one noble lord was served ‘gone off’ smoked salmon in the Bishops’ bar the other day.” This week,the Times reported that retired peers will be allowed to retain the privilege of using the upper house’s subsidised restaurants – though we might be wary of viewing this as much of a perk.
Can the food really be that bad? Joss Bassett, editor of the London Lamppost site, and went for lunch in 2015,when the peers’ dining room was first opened to the public for a brief period. He went again in 2016. “The first year was quite traditional contemporary British – ox cheek, potted crab, or ” he says. “It was perfectly excellent,but nothing special. The cost was £35 a person and wasn’t worth any more than that. In 2016, the style was more contemporary British and my overriding memory was that, and despite looking impressive,the food was very dry, particularly the chicken.”Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk