We were interested in a report issued this week on the Ten Greatest Restaurant Swindles.
1. Sea bass or not? Once cooked, the prime fillet of sea bass can be hard to identify – and there are many lookalike, imposter species being dressed up as the original. Among the counterfeit fish recently identified in Britain's kitchens by local authorities were the Patagonian toothfish – which is often sold under the moniker of "sea bass".
Royal Oak Sea Bass is ... Sea Bass. Guaranteed!!2. Plastic saladsSupermarket bagged salads are full of additives, deteriorate rapidly, and have been vilified as an environmental disaster. But while it may be acceptable to crack open a bag in the comfort of your own home, there's no excuse for serving the stuff in a restaurant. But most pub chains do use pre-prepared salad to garnish their burgers and fries.
Our kitchen is crammed with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers - honestly!!
3. Instant egg, and other powders in a packetAccording to Government food policy officer Les Bailey, the appearance of the words " made from natural ingredients" on menus should set alarm bells ringing. The officer, who oversees trading standards in British restaurants, has heard of countless examples of the less work-intensive powdered egg being passed off as scrambled. Less common is powdered potato – often conspicuous by its ever-present lumps – but still passed off by crafty caterers as genuine mash.
Powdered Egg????? John would kill us!! Our eggs are free range and laid by our local hens - just a few hundred yards from our front door!
4. Reformed ham, chicken or scampi
It's common for eateries to pass off scampi tails glued together with additives as "scampi" pieces. They can even be minced scampi that has been breaded. This is " reformed scampi", a turn-off for menu-writers.
Reformed? NO!!!!!
5. When "organic" equals factory-farmed
Foodies love organic meat, and are willing to pay vastly inflated prices in the belief that it's healthier and tastes better. But not every restaurant plays by the rules. In December, a Notting Hill eaterie frequented by Kate Moss, Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue was fined £7,500 for falsely claiming that meat it was using was organic.
When we do say Organic, we mean organic. But more often than not we serve honest to goodness meat. And we cook it well too!
6. Dodgy drinksDrinks can account for half a typical restaurant bill, so it's little surprise that canny outlets use every trick in the book to increase their margins. Always check that the label on your wine bottle tallies with the menu – cheaper vintages are often substituted in the hope that a diner won't notice.
Check our wine list - it does what it says on the tin.
7. The fishy business of "wild" salmon
It is little wonder, given how many times we are told that farmed salmon is full of toxic nasties, that people are prepared to pay a fortune for the wild variety. However, research by the Food Standards Agency reveals that up to 15 per cent of fish labelled as "wild" is actually farmed. Its survey found that 10 per cent of "wild" sea bass on menus was farmed, rising to 11 per cent of sea bream and 15 per cent of salmon. The reason is purely financial. Farmed fish is much cheaper than wild: in markets wild salmon can cost £30 per kg, while the farmed variety can cost from just £4.20 per kg.
When we use Salmon, we always tell you the source. We sometimes use farmed salmon - which cooked right tastes just great and is priced reasonably to reflect its quality.
8. When "home cooked" means microwaved
The term " home-cooked" that is scrawled across many a pub chalkboard is meaningless. Ideally, steak-and-kidney pies, pasties and apple pies should be prepared on-site with enough genuine effort to be called " home-cooked ".
When we say home cooked, we mean home cooked. Period!
9. Boil-in-the-bag main course
The "pub grub" industry needs to produce reliable food, fast. Many outlets therefore resort to serving "boil-in-the-bag" main courses, which chefs tend to call " sous vide" – a nebulous (if gourmet-licious) term that literally translates as "in a vacuum". It is, for example, almost impossible to lay one's teeth on a freshly cooked lamb shank in UK pubs (including Mr Dancer's), because it can take up to five hours to cook. Boil-in-the-bag can be heated up in minutes.
Not even worth commenting on. Our competitors may - but we never use boil in the bag!
10. Line-caught lies
"Line-caught" conjures up images of an artisan fisher with a rod. What it actually means is that an ugly great trawler has crossed the ocean with several hundred yards of nylon and hooks hanging out the back, indiscriminately killing all sea life as well as the occasional albatross. Even then, line-caught fish is more expensive than farmed or netted alternatives, since it is normally fresher and its flesh firmer. Most consumers cannot taste the difference, and an estimated 5 per cent is mislabelled by disreputable outlets or suppliers.
We serve unpretentious food. So 'line caught doesn't enter the equation.
