The Return of the Rolling Roadside Eaterie Thread: Or The End of Little Chef Part 2.

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I wanted to bring this...
http://ilx.thehold.net/thread.php?msgid=72271
...over here because I am still keen to hear anybodys recommendations (and/or see their photos) of roadside foodplaces here, in the rest of europe and the world wide world.

The Little Chef story goes on. One of their (many) problems was it's lack of consistency which is pointed up on the comments on this article...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6232425.stm

Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Friday, 5 January 2007 14:13 (eighteen years ago)

i went to a Little Chef only once in my life (the one on the A23 between Brighton and Crawley), had a fry-up akin to supermarket cafeteria standards. won't miss them but yeah would be interesting to hear of GOOD A-road-side eateries.

reverto levidensis (blueski), Friday, 5 January 2007 14:15 (eighteen years ago)

tale:

We went in and ordered an Omelette.

LC: "We can't do Omelette, the suppliers didn't ship us any".
Us: "You have eggs though"
LC: "Yes, but we haven't any omelettes"

(Basically, they put them in the michaelwave, zap, that's it. Thanks, chef)

mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 5 January 2007 14:18 (eighteen years ago)

Which was their problem - if you went to a crap one (of which there were many and by all accounts increasing) then you never went again.

Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Friday, 5 January 2007 14:41 (eighteen years ago)

i liked the lollipops they gave you as a kid if you cleared your plate - mmm, boiled sugar...

i am not a nugget (stevie), Friday, 5 January 2007 17:21 (eighteen years ago)

as promised, stet, mädchen, non-ilx0r phil and myself went to the one on the A82 at dumbarton today. it was:

a) all but empty, apart from a couple of teenage goths, a very fat woman and her pal in what looked like a wig, and a bored-looking couple next to us. oh, and a dude sitting by the bogs eating a baked potato. BAKED POTATO? ponce. it's a little chef. have something fried. (mädchen: "if it's deep-fried, at least you know it's properly cooked.)

b) not cheap. two quid shy of 50 smackers for four olypmic breakfasts, eight teas, four pancakes and stet's "extra hash browns" (in a little bowl).

c) surprisingly tasty, although the pancakes (freshly made!) were thicker than breezeblocks and none of us could finish them. (stet: "aw fuck, it's got cherries in it. i hate cherries." everyone else: "WHY ORDER A CHERRY PANCAKE, THEN, YOU TIT?")

mädchen did find something dubious attached to her egg, and my sausage tasted, just for a second, of cigarette ash. but ... well, i've had worse.

i've had substantially better, though.

i can't quite put my finger on what's wrong with the place. whoever pointed out that the only papers you can buy are richard bloody desmond's might well have summed it up. that's just morally corrupt.

then we went to aberfoyle and made our own impromptu pub quiz, much to the consternation of the pub's owners. attempts to involve alext by phone were unsuccessful.

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 6 January 2007 20:20 (eighteen years ago)

Research can be fun!
For £50 you could probably buy a whole Little Chef in a few months.
Anyway well done. I shall endeavour to visit one next week and perhaps another 'greasy spoon' (perhaps one recomended in this book..which I have just purchased...)
http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/0749546751.02._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
"A great little book" says Sally 'traffic' Boazman...

Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Saturday, 6 January 2007 21:40 (eighteen years ago)

now you need to purchase a comedy dragster in order to go there in style.

wish we'd thought to take pictures. the only one i think we've got is of an old chip van in aberfoyle. for sale, too. hmmm. a career change beckons ...

grimly fiendish (grimlord), Saturday, 6 January 2007 21:56 (eighteen years ago)

in the eastern US HOWARD JOHNSON'S was the roadside eatery of choice

http://www.roadsidefans.com/late40s1.jpg

m coleman (lovebug starski), Saturday, 6 January 2007 22:22 (eighteen years ago)

HoJo's: famous for ice cream and New England delicacies like fried clam rolls, clam chowder, hot dogs w/baked beans & brown bread.

m coleman (lovebug starski), Saturday, 6 January 2007 22:25 (eighteen years ago)

The new owners of Little Chef have a webpage where you can tell them what you think of the rescue deal.
http://www.little-chef.co.uk/rescuedeal.php

Asking around I've found a surprising amount of love out there for the LC, but it mostly comes from people who don't actually eat in them.

Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Thursday, 11 January 2007 10:46 (eighteen years ago)

little chefs: overpriced and vile. always seemed to end up on one on the A1. never happy about that

i'd like to go the truck cafe at Alconbury on the A1, but somehow have never been

Storefront Church (688), Thursday, 11 January 2007 10:54 (eighteen years ago)

I don't know what a fried clam roll is but I want one SO MUCH right now.

=== temporary username === (Mark C), Thursday, 11 January 2007 12:32 (eighteen years ago)

I like Little Chef (have you ever eaten one of the motorway service station alternatives) but am reminded of the description of the sausages by a food critic as roadkill in a condom. :(

Treblekicker (treblekicker), Thursday, 11 January 2007 14:29 (eighteen years ago)

Having just visited the female student toilets on the 3rd floor of the McC4nc3 Building at 5tr4thc1yd3 University, I can report that they have the exact same colour scheme as the Little Chef on the A82: orange wood and with maroon trim.

Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 11 January 2007 14:38 (eighteen years ago)

I don't know what a fried clam roll is but I want one SO MUCH right now.

http://www.seaswirlofmystic.com/images/ss_clamroll.jpg

lauren (laurenp), Thursday, 11 January 2007 15:24 (eighteen years ago)

ten months pass...

With many Little Chef's closed or up for sale have any of their replacements caught your attention. Is there anywhere worth eating in on the British road system?

Ned Trifle II, Wednesday, 21 November 2007 11:02 (seventeen years ago)

worth?

no.

Mark G, Wednesday, 21 November 2007 11:16 (seventeen years ago)

Mark's talking crap, £9.50 for reheated burger and chips is a bargain.

Dom Passantino, Wednesday, 21 November 2007 11:28 (seventeen years ago)

one year passes...

Revive!

Which is what Heston Blumenthal is hoping to do for Little Chef.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2008/nov/27/heston-blumenthal-little-chef

Holden McGroin (Ned Trifle II), Friday, 28 November 2008 11:23 (sixteen years ago)

Here's the menu...
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2008/11/28/Little_Chef_Blumenthal_temporary_menu.pdf

Holden McGroin (Ned Trifle II), Friday, 28 November 2008 11:32 (sixteen years ago)

The All New Ol ympic Breakfast £6.95
Served all day
Two Little Chef outdoor-bred British pork sausages,
two rashers of Wiltshire-cured back bacon, two griddled
free-range eggs, a slice of Ramsay of Carluke black pudding,
a roasted field mushroom served with either Heinz baked
beans or a char-grilled tomato. A slice of toasted bloomer
bread and butter.

Holden McGroin (Ned Trifle II), Friday, 28 November 2008 11:33 (sixteen years ago)

Ramsay of Carluke!

(I thought this might have been an in-joke but on Googling the firm exists!)

Brother Belcher (Marcello Carlin), Friday, 28 November 2008 13:48 (sixteen years ago)


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