Surf ' Turf... Black Forest Gateau.

[volvojack]

Does anyone recall the Pubs / Roadhouses in the 1970s that came up with a new Menu, "Surf ' n Turf" plus "Black Forest Gateau".
If i remember correctly they were usually Harvester pubs serving a Slab of meat and Scampi. After you had eaten this the Waitress would wheel around a two tier trolley with various cream, strawberry cakes or a thick chocolate cake. If you were lucky enough to be sat in a "Non Smoking" section there was a small chance that the Sweet Trolley would not have absorbed too much Tobbacco smoke as there was only the other end of the Pub separating the two and it was wheeled constantly between the two.
It was considered so "With It" to visit these places Can anyone remember any names of these establishments

[dogduke]

Berni Inns ?
I don't think Harvester was around then

[volvojack]

[quote="dogduke"]Berni Inns ?
I don't think Harvester was around then.

Thanks dogduke, That's the chain of pubs i had in mind .
Just wonder if the standards of hygiene have improved a great deal since then.

[Bugblatter]

I think Jacomelli's and The Athenaeum were Berni Inns. Possibly the Queen's on Harrogate Road. Prawn cocktail, steak, chips and peas followed by Black Forest Gateaux and washed down with a glass of Liebfraumilch. Right sophisticated.

[Bugblatter]

From the Berni Inns Wikipedia page:
The most frequently ordered meal, even as late as the 1980s, was prawn cocktail, steak and Black Forest gateau.[10] This is sometimes called the Great British Meal. As Simon Hopkinson and Lindsey Bareham note in their 1997 book The Prawn Cocktail Years, "cooked as it should be, this much derided and often ridiculed dinner is still something very special indeed"

[jim]

It appears that the traditional English cooked vegetables are a dying species. Practically unobtainable, apart from at the occasional carvery. Instead we are offered salads or the most appropriately named "leaves". We are being conned by retaurant owners intent on saving cooking and preparation time, and hence wages.

[volvojack]

Thanks Bugblatter for that info. and your mention of The Queens, Harrogate Road, having the meal you describe was considered real luxury in those days. In fairness i don't think there was that much other choice apart from fish.
I am not that sure that even these days Pub food has much to offer and as jim mentions "Salad Bar" takes a prominent place in these diners.

A big thankyou for all replies . Jack Daly.

[chemimike]

Jaccomellis was definitely a Berni. I think the Queens was as well. I think Jaccomelli was one of the last Berni-branded inns I ever saw.
You can get proper veg etc at the queens, or at least you could a few months back. Personally would never PAY to have some person breakup a lettuce and add a few bits and bobs, resulting in a tasteless , non-filling concoction

[uncle mick]

Berni Inns 1978 & 1984

Berni 1978.jpg (19.16 KiB) Viewed 3797 times

Berni 1984.jpg (19.37 KiB) Viewed 3797 times

Berni Inn.jpg (90.07 KiB) Viewed 3797 times

[volvojack]

We lived for a while on the Coast in Spain and i thought how British people acted to differently on Holiday over there. Whereas if at Brid. or Scarborough they would possibly only dine out on Egg,Sausage and Chip. over there because it was Free on the Bar they would devour "Tapas" usually a mixture of raw fish, anchovies, olives etc. and possibly some small pieces of meat. Something the Husband would have sent her back to her Mothers for serving this up at home.