WHO'S SELLING THE BEST ROAST DINNER IN THANET? - We take a look at the one plate of food everyone has an opinion on and ask is it worth eating out at all?

There is one meal in the UK upon which all restaurants can be measured against. 

The Sunday Roast Dinner.

The modest roast dinner is the only dish that may be more easily associated with Britain. (Oh, perhaps fish & chips, that's another story.)

It has a long history, with regional variations depending on what is readily accessible locally. It has now transcended boundaries and differences to come together to form the plate of food that today is largely accepted.

A dish like that is not without controversy. Given that it is a plate of food which has a place in our hearts, the question of what goes on what will never be fully resolved.

Our love and appreciation of come cooking has been whipped up to soft peaks by the plethora of TV superstar chefs, who had made it cool to spend hundreds on ingredients and whip up a professional restaurant standard meal at home for shits n giggles.

This is a dish that we have all cooked at home. We have all marvelled at our outstanding successes, but  apologised in equal measure for gambling on the Brisket which you picked up because it was cheap. 

You picked it up thinking you had just discovered the life hack that no one knows about, because you've seen them do it on the telly. 

You saw that if you browned it in a pan first and then roasted it so it remains pink in the middle then this will mean it will be moist and beautiful. 

Oh how smug you felt when you carved those slices. You stick two fingers up behind your partners back who annoyingly told you that Brisket needed long slow cooking, as you relish in your moment of triumph. 

Haters are always gonna hate.

However once you've  placed it proudly and purposely on the plate, and licked it with your pan juices (thickened with Bisto) only then to bear witness to the horrifically uncomfortable strain on your guests faces, akin to cows chewing the cud.

The awkward silence of concentration at the art of chewing respectfully, broken by the sound of grannies false teeth clacking together. 

Then you have to apologise and say that it's never normally like that, and it must be the new oven. Your partner wryly smirks but keeps quiet.

We've all been there.

So eating out is where and when all your roasting fantasies are role played out on a plate, this where you expect perfection, incredible food never seen from your own kitchen.

This is where your inner food critic explodes from your body like Ridley Scott's Alien. 

It had better perform, it had better not be a catfishing creep. 

There's no pressure then!

I have worked in the hospitality industry, I've seen how quickly a beautifully charming person with a warm gentile nature, who's smiling face can turn into that babys screwed up wincing face that's just tasted lemon juice, only more exaggerated.

I have been on the recieving end of upset customers, nostrils flaring, spittle flying from their mouths as they express their disgust at the crispy potatoes while holding them up to show me, and then throwing them back on their plate sending gravy splattering, wagging a semi errect carrot in my face to demonstrate that it isn't cooked enough, and stabbing at their slices of the prime cut, free range roast forerib of Beef, because the texture and colour is not what they like, the fact fat which gives flavour and attitude shouldn't be in the meat, and without fail the words "I can do better at home" being screamed over their shoulder while they hastily yank grandad out of his chair and drag him out of the building, not paying for anything. 

All the while the neighbouring diners are perfectly satisfied, husband's avoiding eye contact with their wives for fear of being expected to chip-in, jump on the band wagon.

Oh boy, you can totally understand why some pubs and restaurants stay well clear of such a volatile ticking bomb. 

SO, LETS TUCK IN...

In principle a roast dinner has 3 main elements. Roasted meat (or substitute), roasted potatoes and vegetables. 

This is your base, the key stone, the holy trinity, no one is gonna argue that.

Then it's a free for all, the long fued and debate over what goes with what is long gone. None of these optional extras are excluded anymore, and if they are there, then you want them: 

Yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets, stuffing, red cabbage, cauliflower cheese, and while we are at it thow on extra cheese sauce, mint sauce, bread sauce, mustard, horse radish, the list is almost endless, and when you can get no more on the plate, drown it all in thick gravy.

SO, WHAT DO WE WANT WHEN WE EAT OUT?

Let's talk eating out and how we measure a roast dinner:

QUALITY - COST - CONVENIENCE.

These simple words define the reason people will come to you, and return. Or not.

It's nice to go for a family meal in nice surroundings, it's convenient. No prep, no sweat, no clearing up. 

However, If the quality is not as good as you can do at home, and you are paying a high price, well then you are not going to come back, the notion of convenience is lost.

Not only that, you will tell your friends it was disappointing and expensive.

This situation is worse than a collapsed Yorkshire pud.

If this has had you nodding in agreement then this is going to have people spitting out their teeth, this is going to divide the room, but hear me out....

If you are selling food in a pub or restaurant, and you sell a roast dinner at £20 per head that looks smaller than a kids plate of food at the Toby Carvery, has less spuds than fingers on one hand and has nothing incredible about it, then you have your head in the clouds.

Indeed, some places are selling a roast dinner for nearly £30 a plate in Thanet, plenty in-between at £25, so what is it that sets these so far apart?

This isn't an advert for the Toby Carvery by the way. It is simply the measure of comparison for Quality - Cost - Convenience.

An adult roast dinner from the Toby from the unlimited top up menu is £12.99 with a selection of meats, and all the trimmings.

If you are selling a roast dinner in a pub or restaurant for £13 or above that cannot stand next to a plate from the Toby and offer free top ups then you are kidding yourself. People will vote with their feet, never to return unless they have to because they are invited as part of a group, and even then their eyes will burn a hole in your soul.

What about a good standard roast at my local?

If you are putting out a average roast dinner at £12 with basic veg and roast potatoes you can count on one hand, then I would suggest you are not competative enough.

You are not hitting one of the markers using the measure of Cost - Quality - Convenience . 

Verses 

If you are putting out a premium price roast dinner with ingredients you can't get at the Toby like...(and there aren't many) well, unless you want a slice of steak on your plate there isn't anything they don't do really...

But if you are in a nicer location and surroundings for over £20 you are totally pitching to the type of people that are looking to be amazed, to be treated, to me blown away. 

You better deliver incredible or you are going to get all 3 of your spuds thrown at you, mark my words! 

The happy spot.

In my opinion, and as unwanted as it may be, but an outstanding roast dinner should be around £15 to hit that sweet spot of Quality - Cost - Convenience, as it represents value for money.

That won't sit well with those charging £25, they will yelp in self defence of quality and service... But it's still over £12 a plate more expensive than a Toby, and that adds up for a family looking for quality and convenience. 

That adds up very quickly.

It can't be hard to see where I am coming from?

I know some people will say oh I don't like going to the Toby, you pay extra for the location at nicer places etc.. I totally agree, I like going to nicer places too.

But when the expected outstanding food flounders into expensive mediocrity, you can't eat a location.

We have some incredible Pubs and Restaurants in Thanet, but some need waking up, don't you agree?

So, shout them out, make a comment below. 

Where would you rush to go back to, and why?

Or 

Where have you been and felt underwhelmed?

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