Carvery Food

Cold War Kid · 26-07-2015 01:34PM

Goalposts being moved. Earlier it was that carvery food is all muck, now it's that the choice is too limited.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 26-07-2015 01:38PM

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

So don't go to one then!

Are you the type that stands in a Burger King sulking at the staff member for not having a roast peach & parma ham salad?

I try to avoid them, if at all possible. Why would I complain about them and then willingly frequent them?

As for Burger King, I have never been in one; nor McDonalds, KFC etc.

I'm in my 70s and set in my ways when it comes to food.

Amirani · 26-07-2015 01:39PM

Haven't really had a carvery that I've liked. Meat tends to be cooked considerably more than I like and the vegetables are typically boiled and far softer than I like.

"Sunday dinners" you make at home are far more enjoyable when you can play around with different herbs on your joints of meat and different cooking styles.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 26-07-2015 01:39PM

Cold War Kid wrote: »

Goalposts being moved. Earlier it was that carvery food is all muck, now it's that the choice is too limited.

Combine the two and you've nailed it. Well done.

Baraics Pollox · 26-07-2015 01:39PM

Ah yes, bating up the N7 on a drizzly Sunday afternoon, the suspension in the Passat sagging to fook as Aunt Margaret is pushing 17 stone and on her third hip, one for every chin. The bellow of diesel smoke out the back as the car nears the location of the sunday carvery.

After getting soaked helping Aunt Margaret out of the back, dirtying the sunday slacks against the side of the car, the shuffle toward the door begins.

Upon entering, the pang of gravy and beef start the juices flowing. Aunt M causes the usual ructions, can't making up her mind before deciding on "a bit of everything there lad".

After getting seated at the table near the jax, unsure if its the sprouts or the open door, kids mill around, banging elbows and battering ear drums.

Once stuffed to the gills, the sagging arses move towards the trusty Passat, 130 pounds of cow **** under the arches, make the way home in the drizzle before sitting on the couch for the evening, belting out ripe fumes from the feed of shpuds and gravy.

Ah, Sundays.

Huntergonzo · 26-07-2015 01:43PM

Miranda Muscular Vegetation wrote: »

The problem with a carvery is that all you can choose between is usually roast beef, roast turkey or roast ham. In a normal restaurant I can actually order something I'd like to eat.

Again to be fair good carveries will have more choice than that, anyway if I'm getting a carvery I'll occasionally go for roast turkey but generally speaking I don't go for the meat at all.

I prefer the mountain of spuds (roast & mash), pile of stuffing, bucket of gravy, mound of veg, yorkshire puddin' and a pound of butter and salt on the side, mmmmmm that's the job

murpho999 · 26-07-2015 01:48PM

BoJack Horseman wrote: »

Why are you assuming that overcooked food is exclusively the realm of carvery.... or that every carvery features same?.... We know neither is the case!

The only difference between ordering roast beef in a normal restaurant vs a carvery, is that in the former, you don't see the chef slicing the meat.

Well there you go.

I don't know many normal restaurants that serve 'roast beef'. Also if you did then you would have a choice as to how it's cooked unlike the well done that is on offer in carveries.

I think restaurants serve food with more creativity and imagination than that.

Also if you think that the difference between restaurant food and carvery is just the chef slicing the meat in front of you then there's not a lot more I can say.

Riverireland · 26-07-2015 01:51PM

Miranda Muscular Vegetation wrote: »

I try to avoid them, if at all possible. Why would I complain about them and then willingly frequent them?

As for Burger King, I have never been in one; nor McDonalds, KFC etc.

I'm in my 70s and set in my ways when it comes to food.

Wow, never been in a fast food joint, fair play!! And you have embraced the internet, not stuck in your ways. What is your ideal Sunday lunch? Just curious.

4zn76tysfajdxp · 26-07-2015 01:56PM

Carvery food is grand if you're hungover or feeling immensely lazy and you don't mind shovelling ****, dried food down your gullet.

OldMrBrennan83 · 26-07-2015 01:58PM

This post has been deleted.

BoJack Horseman · 26-07-2015 01:59PM

murpho999 wrote: »

I don't know many normal restaurants that serve 'roast beef'.

Seriously?
Places call it 'saddle' or 'loin' but its just roasted beef.

Also if you did then you would have a choice as to how it's cooked unlike the well done that is on offer in carveries.

Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't.... and again, you are assuming all carvery joints are overcooked, when they aren't.
I've seen many a carvery joint pretty pink in the middle.

I think restaurants serve food with more creativity and imagination than that.

I'd hope so for double the price.

Also if you think that the difference between restaurant food and carvery is just the chef slicing the meat in front of you then there's not a lot more I can say.

Admittedly, I've only worked in three restaurants in my time, & it was years ago, so my experience is limited.
However if it was the lunch time carvery or the evening service, the produce came from the same butcher with little difference in prep.
Those little differences allowed the 100% price increase.

biko · 26-07-2015 02:04PM

"Wanna go to a carvery?"
"Hell no!"

"Wanna go to Burger King?"
"Yes!"

Buona Fortuna · 26-07-2015 02:11PM

I'm not so bothered about a carvery, as someone said above the meat tends to be over cooked.

But what really gets my goat is if you order roast lamb somewhere and what gets served is three thin slices that obviously came out of a packet.

FFS, look at the window if we can't serve a decent bit of lamb or beef here we're trully fcuked.

Thank you, I'll go and lay down now.

RomanKnows · 26-07-2015 02:12PM

Most of these carvery places are buying in the same pre-prepared joints of cheap meat, the same bags of vegetables and trays of roast potatoes. It's a reheat and serve operation. Margins are huge on it.

It's grand if you just fancy a feed before hoovering back more pints. The idea that's it's particularly tasty or healthy is laughable though. That gravy is laced with fats and salt to disguise the fact the food underneath it is cheap fare.

moleyv · 26-07-2015 02:13PM

Carverys have their place.

For me its not Sundays but mid week the odd time when out and about with work, it can be handy and nice on cold days to get a big dinner in.

NachoBusiness · 26-07-2015 02:14PM

biko wrote: »

"Wanna go to Burger King?"
"Yes!"

From when I was a kid I always used to get a sense that I had eaten window putty after I had been to BK. Kept saying it to people and they thought I was looped, I may well be, but many years later I read an article online that pretty much said that the oil BK fry with contains a ton of a silicone antifoaming agent, the very same silicone that is used to make window seal / putty. What I'm saying is, I'm a savant.

Means Of Escape · 26-07-2015 02:16PM

"I'll have some beef please"
"No problem let me get the chainsaw it's been under the lamp for 5 hours"

NachoBusiness · 26-07-2015 02:17PM

Never, ever eat anywhere that keeps their chainsaw under a lamp.

Links234 · 26-07-2015 02:20PM

All this talk of carvery is giving me a serious hunger... I could seriously go for one now, if I wasn't broke

FortySeven · 26-07-2015 02:35PM

Having worked in the food industry most of my life I can say this, carveries are not dried food. This suggestion is just ridiculous. Who the hell buys dried meats and potatoes? They are widely available and cheap fresh.

For those of us who think rice, pasta and other fillers like oatmeal are tasteless and reminiscent of chewing plastic, carverys are the last bastion of decent, honest food.

This modern fascination with being different has brought the most hideous ideas about food into our midst. Who cares what it looks like? it's all going down the same hole. I wish I could get a carvery meal liquidised in a glass with a straw. Instant satisfaction.

We cook at home, every meal and we never use anything processed. Meat and two veg with lashings of spuds is the family favourite. Carvery is just a bit more convenient once in a while.

Those who go out to restaurants and pay through the nose for a plate of Durum wheat with a splash of tinned tomato sauce and a handful of Basil are the fools. They don't realise the margin they are paying. In a way I commend them, they subsidise the lower margins of the carvery, takes a lot longer to grow a cow than a field of wheat.

suicide_circus · 26-07-2015 02:35PM

Miranda Muscular Vegetation wrote: »

I try to avoid them, if at all possible. Why would I complain about them and then willingly frequent them?

As for Burger King, I have never been in one; nor McDonalds, KFC etc.

I'm in my 70s and set in my ways when it comes to food.

A lot of people would assume that someone like yourself in your 70s would be all over a carvery lunch (assuming you're from the British isles I suppose). If you were out and about on a sunday lunchtime, what would you go for foodwise?

OldMrBrennan83 · 26-07-2015 02:41PM

This post has been deleted.

Right Turn Clyde · 26-07-2015 02:42PM

FortySeven wrote: »

Having worked in the food industry most of my life I can say this, carveries are not dried food. This suggestion is just ridiculous. Who the hell buys dried meats and potatoes? They are widely available and cheap fresh.

For those of us who think rice, pasta and other fillers like oatmeal are tasteless and reminiscent of chewing plastic, carverys are the last bastion of decent, honest food.

This modern fascination with being different has brought the most hideous ideas about food into our midst. Who cares what it looks like? it's all going down the same hole. I wish I could get a carvery meal liquidised in a glass with a straw. Instant satisfaction.

We cook at home, every meal and we never use anything processed. Meat and two veg with lashings of spuds is the family favourite. Carvery is just a bit more convenient once in a while.

Those who go out to restaurants and pay through the nose for a plate of Durum wheat with a splash of tinned tomato sauce and a handful of Basil are the fools. They don't realise the margin they are paying. In a way I commend them, they subsidise the lower margins of the carvery, takes a lot longer to grow a cow than a field of wheat.

What about people that genuinely like trying different types of foods and flavours? I ate in a restaurant in Kilkenny recently and there is simply no way I would ever be able to cook something to that standard. It takes remarkable skill and I feel so privileged to be able to try things like that in my life. I eat out as often as I can and I make a point of trying foods from all over the world. No, I'm not a hipster, or from Dublin, or any other generalisation that's often thrown at people who like more than meat and two veg. I like carvery as much as the next man, but I'm not bound to eat potatoes for the rest of my natural life.

Wabbit Ears · 26-07-2015 02:46PM

Carverys are brillaiant. Its a full proper dinner without the hassle of cooking it yourself. NO pretence, no fancy anything, meat, spuds and veg....

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 26-07-2015 02:48PM

suicide_circus wrote: »

A lot of people would assume that someone like yourself in your 70s would be all over a carvery lunch (assuming you're from the British isles I suppose). If you were out and about on a sunday lunchtime, what would you go for foodwise?

Irish born and bred. I go to a restaurant, or even pub grub, but preferably not a carvery.

Links234 · 26-07-2015 02:52PM

FortySeven wrote: »

Having worked in the food industry most of my life I can say this, carveries are not dried food. This suggestion is just ridiculous. Who the hell buys dried meats and potatoes? They are widely available and cheap fresh.

I think what some people meant to say is that the meat can be dried out from being overcooked or sitting there for too long.

mfceiling · 26-07-2015 02:54PM

Baraics Pollox wrote: »

Ah yes, bating up the N7 on a drizzly Sunday afternoon, the suspension in the Passat sagging to fook as Aunt Margaret is pushing 17 stone and on her third hip, one for every chin. The bellow of diesel smoke out the back as the car nears the location of the sunday carvery.

After getting soaked helping Aunt Margaret out of the back, dirtying the sunday slacks against the side of the car, the shuffle toward the door begins.

Upon entering, the pang of gravy and beef start the juices flowing. Aunt M causes the usual ructions, can't making up her mind before deciding on "a bit of everything there lad".

After getting seated at the table near the jax, unsure if its the sprouts or the open door, kids mill around, banging elbows and battering ear drums.

Once stuffed to the gills, the sagging arses move towards the trusty Passat, 130 pounds of cow **** under the arches, make the way home in the drizzle before sitting on the couch for the evening, belting out ripe fumes from the feed of shpuds and gravy.

Ah, Sundays.

The greatest post ever on boards.

My kids are laughing at me as I laugh at this. Well done OP, seriously well done!!

Tin Foil Hat · 26-07-2015 03:02PM

I'm not a fussy eater, so it doesn't bother me that carvery food is usually mediocre. It's the service, or lack there of.
Queuing up with a tray in the hope that there'll still be a table free by the time you are served. Or have someone hold a table, so a group of people who go to have lunch together end up eating in stages. Rinse and repeat if you want a desert. You want a drink with your Lunch? Then make a second stop at the bar before sitting down to your food. I fukking hate it.
Give me a menu and send a waitress to take my order or you are not getting my custom.

murpho999 · 26-07-2015 03:08PM

FortySeven wrote: »

Having worked in the food industry most of my life I can say this, carveries are not dried food. This suggestion is just ridiculous. Who the hell buys dried meats and potatoes? They are widely available and cheap fresh.

For those of us who think rice, pasta and other fillers like oatmeal are tasteless and reminiscent of chewing plastic, carverys are the last bastion of decent, honest food.

This modern fascination with being different has brought the most hideous ideas about food into our midst. Who cares what it looks like? it's all going down the same hole. I wish I could get a carvery meal liquidised in a glass with a straw. Instant satisfaction.

We cook at home, every meal and we never use anything processed. Meat and two veg with lashings of spuds is the family favourite. Carvery is just a bit more convenient once in a while.

Those who go out to restaurants and pay through the nose for a plate of Durum wheat with a splash of tinned tomato sauce and a handful of Basil are the fools. They don't realise the margin they are paying. In a way I commend them, they subsidise the lower margins of the carvery, takes a lot longer to grow a cow than a field of wheat.

Don't get this at all, when I go to a restaurant then I want food that I wouldn't be able to get at home.
A skilled chef that is creative and makes imaginative dishes that are very tasty are worth the extra money that you may pay.

For example, if you go to a Michelin star establishment, where you pay for the whole experience from service, ambienceetc
The food is more complex and unique than anything you can do at home or get in a run of the mill restarant (there are bad ones out there) then that's what you're paying for.

Dodge · 26-07-2015 03:09PM

The idea that someone is a hipster because they don't enjoy carvery food is gas

As is the idea that this immensely popular way of eating has the same food under a lamp for 5 hours

Luckily people no one is forced into either a carvery or any 'pretentious' restaurant. People can spend their money how they like

Carvery Food

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