words of advice for young people:
if you find yourself in a well to do part of town (where the window frames are all painted heritage colours), if in that area you venture into a small local café where people are sitting reading actual newspapers and novels whilst talking to their builder about how the work is going.....
DO NOT
I repeat DO NOT say to the pretty girl at the counter that you don't know what to order, so just bring me something good, 'surprise me'
you could end up paying £19.85 for a coffee and a salad, a very nice salad admittedly, but 15p change from a twenty for coffee and salad
Having declared 'surprise me' and taking a seat with a flourish and joining the in crowd with my novel, I did notice that little pork pie sized quiches were £5 a pop and I did consider bailing out, but I didn't quite have the balls to declare my error. So I sat there and waited for my lovingly produced taster platter of everything from everywhere all around the world. Roasted parsnips, mung beans, cous cous, various sizes of various seeds, beans, pulses and sprouting stuff. Pommigranite bits, multi coloured leaves, a squirt of dark jelly stuff, a drizzle of orangey coloured stuff. Avocado, sweet potato, apple and whole baby carrots with a little green stem left on. Seriously impressive.
But at the end of the day, salad.
To be fair, I said surprise me. She fulfilled the original brief.