When we left for Spain, over a fortnight ago now, we met with our friends who were joining us for the holiday, in our local pub. We all opted for steak, chips and a drink which set us back around seventy pounds. Over the past twenty years all four of us have regularly used the pub and have come to accept that the ever changing staff, bound by corporate red tape, are at best desultory and monosyllabic, at worst rude and hostile. Our steaks (there's either good steak or bad steak) were tough and chewy, the waitress delivered our meals then disappeared for several minutes to get the cutlery and the mustard (she didn't know what French mustard was?)
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that corporate chains employ young people and pay them peanuts to serve us atrocious food, but what mystifies me is that punters seem to be happy with mediocre service and bad ingredients, it's often said: 'The British know the cost of everything and the value of nothing.'
In my experience, having owned a home in Spain for ten years, the dining experience there is altogether different, clearly demonstrated by a delicious meal we enjoyed whilst staying in the Mar Menor region of Murcia.
We decided to try a restaurant which looked rather more contemporary than our usual choice of family run, typical Spanish establishment. The waiting staff were all young, and I suspect on low pay, and the place was jam-packed, therefore our expectations weren't high. However, far from being abrupt or offhand, our waiter was friendly and enthusiastic.
He suggested we try a fresh fish, caught that very day, and brought out two fish for us to look at.
Murcia is one of the best fishing areas of the Spanish Mediterranean and locals often go bottom fishing for all kinds of fish like snapper, sea bream or grouper. Our waiter seemed very proud of the fact that he was offering us a Mero fish caught locally.
Our fish was cooked with a delicious sauce made with olive oil, white wine and garlic.
Our waiter remained attentive and exuberant throughout our meal, it transpired he had briefly worked in London but was glad to be back in Spain. Not only was the food of excellent quality and beautifully delivered, we were made to feel extremely welcome. An elderly British friend of mine who moved to Spain several years ago said to me: 'If you hold out your hands to the Spanish they will grasp them and embrace you wholeheartedly.'
Along with the delicious fish, our waiter brought us tasters of saffron potatoes, king prawns, salad and a dessert of liqueur bread and butter pudding with chocolate ice cream.
As a treat at the end of our meal, our waiter was excited about inviting us to one of his strawberry daiquiris which he presented in a bag!
He then wanted us to meet the chef as he knew he would be delighted that we had enjoyed our meal.
In summary, we were in a beautiful location, eating fresh, delicious ingredients, brought to us by two sincere, ebullient young men. We had a couple of bottles of wine and coffees with our meal, yet, compared with our seventy quids worth of bad steak and beers at The Beefeater, this cost us €120, that's £22 a head!
'It all comes back to the basics. Serve customers the best-tasting food at a good value in a clean, comfortable restaurant and they'll keep coming back.'
- Dave Thomas.
Love Donna xxxx
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