tinnion

This post is about my love hate relationship with a local eatery. I don't want to name the restaurant because I just want to shoot the breeze about  my experience there and I don't wish ill on the place at all. Writing about food is also very difficult to do well so this will be a living post that could grow or contract in size, even vanish and I say this up front because I don't want to readers to think that I have retracted any part of what I say for anything other than the reason of making a better post.

Thanks to Lent 2009 I took up sushi and banished the burger from my life in the name of sacrifice - a  "sacrifice" that ended up being quite easy to do.

It didn't start off easily - the most common reason why people don't go anywhere near sushi is because of the fear of being sick.  Anything eaten raw doesn't quite sound right so we shy away from trying it out.  I felt the same and it was on my mind especially on my first couple of visits because I used to eat regularly at a place in Paddington, but was really ill one day that my sushi days ended abruptly and I stayed away for years.  To be fair, I have had similar experiences with other types of food (currys) and gave them another chance after a while.

So for the past few months I have really enjoyed regular visits to a local sushi restaurant in town.  The staff there are great.  They're attentive, happy, smiley people. They make sure you get a drink within minutes of your arrival  and are happy to take your order when your ready if you choose not to check out what is on display as the plates pass you on the conveyor. I tend to order off the menu (3 plates) then go to the conveyor if I want more. The eating experience is really pleasurable even when dining alone.  The music is good to listen to and they have WIFI so I can feed my internet addiction at the same time :) The food of course is lovely and the main attraction. There's plenty to choose from - it's not all raw fish - I regularly order Chicken Katsu curry which is fantastic and is well balanced in flavour so can happily be eaten alongside the fish dishes ... After a full tummy,  my bill comes in under £10 (per head) which I think's really good and I get a few stamps on a loyalty card to take away with me that will contribute to money off a future bill.

So today, I go to my favourite sushi place - happy to find it open given I have visited there a few times only to see the place shut unnanounced for a few days at a time.   I go in.  The place is busy - it's a Saturday afternoon, and it's about 2pm - not normally this busy but it's good to see and I  get greeted quickly by what appears to be a new member of staff.  I quickly find out that this guy has a cold and is inexperienced.  He thinks it's fine to serve me a warm can of pepsi that he's opened with the hands he's coughed into. He only hands me a glass when requested.  Now at this point, my mind is now firmly focused on the fact that he hasn't cleaned his hands and I start to develop an OCD on cleanliness because the fear of being ill returns and watch him handle anything he passes to me.  I am unhappy that he has hands so close to something that I am going to eat.  He's managed to touch one bit of food - thankfully just a small bit of lettuce which left my plate quickly on arrival. To add insult to injury the Katsu curry on this occsasion was horrid - the curry sauce was so strong it was nothing like what I had eaten on previous visits.  I finished my food, paid up quietly, declined a  loyalty card and left.

So will I go again?  Yes. I am going to give it a month and return to see if things are better.  The other eateries will get my business in the mean time.
What would you do?  I don't think I should complain.  I think this blog post is good enough to get closure on the experience.  If you think what I have written is over the top - it probably is but it shows how much I like the place.

:)

Saw this motor car just ahead of me as I was walking into Caversham. I'm no Top Gear fan so I don't know what make this car is. Tis nice though.
 
Btw the video clip was recorded on my new iPhone. I'm still getting used to using and somehow stopped the recording as the car drove past :)

[edit: this post is a bit of a FAIL :) I just got home and found that the clip plays back nearly twice as fast on the computer vs the phone - i'll know for next time]

I don't want this blog to be serious so I have posted a picture of a cat I found lurking by a car while I was on my way into town. And Yes, I did contemplate buying readingmeows.com and pointing it to this site but felt better not just in case I cause an uproar (pun intended) with the owner of a very well respected blog known well to the Reading community :)

I personally would like to know what the cat was thinking. Maybe it was conjuring up a plot of some sort. Whatever the moggy was doing  it looked cute at the same time.  btw. If you didn't know, I adore cats and would love to have one of my own some day.

If you have a cat please post a piccie in the comments :)  Small dogs are cool too.

:D

There's been a flurry of interest in Twitter recently from local businesses in my home town of Reading.

It's been great to see the press kick things off, and there has been some notable engagement between people from a paper and the local community.

One of the best things is getting to see the names and faces of the people behind these organisations.  They're doing it right because they engage on a personal level as well as talk about what they do and this allows us to grow more of a natural interest in what they do..

Unfortunately, not every one has the innate ability to use a platform like Twitter in the same way, so recently we (the #rdg followers) have dealt with lots of what could be considered spam - one way/one dimensional tweets.  For me, it is super important to engage us with a face, a personality and not hide away behind the curtain of your company name.  Please let us know about _you_ and get involved in the conversation first then after that start to set a tempo to talk about what you do.  It's quite simple really, show that you're genuinely interested in us and we will do the same, and if we like you lots then expect to see the locals talking about you positively and drive business naturally your way.