Yacht Club nosh

[Violetta]

Yacht Clubs - diehard exponents of all that is unimaginative, dismal and joyless in English "cooking". Standards of public catering have gone up be leaps and bounds in the last 20 years or so, but dinner at "the Club" (any club) is still, for me, at least, an occasion for dread. Are there any good ones?

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[Mirelle]

I remember one good yacht club meal - at the Royal Ulster YC. But maybe I was extra hungry.

A friend had a good meal at West Mersea, where he is not a Member, quite recently, and congratulated the manager; she said, "I wish some of the Members would notice!"

We held our wedding reception at the Royal Hong Kong YC - the food was pretty grim! (we had absent-mindedly chosen to wed on the Queen's Birthday, so could not book my own Club).

But should one expect to eat well, or even tolerably, at a Yacht Club? <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Mirelle on 26/07/2003 11:25 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Cornishman]

Saltash SC has a contractor doing the grub, I'm not an eater-out but judging by the numbers eating there it must be good. Several 'proper' beers, too.

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[cgull]

Try Helford River Sailing Club....always very good, much better than the nearby pubs, and good showers.

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[Joe_Cole]

Yes! Try the restaurant at Yealm Yacht Club, Noss Mayo. Superb and very relaxed. I can't recommend it highly enough. If you don't want a restaurant meal the bar snacks are good also.

Joe

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[ccscott49]

San Antonio yacht club, Ibiza. Fabulous food, good wines, reasonable prices, excellent friendly service and a great view from their terrace, over the anchorage/marina and free/safe dinghy tie up. Leave the place Violetta it's going down the gurgler!!

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[charles_reed]

Absolutely superb restaurant in the Club Nautico at Castro Urdiales, most reasonably priced as well.

I have to agree on the whole with your comments tho'.

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[charles_reed]

I forgot to mention..

the Royal Cork Yacht club AND

Kinsale - there are about 7 international class restauarants.

In Cadiz there's the Faro - a gastronomic lighthouse in a culinary desert.

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[max_power]

I think you are being very unfair Violetta. Your snobbery is only equalled (but normally surpassed) by Mirelle.

Are you willing to give up your weekends to cook food for others ?

Sailing clubs exist for sailing themes. Restaurants exist for serving food.

It is my experience that most clubs struggle to find someone to run a bar let alone a restaurant. Either the finance or potential is not there. Some large clubs can make a go of it providing they have a large catchment area from non sailors.

I suggest you make a large cash donation to a sailing club in your area and start a restaurant yourself.

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[longjohnsilver]

I don't think he's being at all unfair. Well certainly most of the clubs I've visited here in the SW have a permanent chef/cook so no excuse for bad or indifferent food.

Very different if everyone is a volunteer.

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[Violetta]

Now, I wonder.....

Is there any other country in the world where someone would pop up and call you a snob for wanting to eat decent food...? But if it is "snobbish", you can bet your life I'm a snob

Tell you what, though, Max, (did you get your name off a hair dryer, like Homer J.?) I cook for others every weekend and pretty well every other day of my life (as well as washing up, washing, ironing, cleaning, shopping and earning a living) Do you? And you can also bet your life it takes not a minute longer or a jot more effort to cook decent food than it does to cook rubbish. Just takes a bit more care and imagination.



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[Violetta]

Tolerably, at least

One place I always ate well - the hospital canteen at St. Stephen's in the Fulham Road, long ago when I worked there. The woman who ran that canteen had the same pressures, the same budget, the same captive audience as every other hospital in the area (and I got to eat in all of them) But the food was a pleasure to eat. She knew about food and cared about it. Simple, tasty, well cooked food at a time when expectations were generally far lower.

In those days if you had an accident or got sick anywhere near lunch time in central London you were very likely to end up at St. Stephen's - all the ambulance crews wanted to eat there.....

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[Neraida]

Re: Tolerably, at least

Gotta put my oar in!

Royal Southampton Yacht Club, good nosh either in the Ocean Village Clubhouse or at Gins @ Beaulieu (for Sunday Lunch) are fab. Excellent food, reasonable prices and visitors always made very welcome.

Word of advice tho, if you plan to visit Gins for sunday lunch, booking is essential, however a phonecall on saturday evening usually does the trick.


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[BrianJ]

Try this ... From Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron last Friday mnight ( we have regular dinners on Fridatys at $15 OZ.hats about UK 3 quid

CURRY NIGHT THIS FRIDAY!!!
It's that time again, so bring everyone you know along for a wonderful night of food and drinks at RMYS. Dinner is available from 6:30pm. Curry Night's are always well attended so make sure you book in advance.
Menu:
* Murgh Makani - chicken in butter sauce with tomato
* Aromatic Lamb with honey and rosewater
* Pork Vindaloo
* Khumbi - spicy potato and mushroom
* Aubergines with sour cream
* Paripoo lentil dahl
* Kaha Bath - saffron rice cooked in coconut milk, flavoured with Pandan leaves.
* Apricot and nut chutney
* Pappadams
* Cucumber Raita
* Tomato onion Raita

Wanna come as my guest next friday ?



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[charles_reed]

Cheap it is..

But is it any good?

There is a dreadful weakness amongst Brits; confusing quality with quantity/cheapness regarding eating out.

In fairness the one meal I had there in 1990 was very acceptable.

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[charles_reed]

Re: Now, I wonder.....

Well said Violetta!!

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[charles_reed]

Talking about hospitals..

The cafeteria at the Virgen del Carmen at Sanlucar de Barrameda was (in 2001) outstandingly good and very cheap - in an area where eating well is a major challenge.

And what about the staff canteen at hammersmith (mind you that was 28 years ago).

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[jeanne]

I think it's unfair to pick out sailing clubs as having poor standards - think of the fortunes you have wasted in so called restaurants for indifferent food....our club, Portishead Cruising Club, has fantastic themed evenings, good food after racing, all 'home' cooked by members, and at knock down prices.....if you want to partake of this fare AND have fun as well, you'll have to become a member or come and visit us.

As for other clubs in the Bristol Channel, for visitors, Swansea YC (they of the fascinating legal battles..) also do a good plate for reasonable dosh.

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[Mirelle]

Dear Mr Power (if that is indeed your name). Behind a veil of anonymity (no entry in profile) you choose to stipulate that complaining about the standard of food at the average yacht club with professional catering staff (surely that part of Violetta's post could have been understood - it was understood by everyone else) is "snobbish". Apparently I am even more "snobbish" because I own an old boat.

If you intend to carry on being gratuitously offensive, have the guts to do so under your own name, and let us know the name of your boat, in order that those who find your conduct offensive may avoid you.



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[Violetta]

But I haven\'t

Wasted fortunes on indifferent food, I mean. On the whole, we eat rather well in the restaurants and pubs we choose to patronise, whether we are spending £50 a head as we did recently on a celebration meal or a fiver in the Company Shed at West Mersea. They would go out of business sharpish if they dared to offer the kind of depressing stuff I have had to endure in Yacht Clubs recently (for much the same price)

I think the captive audience has something to do with it. If there's no intrinsic interest in the food or expectation of quality, then maybe competition is what does it. Good to know there are some places doing better, though.

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