What the....???###

My question for today - what the HELL is going on? Is it full moon time or what?

Up in Burnie again Monday and Tuesday this week, for work. Business meeting over lunch at a central restaurant (and I use the word "restaurant" extremely loosely, for reasons which will become evident shortly). One of us orders sushi off the menu. Said sushi arrives, looking a little the worse for its slicing, as if the knife that portioned it hadn't seen a sharpening device for a good few years.

My friend takes one mouthful, looks aghast, splutters "I can't eat this!" and quietly but firmly returns the plate of sushi to the front counter. She re-ordered toasted sandwiches!

Owner of business comes over to our table at the end of the meal to profoundly apologise, explaining (as if everyone would understand this error of judgement) that the chef (where DID he get his qualification? I seriously want to know) had left the seaweed (which was around the outside) in the water too long, and had overcooked the rice too much, which accounted for why it had been too moist!

Now I ask you, seriously, what chef is going to soak the sushi seaweed? Is he on drugs and mistaking it for rice paper? And what about soggy rice? Take it off the menu, for heavens sake, don't serve people this crap, especially since waitress had already apologised for its appearance when she originally put it down on the table.

(To add insult to injury, they hadn't served soy sauce with it, or pickled ginger, or wasabi, three justifiable reasons in my book for returning it anyway!)

Bad, bad, bad.

Next thing I'm questioning today is the Comments section on Garrulous Gourmet's blog site re his latest entry about his Top 10 Movers & Shakers.

Why is everyone trying so apparently desperately to pinpoint exactly who he is? So what if it's Steve Cumper? The fact that he has created the site under the GG name is indicative of the fact that there is a particular reason why he prefers to remain GG not Steve Cumper, or Mick Jagger.
He writes well, and his subject matter is informed, relevant and extremely interesting if that is your area of interest. If you couldn't give a toss about food and/or hospitality, and were waiting for the cricket to resume, or for your mates to return from the pub with the slab, you would probably find these sites as boring as batshit.

Todays Mercury maybe added another dimension by publicising the sites. Let's see, but I think GG's anonymity should be respected along with his opinions, and the fact that, when push comes to shove, it's really us all being voyeurs into someone elses head.