BYO - WTF?

What's that you say? Vegetarian? BYO? What are these alien concepts? 

My first action as part of Dinner Ladies was to purchase a bottle of wine. Something I've never done before when going to a restaurant for a meal. As the menu is largely vegetarian, I chose white, which led to the challenge of keeping it cold. Challenge succeeded, we travelled to the restaurant, and I thought a little more about the BYO concept. Why do restaurants have BYO policies? Is it so that they stand out from their competition? Is it because drinking is frowned upon? Do they have limited storage space? To me, wine is central to any dining experience, and I enjoy trying new wines as much as I do new dishes. So why not incorporate it into your venue? Odd.

But I'd forgotten about the corkage. Ay, there's the rub. The restaurant is making £2.50 per bottle by doing nothing. They would probably make twice that if they sold wine themselves, but then there's the storage costs. The question is, should the cost be called "screwage" now that most bottles (even some of the good ones) have screw tops.

When I heard we were going to a vegetarian restaurant, I had visions of a hippy-styled, lentil infused, incense stick burning teepee, but I was pleasantly surprised. Now, I'm usually the kind of person that judges a pub/bar/restaurant/hotel on its styling alone. This has led to many argument filled trawls around towns and cities, usually ending up in a stylish but awful venue. The Canteen opened my eyes to look further than the gloss and glamour, and more for the substance of the place; atmosphere, service and of course the food. It was simple, a bit dated, and more greasy spoon than chic boite, but the atmosphere was electric. Crammed with groups of students this was clearly a popular place.

Living with a 50-something lorry driver originally from the North East of England, I'm wary of creating meals without some sort of meat.... I've heard divorces can be expensive. He once ordered Glamorgan Sausages, thinking they were made from pigs bred in the local area. Imagine his shock when he discovered they were made from vegetables.  We had to swap meals. Bye bye rare steak.

However, I'm a little different. I'm not averse to lentils and know that there's as much (if not more) flavour in vegetables and particularly fresh herbs, than in meat (as I was soon to discover). I stupidly ordered the only meat dish on the menu - a red Thai chicken curry.  Bland? Very. I've never tasted warm wallpaper paste before but I imagine that would have more flavour.  Add that to the bone found in my food, and a quick call over to the waitress was called for. She promptly (ish) brought me the Thai green vegetable curry instead, which was delightful. Just the kind of food I prepare and eat at home.

As well as trying new cuisine in unfamiliar surroundings, I felt that I was with unfamiliar dining companions. Although we all know each other very well, and have done for many years, the Dinner Ladies concept enabled us to learn new things about each other, which came from talking about food and cooking rather than the usual work/men/families discussions. It also allowed us to take more notice of the food than we would usually, sampling each other's dishes, and dissect the menu.

Would I eat at The Canteen again? Maybe. But probably only if I had a vegetarian visiting. Am I more open to new experiences? Definitely.