"On the Side"

Go on, Ashley be risky and name them cos then I can check them out for myself before Snupy comes over again! ~ Any excuse for a good Mexican!  

There's a little restaurant behind the playhouse that used to be called Cactus. I think it's called Tequila Tequila now.

And in Headingley theres a tex-mex cantina (not exactly mexican but close and still good) that serves the best fajitas. Both places are a bit pricey, as you would expect but I've had fantastic experiences in both.

There's a little restaurant behind the playhouse that used to be called Cactus. I think it's called Tequila Tequila now.

And in Headingley theres a tex-mex cantina (not exactly mexican but close and still good) that serves the best fajitas. Both places are a bit pricey, as you would expect but I've had fantastic experiences in both.

Thanks, I apprechiate your help and now I will have to give them a try!

I don't suppose you could recommend a good Thai place too?  Sorry, but i'm new to the area and don't want to take the good lady to any 'dives' when she is next over here!

Cheers,

The Sala Thai in Grove Lane in Headingly is very good, although quite pricey.

Talking of Mexican food, there's a place called the Cheerful Chilli out on Otley Chevin (need a car to get there). It's in an old farmhouse, the menu's quite small and you have to take your own drink because they haven't got a license, but it's extremely good value for money - starters were about £3, mains about £5 last time I went. I'm not really an expert on Mexican food but it all tasted pretty good!

Thanks HME that's brilliant!  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

The Otley Chevin place sounds really quaint too!  English farmhouse combined with a nice Mexican meal ~ hopefully that will score me some extra brownie points when my good Lady comes over next time!

Thanks again, you're an angel!

Ooh! Thanks for the advice on the Thai place!


Yummmm.....

Heh-what timing!

Ok. I just read the comments of a certain Brit on the previous page, and let me just say 2 things:


1.) You'll be lucky they let you into Chicago again after uttering the phrase, "I really don't taste any difference between Chicago pizza and the pizza back home."  To be honest, I think I'd tell my family we met online before I'd tell them you said that!


2.) While I love Brits and their country, they wouldn't know a decent salad if it bit them in the ass! I mean, do they even understand the concept of a "big salad"(ala Seinfeld) that you have as your dinner???

2.) While I love Brits and their country, they wouldn't know a decent salad if it bit them in the ass! I mean, do they even understand the concept of a "big salad"(ala Seinfeld) that you have as your dinner???

Im afraid this might be true.  I've never had a decent salad in all the time i've lived here, other than ones I make myself.
At my works canteen, they have a salad bar, and i stand there picking out all the bits of iceberg (ie PROPER!) lettuce and putting the iceberg on my plate, leaving all those other weird leaves behind.  And I bring my own Asda fresh Caesar dressing, cos at work they only offer salad cream & Italian.

It's all part of adapting and adjusting!  

2.) While I love Brits and their country, they wouldn't know a decent salad if it bit them in the ass! I mean, do they even understand the concept of a "big salad"(ala Seinfeld) that you have as your dinner???

Actually, I've had quite a few really good big salads as main courses here.  Garfunkles has them, All Bar One has them...and most all of the gastro-pubs will have salad mains.  My favorites are the ones at Pizza Express though.  The chicken one with goats cheese is huge and comes with dough balls too.  Yum!    

By the way Broxi, you do realise that iceberg lettuce has absolutely no nutrition right?  All those other leaves are actually full of vitamins and good-for-you stuff like that.  I have come to really love all the different types of lettuce available here...they really make the salads a lot more interesting!

Personally I'm sick to death of iceberg lettuces and won't buy them at all if they're imported. The further lettuce has to travel, the more it is sprayed with pesticides. French dressing coats a good flat or curly lettuce so much better. However, as with most other things, I 'm sure salad is a matter of taste and what we were brought up with. I used to love the salads in Greece, which were just made of those big irregular Greek tomatoes chopped in chunks with cucumber, black olives, feta cheese and about half an inch of olive oil in the bottom of the bowl.

Yes, iceberg is not a friend to salads [insert "it's just the tip of the iceberg" joke here...].

From our friends at foodreference.com:

ICEBERG LETTUCE

Iceberg lettuce got it's name from the fact that California growers started shipped it covered with heaps of crushed ice in the 1920s. It had previously been called Crisphead lettuce.

Iceberg lettuce is 90% water and has very little flavor, and almost no nutrients.

Confession Time. My name is Mr. Nibbles and I've never been bitten in the ass by a decent salad (I expect it's only indecent salads that bite. Do you have to pay extra for that?)

The worst salads I've ever endured were from a fish restaurant in NW11 (and well, every crappy restaurant and bar in Scotland - but they make up for it with great soup). The UK doesn't traditionally think of the salad as being worthy of its own course, and that's a shame. But as has been pointed out, you can get good salads in Britain. Well...England, at least.

I've worked and eaten in plenty of North American restaurants and I've seen some woefully bad American salads (limp produce, out-of-date ingredients, nasty dressings, quantity over quality) just as I've enjoyed some glorious (fresh, crisp, creative, no reliance on drowning it in dressing) American salads. The best salads I've seen were Canadian, but that's probably because I made them myself [smiley=wideeyed.gif].

As for size, there's does appear to be a cultural USA/UK difference regarding how big a serving of food is appropriate.

I know that some people believe that getting to take part of their meal home in a box represents good value. I think it represents the heebee-jeebees.  A 2002 survey by the American Dietetic Association found that 51 per cent didn't know the proper temperature for reheating leftovers.

Re. food hygiene: never mind sucking fingers or rinsing dishes; it's doggie-bags you should be very, very careful with.

does anyone else remember when the iceberg lettuce was the height of sophistication? Good ole Cos lettuce is my favourite, i don't like all the stuff that looks like dandelion leaves! one of my favourite side salads to make at home though is shredded red cabbage with julienned red peppers and thinly sliced red onions, marianted in olive oil, lemon juice and garlic for at least 30 mins before serving.... mmmmmmmm....i call it my purple salad!

I love just about every kind of salad but I have got some lettuces before that were bitter and yucky.  :-/ I really like a good caesar salad..yum. Red Lobster makes a really good salad. Ok now you guys have me craving Red Lobster salads and it's not at all possible for me to eat one today darn it.

I remember there was a huge shortage of the lettuce they use for caesar salads a few years ago - you couldn't get a caesar salad for love or money anywhere.

However - apparently Disney managed to get their hands on some because that's what they feed the manatees at The Living Seas at EPCOT!  

By the way Broxi, you do realise that iceberg lettuce has absolutely no nutrition right?  All those other leaves are actually full of vitamins and good-for-you stuff like that.  I have come to really love all the different types of lettuce available here...they really make the salads a lot more interesting!

To be honest, I didnt realise that!  
However, im not all that bothered about nutrition... it's all about taste to me (which is why i am HUGE), and to me, iceberg tastes the best!
I am a bit of a purist with my salads.. i want nothing in it apart from iceberg lettuce, ranch or caesar dressing, and a few croutons.  ALthough i wouldnt complain about a handful of sliced black olives being added!