tiredTheir house is lovely and big. We arrived about 5 o'clock which wasn't too bad as we'd planned on arriving about 4:30. We sat about talking for a couple of hours and then went out. They took us to a pub, where I had two pints of Marston's Pedigree, and then to the Hilton House Hotel.
The restaurant was a really nice surprise. Debbie had described it as English, and it was! I'd forgotten about this style of restaurant. When I first discovered the joys of eating out, in my twenties, this was the main type of restaurant I used to frequent. This wasn't by choice; it was more to do with availability.
I had bacon and black pudding in a pepper sauce to start, followed by a port and blue cheese rump steak. After a nice rest I had some profiteroles with a really thick chocolate sauce. We washed this down with an Argentinean red, which was far better than it had a right to be. Jane, as ever, didn't have a starter but had Cajun Chicken followed by fresh strawberries. I can't remember what Steve & Debbie had to start but Steve had Lamb Shank followed by Apple Pie and Debbie had Roast Duck followed by strawberries and ice cream.
I finished it all off with a coffee and two glasses of creme de menthe (much to everyone's disgust - including the barman's).
Steve cooked us a fine breakfast before we left and gave me a guided tour of the decorated garage. Their house was the show house on the site and the garage was the sales office. It's strange to see a TVR parked in a wallpapered, dado-railed room.
We spent this afternoon watching videos. The Naked Truth, from my newly arrived Terry-Thomas collection and 3 episodes of Frasier from season 2.
