Ruby’s American Diner on Linenhall Street, not my favourite lunchtime eatery in Belfast by a long way but it was close at hand and there was a sharp wind blowing down from City Hall so we nucked in there. Ruby’s is normally bunged at lunchtime but we managed to get a seat alright, everyone was having a right laugh at the notion I was going to photograph and document this meal — clearly a bunch of Christmas Dinner heathens.

Anyway, down to business, and I’m afraid Seasonal Turkey Related Meal fans it’s not good news. First off, lumpy gravy. I cannot abide lumpy gravy. Second, hard spuds, I cannot abide hard spuds. I won’t dwell on the mash — the sort of mash my dad makes because he thinks mash is really childrens food and not worth the effort — nor the eye I found in the mash (potatoe eye, not beastie eye) nor the fact that that succulent mound of turkey is 90% stufffing, nor even the chippolata which could have been used as a throwing star. No what I really wanted to mention was that they forgot the cranberry sauce.
<silence>
Yes, they forgot the cranberry.

«17 CommentsDecember 5, MMV»
You've arrived at the homepage of Stephen Stewart. The archive is available here for those who want it. This site is happily hosted by Dreamhost. Click for more?
More!? OK then, but I can't help feeling that this will be a disappointment to you.
I work as a web designer in Belfast, and I live by the sea in a shoe. You can see me here, doing my livejournal pose as idoru called it. If you need to you can email me at carisenda -at- gmail -dot- com.
You never mentioned the sprouts. What were they like?
Nor I did.
The sprouts were flavourless watery affairs which I shan’t dwell on, they missed the cranberry sauce you see.
So, are brussel sprouts a Christmas thing over there? I’ve never heard of anyone serving them for the holiday here.
And how much did this abomination of a meal set you back? Would any savings be price be sufficient to make you eat there again?
disappointing, my new work’s christmas do is there next week.
Emily: Brussel Sprouts are very much a Christmas thing, though I believe they polarise the world very sharply into sprout lovers (me) and sprout haters…
ejh: £6.50
Park Bench Boy: you’ll be so liquoured you won’t notice.
:))
So not a single redeeming feature then…
The turkey itself and the ham were good and it was all edible so one star. I’m not a despot. Yet.
And there was me thinking that it was because you hadn’t gotten round to making a nil-point graphic.
ed: You underestimate me sir.
Next time order the chicken!
Thanks, Stephen. Who says blogs aren’t educational?
Sprout lovers (me too) and haters are polarized here as well, just not on Christmas. The true battle at Christmas in the US is over candied yams (yuck).
Jeff: Scrouge! It’s christmas dinner season, chickens should rest easy while their ugly cousins are made to live in fear!
Dood, I’m just going by what it says on the ‘A History of Violence’ review.
Ed: Well yes, but that was then and this is now, now we even have grayed out stars so people know what the total star quotient can be. Progress!
In unrelated but hopefully distracting from the point news, I had bratwurst from the christmas fayre at city hall tonight, if you are there you want to order from the guy at the western end of the fayre, he has sauerkraut and pickles and cheese and other goodies, the other guy totally cheated me on the trimmings front. This should maybe be a post of it’s own but really, who cares.
Emily, we had brussel sprouts for our Xmas at my grandma’s, I suppose it’s all in how you cook them and I never did like the way she did hers. But she did a lovely ham.
Stephen, was the bratwurst tasty?
Why do I always come to these threads days late.
Carrie: The spicy bratwurst was very tasty, I will be back :)