Food to die for?

[Dave (Sgt. Pepper)]

The wife and I have just returned from a very pleasant few days away at
Swanage, marred only by one nasty event. During a walk along the seafront
one day, the heavens suddenly opened and to escape the downpour we nipped
into the White Swan http://www.whiteswanswanage.co.uk/home.aspx for
lunch, ordering our favourite crab sandwiches. The moment the waitress
delivered the plates we could smell that something was very wrong, and
closer inspection of the crab in the sandwiches revealed a watery crab paste
that was putrefying. How can any chef serve up something like that? It is
criminal! If we had no sense of smell and had eaten that fetid garbage I
dread to think what the consequences might have been. Needless to say, we
won't be visiting that establishment again.

In sharp contrast, what a revelation the Fox Inn at Corfe castle was
http://www.pub-explorer.com/olpg/thefoxinn/corfecastle/index.htm.
A real-ale drinker's heaven with, amongst others, Abbot Ale, London Pride,
and my all time favourite, Timothy Taylor Landlord Ale, all served straight
from the barrel ... no beer taps and mucky pipes here. Excellent pub grub
as well and all the more enjoyable when eaten in the beautiful beer garden
with its winding path and colourful planting. Definitely one to go back to
next time we're down there.

[John Sullivan]

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
The wife and I have just returned from a very pleasant few days away at
Swanage, marred only by one nasty event. During a walk along the seafront
one day, the heavens suddenly opened and to escape the downpour we nipped
into the White Swan http://www.whiteswanswanage.co.uk/home.aspx for
lunch, ordering our favourite crab sandwiches. The moment the waitress
delivered the plates we could smell that something was very wrong, and
closer inspection of the crab in the sandwiches revealed a watery crab
paste that was putrefying. How can any chef serve up something like that?
It is criminal! If we had no sense of smell and had eaten that fetid
garbage I dread to think what the consequences might have been. Needless
to say, we won't be visiting that establishment again.
In sharp contrast, what a revelation the Fox Inn at Corfe castle was
http://www.pub-explorer.com/olpg/thefoxinn/corfecastle/index.htm.
A real-ale drinker's heaven with, amongst others, Abbot Ale, London Pride,
and my all time favourite, Timothy Taylor Landlord Ale, all served
straight from the barrel ... no beer taps and mucky pipes here. Excellent
pub grub as well and all the more enjoyable when eaten in the beautiful
beer garden with its winding path and colourful planting. Definitely one
to go back to next time we're down there.

Nice to know that you were so happy with the latter, but rather sad that
they should sell three commonly available nationals, but nothing from the
very nearby Purbeck brewery.

[Dave (Sgt. Pepper)]

Post by John Sullivan

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
In sharp contrast, what a revelation the Fox Inn at Corfe castle was
http://www.pub-explorer.com/olpg/thefoxinn/corfecastle/index.htm.
A real-ale drinker's heaven with, amongst others, Abbot Ale, London
Pride, and my all time favourite, Timothy Taylor Landlord Ale, all served
straight from the barrel ... no beer taps and mucky pipes here.
Excellent pub grub as well and all the more enjoyable when eaten in the
beautiful beer garden with its winding path and colourful planting.
Definitely one to go back to next time we're down there.

Nice to know that you were so happy with the latter, but rather sad that
they should sell three commonly available nationals, but nothing from the
very nearby Purbeck brewery.

Well I did say "amongst others" John and there were several other barrels
lined up along the back of the bar which I didn't investigate since my eye
went straight to my all time favourite beer TT Landlord, and my wife was
hustling me to get the food order sorted before it got busy :o) It's a
free house, so I'd be surprised if amongst those other barrels there wasn't
some local brews.

Dave.

[fs]

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
The wife and I have just returned from a very pleasant few days away at
Swanage, marred only by one nasty event. During a walk along the seafront
one day, the heavens suddenly opened and to escape the downpour we nipped
into the White Swan http://www.whiteswanswanage.co.uk/home.aspx for
lunch, ordering our favourite crab sandwiches. The moment the waitress
delivered the plates we could smell that something was very wrong, and
closer inspection of the crab in the sandwiches revealed a watery crab
paste that was putrefying. How can any chef serve up something like that?
It is criminal! If we had no sense of smell and had eaten that fetid
garbage I dread to think what the consequences might have been. Needless
to say, we won't be visiting that establishment again.

What action did you take to rememdy this sad episode?

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
In sharp contrast, what a revelation the Fox Inn at Corfe castle was
http://www.pub-explorer.com/olpg/thefoxinn/corfecastle/index.htm.
A real-ale drinker's heaven with, amongst others, Abbot Ale, London Pride,
and my all time favourite, Timothy Taylor Landlord Ale, all served
straight from the barrel ... no beer taps and mucky pipes here. Excellent
pub grub as well and all the more enjoyable when eaten in the beautiful
beer garden with its winding path and colourful planting. Definitely one
to go back to next time we're down there.

Now that does look like a nice place. Thanks for info.

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
--
Dave (Sgt. Pepper) Epsom, England
My photo galleries at http://www.pbase.com/davecq
"I will not tolerate intolerance ... Doh!!"

[Dave (Sgt. Pepper)]

Post by fs

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
The wife and I have just returned from a very pleasant few days away at
Swanage, marred only by one nasty event. During a walk along the
seafront one day, the heavens suddenly opened and to escape the downpour
we nipped into the White Swan
http://www.whiteswanswanage.co.uk/home.aspx for lunch, ordering our
favourite crab sandwiches. The moment the waitress delivered the plates
we could smell that something was very wrong, and closer inspection of
the crab in the sandwiches revealed a watery crab paste that was
putrefying. How can any chef serve up something like that? It is
criminal! If we had no sense of smell and had eaten that fetid garbage I
dread to think what the consequences might have been. Needless to say,
we won't be visiting that establishment again.

What action did you take to rememdy this sad episode?

We initially complained to a waitress who said she'd talk to the chef, but
never returned. When the lady who seemed to be in charge (landlady?)
eventually arrived to clear the table, we mentioned it again. "Oh, you
should have said something" she said ... "We Did!" I said ... "Oh I am
sorry, I'll go and sort them out" she replied. Five minutes later she
returned with an apology from the chef and a partial refund for us which
reflected the cost of the crab sandwich but not the rest of the meal..

I did consider contacting Environmental Health that day but frankly I
decided against ruining my holiday with a lot of bureaucratic red tape, and
besides by the time any EH officer got on the case the evidence would be
long gone. I suppose I could still drop a line to the local EH since it
might prompt an inspection of the kitchens and serve as a warning to an
obviously lax chef.

[Peter Whisker]

...

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
I did consider contacting Environmental Health that day but frankly I
decided against ruining my holiday with a lot of bureaucratic red
tape, and besides by the time any EH officer got on the case the
evidence would be long gone. I suppose I could still drop a line to
the local EH since it might prompt an inspection of the kitchens and
serve as a warning to an obviously lax chef.

Do contact EH. We did after visiting an awful Little Chef near Hull some
years ago. They were very unsurprised (at yet an other complaint) and I
believe had them shut down shortly afterwards! There was no red tape.

Peter

[Dave (Sgt. Pepper)]

Post by Peter Whisker
...

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
I did consider contacting Environmental Health that day but frankly I
decided against ruining my holiday with a lot of bureaucratic red
tape, and besides by the time any EH officer got on the case the
evidence would be long gone. I suppose I could still drop a line to
the local EH since it might prompt an inspection of the kitchens and
serve as a warning to an obviously lax chef.

Do contact EH. We did after visiting an awful Little Chef near Hull some
years ago. They were very unsurprised (at yet an other complaint) and I
believe had them shut down shortly afterwards! There was no red tape.
Peter

Thank you Peter. I have just submitted my report to Purbeck District
Council which covers Swanage and will await their response with interest.

[Dave (Sgt. Pepper)]

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Peter Whisker
...

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
I did consider contacting Environmental Health that day but frankly I
decided against ruining my holiday with a lot of bureaucratic red
tape, and besides by the time any EH officer got on the case the
evidence would be long gone. I suppose I could still drop a line to
the local EH since it might prompt an inspection of the kitchens and
serve as a warning to an obviously lax chef.

Do contact EH. We did after visiting an awful Little Chef near Hull some
years ago. They were very unsurprised (at yet an other complaint) and I
believe had them shut down shortly afterwards! There was no red tape.
Peter

Thank you Peter. I have just submitted my report to Purbeck District
Council which covers Swanage and will await their response with interest.

Had a phone call from an EH Officer at Purbeck Council today in rapid
response to my report via their website. He welcomed my information and it
seems he has been dealing with the White Swan quite recently trying to
establish proper food handling regimes there, but as he said it would appear
that more needs to be done. 'Reading between the lines' I gather this pub
must have attracted the attention of EH in the past for all the wrong
reasons. He did say the pub has recently installed a new chef with the
prospect of things being improved, but from our unfortunate experience last
week, it seems there is still considerable scope for improvement. Good to
know that the council is on the case and will hopefully take the necessary
measures to ensure that nobody else is subjected to potential food
poisoning.

[Giusi]

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Peter Whisker
...

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
I did consider contacting Environmental Health that day but frankly I
decided against ruining my holiday with a lot of bureaucratic red
tape, and besides by the time any EH officer got on the case the
evidence would be long gone. I suppose I could still drop a line to
the local EH since it might prompt an inspection of the kitchens and
serve as a warning to an obviously lax chef.

Do contact EH. We did after visiting an awful Little Chef near Hull some
years ago. They were very unsurprised (at yet an other complaint) and I
believe had them shut down shortly afterwards! There was no red tape.
Peter

Thank you Peter. I have just submitted my report to Purbeck District
Council which covers Swanage and will await their response with interest.

Had a phone call from an EH Officer at Purbeck Council today in rapid
response to my report via their website. He welcomed my information and
it seems he has been dealing with the White Swan quite recently trying to
establish proper food handling regimes there, but as he said it would
appear that more needs to be done. 'Reading between the lines' I gather
this pub must have attracted the attention of EH in the past for all the
wrong reasons. He did say the pub has recently installed a new chef with
the prospect of things being improved, but from our unfortunate experience
last week, it seems there is still considerable scope for improvement.
Good to know that the council is on the case and will hopefully take the
necessary measures to ensure that nobody else is subjected to potential
food poisoning.
--
Dave (Sgt. Pepper) Epsom, England
My photo galleries at http://www.pbase.com/davecq
"I will not tolerate intolerance ... Doh!!"

Why don't you just eat in authentic Italian and Spanish establishments then
you won't have the problems one often sees in most poorly run English
places? Hygiene is not a major point with most of the British/English. I
once saw a "waiter" in a buffet restaurant place who had a piece of string
dangling from his half unzipped fly. I asked if he knew about it and he told
us it was so he could pull out his penis when he needed to urinate and
thereby eliminate the need of touching it. When we asked how he came to
return his cock to his trouser he said, "Oh, I use the salad tongs." You
will not find such abominable behavior in either the Italian or Spanish
waiting staff as they are taught to be clean and servile from childhood.

HTH.

[Tony Dragon]

Post by Giusi

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Peter Whisker
...

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
I did consider contacting Environmental Health that day but frankly I
decided against ruining my holiday with a lot of bureaucratic red
tape, and besides by the time any EH officer got on the case the
evidence would be long gone. I suppose I could still drop a line to
the local EH since it might prompt an inspection of the kitchens and
serve as a warning to an obviously lax chef.

Do contact EH. We did after visiting an awful Little Chef near Hull some
years ago. They were very unsurprised (at yet an other complaint) and I
believe had them shut down shortly afterwards! There was no red tape.
Peter

Thank you Peter. I have just submitted my report to Purbeck District
Council which covers Swanage and will await their response with interest.

Had a phone call from an EH Officer at Purbeck Council today in rapid
response to my report via their website. He welcomed my information and
it seems he has been dealing with the White Swan quite recently trying to
establish proper food handling regimes there, but as he said it would
appear that more needs to be done. 'Reading between the lines' I gather
this pub must have attracted the attention of EH in the past for all the
wrong reasons. He did say the pub has recently installed a new chef with
the prospect of things being improved, but from our unfortunate experience
last week, it seems there is still considerable scope for improvement.
Good to know that the council is on the case and will hopefully take the
necessary measures to ensure that nobody else is subjected to potential
food poisoning.
--
Dave (Sgt. Pepper) Epsom, England
My photo galleries at http://www.pbase.com/davecq
"I will not tolerate intolerance ... Doh!!"

Why don't you just eat in authentic Italian and Spanish establishments then
you won't have the problems one often sees in most poorly run English
places? Hygiene is not a major point with most of the British/English. I
once saw a "waiter" in a buffet restaurant place who had a piece of string
dangling from his half unzipped fly. I asked if he knew about it and he told
us it was so he could pull out his penis when he needed to urinate and
thereby eliminate the need of touching it. When we asked how he came to
return his cock to his trouser he said, "Oh, I use the salad tongs." You
will not find such abominable behavior in either the Italian or Spanish
waiting staff as they are taught to be clean and servile from childhood.
HTH.

The old ones are the best.

[Peter Potts]

Post by Tony Dragon

Post by Giusi

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Peter Whisker
...

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
I did consider contacting Environmental Health that day but frankly I
decided against ruining my holiday with a lot of bureaucratic red
tape, and besides by the time any EH officer got on the case the
evidence would be long gone. I suppose I could still drop a line to
the local EH since it might prompt an inspection of the kitchens and
serve as a warning to an obviously lax chef.

Do contact EH. We did after visiting an awful Little Chef near Hull some
years ago. They were very unsurprised (at yet an other complaint) and I
believe had them shut down shortly afterwards! There was no red tape.
Peter

Thank you Peter. I have just submitted my report to Purbeck District
Council which covers Swanage and will await their response with interest.

Had a phone call from an EH Officer at Purbeck Council today in rapid
response to my report via their website. He welcomed my information and
it seems he has been dealing with the White Swan quite recently trying
to establish proper food handling regimes there, but as he said it would
appear that more needs to be done. 'Reading between the lines' I gather
this pub must have attracted the attention of EH in the past for all the
wrong reasons. He did say the pub has recently installed a new chef
with the prospect of things being improved, but from our unfortunate
experience last week, it seems there is still considerable scope for
improvement. Good to know that the council is on the case and will
hopefully take the necessary measures to ensure that nobody else is
subjected to potential food poisoning.
--
Dave (Sgt. Pepper) Epsom, England
My photo galleries at http://www.pbase.com/davecq
"I will not tolerate intolerance ... Doh!!"

Why don't you just eat in authentic Italian and Spanish establishments
then you won't have the problems one often sees in most poorly run
English places? Hygiene is not a major point with most of the
British/English. I once saw a "waiter" in a buffet restaurant place who
had a piece of string dangling from his half unzipped fly. I asked if he
knew about it and he told us it was so he could pull out his penis when
he needed to urinate and thereby eliminate the need of touching it. When
we asked how he came to return his cock to his trouser he said, "Oh, I
use the salad tongs." You will not find such abominable behavior in
either the Italian or Spanish waiting staff as they are taught to be
clean and servile from childhood.
HTH.

The old ones are the best.
--
Tony Dragon

And speaking of hygiene, four places closed in Germany over the weekend due
to poor hygiene.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,638594,00.html#ref=nlint

[Peter Thomas]

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Peter Whisker
...

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
I did consider contacting Environmental Health

.........

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Peter Whisker
Do contact EH.

............

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)

Post by Dave (Sgt. Pepper)
Thank you Peter. I have just submitted my report to Purbeck District
Council which covers Swanage and will await their response with interest.

Had a phone call from an EH Officer at Purbeck Council today in rapid
response to my report via their website. He welcomed my information
and it seems he has been dealing with the White Swan quite recently
trying to establish proper food handling regimes there, but as he said
it would appear that more needs to be done.

.............

<picking this up from uk.local.surrey>

The White Swan is one pub in that town I do not drink or eat in. Last
set foot in it in 1991.

Sensible alternatives:

The White Horse can be very good value - crab salad, lasagne+chips or
whatever - only thing is the restaurant is at the back, just past the
big screen TV - also does loud live music in a cheerful way. Ringwood,
etc + a decent cider.

The Red Lion for a steak on a Friday or crab sandwiches anytime. Also
has the song-only sessions during the folk festival.

Don't think I've been into the Purbeck since about 1975 or 1976 when it
had just been renovated. No particular reason.

The upstairs restaurant at the Mowlem has just changed management AFAIK.
Was good in a non-nouveau way, Badger. Any reports?

And fish + chips or Dinos in the square.