I don’t know why I thought googling “1980’s pub food Mushroom and Nut Fettuccine” would get me a result because of course, the internet didn’t quite exist for this sort of information back then. I was mostly interested to know who produced this product – because aside from omelettes, it was the only vegetarian thing on most menus, when I first started ‘eating out’.
It must have come from one of the large food suppliers because it was the standard vegetarian fayre, served in the same earthen-wear dish wherever I had no choice but to order it. Sorry I couldn’t find a picture but the dish was fairly much like this one. Perhaps I took this home in a doggy bag with leftover fettuccine?! Unlikely! I’m sure the dish and portion size was smaller than you would expect now. And in my mind’s eye it’s a darker, yuckier brown – although that might just be the association with its tinned mushroom tasting contents.
I am a Generation X ‘Baby Buster’ according to Irene Waters, writer and memoirist over at her blog “Reflections and Nightmares”. This post (a nightmare) is a sort-of-response to her request for a short burst of memoir in response to a new monthly prompt “Times Past” aimed at giving some ‘social insights into the way the world has changed between not only generations but also between geographical location’. This first prompt is: The first time I remember eating in a restaurant in the evening.
I say its my ‘sort-of-response’ because my meal out memories are a bit disjointed and I can’t quite pin down a complete episode of the time in question. Nor can I remember an actual restaurant until I was into my 20s.
My hazy recollection of sitting in a high-end Lincolnshire pub, eating out for the first time, relate to when I was about 17 and a date with a would-be boyfriend who soon wasn’t. I’d been flattered into saying yes by this golf-pro’s keen pursuit when he wasn’t all that attractive.
The reality was as well, if you had a boyfriend back then, you’d most likely meet them down at the village disco rather than go out for a meal – unless you were really getting serious and possibly even considering ‘getting engaged’ which some of the local girls did.
I remember realising this particular evening, that a meal out wasn’t necessarily an ‘unconditional’ date; that there were probable expectations of more than good conversation in reciprocation.
More than all of that I remember a tongue large enough to choke a girl and “Imagination” playing on his car cassette player when I was more into David Bowie.
“I think I’ll go home now please”
Need a reminder of 1980’s cheesy music videos?! It’s just an illusion..
February 4, 2016 at 8:15 pm
Can everyone please stop talking about tongues?! 👅
That is so gross. (Gave me a good laugh while reading though.)
Interesting post because, across generations, this seems to be everyone’s answer. That they did not go out to eat until later in life.
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 5, 2016 at 10:28 am
Sorry Sarah! It is totally gross! You’ve clearly experienced the same, I take it!? 😂👅
LikeLike
February 3, 2016 at 2:38 pm
Oh Lisa, I had to laugh about the tongue…sorry! But only because I know just what you mean… 😮 My boyfriend (who took me out to a Berni Inn) had engagement plans on his mind when I was 18 but I ended it. I would have had a very staid life with him, he went on to be a Mayor and everything. Can you imagine, me, a Mayoress? Thanks for this reminder of English pub life in the 80s. A blur for me strangely, I was a young mum and then moved to California in 1986, and being a baby boomer (tail end, I should say, ha!), my younger pub experiences were from the 70s. I doubt any vegetarian food was served anywhere then. Thanks too for the clip, 80s cheese indeed…gotta love it!! ❤
LikeLike
February 5, 2016 at 10:27 am
Oh gosh! You a mayoress – only of Whoville in a Dr Seuss kind of way!
Glad the tongue made you laugh.. Only needed a few words to ring bells with some people – clearly alarm bells with most! Euuw!! 😂👅
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 5, 2016 at 4:13 pm
Lol! Now that’s my kind of mayoress!!!! Yes…alarm bells ringing across the board I would say! Have a great weekend Lisa, catch up with you again soon 🙂 ❤ xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 1, 2016 at 2:26 pm
Oh you sophisticate! A meal with date at seventeen and mushroom and nut fettuccine – I don’t think I encountered such cuisine in a pub until the 90s. Fortunately there was Rose Elliot’s cookery book for meals at home.
LikeLike
February 5, 2016 at 10:24 am
I’m wondering how Lincolnshire was so ‘sophisticated’ then! Perhaps being so very rural, the pubs got into the ‘gastro-pub’ before elsewhere took off? It was probably the only way to keep the old Inns going.
One of my early jobs whilst still at school, was waiting-on in the local pub though I didn’t ever eat there (except the free left-over cheesecake after a long night!)
And I think my first cookery book was Rose Ellliot’s “Not Just A Load of Old Lentils” – although I am rather partial to a plate of lentils! Big on my friend’s recipe for Mung Bean Mash at the moment which makes good use of the seasonal swede!
LikeLike
January 31, 2016 at 5:06 pm
Great Lisa. There’s a very first dinner out and then there are all those specific first (and often only) dinners out with unsuitable dates. Your description certainly gave me the shudders and brought back to mind an uncomfortable date of my own–ugh! I expect the associations attached to that song contribute to its passing into the gallery of former favorite tunes. Your succinct descriptions here were great at setting the scene…the”golf pro”… what a type!
LikeLike
February 1, 2016 at 11:05 am
Bless him! Not quite the Tom Sellick medallion man. Nowhere near as cool and probably a bit lonely teaching all those wealthy middle-aged women at the club!
LikeLike
January 31, 2016 at 12:39 pm
Like Charli I am unable to experience the imagination video, however my imagination ran wild with your description of the night out. Ugh! I hope you got home safely. 🙂
LikeLike
February 1, 2016 at 11:02 am
A small phrase, carefully worded.. Goes a long way. Oops – so did that tongue 😫 Yuk.
LikeLiked by 2 people
February 1, 2016 at 12:28 pm
I was trying to forget it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
January 31, 2016 at 10:12 am
High-five fellow Gen X Baby Buster! The standard vegetarian fare sounds hideous enough to cheat and have a burger. 🙂 Of course, the entire date is not one for savoring. Alas, I’m missing out on “Imagination” as the YouTube video is not “available in my country.” I’ll use my own imagination and assume it was a song to end the tinned mushroom fare for the evening.
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 1, 2016 at 11:01 am
We are SO young! Had a good laugh when I realised my hubby was in the older category. He’s not finding it too funny though. Shame about the video of Imagination – just terrible man-pouting and staged acting. The song clearly didn’t chart in the States the if there’s no trace of it over there. Was quite big over here – if you were into disco-funk..
LikeLike
January 30, 2016 at 8:50 pm
Thanks Lisa for joining in. Glad to have another Gen X experiences. Vegetarians in those days didn’t get a lot of choice. In Australia it wasn’t even as sophisticated as mushroom and nut fettuccine. Most common was “leave the meat off the plate and give me just the vegetables.” Luckily in those days vegetable servings were generous as they still are at most restaurants. Sounds like the golf pro was used to getting results on and off the course but he blew his handicap well and truly taking you for dinner. Your tongue description – sorry I had to laugh.
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 1, 2016 at 10:59 am
In some places it still seems it’s “leave the meat off the plate” as you get little offered in the way of protein and there are still some terrible options around – clearly no vegetarian ever consulted and some weird ideas about what second rate alternative we must be willing to put up with!
As for the golf pro – mark it up as one of a number of mistakes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 5, 2016 at 1:22 pm
Aren’t you glad you had mistakes though. At least you know you have lived a life. Roger’s german rels are staggered at how we are set up for vegan and vegetarian, clean food/paleo and other healthy options. We have numerous restaurants to choose from and the food just delicious.
LikeLike
February 5, 2016 at 8:13 pm
It’s a really interesting (and controversial) question to pose as to whether there’s a cultural level of flexibility or acceptance of the weird and different! Xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 6, 2016 at 12:29 pm
Yes interesting. There is a possibility that it is not cultural so much as affluence that is the influencing factor. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 1, 2016 at 11:06 am
Funny.. I thought there’d be more of us. Glad to be the younger minority here 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
February 5, 2016 at 1:24 pm
Things take time to grow. I hope it does as I for one find it fascinating. Always nice to be the youngest in the crowd (unless of course you are young.) 🙂
LikeLike
February 5, 2016 at 8:14 pm
Now I need to find out when Charli Mills birthday is.. I think she’s the youngest.. What say you Charli?! Xx
LikeLike