Travel Tales:Easter Eggs Outings to Restaurants offering consistency versus restaurants offering a memorable variety of food and decor

Here is my outfit of a chef's white hat (made from concertina paper over a pillbox hat), a white blouse and an ostrich egg, which was a souvenir from South Africa. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Where will we eat out over Easter? What brings me back to a little local restaurant is consistency. That is what you get at fast food outlets. You know that if you like something, it will be the same next time. McDonalds, Kentucky fried chicken, bagels. But what if you want something special? If we can't travel, we have more money for a little treat nearer home. I think back to previous Easters.

For an expensive restaurant, I expect a surprise. What surprises do I remember? Firstly the two magic restaurants.

The Magic Of The USA

The magic hotel and restaurant in San Francisco. When you opened the wardrobe (closet) door, you saw the picture of a cow on the back wall. A recording started playing welcoming you to the hotel and telling you to go down to the restaurant and ask for table 9.

When you went down to the restaurant and asked for table nine, the staff immediately knew your names, welcoming Mr ... (my husband), Mrs ... (me), and A ... (our small son - who was so excited!).

Other notable restaurants in the USA included the one which had a girl on a swing overhead. Not a model of a girl on a swing. A real girl. On a real swing. Suspended from a high ceiling.

The other novelty restaurant I remember was the very long thin restaurant which had flags on the table which flags you hoisted to show you were ready to order. Then the waiters roller skated down to your table.

Magical London

Central London also had a magic restaurant. First you arrived at a door which had several handles. That was a decoy. 

After you had tried them all and located the correct handle, a voice told you to push an adjacent panel. The panel was a revolving door.

Inside, we asked for the menu. Up comes another staff member who does a magic trick. He produces a white cloth from thin air. He puts it down on the table. In small letters it says please turn over. On the other side is the menu.

Now, what about the amazing food?

First, for our first wedding anniversary, I and my husband visited the souffle restaurant in the London hotel. I think it was the Hilton. The first course was an artichoke souffle in the entre of an artichoke. 

But most top restaurants manage to end with a memorable surprise.

The Egg-cellent Dessert

The Harrow at little Bedwyn closed, alas no more, but the memory stays. The meal ended with a dessert which looked like an egg in an egg cup. It had a yellow mango centre. Instead of the stick of bread for dipping in a boiled egg, there was a shortbread finger.

I had trouble with the Amazon website. I could not find Easter eggs to eat. My searches came up with colouring books and plastic eggs and eggs dyes and moulds and egg shape crayons. Even when I found food fresh, I got real eggs, moulds and crayons.

So I went on to google and realised I would have more luck trying manufacturers of chocolate, such as American Reese, or UK Cadbury or Thorntons. Maybe a brand or country name such as Swiss Alprose, Belgian, Ukrainian, Canadian, Australian, South African. Or Marks and Spencer or Tesco or Aldi. Or a chocolate shop.

The Thornton picture I found said out of stock. But what is out of stock online might be available in a shop.

I saw halal Easter eggs. Quora had some questions about Easter eggs. At first sight opinion seemed to be divided. But reading again, I concluded, some people think you should not take part in any religious activity providing h implies that you are a member of a different religion. You can eat an Easter egg so long as it is halal and you are simply eating chocolate. 

I heard a similar ruling from a rabbi to a friend's daughter, when asked whether it was OK to visit her mother on Christmas Day. If you have a day off work and wish to visit your mother, on any day, that is fine. 

So in theory it would be OK to give halal or kosher chocolate to somebody of another religion, so long as you were not trying to make it a religious object. (Eggs are a universal and pagan pre-Christian symbol of life, appearing in other religions, including Passover, and Chinese New Year. However, it would be a good idea to check with any recipient.

(Failing all else, remove wrapping which says Easter, offer the part of the gift which is not an egg, or simply offer a piece of halal or kosher chocolate.)

What makes the item kosher or halal? Amongst other factors to consider: 

For halal, no pork, gelatine from wrong animal, alcohol, possible contamination in factory. Factory checked by approved person.

For kosher - no pork products, gelatine, shellfish, mix of milk and meat, possible contamination in factory; factory checked by approved person and product labelled as approved. 

My supermarket Tesco hunt produced more ideas (from the UK): in alphabetical order:

(NB Milk chocolate is not white chocolate.)

Aero bubble peppermint chocolate

Bounty

Celebrations

Divine

Ferrero Kinder Surprise

Galaxy

Green & Blacks's

Kit Kat

Lindt (gold bunny milk chocolate)

Malteser White chocolate; white chocolate with white truffles

Mars

M&M

Milkybar small Easter Egg

Nestle / Nestle Smarties large orange egg (orange flavour) 

Nomo

Nomo Vegan

Quality Street

Reece's (peanut butter)

Rolo

Smarties (Milk Chocolate)

Terries

Twix

Malteser vegetarian and kosher:

Useful Websites

https://www.littletigergifts.co.uk/pro/maileg-metal-tin-easter-pink/

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/shop/food-cupboard/easter-chocolate-and-eggs/easter-eggs

About the Author

To practise your English, come to Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters on learncool.sg, first Wednesday evening of the month, Singapore time, 7-10pm.  Next meeting Wednesday March 7th 2021.

To add a clock to the time and date page and see when the meetings are your time go to this website.

https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/personal.html

Angela Lansbury is a British author who has lived in the USA.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

Angela Lansbury teacher of English (advanced and English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language, French and other languages, aspiring polyglot.

Angela Lansbury, author and speaker. Member of many toastmasters  speaker training clubs and speaking contest judge.

Angela Lansbury, the author of 20 books including Wedding Speeches & Toasts, and Quick Quotations, has lived in the USA, Spain and Singapore. 

She  has several blogs and writes daily on at least two of the following:

travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

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