£10 Burger and fries Tuesday at The Holly Bush

At the time of typing It is Tuesday (at the time of posting it isn’t).  It already feels (ie on Tuesday) like a long week, possibly because the weekend was a watering can watering fest interspersed with treats out.  It is also a 4 day in the office, 1 day WFH week due to a training day cropping into S’s diary.  Thankfully we have a hotel room with air con which helps especially after a pre 5am start on a Monday!  

We have friends whose first year of retirement seems to be holidays interspersed with DIY, presumably while they are back just long enough to do the holiday laundry.  For us they will be no point in making such plans, we will be catching up on sleep!

Four days away makes things a little tricky on the food front.  This is all the more so at present as I am trying to get the grocery bill down.  This is actually working to a degree though that may just be because my recent weekends have been manic and grocery shopping has not been high on the list.

A few very nice restaurants aside we generally eat better at home than we do out which I think probably holds for most of my acquaintance.  Certainly I remember a former colleague saying that his take away from lockdown was not to eat out as a habit but to save it for a proper treat of a restaurant.  I’m not sure how he is getting on with that plan.  Certainly it has gone awry for us though most of the changes I thought would come about seem to have either quietly slipped away though that might be more down to a change in our personal circumstances post lockdown.  

Anyway, I digress yet again!  We try to bring something down as an evening picnic (and for lunches) and limit the evening meals out to one a week.  That trip out tends to serve to get us out of the hotel room and as a refuelling session.  There is a strong argument that we could both do with skipping the odd meal but……. We don’t!

When we gave up the London house and started this particular adventure, now approaching 4 years ago, we did not anticipate an issue.  The locality where we stay has numerous eateries.  One stop down the train line/entirely walkable one way and there are loads more, two stops in the other direction and a whole new selection.  Yet midweek tea is not that simple. 

The food is ok, the service is fine but it is very easy to come away with a £60-£80 bill and knowing something at home could have equally passed muster for a lot lower price point grates somewhat, especially when on repeat.  

There are mitigation options.  Skipping alcohol alongside for starters.  Vouchers from chain restaurants, 2 for 1 on pizzas (Tuesday night deal at a local independent,  pizzas are excellent but it’s a small place and gets busy especially when 2 for 1).  Tuesday is, however, £10 burger and fries night at The Holly Tree in Forest Gate (near where we used to have the house).  Options are:

- signature beef, cheese, bacon and gherkin burger in brioche bun

- lightly spiced puy lentil, organic quinoa, beetroot, spring onion, coriander & roasted red pepper burger in a brioche bun with guacamole and jalapeño cheese.

- breaded chicken, bacon, avocado & jalapeño cheese burger in a brioche bun

- Chick pea, butternut quash, beetroot, courgette, sweet potato and coriander burger, vegan cheese & guacamole in a vegan brioche bun.

Most bases covered then. 

This does, however, require a 2 way train fare for me though S just hops off and back on his usual commute.  A pint of Litovel Premium goes down quite nicely on a summer’s evening (or winter’s evening come to that).  See how the bill is easing up already?  The burgers were, however, very good and you really can’t fault the price in today’s market.  It’s a little win for a Tuesday.