Little Chef
Miss it, or loathe it?
Jump to more content from this blog
About this blog
PM The evening news and current affairs programme presented by Eddie Mair.
iPM The programme that starts with its listeners. Join the discussions online and contribute ideas for a weekly programme presented by Eddie Mair and Jennifer Tracey.
The PM Privacy Commission
Read the final report of the PM Privacy Commission.
- Full Audio and Transcripts
- Hugh Tomlinson QC
- Zac Goldsmith MP
- Max Mosley
- Stephen Abell
- Hugh Grant
- Sir Charles Gray
- Alan Rusbridger
- Helen Wood
- Max Clifford
- Marcus Partington
- John Kampfner
- Christopher Graham
- Louise Mensch
- Andy Trotter
- John Mullin
- Avril Sanders Royle
- Jimmy Wales
Meet the commissioners, view the terms of reference and hear the Commission Chair Sir Michael Lyons explain his approach.
RSS feed
Email us
Listen to PM
Loathe it. But would like something in its place. So - if they can get their act together, I'd give them a second chance.
Over the years I've found you can't generalise about Little Chefs.
The food's the same everywhere but the service, decor and quality of service varies hugely from place to place.
Hey, you don't think it could be down to BAD MANAGEMENT do you????
Duhhhhhhh......
Fifi
I've usually given it a miss.
xx
ed
I won't miss it, but then I haven't been in one for many years. If I'm stopping on a drive, I'll usually have something with me to eat, so I'll find a secluded place away from the traffic, and rest for 20 minutes reading the paper. I think what we could do with are more of the sort of rest areas that are around the continent. They're basically petrol stations with basic amenities and a small separate shop where you can buy coffee, basic simle hot and cold food like paninis, sandwiches, baguettes, etc. Every time I go over there, I'm impressed how the French, Germans, Italians, Belgians, etc., have come up with a much better way of serving drivers...
The e-mail concerning the frozen omelette said it all! Loathe it.
Used to stop quite often at the one on the A14 east just before Cambridge. It was OK and a useful place to be able to stop, but always felt very dated and limited in choice.
We've discussed motorway stops before on the blog and there seems to be general agreement that as a nation we could do stopping places for travellers much better than we do.
I'll sort of miss seeing it. There was a time when we used to use it quite regularly, but it got that the food was too pricey and the service was patchy; good in some places, abysmal in others.However although other roadside restaurants are available they are either fast food outlets or even more expensive. We tend to take sandwiches these days. That might make us mean. Or middle aged. Or just sensible.
Anyone care to join me in making a bid for some of these places and creating a great place for weary travellers? I'd make big pots of beef stew, lamb hotpot, sausages and mash, bread and butter puddings, oh I could go on and on!
Mary
MM(8) you should be able to make a real go of it - just look at the success of Tebay - the demand is definitely there.
I'll miss the Jubilee Pancakes...
This will make you laugh.
In my full time job as a Service Engineer, my colleagues are now discussing whether we will be able to get free meals. Little Chef has been bought by R Capital, the same venture capital outfit that bought us out when our company went t*ts up.
Could I face that kind of free meal???
Brian
I'm with you, Sister Mary. Years ago, I was on the verge of setting up a soup and salad place in Brighton, but a partner dropped out and the risk, alone, too great for me to take on. The idea was to have salads as the main fare in the summer (salad bar style, so lots of choice and yummy), with soup back up for those who preferred, and soup as the main fare in
the winter, hearty, tasty, lots of lovely fresh bread, croutons, etc., with salad as the back up for those who preferred. All veg, etc., to be sourced locally as far as realistically possible.
Funnily enough, similar things have arisen since, and given that both soups and salads are so popular and lend themselves to being convenience foods, I think the idea could still run.
Hotpots and stews would make a perfect complement. Curries, tagines, etc., might also add exotic touches.
I'll miss Little Chef like I miss having a large person jumping repeatedly on my head - ie not at all.
We must be the only country in the world where the qualifications for running a roadside cafe are a) that the food is inedible and b) that it is stupidly expensive.
I won't miss the Little Chefs because I never went into them, but there is definitely room in this country for more old-fashioned greasy spoon caffs that serve basic hot food quickly and to blazes with fancy decor. Bring back the proper tranny caff, that's what I say! I used to decide where to stop on A-roads for a quick cuppa and a cheap bite to eat by how many lorries were parked up outside.
Failing that, I like the sound of Mary's Place for stew and soup and slices of bread and butter to go with them. And bread-and-butter pudding. That would be made with raisins or sultanas, I hope?
Chris Ghoti - definitely made with raisins and sultanas.
Of course there would be bread and butter to go with the stews and dumplings.
I could do soups, such as leek and potatoe, or vegetable soup, any kind of food that doesn't take long to create and keeps good on a low heat.
That's what I hate about most food in most places. It's food that doesn't look or taste nice because it can't be kept warm without spoiling.
I'd do breakfasts too. I can cook a really good fried egg and bacon breakfast with a teaspoon of oil.
I'm getting hungry!
Mary
I think we should plot which froggers could manage which branch for you mary, I'd love it. I shall miss it though, a bit like I miss the Golden Eggs, prawn cocktails & spam fritters... or was it only my mum who made them?!
Chris Ghoti (14) a tranny cafe? Would that be like 'Funny Girls' in Blackpool? Now that would be a truck stop and a half.
By the way 'Elect Filth' is an anagram of 'Little Chef'. I wonder if the new owners would be interested....
I have always found that if, and when, I am on a long journey and in need of repast, I tend to stop at the first welcoming pub I come across. There are so many still remaining that I never have to go far out of my way to find one. I simply follow the little brown signs (no sniggering) and, am more often than not,
greeted by a nice country pub with a convivial atmosphere and a plate of something hot and tasty.
The staff are, usually, very pleased to see you and you can pass a very pleasant half hour or more in conversation whilst enjoying the food. I recommend to all.
A friend of ours who was in the army (I think they must have been regular customers!) said they used to call the chain "Little Thief" not "Little Chef". I think we ate there twice, out of dire necessity, & it was every bit as bad as we feared. Strange what the British can do on the catering front to render virtually everything on the menu horrible. Even a chicken salad - if you cook the chicken early enough & refrigerate it for hours (or days) then serve it up just short of frozen, you can successfully remove every vestige of flavour. That's quite a skill.
Mary- lets know when you've got the caff up & running. I can make a mean carrot cake, & sugarless fruitcake. Lets not forget Jason's broccoli soup too - I'm sure there'd be a market for that - he just hasn't found the right clientele yet. Possibly the army may be interested - it's probably the right colour for camouflage anyway...
Couldn't agree more with Mrs Trellis (18). I live in the US now but whenever I am in the UK visiting family and driving around I will pull off and find a pub selling food.
I do remember being in a Little Chef as a teenager with my Dad. I was amazed how all the fried eggs were perfect circles.
Sparkly Helen - there's a sense of deja vu about this thread, as I know I've trotted out my Mum's Spam Story, so I shan't do that one again.
Then, transport caffs, well tomorrow we are heading back up to Aberdeen with Prod Anthro, and we most definitely won't be stopping at the one I posted about before Christmas, which made a Little Chef seem welcoming, cheap and tasty!
If we do need to stop (and to be honest it's only about 3 hours away so I'm sure we can manage without) we'll follow Mrs Trellis's sound advice
Re Chris (14)
Tranny Cafe, Like gossipmistress said, there is a local place - well Ringwood-ish - where after having to use the facilities a while back, you take the tranny meaning in more than one way.
However, I think you were referring to the Transport Caf, where they served you up a whopping freshly brewed cuppa and wholesome (though possibly greasy) brekkie. There used to be a fabulous one in or aroung brick lane near the City, think it was Commercial Road which was very reasonable.
As for the Little Chefs, I have used them in the past but would happily settle for a Tesco or Asda sandwich anyday!
PLEASE stop talking about breakfasts. When I was a fair young maiden (a long time ago, obviously) I made the most WONderful breakfast for someone who'd told his wife he was playing golf (it was a Sunday).
Scrambled eggs, grilled bacon, mushrooms and champagne. It was the biz. Served with a large helping of Neil Diamond.
And one of the most luscious snogs ever.
Then we brought ourselves to ourselves and decided that It Was Just Not On. (Well, HE did, acksherly . . .)
It took me about 10 years to combine scrambled eggs, grilled bacon and mushrooms in the same meal. I still can't listen to Neil Diamond :-)
So just shut up about breakfasts, OK?
:-)
xx
LadyPen
Mrs T, I had to have a quick snigger. I can just imagine the comments in the car.
Oh there's one! Site of scientific interest -- let's follow it! Or those ones with a castle.
I do the same.
Gossipmistress - I almost, but not quite, hesitate to tell you that another anagram of Little Chef is Lithe Cleft.
The new owners may be less interested in that - or maybe not...
No Comment.
Oh Lady P, I imagine you swooning over breakfast, but definitely not in a Little Chef!
Sadly it went the route of so much in this country. "Value" meaning "lowest price" without reference to the quality of the product.
So many people travelling all the time, if the Little Chef brand were replaced by something which purveyed a good, tasty, freshly made meal at a reasonable price with reasonable cleanliness and service then they would surely make a fortune?
Sadly one aspect of this would mean paying and treating staff fairly, something quite rare in the catering world.
I planned a bike ride last November intending to stop at two A40 Little Chefs. I found them both boarded up. Tesco was doing brisk business but there was nowhere to sit down. I miss the jubilee pancake.
Utterly indifferent. Don't think I've used one, certainly since I was a kid.
Si.
If I get to the traffic lights and they're on green does that mean I can eat a Mars bar?
Like others generally loathe them as they are now but miss the idea of them or how they used to be (or is that just nostalgia?). As was discussed before on the motorway service station post (and don't even get me started on the horrific stop at Keele services on the way back from Aberdeen!!), the standard of roadside catering, and the "service" that goes with it, in this country in general is appalling - pay a decent wage and set higher standards please!
For anyone around Bucks area my friend owns and runs a great roadside restaurant which is very popular with locals and I can highly recommend it (its the Deep Mill Diner near Gt Missenden if I'm allowed to say)
I've always wondered how the little fellow reaches the grill! Apparently he and Barbie had a love child who made his name as the Pillsbury Dough Boy.
Gossipmistress (31)
No, you may not!
But you may eat the traffic lights. Traffic heavies are likely to be red.
Fiona (32);
Ah, nostalgia isn't what it used to be...
Si. ;-)
My previous comment about the Little Chef was lost into oblivion (I didn't use any rude words did I, Lissa?), but I was just adding to the chorus that I will not miss the chain due to the cold food and atmosphere, nor their selfish policy that you are not allowed to use their facilities without buying something first - even if they are the only WC within a 50 mile radius.
The Little Chef simply became a case of sub-standard service with above-standard prices; a condition which inflicts most well-known companies nowadays.
Oh Lady P (welcome back by the way... the new moniker was a bit of a gobful!) thank you for sharing that escapade with us!
All this talk of a Frogs & Co catering establishment reminds me that, pre Christmas, we were all discussing a pub/club/library idea for the blog.
Remember? Equivalent to the Beach, but a place for free-form serious debate, rather than all-out frolicking which is better suited to the sand dunes?
I wonder if Eddie has remembered.
Fifi ;o)
I certainly miss what probably never existed in this country; decent roadside catering. I cannot recall ever using Little Chef, but it's reputation went before it... these days when I need to get lunch*, I usually have to use what I can get at a petrol station. So wildly overpriced (often not very nice) sandwich and orange juice.
Pub lunch would not be a good idea for the afternoon ahead! Although I did have one recently, but I misjudged the pub, more of a restaurant, and I ended up only having the soup (which was good), as I had an appointment to keep.
*technical term for the first thing I eat in the day
Never loathed them. Wouldn't miss them much nowadays. My boss used to stop (with me on board) for his indulgence. I always had the American breakfast, which wasn't on the menu last time I looked. I think they went downhill after Mr. Forte sold them along with all the other THF businesses.
(I think I failed to submit a previous post, so apologies if there are two.)
Gossipmistress (31)
At the risk of repeating a post that was lost to the gremlins a couple of hours ago -
No, you may not eat the Mars Bar. You may however eat the Traffic Lights. Traffic Heavies are likely to show as red and you should not eat them.
At 03:35 AM on 04 Jan 2007, Jason Good wrote:
"...So many people travelling all the time,"
Indeed! The real problem isn't it? In developed countries we spend as much as one third of our 'active' time, either in transit or working to earn enough to pay the cost of rushing about.
This of course includes working to earn the cost of getting to and from work. The data below are from 1970(ish), but does anyone think it's got better in the decades since wrote the essay?
It's an addiction, this , and it needs addressing as just that.
xx
ed
John (37),
I thought thinking was your strength, rather than throating. Most pubs do non-alcoholoc bevvies, y'know.
³§±ôá¾±²Ô³Ù±ð
ed
Ed (42),
Ha! Sadily the non-alcoholic drinks are even more over-priced in even the best pubs than in the petrol stations.
Anyway, hardly have the time to sit down and relax when I'm out and about these days...
Eddie: Miss you. Loathe the silence.
Ed - my SO wrote about home working from a facilities management point of view, in his MSc thesis more than 10 years ago.
Fifteen years before that, my friend David GW wrote his MPhil thesis about Newcastle's then-integrated public transport system which linked trains, metro, buses and ferries.
Nothing new under the sun. But the Royal Mail (and by that I don't mean the Post Office) is the only company I've known that really invested in the technology and evolved management practices to make it work. No doubt its ongoing losses and cutbacks will undermine the value of the economic and staff wellbeing benefits nowadays.
Oo-er. I'm getting gloomy. Somebody send me a joke!!!
Fifi
No newsletter. No today's blog. No comment on this thread for almost an hour.
So now I've had a moan, I've no alternative but to get on with my work.
Hey, ho!
Sara: I suspect Eddie's too busy window-washing (sorry, that should have read 'watching')
Perhaps they're seeing how long a blog can sustain itself without oxygen... or is it euthanasia by any other name?
Sara (45) GET ON WITH YOUR WORK!
The newsletter remains broken...and I made a pledge not to write if I've nothing to say. I appreciate that that would probably not stand up in a court of law given the evidence but...
I can reveal that there will be an announcement in the coming days that will cause sadness among many froggers (don't worry, no-one has died)
Vyle! Your picture has just gone up in gallery 40!
WELL, IT'S ABOUT TIME i GOT A NAMECHECK IN THE 1630 TRAILER!
YHWH
Ed (51) you've lost me, translate YHWH please? and no I don't think it was the biscuits that did for the tooth - age and a Scottish upbringing play hell with the molars!
Eddie (49) - HELP! What is this announcement to be? Where will it be announced?
No-one has died, you say, but I'm now DEAD WORRIED.
I got on with my work as instructed and now I've missed most of the prog anyway. Today is going badly wrong.
Eddie (49) you really shouldn't do this too us - we will now be imagining all kinds of dreadful stuff from the abolition of the blog to your departure from PM - please don't tease - at least not if it's really something horrible.
Miss it. Oh sorry, thought you were talking about the newsletter for a moment. Miss it, Little Chef that is.
I've just been looking at the PM website and interestingly you can still sign up for the Newsletter
'I can reveal that there will be an announcement in the coming days that will cause sadness among many froggers (don't worry, no-one has died)'
I'm a bit worried by this message from eddie - is the ´óÏó´«Ã½ about to murder the frog?
Eddie (49)
You're scaring me. There are much worse things than death, you know. No more frog? No more frivolity? Eddie finally cast into outer darkness?
And there I was about to open the champagne to celebrate the appearance of my piccy in Gallery 39 - well worth the wait, I'm sure you'll agree!
Rachel
Eddie! Are you leaving us? How can you say what you did at 49 and leave it like that! I've just bought a wind up radio to make sure that I don't miss you!
And surely you've got something to say. Surely?
I'm deeply troubled!
Mary
How does the government hope to have ANY credibility when the Education Minister, just interviewed, says ".... her team HAVE done a good job...." HAS! HAS! "Team" is singular! We hear "...Downing Street ARE..." and "the Govt dept responsible ARE looking into it.." all the time but from an Eductaion Minister.... what hope for the schools, eh?
Eddie: This is beyond teasing! From what you say, either the Blog, Lissa, or you are withdrawing from our company. None of these options are acceptable, though I doubt if there's anything we can do to change it .......
Unless, of course, an edict from on High has told the prog that enough time has already been devoted to the WoyW project and that, therefore, is that.
The latter of the options we could live with. The former three, however.... Oh dear, will we sleep tonight?
Eddie (49) ... it's all very well having nothing to say.
But we do like to know which stories you're working on, so we have the option to think about them and perhaps contribute.
I don't like the sound of this announcement one bit. Can we guess, I wonder?
Cancellation of the Beach - too frivolous
Only one thread per day - too much to moderate
Galleries coming down - taking up too much space and Today's getting jealous
Key member of PM team leaving - it's too horrible to contemplate who it might be!
Whole blog experiment abandoned - the phrase 'victim of own success' bandied about... ...
Oh for pity's sake, tell us now and put us out of our misery please!!!
Fifi (who doesn't like being teased in real life, either) :o(
I've just realised what the likeliest demise is - namely, that of the Newsletter. Perhaps that is where Eddie has been all day, banging his fist on the relevant desk Kruschev-style ("I will not be let down like this - I am a man of my word, and the continuing absence of my newsletter is making me look foolish ... etc. etc.")
Well, I could live without the newsletter, I think. But, Eddie, please keep blogging! And transmitting.
I’m sure we are all distraught at the prospect of Pat Robertson suffering a catastrophe, and would wish to offer him our heartfelt thanks for his selfless dedication to a life of prayer and of course we will all be rushing to provide the credit card details which no doubt he will be divinely inspired to request.
Anne,
We're not supposed to utter it. It's known as 'the tetragrammaton', the four hebrew letters representing the name of G-d.
According to the trailer, YWHW has sent a message (albeit through the medium of a Christian fundie) that we're in for some retribution.
But we all knew that didn't we?
xx
ed
Big Sis, I'm so worried about this. After all, what could possibly make the blogger's sad?
I think we'll all have to huddle around the camp fire on the beach and try to give each other comfort in our hour of need!
Mary
Sister Mary: Yes, I'm feeling very very worried. I fear the worst.
Well, if Edward Sturton is taking over the prog, you'll need twice as much news. There again, he might find something to comment on....
O dear, back to the Telegraph
I think this means a general convention of all froggers if there's to be bad news, so we can all support each other. Eddie, I hope you'll tell us as soon as you can about this bad news. It's going to severely affect the productivity of the nation until you do, as we'll all be checking our inboxes and the blog every 5 minutes...
A nervous but still Fearless Fred
Aunt Dahlia, is this something you KNOW about? In which case, please share ....
The day is gloomy indeed.
I think either Eddie or Lissa is leaving us. Why else would they be working so hard to get all the WOYW pictures up so soon? If it is this, then I hope that they go onto happier things, and all the froggers can drink themselves into a depressed oblivion.
Now that I know Eddie isn't leaving (phew) can I say that I would also serve up a great shepherd's pie.
More of the menu to follow!
Mary
Ed I. (65) sorry was being dense I somehow thought it was a piece of text speak I had missed out on, doh!
Apple and blackberry crumble, or any sort of crumble really.
That's more of the menu
Mary
I miss Little Chef. Useful for Winter food.
The quality did vary, as did the service.
I loved it a few years ago as a warm comfy place to stop for a nice cup of tea and a meal, when cold and damp, on a long motorcycle journey.
Try that in a McDs.
Guy
I've got the scented candles ready if it is bad news!
Anne (73),
Well, it is a 'sort' of text-speak, isn't it?
;-)
I wonder if there's a Little Chef handy to Lissa's new home....
xx
ed
Ed I @ 77 - well not for very much longer there won't be!