Well Martin. To be utterly frank the food we do is pretty good and it is good value compared to most places vaugely in competition with us locally - and I KNOW that some customers come here in preference to the local Wetherspoons and pay substantially more than they would there for stuff which written on a menu reads very much like the same thing - but the food here is not as consistent as I'd like it to be and I know my staff could be better trained than they are. BUT the overall experience and ambience we do is better than most.

AS for the £3.50 M&B experience. You're right - each to their own. I'd be happy to try it and hope that it would deliver what I can get in my own place (I get fed up with coming to my own place during work downtime). If it did I'd feel like I'd struck gold and become a regular regular but I doubt that would be my response. Being like cattle in a line waiting for a pile of fodder that's unbelievably CHEAP (I was trained never to say anything other than 'good value' by the way) has appealed but never delivered the experience I aspire to when I forgo eating at home for the luxury of dining out.

I want going out to be at least a little bit special, even if it's at Johnnie's Cafe a bit down the road on Coldharbour Lane (which really is a little bit special and incredibly good value by the way), not a supermarket all you can get in the trolley in three minutes spree for free.