Food

mockup logo

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How to Brand Your Food Blog

*This post is sponsored by Design Bundles.

Writing a food blog is the perfect outlet for anyone who has a strong passion for all things food, but might just fall short of a career being a gourmet chef. One of the reasons I love blogging about food is that you get to eat it and I also get to share quite a lot of my favourite recipes with all of my readers. But anyone reading this thinking that all you need to do if you run a food blog is to eat things and write about them would be incredibly incorrect. So much work goes on behind the scenes with a food blog. Recently I wrote a post touching on how you can use different fonts to make your food pictures stand out. In this post, I will be going through a few tips on how you can brand your food blog. If you take just that one step further from a food blog by turning it into a brand, you’ll get a lot more blogging opportunities, traffic and ultimately you’ll probably enjoy your blogging experience a lot more.

Think about your favourite food

It’s unlikely that one single food will ever provide you with enough content for an entire food blog, but you can still incorporate what your favourite food is and market yourself as a particular expert of this food. The ideal scenario would be that when someone is looking for a recommendation for a certain type of cuisine, they pick your blog because they associate you with that cuisine. One of my favourite foods is the very basic (but very tasty) fried chicken. I have a whole section on my blog called “tried chicken” which is specifically for this food. Creating a separate category for one food alerts your reader to the fact you eat it a lot and you might be the best person to go to for advice on it in a certain area.

Create a logo

Many people will tell you that a logo is the most important thing you’ll need to create a brand, and they would be more or less right. Although there are a number of things that are important when you are creating a brand, a logo is one of them. You can use websites like DesignBundles to make a mockup logo to see what it is like. You don’t necessarily need to overdo your logo by using it on every post. You can just use it on your blog theme or header and then put it in other places that feel appropriate down the line. Another benefit to creating a logo early is that if you look to sell printed merchandise to your fans down the line, you’ll already have something designed.

Think about your average reader

When you think about your average reader, the idea you might have of who they are and who is actually reading your blog could be completely different. Start by going through your blog stats and then look through your social media followers and ask yourself a few questions like “how old is my average follower?” and “which tow or city does my average follower live in?” and most importantly, what content they are consuming. The more you understand about your audience holistically, the more you can create content that is intended to resonate with them.

Schedule regular interaction

One of the best things about writing a food blog is how easy it is to write content that is useful to people. Things like restaurant reviews and recipes are frequently searched for using search engines, and even people that do not have a particular interest in food probably Google at least a few recipes per year. A good way to help with branding your food blog is to move that usefulness from your written content to your social media channels. Also, people love regularity, so make this a regular thing and it will quickly become associated with your food blogs “brand”. There are a number of ways you can do this. Perhaps you will release a recipe on a certain day each week, and then always do a live Q&A session a couple of days after so that you can see how your readers have go on with making the dish. Or, you could set aside a time to eat the food you are an “expert” on once a week and rotate through different places so that your followers always get new content.

UK Crisps

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Crisps Rated From Best to Worst

*this post contains affiliate links

Crisps are not just a snack for me. They are an entire way of life. I feel as passionately about certain crisps as men do about football. So that is why I have decided to give myself the authority to bring you the ultimate crisp list.

Pickled Onion Monster Munch

I did nearly bump these down because they are not very social crisps. I never feel comfortable eating these around people though. Ultimately, I decided no matter how unsocial or tongue-hurty they are, they are still worthy of the top spot. The Flamin Hot ones naturally share the top spot, and the Beef ones are not even really worth mentioning.

Tangy Toms

The only reason Tangy Toms haven’t clinched the top spot is that they are so rare. Tangy Toms are like that elusive fish your Dad just KNOWS is in the lake but can’t ever catch. Sometimes you can get them down the Aldi or the Poundshop, and other times they are not spotted for months on end. I’m not sure why they do it but it’s been a great marketing ploy because when they do appear, my Mum, buys five bags. I’m not sure who to blame their rarity on, but if I had to hazard a guess I’d say the Illuminati.

Doritos

Any crisp brand that has their own brand of salsa as well is always going to get a massive thumbs up from me. I mainly prefer the Chilli Heatwave flavour, then Cool Original then Tangy Cheese, despite being an overall cheese lover. I love Cool Original with the hottest salsa. And yes, would you have guessed it, I still have the cheek to wonder why I have tongue ulcers.

Hula Hoops (Any Flavour)

The thing I love about Hula Hoops is how sturdy and dependable they are. You can leave a Hula Hoop in your mouth for thirty-five minutes and it is not going ANYWHERE. The only issue bumping Hula Hoops down a bit is that they are so enjoyable but there are only about five in a pack. What a mug off. Although I have written “all flavours” anyone who likes ready salted should NOT be trusted.

Pickled Onion Space Raiders

Pickled onion features heavily on my list because it is an awesome crisp flavour. However, the flavour isn’t enough on a Space Raider. Again, the hot space raiders second only the pickled onion ones and anyone that likes BBQ/Beef is a weirdo. 

Salt and Vinegar Squares

Another crisp in the tongue-hurty category. But so worth it.

McCoys (Any Flavour)

McCoys are another crisp that is in the sturdy category. Good, dependable crisp, well-worth a purchase. Any flavour McCoy is acceptable, but guys what I am going to say about ready salted?

Pringles

I used to LOVE them, but to be honest they are neither here nor there. A very “nothing” crisp. Shit. 

Skips

Minging. Make my teeth itch.

Ready Salted Walkers

Most boring crisp in the whole world.

If you enjoyed this article, feel free to swing by my Ko-Fi page to buy me a coffee for £3.00.

Font Bundles

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Fonts for the Perfect Food Blog Post

*This post is a sponsored post for font bundles. It contains a sponsored link whereby the company paid me to use this link in the text. 

If you have ever used a recipe website like BBC Food, you’ll notice that although the recipes are good, the pictures and imagery are more than a little dull. This is one of the reasons more people are turning to food blogs to get their recipes. One of the ways you can cash in is by creating a popular recipe with some great imagery that draws in the reader. Posts of this kind are often more popular the more simple they are. There are so many great things you can do around food. It is an unlimited source of content. Many food bloggers now also rely on tools like social media to publicise their blogs. Instagram and Snapchat stories are a great way to do short, sharp recipes. Having a lot of time at home means you can experiment and cook more, so this is a great time in general to have a food blog.

If you write a food blog and you are looking for some inspiration for your layout, there are a few options you might consider.

Text over the finished food

Font Bundles

Sometimes there might be instances where you can only share one photo. As well as several blog layouts only allowing you to have one picture, this method also works well for Instagram and Twitter. Bold, simple fonts always work well on this type of recipe imagery. This is also a technique that works on Pinterest. Pinterest is a great place for cooking content as food tends to be naturally photogenic in general. The final product should be written on the food picture so that people can tell what it is. That might sound silly, but if you are photographing something from above that has cheese on top, there could be anything underneath. Pictures shot from above tend to be very popular with people who read food blogs. I like these pictures myself because they are very neat and tidy.

Step by step posts

Font Bundles

Step by step posts are a great medium for Instagram or Facebook stories or Snapchats. You can use  freebies fonts to do this, to make your step by steps stand out from other bloggers. Using specific fonts on a step by step post will make your cooking storey stand out from any other content. Clear and concise fonts work the best here, because there may well be people following along and trying to cook the dish as well. There is also the option for you to tie the steps posts together to make a Youtube step by step video. If you are not verbally explaining the instructions of how to cook the dish, you can use a free font to write at the bottom of each image what the step is and how to do it.

Youtube thumbnails

free fonts

I think we’ve all stood and filmed a cooking vlog or a “cook with me” post and imagined having our own cooking show. People tend to veer towards the visual when it comes to content, so fonts can be used to make your thumbnail stand out. Imagine how many cooking videos there are for things like shepherd’s pie and spaghetti bolognese? These fonts do not need to be necessarily as clear and concise as a step by step or a story post, so you can afford to be a little bit adventurous here. This is also a good opportunity to play around with some bold colours, as Youtube thumbnails tend to be a bit “in your face”.

The actual recipe

If your website allows, you might consider using a free font to write your recipe. As soon as a user clicks on your link, they will instantly judge your blog by how pretty it looks. This is also why the images are so important. If you have a good enough image at the top of your blog post, people will stay on your page and continue to read. Make sure the image isn’t too big though, or too covered in ads. This will turn many people off of a website instantly.

Where should I get my freebie fonts?

Free fonts are easy to find if you look in the right places. Font Bundles is a good place to start as they have loads of free fonts and you don’t need to provide a huge amount of personal details to register. You can also upload your fonts to design tools like Canva, which is incredibly helpful.

Gratin Dauphinoise

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Easy Gratin Daupinoise Recipe

*This post contains affiliate links

How do I Make Dauphinoise?

Potato or “gratin” dauphinois is one of my favourite meals. You can either have this dauphinoise as a side or as a full meal, depending on how much you eat. My personal preference is to split it out among ramekins an have them accompany a well-cooked steak. I am going to share with you the simple and quick recipe I use.

Equipment

You will need a good casserole dish like this casserole dish. You will also need a slotted spoon, this does not have to be expensive. You can have one that only cost you £2 like this slotted spoon.

Ingredients

500g cream single or double

3 x garlic cloves

500g of milk

Grated cheese (grate to taste)

Method

  1. Start by pre-heating the oven. Put it on 200 dregrees
  2. Cut the garlic cloves from the garlic. Take the three cloves and crush them slightly with your hand.
  3. Peel the potatoes finely and put them on to boil just to soften them. Boil them for just under five minutes.
  4. While you are boiling them, add the rest of the ingredients aside from the grated cheese into a sauce pan and bring to the boil. Use a spoon or a colander to remove the cloves of garlic, ad the flavour should have cooked into the sauce.
  5. Drain the potatoes.
  6. Layer the casserole dish with layers of potato and pour the cream and milk mixture in-between the potatoes.
  7. Put the cheese you have grated on the top. Any cheese will work, but Gruyere cheese is often used for this.
  8. Bake this in the oven for around one hour on

 

If this recipe was helpful to you, please consider buying me a coffee on Ko-Fi.

Takeaway

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Takeaway Food Rated From Best To Worst

*This article contains some affiliate links. 

First and foremost I just want to warn you: this list is going to be controversial. I don’t share takeaway tastes with the majority. I go a bit rogue here, but if you read on I will fully back up every choice and it’s ranking. 

Kebab

I know what you are all thinking. You are all thinking of that “end of the night” kebab when you stumble out of the club after 11 proseccos. That’s not quite the kebab I mean because I don’t even drink. I’m talking about a healthy chicken shish from my local posh kebab place. The reason it has been promoted to a “posh kebab” place is because you get cous cous AND rice (yes I am that easily pleased, fuck knows why I am single). By nature, I am not a healthy person, but this is my favourite because it isn’t greasy and fried.

Fried Chicken

Look at me contradicting myself and saying I like one thing because it isn’t greasy and fried and then the next thing on my list being fried. The trick is, if you get good fried chicken, it shouldn’t be greasy. I don’t go in for KFC, I prefer places like Wing Wing in Hammersmith. Fried chicken isn’t just a passion of mine, it’s a way of life. You’ll notice that I have an entire section on my blog dedicated to fried chicken called “Tried Chicken“. If you want a less greasy alternative you could always make your own with my fried chicken recipe. My secret weapon is a wok.

Indian

Seeing as I love spicy food so much, it’s not a surprise that my third favourite takeaway is Indian. I’ll usually opt for a Phal or a Vindaloo because I crave validation and want to look hard in front of (or on the phone to), the takeaway people. Once I went to an Indian near ours and they started bringing me glasses of water when they realised the Phal was for me.

Chinese

Chinese in a restaurant is fantastic, but Chinese from a takeaway not so much so. It breaks my heart when I see people bragging about how good their Chinese takeaway is because I’ve still not found one up to restaurant standard near me. I just find everything from a takeaway soggy to be honest with you. Especially dumplings. Absolute horror show from a takeaway. 

Pizza

I have a secret and I feel like admitting it will make me seem like a weirdo. I don’t like pizza. There, I said it. I don’t DISLIKE pizza, but it is just such an average takeaway for me. It doesn’t jump out enough for me to love it or hate it. It is neither here nor there. 

Burger King/McDonald’s

Burger King is another one that is hit or miss for me. Sometimes you get a good Burger King and sometimes it seems like they fried the onion rings for 37 years. Their burgers are just “ok”, and their chips are disgusting. McDonald’s is a lot better than burger king, but in general I can live without it. I know Fiat 500 Twitter lose their shit over chicken nuggets but they ain’t as good as a nice chicken shish.

Fish and Chips

All I’m saying is mushy peas. End of. 

If you read my food blog, feel free to subscribe to me on Youtube where I chat even more shit.

 

Fried Chicken Recipe

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Fried Chicken Recipe

*My super secret fried chicken recipe contains affiliate links

(Image source – my kitchen. This is my last batch of fried chicken, but you can follow my cooking on Instagram)

I know what you are thinking. If this is a secret fried chicken recipe, then what on earth are you sharing it for? I’ve thought about this a lot you know. And when it came down to it, I just didn’t feel like it was fair for others to miss out on such good fried chicken. So secret fried chicken or not-so-secret fried chicken, I’m sharing the recipe with you. I live in a small home, so I just use chicken breasts and make small, bite-sized pieces. But you can essentially go with the flow and change it up as much as you want.

Equipment

Yeah, I’m adding this for the affiliate links. Might as well be up front about it.

a wok (honestly – nothing fancy. Here’s my actual one: https://amzn.to/311pgLr 

a METAL colander (funny story: I once threw all the fried chicken and fat into a plastic colander. I really am THAT stupid)

sharp knife (here is a link to that standard, multi-coloured knife set EVERYONE has in their first house)

long, flat oven dish, like this one

pyrex bowl or jug

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 x chicken breasts

1 bottle of cooking oil (large)

4 eggs

1 lemon

1 lime

6 cups flour (any, but I use plain white flour)

4 x tablespoons of mixed herbs

3 x teaspoons pepper

3 x teaspoons salt

2 x teaspoons paprika

2 x teaspoons all seasoning

pinch of chilli powder (to taste. I don’t put any on if I’m making it for my Mum, if it’s just for me I put loads on)

1 x teaspoon of lazy garlic

Method

What you will find here is that there is a very important pre-step that you put in place. It’s a bit like how important pre-drinking is to a good night out (I don’t drink but I used to and pre-drinks are the way forward if you do. Giving up alcohol for anxiety was the best thing I ever did).

24 hours before you are ready to fry…

1.Cut your chicken up into bite-sized pieces. I know you are probably thinking my pieces in the picture look huge. Well that’s because I am a gobby so and so with a big mouth. My bite-sized and your bite-sized ain’t really the same thing.

2. Put your cut up chicken in the bowl. Squeeze both the lemon and the lime over the chicken. Add in all of the garlic. Then add the following ingredients:

2 x teaspoons mixed herbs

1 x teaspoon salt

1 x teaspoon pepper

3. Give this all a good mix around. To be honest. you are not going to achieve the level of coating you need with a wooden spoon. Get in there with your hands and do some mixing and squeezing.

There you have the secret part of my secret fried chicken recipe. Cover with foil and allow this to marinade overnight.  Nothing worse than getting fried chicken that’s dry as a Nun’s chuff. 

When you are ready to fry…

The good things about putting this in the fridge to marinade is that, much like when you make roasties,  the chicken will be cold and when it hits the hot oil it should go extra crispy. The next part takes some practising to get the “knack” but ones you do it’s worth it.

Pour all of the oil into the wok and set it to the highest heat setting

You will need to drop the coated chicken straight in the oil, so make sure this is fully heated before you start coating. I hope it goes without saying not to test the oil with your finger. Just drop a little bit of flour in it

Mix ALL of the dry ingredients in here. Make sure you even them out well, I usually use a fork (another secret fried chicken recipe secret)

Break 2 of the eggs into your Pyrex bowl or jug. Which them. I use the eggs 2 at a time because once you start using them the eggs get floury. So half-way through I clean my egg jug

Dip a piece of chicken in the egg mixture. Swirl it around so that it gets coated everywhere

Repeat this process. Yes, you. read correctly. You absolutely need to do this twice

When the egg mix gets a bit floury, pour the egg out and use the other two. Dirty egg mix will infiltrate your fried chicken and stop the beautiful flour coating from sticking

When you have done each piece, put it straight in the boiling hot fat. To deep-fry through, it should  not take more than 20 minutes in total to cook right through

Serving suggestion…

I eat my fried chicken with rice and gravy. This is a trick I learned on one of my various trips to the Philippines.

Pastaio

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Pastaio, Westfield London

IMG_3483

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Wing Wing, Hammersmith – Tried Chicken

If I had a pound for every time I said I was FINALLY going to get the “tried chicken” section of my blog off the ground, I would have enough money to go on an absolute fried chicken bender at Wing Wing. I recently got promoted at work so I am trying to make a good impression and show them I was worth it, rather than staying up until all hours writing blog posts for this London lifestyle blog.

Although I have had a food section on my blog for a while, which covers places to eat in London, I’ve wanted to do speciality fried chicken reviews for a while. Do you remember m posting my own fried chicken recipe recently? The truth is, fried chicken is a total obsession of mine. I could be having a full-on conversation with you, answering your questions, the lot, and still be thinking about fried chicken in London.

So here it is; the inaugural “tried chicken” post. I selected Wing Wing because of their beautiful pictures on Instagram and because of their proximity to the office (Hammersmith is two stops away on the tube, perfectly doable in an hour lunch break). Wing Wing offer takeaway but you can dine in as well. They often have karaoke nights and have specials on wings and beer. It reminds me a bit of this club near me called the Pink Toothbrush, truth be told, and looks like it gets a bit lively at night.

Nevertheless, I don’t drink alcohol and I very rarely stay in London after work. I was here on official business and that official business was to try their fried chicken. Ordering couldn’t be more simple. The menus are all on the wall (and online if, like me, you like to decide what you are going to have a few decades before you visit). There is a huge cash desk, which also serves as a bar (if you are so inclined you could have a drink while waiting for your chicken. This would certainly be the way I would have been inclined if I still drank alcohol). You simply choose your meal, choose which flavouring you want on the chicken, and then choose aside. I will admit that £9.50 is a little bit more than I care to spend on fried chicken (especially when Jollibee is so reasonable) but as this was for research, I allowed myself the splurge.

After being given a little gadget thing that flashed when my order was ready, I settled on a chair with my coke ensuring I could see the serving hatch. Little flashing gadget things always lead me to believe my food will take a long time and the fault there lies with Icco Pizza. I have been in Icco Pizza on lunch breaks before and leg hair that I shaved off before that day has grown back in the time it took for my flashy flasher to go off.

The waiting time at Wing Wing was more than acceptable. I don’t really think they have the same set up as your regular fast-food places like McDonald’s by having stuff pre-cooked, as my food was hot rather than just warm. However, their production line works, I only waited ten minutes max for my food. The packaging was vibrant and fun and while I have never thought this mattered as long as the food was tasty, but I was surprised by how much the bold colours appealed to me. It’s as if they knew I wanted to take some good pictures for my blog. The portion sizes were generous as well. I got three pieces of chicken with some skinny fries.

One of the weirder flavours you can choose to have your chicken is liquorice. I wish I was adventurous enough to try that for the blog, but I hate liquorice and my tummy was making noises that indicated if I didn’t put food in it soon, I would, in fact, explode. So I chose “hot” but the other choice was “soy-garlic” and I am keen to try that soon too. The hot flavouring was fantastic. It wasn’t too hot, and it didn’t give off a curry powder vibe like Indian food. The closest thing I could relate it too was the kind of spice you get in a really, really decent Pad Thai. The chicken itself wasn’t battered, therefore, even though it was fried it wasn’t greasy. As much as I love fried chicken I do hate it when you get a big bit of batter or you get a super-greasy bit of chicken. The outside of the chicken was crispy and the inside absolutely fell off of the bone. This is quite a hard juxtaposition to achieve with fried chicken, and believe me, I have tried.

The skinny fries were also delightful. Potato is one of my top ten favourite foods anyway, and fries are probably second only to mashed potato. What with the fried chicken, as well it is a surprise I didn’t spontaneously combust with excitement. There are also other sides and other dishes on the menu. Wings seem to be the main thing, although I had drumsticks. Every Sunday they do a “bottomless wings” offer for £15 (and kids eat free). They also sell baps, burgers and wraps and rice boxes as well, so there is something for everyone if you go as a group.

To close the review, the only criticism I could really make would be the price. It is quite competitive if you were to compare it to other “trendy” food places, but for the same amount of money you could go and pick yourself up from one of the restaurants in Westfield, like Pastaio. See below for my tried chicken scoreboard:

Fried chicken = 4/5

Location = 5/5

Atmosphere = N/A

Other food = 4/5

Value for money = 2/5

Speed of service = 3/5

If you enjoy my written content, you might want to visit my Youtube channel and watch travel videos like my video of the Philippines or my interview with a vitamin iv nurse.

There has never been a better time to SUBSCRIBE, as I am giving away £50 when I reach 500 subs.

If you want to try Wing Wing, you can book a table online, get delivery from Deliveroo or go on their website to book click and collect.

 

The Big Bakes London

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The Big London Bake

As much as I love cooking, I’m not the sort of person who feels comfortable making cakes. When I got invited to The Big London Bake I quite openly told Tanya, the blogger I went with, that I would be useless. I tried to make Yorkshire puddings for the first time yesterday and they didn’t rise (although I fully blame the gluten-free flour for that), and I realised I just hate baking because you have to follow the instructions so carefully. The thing I love about cooking as opposed to baking is that you can dash a bit of anything in there when the moment takes you.

Nonetheless, I was excited to give The Big London Bake a try, because I love trying new things. You might have seen my review of the pasta making kit from Sous Chef recently and noticed how much I do enjoy cooking. Even if I get it wrong, I still enjoy it. The Big London Bake is at the back of a pub in tooting called The Castle. Anyone who enjoys Bake Off will surely jump up and down with excitement because the tent is the same. There are two-person stations with all of the equipment you need to make whatever it is you are making that session.

The tent is so cool!

We were making “simple” sponge cakes that were Australian animals (The Big London Bake kindly donated money from these sessions to the Australian bush fires). We chose to make a Koala because it looked like the easiest one. I mean, they are pretty simple animals, right? Our class was with the head baker Nyssa and she made the session so fun! It’s fairly easy to follow, as the instructor will give you instructions in stages, and then set a time limit for you to finish that stage. Unfortunately, the reason our cake was a bit below average was that I have the attention span of a five-year-old. I had gone wrong within about four minutes of starting to be honest. If I wasn’t with Tanya, I feel we would have had no cake at all. We had an hour and a half which doesn’t sound long enough, but your time is used so efficiently that you can make an entire sponge cake AND decorate it during that time frame.

You get everything you need to make a really cool cake!

When we were cooking the sponge, I accidentally turned the oven off by leaning on it. So not only did our cake not rise, but it took ages to cook once we turned the oven back on and we also had to put a huge fan in front of it before we were able to decorate it. Another thing I have forgotten to mention is that The Big London Bake cater to food allergies. We had a gluten-free station as it is something I can’t eat during a flare-up of my endometriosis. But they didn’t just have basic gluten-free ingredients, thy had gluten-free decorations, biscuits and loads of other stuff so that you don’t miss out on anything the people making standard cakes get to use.

Ok, so our sponge wasn’t the best.

After the cake had FINALLY cooled down, we got to decorate it. This is the point where I realised how seriously un-artistic I am. I thought that our Koala was cute, in an ugly sort of way. I don’t think there is much chance of me giving up my career in advertising to work as a baker, but Nyssa said it didn’t taste too bad so maybe there is hope yet? One thing I will say is that I haven’t ever enjoyed doing something I am terrible at so much! I’ll be going back with my friends at some point.

You can book The Big London Bake online and see the prices and sessions.

*I was invited as a plus one with Tanya to review this venue for The Live Review.

 

 

Restaurant Rules UK

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So, What are the Rules About Restaurants?

*This article contains affiliate links.

If you love eating out, you have probably been eagerly awaiting last weekends rule-change amid coronavirus that allows restaurants to open. There is only so much making your own pasta you can do before you start to crave a decent carbonara. But as much as we have all been hotly anticipating the re-opening of restaurants and pubs, they are going to look a LOT different to what we are used to. I’ve run down a few of the main change you can expect to see.

You will need to book

With spaces being limited, it goes without saying that it will be highly unlikely you will be able to walk in to a restaurant and get a table. If you are going to walk in off of the street, you’ll likely be made to wait in a designated area so that you are not in a queue less than one mere away from people. There are plenty of online restaurant booking services you can use to find out which one near you has the best availability.

Hygiene will be a HUGE factor 

Government guidelines state that restaurant need to be serious about hygiene. Expect an increase in hand-washing stations, signage asking customers to wash or sanitise their hands, and potential measures in toilets to mitigate the risks of people queuing. People will also be reminded they can only come to restaurants with people from their own households. Condiments will be swapped for packets rather than bottles and masks will be encouraged in communal areas. Waiters will also be required to wipe surfaces frequently.

Public transport is preferred

Restaurants are being asked to work with local authorities to ensure that people can arrive by public transport, for instance having ample space to lock up bikes, etc. Although the use of public transport is still strongly discouraged, it does seem that trains and busses are getting busier with non-essential journeys.

Inside the restaurants

Over the last few weeks you may have seen the bits of perspex separating self-service checkouts at the supermarkets. Restaurants will be encouraged to have these same screens. There will be no live performances, and play areas will be closed. You will also ALWAYS get served at a table (which isn’t a bad thing), as paying at the bar and ordering drinks is out. One way systems will be encouraged, as well as contactless payments.

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