That is exactly what I posted yesterday in the loanees thread here

And if you do go and eat at the Golden Lion, make sure you also take Paul's tip from a year back - go another couple of hundred yards towards Chorley and buy some amazing local lamb from what I think is the best farm shop in the area. I don't buy lamb from anywhere else now, also get eggs and some veg from there. Truly a local food hero without the inflated prices of some other "farm shops". Spout House

Can't you stick with the same name for more than 5 minutes? Haha - he hasn't changed the quote function bit!!

{One more} ... every time I go to New York, I find time to go to the Oyster Bar at Grand Central station - here Even if you just have a Clam Chowder for $6 and a nice glass of their perfectly chilled house Sauvignon Blanc - it's a must do in NYC.

Yes please - don't miss this absolute gem, 5 mins from Penn station / Madison Square Gardens Wonjo - oriental - never shuts If it's a bit earlier, head over to East Village - Sunburnt Cow Endless Brunch for $18 ... no further explanation required Mooooooooooooo Check out the great work Jay is doing to set up a Rovers community in NYC. You'll never get better advice than from the locals who love the best city in the world, and the best football club in the world . edit - how could I forget Life Cafe - in case the Sunburnt Cow is closed ...

Going to see The Levellers tomorrow night at JBs Club in Dudley. Should be messy ...

Hughesy - it's the Red Pump. At Bashall Eaves Red Pump Inn Bashall Eaves

I can strongly recommend this place in Glasgow ... Sa Marina It's south of the river, so a 3 quid taxi from the more central areas, but the food is truly stunning, and the service the total opposite to what you describe at the Ubiquitous Chip Oz - a real family business. Also a good reminder that appearances can be deceptive - if you drove past it I guess you wouldn't even look twice!! Google Earth streetview Closer to home, ate at the Clog last night, and was a bit disappointed. Not with the food which remains very good, but more with the service. We ordered drinks to have while we were choosing what to eat, and were told they'd bring the drinks over. However they took so long, that we ordered food and wine, and ended up having the pre-meal beer show up at the same time as the starters and the wine It wasn't a round of cocktails either - it was a pint, a half and a bottle of juice! Also there was a simple change requested to a main course side dish which they happily said was fine when the order was taken, but they then got totally wrong - no problem with honest mistakes but I do have a problem when they didn't want to correct the mistake without an argument. To be fair the offending dish was removed from the bill but that's not the point. I wonder if Nige has overstretched his best staff by opening the Bull at Broughton, or has cut numbers during the week to keep costs down. Whatever, he needs to be careful, because as good as the food remains, it isn't cheap and people will soon go elsewhere if RVI don't retain the highest standards we have come to expect.

I order 20 blades last weekend as well, no sign of them yet. If they do show up it's over 50% cheaper than the supermarket for M3 blades. I checked out the web address on WHOIS and it appears to be legit (.co.uk just forwards to .com so he owns both) - and has been registered for a year. If nowt turns up soon we can pop down to Cardiff and look the guy up

Healthy pizza

Interesting set of Opta statistics on Sky Sports News just now - Premier League strikers with more than 5 goals - conversion rate (ie goals / chances) Tevez 11% Rooney 14% Adebayor 18% Torres 19% Anelka 21% Berbatov 21% D Bent 23% Roberts 23% Beattie 23% McCarthy 28% Owen 29%

Had lunch there yesterday, was very good indeed. Lovely setting too. Only slight criticism is that the starters were too substantial, but for some people that would be a plus rather than a minus (and maybe I shouldn't have chosen deep fried black pudding fritters).

Stopped in Bolton at the Olive Press last night on the way to Manchester Apollo. Taking advantage of the current pre-7pm 50% off main course offer. Have to agree, the service and staff attitude can't be faulted - lovely dedicated people - they all made you feel more than welcome in their restaurant. They even chalked a garlic bread off the bill because it took 6 minutes to arrive (we only ordered the thing after our mains had been served) Would have been happy to pay for it. Food was fine, but not brilliant. If the 50% offer hadn't been on, I think I'd have been mildly annoyed. Plates had greasy finger marks on them, and we were served a Peroni in a dirty glass - again ignored / forgiven because of the price, and the friendly staff. Starter, substantial mains, side order, beer, sparkling water (I was driving ) for 9 quid each. On our way to a gig. McDonalds drive-thru would have been 5 quid each. For the pre-7pm deal and the great staff = 8/10 from me.

We went to see the Pet Shop Boys tonight at Manchester Apollo. (think I'm safe - don't think Thenodrog reads this thread) Wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it as much as going to see proper music live, but it was actually really good (especially for us children of the 80s). And (20 seconds into this clip) -

We had lunch at the Inn at Whitewell yesterday. Obviously it's a fabulous location, and the food was very good as you'd expect. The only possible downside is that some of the patrons seem to think they deserve priority service due to the fact they've got a Jag / TVR / Range Rover in the car park. This may have been accentuated yesterday as there was a wedding taking place at 4pm. But the food is good enough to block out any downside. Certainly not overpriced either.

I don't think there's a website ... seems to be quite a word of mouth sort of place. But you're in no danger, my wife is vegetarian (+ no fish) and El Rincon = absolutely not a problem. Quite the opposite.

That's him!

Gave El Rincon another whirl last night after watching Lancashire destroy Yorkshire at Old Trafford ... once again couldn't be faulted. Very busy for a Tuesday evening after a bank holiday! Really good value as well (8 tapas dishes and a decent bottle of wine, enough change from 50 quid to leave a tip). We just perched at the bar - a really nice informal way to eat tapas ... apparently next to some geezer off Coronation Street, but for all I know about soaps it could have been someone off Sesame Street.

I'm sorry to see Andre Ooijer leave the club. He was almost the perfect signing for us - an experienced full international captain who could play in a number of positions, happy to test himself in the best league in world football. He never let us down, despite that horrible and serious injury early on in his time at Ewood. When people find fault with a proper player like Ooijer, I sometimes wonder if they are looking for the perfect footballer - a 10 out of 10 in every facet of their play - like something from a computer game. There is no such player - even in the 30 million quid bracket you get defenders full of faults (on and off the pitch) like Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole. If today hadn't been all about Tugay, I'd have been wearing a Holland shirt rather than a Turkey shirt - it was nice to see a young lad in the lower JW wearing the ooranje. Good luck wrapping your career up back home Andre, and thanks for living the dream with us for three years

The Clog was always going to be ambushed this Saturday ... Nigel Howarth was on The Great British Menu every day last week on BBC2 - that's 2 1/2 hours of early evening TV exposure. Plus the Clog was specifically featured as the newest part of his collection. The punters would have journeyed from far and wide this weekend. That said, we completed the full set of RVI eateries on Saturday with a visit to the Highwayman near Kirkby Lonsdale. Table for 6 booked as late as 10.30am for a 1.30pm lunch no problems. Couldn't be faulted - with food like that it's no surprise people want to eat it!

The best we've found at this end of town is Hoddlesden Village Chippy. Much better than anything in Darwen itself.

I think Benni's being harshly treated by his own fans here. The biometrics comment by the manager was directed at Dunn was it not? I wasn't there (at the Q+A) so happy to be corrected. Either way, Benni didn't look too porky when he was tearing around the pitch in the Wigan match. Or when we spoke to him from a distance of 3 feet at the BRDSC do. His game has never been a Paul Dickov type of contribution. He conserves his energy and pops up to score important goals - lots of them. When he has to move fast, he does. When he has to deliver for the team - he does. I do struggle to understand why people slag McCarthy. We'll never have another Shearer, so let's make the best of the best players we have??

If he'd have gone through Tugay like that in front of the Blackburn End, studs up and both feet off the ground, with Tugay leaving the pitch on a stretcher - you'd have been up on your feet with the rest of Ewood Park shouting "OFF OFF OFF". If Newcastle get rid and manage to cancel his contract, it'll be nothing to do with one challenge. It'll likely be to do with contractual clauses inserted as a result of his criminal conviction(s) allied to what's alleged to have happened in the dressing room with his boss (in full view of all the other players). Or put simply - "you're now a convicted criminal so we have every right to terminate your contract immediately, however we'll put you on a final warning and any further disciplinary problem of any nature gives us the right to terminate at any time in the future". If Newcastle didn't review his contract at that time, then more fool them.

Sky Sports News have put together a montage of Barton's various misdemeanors on and off the field. It goes on for so long I thought they were going to have to put an advert break in the middle of it. Not with a bargepole. Unfortunately as he's signed him before, I'm afraid our manager will think he should sign him again.

Doesn't make any sense. After putting out weakened sides in the FA Cup, and sides to lose v Arsenal and Liverpool why play our ONE uninjured striker in the flippin reserves, 4 days before a vital 6 pointer?! Goes against everything he's said previously on priorities and keeping players back for vital games. The only thing I can think of is the clown wants Benni to get hurt tonight so he has an excuse for another bizarre team selection on Saturday.