Steerpike

Showing your age ...? I'm recalling growing up in the 60s ... I wish I could remember those menus ... memory loss is a real bummer...

Pate? !!!! Where did you grow up? I don't think pate made it up to Lancashire! But fresh OJ was quite the rarity, wasn't it! Well 'fresh' - probably from a can....

Even in the 60s, we had more than one Chinese restaurant and that soon became our annual venue. It seemed so exotic at the time! I think even they served Prawn Cocktail !! Then at some point, the first Indian restaurant appeared ... OMG what a life-changing experience that was!

CarrotCruncher

I grew up in rural Gloucestershire, and this would have been late 70's early 80's. I think back then the closest we ever got to any type of exotic food, was when Dad had a boxed Vesta curry!

Rete

Growing here in the US during the 50's, we had breakfast, lunch and then supper during the week. On Sundays we had dinner which was served around 4 p.m. instead of after 5:30 p.m. which was when we had supper during the week.

Tea was, as someone else said, a beverage. I'm only recently learned that to Brits it is equivalent to what we might call a late lunch.

In Canada my husband had breakfast, dinner at noon, and supper in the evening.

tinaflorida

This was the case for me too.

Well, I'm not Aussie, but my Gran is from Lancs. I'm a home counties girl.

Patrick Hasler

I stil call mid day 'Diner time. much to the confusion of everyne I talk to.

Speaking of which we just had Toad in the hole with lashings of gravy ... MMMMMMMMMM

tinaflorida

I had beans on toast for lunch. I miss traditional English Sunday roasts.

katieuk

Roast Pork, Sage & Onion stuffing, carrots, cauli, sprouts, roast potatoes, yorkshire pud, gravy. I am a slave to the stove every Sunday.

Steerpike

So it seems that only in parts of England do we hear 'dinner and tea'.

"Lunch and dinner" and "lunch and supper" seem pretty universal from what I'm hearing here, even in the US - which is news to me (never heard 'supper' here in CA other than from the occasional Brit).

BTW - do any of you 'English Sunday Roast' folks cook it rare/medium rare? I grew up eating Sunday roasts 'well done' - and I could never get excited about it! The beef was dry and 'flakey' almost. Only when I came here and started to try my beef rare or medium rare did I develop a taste for beef. Now I crave a medium-rare prime rib, with un-cut horseradish!

Juswus

That is hilarious! I agree with Steerpike, that brings back such memories
I thought I was very exotic at 8 yrs old when I had scampi

katieuk

Breaded not battered, with a lemon wedge on the side, and maybe some sauteed button mushrooms! Scandalous!

nethead

Bloody hell we must of all had the same childhood, I'd forgotten about the fruit juice as a starter in a wine glass
Also remember dessert as very often being Black Forest Gateaux. How very exotic.

katieuk

But wasn't it the greatest when you didn't know any better?!

And do you remember the grown-ups having Irish coffee and someone poured the cream over the back of a teaspoon - then miraculously it sat on top of the coffee? Magic Tricks!!!

CarrotCruncher

Oh wow! I doooo. How funny! If memory serves me correctly, the dessert selection was either black forrest gateux, death by chocolate or vanilla icecream, and a coffee with an after eight mint for us children. Just had to stare in wonder whilst the grown ups had the magic coffee!

tinaflorida

Oh God, I used to love Berni Inns. I remember being particularly fond of their Chicken Cordon Bleu.

We also had a Roast Inn near us that we loved. Sunday roast dinner carvery/buffet. And the waitress used to bring my Cokes with cocktail umbrellas and little plastic animals all over them - I loved all that tacky stuff!

snowbunny

Shrimp cocktail is still a posh appetizer and was especially so in the 70s. Of course, I grew up in a shrimping community (think Bubba Gump) and shrimp was fresh and inexpensive. Still it was the mark of a host who did not mind spending lavishly on his or her guests!