Reykjavik

It's been a long while since I've had a chance to sit down and

write anything. I have spend a few weeks working in Bracknell and this week I have been in Iceland.

This terrible URL (to be fixed) http://tinyurl.com/34dlop will take you to an annotated Google map (with extra bits to be added) that shows the highlights of my visit.

Places that I ate :

• Silfur http://www.silfur.is/ has a more 'fusion' menu than their site suggests. Their signature chocolate dessert and anything that has Wassabi ice-cream is a good pick.
• Hereford Steakhouse http://www.hereford.is/ is a generic steakhouse, not quite good enough to feature on my 'all time' best steak list but perfectly alright. Their fish soup starter was good, but the tentacles lurking at the bottom were a little off-putting (despite being very nice).
• Salt
• ...more to follow.

As I'm writing this I realise that I am starting to think in the idiot English that I have found myself speaking all week - despite the fact that most of Iceland seems to speak better English than most of England. Go figure.

p.s. Sorry about the mis-spelling of Reykjavik, I've had character set issues with the RSS feeds and this was the easiest thing to 'fix'.

Steak

Sometimes I eat steak - occasionaly I have some that is so nice that I add it to my list (it's in my head, don't worry) of "The Best Steak on the Planet".

1. A steakhouse below/near one of the SAS Radisson hotels in Oslo - although I can't seem to find out anything about it online.

2. Old San Francisco Steak House, Houston. (USA)

I think that my opinion may have been swayed by the pretty girls on swings. A bit of research online suggests that the place has now been knocked-down and replaced with a mall.

3. Sofitel Airport Hotel, Brussels.

Good - and it's still there and hasn't been demolished (at least, since two days ago)

Also very nice lamb.

(and now the list isn't just in my head)

Mio Modo - Leeds

Travel really shouldn't suck. Perhaps I have too-high expectations, but it should be possible to go places and not be treated like an animal (regardless of whether I deserve it or not)

Mio Modo in Leeds seemed like an okay sort of place when I was here a month or so ago. Perhaps it's because it is still the 'holiday' period but it seems that they have given-up any thought of treating people like me (travelling for business & eating alone) with any real respect. The table of people that they've just sat next to me seems to have two waiters hovering around them at all times, meanwhile I'm still sitting here waiting for someone/anyone to take my order.

Eventually my order was taken and neither the starter nor the main took too long to arrive. My starter, Bruschetta, was quite pleasant - although the tomatoes were a bit flavourless.

My glass is now empty, but they seem to keep missing the opportunity to ask me if I'd like some more. I think I may need to ask.

I didn't mention this before, but I was aiming to be done in about an hour and be out of here in here shortly before nine o'clock, that way I can get back to the hotel and watch the first episode of 'Pandemic'. It is currently five to nine.

I did manage to order another glass of juice (pineapple) - it may have been better if the bottle had been shaken first.

It's now seven minutes past nine.

Re-writing this afterwards from my notes, I don't really remember what I had for my main - although I do remember that the 'ham' was really cheap and nasty.

'Service is included' on the bill and there wasn't the opportunity to add a tip onto the card transaction. If you really feel that you've been treated well then you may want to tip in cash.

I finally managed to escape at about twenty past nine. Overall my experience wasn't all that great, although I suspect that if you have more people on a table or visit at another time of year then you may have a better time than I did.