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Plan - Passports - Wallets - Safety - Luggage - The.Flight - Heavy.Metal - Getting.Around  - Restaurants  - Must.See

• Virtual London's 'Food and Drink' section has expert advice on London Restaurants.

• Porters English Restaurant is located in London's Covent Garden and prides itself on offering English food that is both 'tasty and value-for-money'.  (It is always refreshing to find a business that has customer-oriented values.)  You can view the restaurant's menu on their website.

• On several occasions, we have encountered a misunderstanding when requesting a 'napkin' in a restaurant.  While a 'napkin' in Britain is the same thing as a 'napkin' in North America, the server apparently misunderstood our American accent  (Didn't think we had an accent, but evidently, we do.)  and thought we had asked for a 'nappy'  ...which is the British word for a diaper!  George Bernard Shaw is reported to have said of Britain and America, "We are two countries separated by a common language."  For more on American and British English see our favourites page.

• The following 'five morals' are based on a recent experience.  (If you are interested, there is a long-winded narrative.)

1. If you are having dinner in a restaurant and there are no prices on any of the menus or itemized prices on an openly displayed chalkboard, no matter how tired or hungry you are, get up and leave.
2. If your common sense tells you that you are being set up to be the victim of a con, you probably are...  act accordingly to protect your interests because no one else will protect them.
3. An honest business run by honest people will have no problem producing an itemized bill and will welcome giving the customer the opportunity to verify the accuracy of that bill before paying.  Refuse to pay until they give you an itemized bill for your inspection.  If they have a problem with this, call a constable ['police officer'].
4. Carefully examine the itemized bill to be sure that...  they are charging you only for what you ordered and that they got their sums right ['added it properly'.]
5. Remember the old adage...  prices subject to change unless you watch our restaurant manager carefully!

Copyright © 1999 - 2005  J. C. Nash. All worldwide rights reserved.
Last modified: Thursday, 27 October 2005.