I Entered the Dark Side... And It Was Good

[ailbhe]

Every Wednesday evening, if it's not too cold or scary out, and the class is open, Rob and I go to a ballroom dancing class. The past couple of times we've taken the bus instead of walking in, because it's a 20-minute walk when I'm not pregnant, and 30 minutes now, and the walk leaves me too breathless to dance for an hour. Also, I dislike arriving sweaty and feeling as though I've had my day's quota of aerobic exercise; that's my main excuse for paying for dancing, after all.

After dancing, to fortify me for the long, arduous trek home, which also takes 20-30 minutes depending on stage of gestation, we regularly find somewhere to drink hot chocolate, in a lovely sharing, caring togetherness experience. This is great, because we never communicate otherwise if we can help it; we work (he at geeky paid things, me at housey unpaid things), cook, and discuss practical DIY or financial matters. Oh, and lately I prance about going "Baby baby baby baby BABY baby baby!" and he says "Yes, your baby!" and I say "Mine! Hahahahaha! Nothing to do with you, alll mine!" and then he brings me tea and toast and I fall on it like a herd of locusts, only locusts don't drink tea and toast.

So we have this important us-time every week where we get to remember why we like living together and doing DIY together and cataloging books together (that was an American spelling, wasn't it, I know it was). We started off drinking hot chocolate in the locally-owned cafe attached to a very old local hotel (well, moderately old - about 250 years or so). But they closed that restaurant for refurbishment. So the next place we found was a Pizza Hut, and they also served hot chocolate, and the first few times we went there was a wonderful waitress who remembered us - and what we preferred to order - and served smilingly and promptly and she had clean fingernails and didn't mess with her hair, either. Then the Pizza Hut announced that it was moving, but we didn't mind because it was Christmas break.

Today was the first lesson after Christmas ended. After the lesson, we walked through the Riverside bit of the Oracle (sometimes, British towns pretend to be continental and cosmopolitan; they get it almost right, apart from the fact that everywhere in the area is selling exactly the same stuff as everywhere else and they are all owned by international chain franchisey people). We discovered that finally, It Has Come To Reading! (That's Reading, England).

Yes, folks, today I went to Starbucks.

I have purchased takeaway coffee from Starbucks stands in train stations before now, I concede, but I don't believe I ever actually walked into one and sat down before. It was quite nice. The tables had chess board patterns on, which is always useful, and the hot chocolate was no worse than what comes out of machines in every cafe in Reading (the important thing is to remember not to get whipped cream; it's sweetened, has added vanilla, and comes out of an aerosol can. Yes, it came from a cow, but the cow sure as hell wouldn't recognise it now). The music was better than in either Costa coffee or Coffee Republic, and the food available appeared to be identical - hummous and tuna sandwiches on tomato bread, chicken caesar wraps with oregano, toasted paninis, double fudge superchoc extra sugar brownies, and, of course, blueberry muffins. None of these places ever do a plain ordinary sandwich on plain ordinary bread; the closest you can get is Free Range Egg and Cress with Baby Spinach on Malted Wholegrain Superthick Sliced Loaf, Low-Fat Mayo and Fresh-ground Black Pepper, or similar.

So yeah. Starbucks is going to take over the world, but the only places in Reading it'll put out of business are identical already. They've already driven out any independent houses of excellence.

There's precious little decent coffee available in the average UK high street anyway.

(Hum. I am becoming Opinionated again. I must have been reading Bryson).

Comments

[gothwalk.livejournal.com]

I dunno, I'm glad to find someone else opinionated who likes Starbucks. I like them quite a lot, and some of their more exotic coffees are beyond excellent. Caramel macchiato, or whatever it's called.

[mikz.livejournal.com]

I don't drink coffee, so I wouldn't know. I was shocked a few weeks ago, though, around the corner from circusscreamer's place. There were people in a Starbuck's there, acting like they were in a café!! This was in the depth of mainstream American suburbia, so of course they wouldn't know any better, but it was still a sorry sight to see.

It's nice that they don't all quite look the same, but they still deeply miss the individuality that real cafés have, and sensitivity to local culture. It might be on a different scale, but Starbuck's is still to cafés what McDonald's is to restaurants.

[ailbhe]

I have drunk Starbucks' ordinary coffee, and it was awful. But the main point of my post is that although Starbucks is to cafes as McDs is to restaurants, there are no cafes in Reading for them to drive out of business. They've all been driven out of business already, by other, slightly smaller chains, which sell all the same stuff in an incredibly similar setting.

[mikz.livejournal.com]

Point taken. It's not the fault of Starbuck's per se. I think there's a certain symbology to consider, but I must be less worried about it if I craved decent coffee.

[micheinnz.livejournal.com]

Starbucks is fine if you don't drink the coffee (which is indifferent to downright bad, imo, and overpriced). The hot chocolate and chai are good.

[ailbhe]

There are very few places in the UK where you can get decent coffee, and none of those places is a chain or franchise, as far as I know. The hot chocolate was ok; I didn't see chai on the menu, but if I ever need a hot drink when I'm nearby again I might investigate.

The thing I miss most about Dublin is the cafes.

[sshi.livejournal.com]

Ah, Bewleys, the grandfather of 'em all :>

[ailbhe]

I've never been served a cup of really good coffee in Bewleys, though their blend is nice when I make it myself.

I remember Kaffee Moka the week they opened their first branch; *that* was good coffee. It isn't any more, though.

[amaliedageek.livejournal.com]

None of these places ever do a plain ordinary sandwich on plain ordinary bread; the closest you can get is Free Range Egg and Cress with Baby Spinach on Malted Wholegrain Superthick Sliced Loaf, Low-Fat Mayo and Fresh-ground Black Pepper, or similar.

Starbucks doesn't sell egg and cress sandwiches in the shops here in the States (quivering lower lip).

I've wandered over from clanwilliam's journal; I hope you don't mind?

[ailbhe]

I didn't actually look at whether Starbucks sell sandwiches; that's just the typical sandwich of that genre of coffee shop. Sorry :)

And it's a public journal, dagnabbit! I find the idea of objecting to people reading it somewhat, er, completely loopily insane.

[amaliedageek.livejournal.com]

Actually, no one here sells egg and cress sandwiches; they've only just started carrying cress in the produce sections in my town, in fact.

There is a Starbucks on the opposite corner from an independent coffee shop; the Garden does substantially more business (the coffee's drinkable, for a start).

People do get odd about others commenting on their journals; why eludes me, but I've found it's best to ask. Thank you for being a sensible person; there aren't enough around.