Restaurants & Movies

2 disappointing experiences yesterday (Sunday), one I expected, and one I did not.

Firstly - Nando's Restaurant
Whenever we visit Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent (England), we invariable go via the cinema entrance. One of the restaurants close to the cinema is Nando's which always has a full shop, as well as having a queue so long, that you would have to be starving or addicted to the stuff to want it.

So we (my wife and I) decided to give it a try and find out what all the fuss was about. We did it last night when it was quiet, and was shocked initially by the fact that the place is nothing more than a glorified fast food joint!

You get allocated a table which gets you in the mind set of a restaurant, i.e. being appointed a waiter and ordering, waiting, eating, paying and going home, but instead you are given a table number, and have to go and order AND pay at the counter. You feel duped.

So the food comes out quickly and to be fair is well cooked, but the over-rated Nando authentic/original Portuguese recipe lark is true. I expected more from the food, and ended up being disappointed. Curries have a variety which cannot be matched, but this is tasteless.

Secondly - The Da Vinci Code
Im one of these people who have never read the book, but I have a good idea of what is going on, so much so that I watched the film and failed to be surprised by any twist or turn the film/book threw at me. It dealt with ideas and concepts that were out of date and old fashioned, purported rumour and myth to be the truth. The book Im sure will fuel the mindless masses who believe this sort of fantasy crap. Dan Brown has watched a few documentaries on cults, secret societies along with a passing knowledge of the "grail", and written a half-hearted novel about it. How it ever deserved to go global the way it did, I have no idea.

Apart from a few nationals (French and American), the entire cast was English with bad accents. The effects and wow factor was minimal, the locations boring. But then the film didnt have much to work with.

Im not a fan of Tom Hanks, but he acted his entire way through this film without any effort at all. Back in the 70s and 80s they made films with actors that were high on cocaine or heroine or smack. It seems these days films are made by actors jacked up on Botox. I mean, Hugh Grant has more emotion than Tom.

Ian McKellan looked like he was over acting, simply because no one else was even remotely making an effort.