No food at the inn

Took us four goes this afternoon to get something to eat... First we tried the Cock at Wishaw. We got there just after 2 and after a long wait at the bar I was told that they'd had to close the kitchen because they'd run out of various ingredients. Then we headed over to the Green Man at Middleton but the direction signs conspired against us and we ended up at The Bassett's Pole. There we were told there was a 30-minute wait for a table inside and if we wanted to eat outside we were only allowed to choose from the bar menu. So off we went again, this time to the Bottle of Sack in Sutton. On the tables there were drinks menus and Tuesday food menus. Assuming that for some reason Wetherspoons had designated today as a Tuesday, we chose from that, only to be told that they were using the normal menu...

Moor Hall Hotel

☼ My wife has just returned from an excellent weekend at Moor Hall Hotel in Sutton Coldfield, where £88 per night gets you a beautiful quiet location, an excellent breakfast and dinner, and full use of the gym, sauna and pool. Her only quibble was that the room was a little small, and looked smaller because of all the too-large furniture stuffed into it.

Restaurant 182

☼ There for lunch with M this afternoon. It's a great location, so I wonder why it's changed names so often over the years. In this latest incarnation it serves "English cuisine", and we were pretty impressed. The soup and the mussels were fine, and so were the chicken and the liver. M raved about the sauce on the chicken! Lunchtime price: £9 per head plus drinks. The only real quibble is that when M asked for a glass of red wine she was brought a large glass, price £4.35.