Beefeater is a chain of restaurants in the UK, offering consistency rather than challenge in terms of dining. The Beefeater in Girton where we normally go is an interesting building, full of inconvenient walls and odd holes. We often sit where we can see the kitchens, and try to guess if our plates are sitting ready for our waitress or waiter to collect.

We have been going regularly and long enough that they know us, and we know them. That is nice to be greeted personally, to be somewhere where one belongs. I preferred the decor before the most recent refurbishment, but one can get used to many things.

My mother used to have shares in Whitbreads and part of the benefits of being a Whitbread share owner was one got discounts at Beefeater. That may be the reason Beefeater became part of the menu for dining out at. Virginia and I while courting used to meet often at the Gatekeeper in Harlow, now no longer a Beefeater.