[tinajones]

Wining and Dining Exhibition @ Ponds forge

- did anyone go? i thought it was much better than last year.

i had loads of free wine, irish cream liq, special exotic chutneys (from Thyme restaurant and Yabbas), sun dried tomatoe sausages, petit fours, etc. also caribbean food (UK Mama)

my fave stuff was some shark from Maso's resturant stand and an oyster (my first) from the fishmongers.

didn't get chance to watch the 'cook off' comp as it was busy in that area.

[Jack Yerbody]

Dammit. I missed the boat on that one.

Probably for the best anyway - would only have porked up.

[Tony Ruscoe]

We went and were quite disappointed to be honest. (At least it was only £3 though - so can't really complain.) There was plenty space for more stands - so where were all the other companies that could have been there?

At first it seemed like it wasn't very busy when we got there at around 2pm on Saturday... but that was until we saw the large crowds of people around the CO-OP stand (who were giving away cheap plonk) and some brewery stand (who, again were giving away booze) with the poor chap keep saying "Also available for sale" like he'd not sold a drop!

We soon realised that unless you were rude (and pushed people out of the way to help yourself to the bottles), you had a very slim chance of getting any free booze ... but seriously - I wonder how many people would go if they knew there wasn't any free booze and / or whether the companies who do give away free booze actually make any more money by doing do...?

[tinajones]

Originally posted by Tony Ruscoe
We went and were quite disappointed to be honest. (At least it was only £3 though - so can't really complain.) There was plenty space for more stands - so where were all the other companies that could have been there?

We soon realised that unless you were rude (and pushed people out of the way to help yourself to the bottles), you had a very slim chance of getting any free booze ... but seriously - I wonder how many people would go if they knew there wasn't any free booze and / or whether the companies who do give away free booze actually make any more money by doing do...?

i thought the layout was ok - i know there were 2 sparce corners but it was a lot better than in the cutlers hall last year where it was cramped and boiling hot from all the cooking going on.

i certainly got more than £3 worth of stuff for free and i was certainly never rude - but i went on friday when it was perhaps quieter.