Chef explains why you should never order a roast dinner from a restaurant

19 November 2020, 14:20

A top chef has said you should never order a Sunday dinner from a restaurant.

While most of the UK is currently under some form of lockdown, it won’t be long until we’re all able to meet our friends and family in a restaurant again.

But the next time you’re looking over a menu, it’s worth noting that one chef has advised against ordering a roast.

It might be the nation’s favourite dinner, but Gemma Simmonite has revealed why she thinks they should always be home cooked.

Gemma, who is the chef and co-owner of Gastrono-me in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, claims she's yet to have a Sunday roast in a restaurant that has come close to her own.

Speaking to The Mirror, she explained that she is a vegetarian, so the vegetables are often the star of the show for her.

“In a restaurant they often travel to the table looking entirely sorry for themselves,” she said, continuing: “Lacking in variety, and either bullet hard, or overcooked to the point of mashing.

Read More: Mum creates incredible Grinch Christmas tree for just £35

"Plus, they’re never seasoned or buttered, which in my book is completely unforgivable."

And we all love a roast potato, but Gemma has never been impressed by the offerings she gets away from home.

She said: "Roasties never seem to have that oily craggy thing going on either? Instead they’re invariably floury and depressingly uniformed in shape.

Fans fume as Beverley Callard gets away with ‘easy options’ in eating trial

"A roast is a labour of love, one that most of us have all grown up with and associated with warmth and family. I guess that cannot be translated into a single and usually frenetic service."

This comes after a woman went viral earlier this year after revealing how she makes the perfect roasty using flour, garlic and rosemary.

Taking to TikTok, Isabella can be seen preheating the oven to 200C, before peeling the potatoes.

After placing them in a pan of boiling water, she then part cooks them until they are "fluffy but not too soft".

Once the potatoes are parboiled, she drains them and shakes them in a dish until they are fluffy, before coating them in a light layer of flour and frying them in oil.

After sprinkling with chopped up rosemary and garlic, she puts them in the oven for 20 minutes, before flipping and cooking for a further 20 minutes.

The final step sees the temperature whacked up to 220C for a final 10 minutes, before mouthwateringly crispy potatoes are removed from the oven.

Now Read: You can get paid £1000 to be a ‘bed tester' and stay in 5-star hotels