The Faulty Towers dining experience

Our family are huge fans of the 1970s British sitcom, Fawlty Towers. We’ve got the whole series on DVD and have all watched it from start to finish several times. We therefore couldn’t resist the Faulty Towers dining experience which is touring the country and in Aberdeen this weekend. The spelling is deliberately wrong (Faulty instead of Fawlty) for legal and copyright reasons.

We got tickets for Sunday lunch at The Palm Court Hotel and were waited on by Basil, Sybil and Manuel. The whole experience was superb: incredibly funny and very true to the TV series. There was slap-stick comedy with Basil pounding Manuel’s head into the wall on several occasions, misunderstandings with Manuel not understanding English instructions with hilarious consequences, Basil telling porkies to Sybil and even the famous rat makes an appearance. Manuel smashes plates, throws the bread rolls, sings on the table and is just generally hilarious. Basil is typically rude and impatient and indeed I thought the actor mastered John Cleese’s mannerisms perfectly while Sybil is calm but severe.

The food was also surprisingly good. Regular readers will know how fussy I am these days and we rarely eat out as a result but Palm Court exceeded my expectations. It wasn’t perfect – the bread rolls were white and I must rant about this now so feel free to skip to the next paragraph. Why, in an age of obesity and chronic bowel issues are humans eating white bread? It’s such an easy switch to eat wholemeal with untold health benefits and it even tastes nicer. The white stuff isn’t really food. You don’t even have to chew it. Just wet it with saliva and it disintegrates in your mouth – no chewing required. It’s basically just sugar.

But the bread aside, the starter was a very nice tomato soup, not salty thankfully, although a couple of patrons found the chef’s dentures in their soup. I believe Sybil got them replacements. The main was a vegetable lasagne which was also quite nice and served with a green salad.

Manuel went round at the start unfolding people’s serviettes and putting them on their head or round their necks. He did Ben and I took this just after.

We were tucked away in a far corner of the room but the actors did a really good job of making sure everyone was included.

It was a fun experience. If they’re coming your way I recommend it, especially if you’re a fan of Fawlty Towers.

Afterwards we went for a walk round Johnston’s Gardens which was not far. I’ve always known about this garden but we’ve never been because it’s quite small and not really walk-worthy, at least not for our family who prefer longer walks. But it was just right on this occasion for after the meal and before heading home.

We’re lucky where we live to have longer walks including this one through Allenvale Cemetery which looks spectacular just now. I took these photos on Friday.