Northerner would prefer his tapas on one plate, please

A DINER from Leeds has told his waitress he does not wish to scavenge around the table and would like all his tapas served together on a large warm plate. 

Joe Turner visited Bravas in the city centre and observed other customers being brought multiple plates with small amounts of food on each, which he immediately commented ‘will be a bugger to wash up’.

Waitress Lucy Parry said: “He asked me ‘what’s all this about small plates, love? I want a bloody big plate for these prices.’

“I explained we serve tapas in the traditional Spanish style with a number of dishes brought separately for diners to combine as they chose, and he said that didn’t work for him.

“I told him the fun of tapas is that you can have a little bit of everything and share food around. He looked like I’d shot his dog and asked ‘If my main course is just lots of starters, what do I have for starters?’”

Turner said: “A Sunday roast doesn’t come on separate plates. It comes inside a massive Yorkshire pudding, and you eat that and all, because that’s value.”

Boston, Massachusetts vs Boston, Lincolnshire: which is best?

AMERICANS believe their country is blessed by God, but how does it match up in a straight head-to-head? We put two Bostons up against each other to find out: 

Population

Boston, USA: With an estimated population of 666,783, the 21st most populous city in America would seem to have it on the numbers.

Boston, UK: A manageable population of just 66,500 – less than ten per cent of its larger cousin – makes the smaller Boston easy to get around, friendlier, and less overwhelming. It’s a win!

US 0 – UK 1

Culture

Boston, US: The home of the bar from Cheers, where everybody knows your name. But what if you want a quiet pint without people badgering you and Carla’s wisecracks?

Boston, UK: Has a Wetherspoons called the Moon Under Water, like 13 other Wetherspoons throughout the country, guaranteeing the kind of peaceful anonymity real drinkers crave. They won’t know your name here even if you tell them.

US 0 – UK 2

Sport

US: Has the Boston Red Sox, the Celtics, the Bruins and the New England Patriots, not one of which plays a proper sport ordinary people can enjoy. There’s also the Boston Marathon.

UK: Not one but two non-league football teams, a rugby team, bowls, sailing and swimming clubs. The weekly Park Run is held 51 more times a year than the Boston Marathon and is only 12 per cent as long so can be finished quicker.

US 0 – UK 3

Food

US: Famous for lobster, clam and cod, all of which quite frankly stink and taste unpleasantly fishy.

UK: Despite being on the coast Bostonians eschew seafood in favour of fast food. The town enjoys the highest obesity rate in the country, with a third of adults classed as obese, so it’s easy to feel slim and attractive here.

US 0 – UK 4

Celebrities

US: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Leonard Nimoy, Edward Norton, Uma Thurman, Stephen Tyler and Mark Wahlberg, among others, are all from Boston.

UK: With only Covid spokesman Sir Jonathan Van-Tam, the Yanks just about edge a win here.

US 1 – UK 4

F**king stupid political gestures in the name of independence

US: In 1773, the Sons of Liberty, disguised as native Americans, threw an entire shipment of tea into Boston harbour and sparked the American Revolution, which even ardent supporters will have to admit hasn’t worked out well.

UK: In 2016 the brave people of the real Boston stood up to be counted and voted in massive numbers to leave the EU, with 75 per cent of voters making it the most Brexity town in Britain. And seven years later, with Britain thriving, they are honoured as heroes.

US 1 – UK 5

Verdict

A humiliating trouncing for the inferior US Boston, scoring one pathetic point on a technicality while Lincolnshire’s finest romps home with an emphatic win.

Next week: which is the best Sydney, the Australian one or the area of north-western Crewe near the Grand Junction retail park?