I am sat here watching TV and playing with my laptop, and must have seen something on television to make me remember The Wimpy Bar - although I think these days it is just called "Wimpy"

I am in my mid (ahem) 40's and can remember a time when MacDonalds and Burger King did not have the monopoly when it came to buying a burger.

I remember a time when it was possible to be shopping of a Saturday afternoon and decide to have burger and chips, and you could sit down at a table, a waiter/waitress would take your order and bring you a knife and fork to eat your burger and chips with. Yes, certainly you could get a takeaway if you wanted one, but generally people didn't - it was a very civilised way to have a Burger.

Then, I believe the early 1980's happened and our high streets became more Americanised.... small Cafe's like Wimpy became considered a poor relation to the large MacDonalds popping up everywhere - don't get me wrong, I have no problem with MacDonalds in the slightest, but it is a shame that Wimpy has been forgotten. They have gone from a fast food restaurant in most high streets, to small restaurants in quieter streets in, very often, quieter - less affluent towns.

Anyway, I am going back through memory lane now.. The Wimpy does still exist and should not be forgotten, a few weeks before Christmas I popped out for the afternoon to pick up some shopping and I went to Littlehampton in West Sussex, and there it was - a little Wimpy, off the main street, opposite a cheapie bargain store and also opposite Iceland food shop.

My hubby, daughter and myself decided to pop in for a bite of lunch, and although there are new things on the menu, also the menu had exactly the same things on there that used to be all those years back.

My hubby had a Quarter Pounder, Cheese and Chips... (Now I used to work in the Wimpy in Chichester about 26 years ago, and was there when it changed hands to an independant cafe, and the Quarter Pounder was the best burger the served back then, and to be honest it looks like it still is)

I had a cheese burger and chips and my veggie daughter had a jacket potatoe.. Now adding Jackets to the menu is something that never used to be there - so it is good that they have moved with the times..

Hubby and I both had a cappuccino - totally delicious and my daughter had a coke.

Our final bill was just a little shy of £18, which I suppose is a few pounds dearer than MacDonalds would have charged us, but what we did get from Wimpy was a pleasant, quiet 45 minutes, sat out of the cold, being waited on - being offered salt, vinegar and ketchup with our burger and chips !! We drank our coffee from cups and saucers.

Yes, the decor is a little dated and tired now, but the cafe was spotless and the service impeccable, I am not suggesting that you must give your waiter/waitress a tip, that is up to you, but the difference in going somewhere where the staff know that it makes a difference if they serve you with a smile and a pleasant word, rather than reading from a script, parrot fashion... "is that large?" "do you want fries with that?" is somewhat refreshing..

Altogether a much nicer experience!