“If music be the food of love, play on, give me excess of it” – William Shakespeare

In The Oven we’re more likely to say “if music be the food of love, how far is it and what are the portions like?”

Gastronomy gets a fair share of big talk here in the office and even more so now foodie Matt Aranha is on board (we recommend you visit his edifying food blog). But being on the doorstep to St. Nicholas Market and a world of titillating cuisine often makes a group sustenance decision difficult to reach.

On occasion arguments will erupt over the particular merits of Sausage Man’s delectable portions when compared to the bountiful value offered by the Italian. So, in order to calm all ill feeling, we’ve turned to a beloved mutual friend. She’s called Science.

As you can see from the above venue-value cluster-stacked column chart or ‘lunchometer’ (click it for a clearer view) each venue has four variable properties: cost, portion, distance and quality. Each subject was awarded up to a maximum of ten for each property derived purely by objective formal logic and was subject to full peer review.

As you can see Bristol Sausage Shop has a whopping 30 out of 40 or is 75% the ideal outlet, while the frankly awful Taste of India struggles with an appalling 22.5% presenting an idealism range of 52.5% across all venues. Fascinating results, I’m sure you’ll agree.

We offer our findings to the wider scientific and central Bristol lunch eating community where we’re sure it will offer public value and a basis for further research. We hope that by 2016 a near ideal lunch venue can be artificially synthesised under laboratory conditions.

Enjoy your weekends!