Clare Teal: 'Our hero' comes out of his shell and opts for snails

Mondays on the whole tend to be our Saturdays, but, sadly, most of our friends work Monday to Friday and so there's hardly ever anyone around to come out to play.

For many years, owing to health complications, family trips to restaurants were completely out of the question. As a child, "our hero" had very little interest in food and, as such, the thought of being expected to eat three courses was, for him, in no way a treat.

Fast forward some years and now, at 6ft tall, the wee man loves nothing more than sitting at a nicely set table trying whatever is put in front of him.

Annoyingly, a lot of restaurants close on Mondays, but, thankfully, not all. The Beaujolais is one of Bath's most famous restaurants, run by the equally famous Jean Pierre.

Finding myself in a frivolous and daring mood, I decided at the tender age of 36 it was high time I sampled my first escargot. I was more than thrilled when "our hero", aged 19, also decided to have a taste.

They arrived cloaked in freshly home-made pesto on a piece of granary toast. If I'm totally honest, the whole dish looked like something you'd find at the bottom of a swamp, but it tasted alright, basically green lumps of chewy garlic.

They did take ages to arrive, but then snails aren't renowned for their speed. At the time of troughing, I couldn't see that molluscs could possibly contain anything of nutritional value whatsoever, but how wrong I was. Snails are high in protein and low in fat, which makes for a healthy (if not a bit bland) alternative food supplement for people with high-protein, low-fat dietary requirements.

I can't help thinking that without the garlic it would be like consuming a plate of rubber bands.

Beef cheek followed, which I absolutely loved, it reminded me a bit of oxtail.

Next week, I'll be filling you in on our whisky-stop tour of scotch, which began in Porthcawl and ended in Horsham.