Pub food - why is it frequently so bad?
Discussion
It is the punter fault for keep going there to eat I reckon.
Sat at a Harvester (work put me in a hotel next door so that is what I get). The family next to me, father giving his molars the workout of a lifetime and very verbal about it, Mrs molars workout saying "say something then". Until the waitress came over to check all was OK to be told "Superb".
And the UK love for a salad, or rather a slice of lettuce and tomato. No one complains. We get what we deserve.
I walk when I see that.
Sat at a Harvester (work put me in a hotel next door so that is what I get). The family next to me, father giving his molars the workout of a lifetime and very verbal about it, Mrs molars workout saying "say something then". Until the waitress came over to check all was OK to be told "Superb".
And the UK love for a salad, or rather a slice of lettuce and tomato. No one complains. We get what we deserve.
I walk when I see that.
Johnnytheboy said:
Why is a £10-12 main course in many pubs s
t, when some pubs seem to be able to do great food at the same price?
Simples..... Whats the profit? If the pubs overheads are high there isn't any profit. If there's low overheads there is some profit... is there enough profit to allow fresh food, or is it frozen from Brakes? Some pubs are run as retirement hobby, some are run to home/feed a family, some are part of huge chains. Some get slaughtered on Rent/rates/ties. Some are freeholds, no rent, 100% rebate on rates etc etc t, when some pubs seem to be able to do great food at the same price?Also... Does the Landlord/Lady rely on Chef, A cook, or do they do it themselves. If the Landlord/lady is a dab hand in the kitchen you save a lot of money and don't need a cook/chef to screw it up for you!
I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think the further you go from London, the worse it gets as a rule, especially if you're heading in the direction of a tourist destination.
There are, of course, outstanding pubs for food everywhere, but in London and the densely populated South East, there's just that much more market for publicans to be very specific about what they want to offer, and still have a sufficient clientele to keep themselves buoyant, albeit with more competition as well.
Move into more sparsely populated areas, and for every person who wants freshly prepared, high quality ingredients, there will be a handful who just want cheap and cheerful. There's typically less footfall as well, so harder to avoid frozen unless you can justify the cost of buying fresh in small quantities.
I find the worst, though, to be the likes of the Devon, Dorset & Cornwall tourist areas, where such a large proportion of the custom will be non-repeating holiday trade that it makes sense for publicans to put all the focus on looking nice, and less on the actual quality of the food.
Fortunately, I do also think Tripadvisor is a Godsend for seeing this all start to change, and being able to avoid the places that can't or won't change.
There are, of course, outstanding pubs for food everywhere, but in London and the densely populated South East, there's just that much more market for publicans to be very specific about what they want to offer, and still have a sufficient clientele to keep themselves buoyant, albeit with more competition as well.
Move into more sparsely populated areas, and for every person who wants freshly prepared, high quality ingredients, there will be a handful who just want cheap and cheerful. There's typically less footfall as well, so harder to avoid frozen unless you can justify the cost of buying fresh in small quantities.
I find the worst, though, to be the likes of the Devon, Dorset & Cornwall tourist areas, where such a large proportion of the custom will be non-repeating holiday trade that it makes sense for publicans to put all the focus on looking nice, and less on the actual quality of the food.
Fortunately, I do also think Tripadvisor is a Godsend for seeing this all start to change, and being able to avoid the places that can't or won't change.
Kermit power said:
I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think the further you go from London, the worse it gets as a rule, especially if you're heading in the direction of a tourist destination.
There are, of course, outstanding pubs for food everywhere, but in London and the densely populated South East, there's just that much more market for publicans to be very specific about what they want to offer, and still have a sufficient clientele to keep themselves buoyant, albeit with more competition as well.
Move into more sparsely populated areas, and for every person who wants freshly prepared, high quality ingredients, there will be a handful who just want cheap and cheerful. There's typically less footfall as well, so harder to avoid frozen unless you can justify the cost of buying fresh in small quantities.
I find the worst, though, to be the likes of the Devon, Dorset & Cornwall tourist areas, where such a large proportion of the custom will be non-repeating holiday trade that it makes sense for publicans to put all the focus on looking nice, and less on the actual quality of the food.
Fortunately, I do also think Tripadvisor is a Godsend for seeing this all start to change, and being able to avoid the places that can't or won't change.
Yeah, because there are no tourists in London. There are, of course, outstanding pubs for food everywhere, but in London and the densely populated South East, there's just that much more market for publicans to be very specific about what they want to offer, and still have a sufficient clientele to keep themselves buoyant, albeit with more competition as well.
Move into more sparsely populated areas, and for every person who wants freshly prepared, high quality ingredients, there will be a handful who just want cheap and cheerful. There's typically less footfall as well, so harder to avoid frozen unless you can justify the cost of buying fresh in small quantities.
I find the worst, though, to be the likes of the Devon, Dorset & Cornwall tourist areas, where such a large proportion of the custom will be non-repeating holiday trade that it makes sense for publicans to put all the focus on looking nice, and less on the actual quality of the food.
Fortunately, I do also think Tripadvisor is a Godsend for seeing this all start to change, and being able to avoid the places that can't or won't change.
This is my local: https://www.thenavigationcosgrove.co.uk/
It was taken over last year and transformed. It is absolutely heaving particularly at the weekend.
But I've never eaten there, I go to a pub nearby because all I want when I go to a pub is pie, or sausage and mash, or gammon egg and chips etc
It was taken over last year and transformed. It is absolutely heaving particularly at the weekend.
But I've never eaten there, I go to a pub nearby because all I want when I go to a pub is pie, or sausage and mash, or gammon egg and chips etc
Same reason as everything else in this country, whethers its pubs or my game (electrics) or retail or trains or whatever.
Most people cant be bothered to try that little bit harder or offer that little bit more, and most punters just put up with second rate and often moan about the cost if its a little bit more.
Most people cant be bothered to try that little bit harder or offer that little bit more, and most punters just put up with second rate and often moan about the cost if its a little bit more.
Hoofy said:
Interesting restaurant - well, I tried a Polish one the other day. Very tasty stuff! Or did you mean some dhead pub serving 3cm large quail's egg scotch eggs balanced carefully on triangular pieces of slate and charging £8?
Yes, there are some of the dhead pub serving 3cm large quail's egg scotch eggs balanced carefully on triangular pieces of slate and charging £8?head pubs where we are - lovely Basingstoke - or at least nearby! In terms of restaurants, other than Indians (not really my thing), Chinese (several, all average) and a Thai place (also pretty average), the options are really Wagamama, Pizza Express, Ask, Giraffe, Zizzi, GBK and one place called Coal that i believe is a small regional chain (and pretty average).Not really sure about the food in the pubs in town, but there are a few around and about that do decent, freshly made stuff at a reasonable price.
Hoofy said:
Wetherspoons - that sounds disappointing; it's standard menu stuff but should be fine unless you're expecting celeb chef stuff.
It was just a bit dried out - felt like it had been sitting around a bit too long - maybe it was a bit too quiet on the day!Plenty of good home-cooked food pubs around here, at not daft prices.
Most recent meal at my local was pheasant in mushroom, cream and bacon, with chips (only cos i never have chips at home) and veg. £12.
The missus had rabbit in mustard sauce with mash and veg same price. Not a burger/pizza/breaded fish in sight
And that was just one of a dozen or so I could suggest with 10 miles of my house (that might be a long way for urban-dwellers, but isn't far in rural terms)
Most recent meal at my local was pheasant in mushroom, cream and bacon, with chips (only cos i never have chips at home) and veg. £12.
The missus had rabbit in mustard sauce with mash and veg same price. Not a burger/pizza/breaded fish in sight
And that was just one of a dozen or so I could suggest with 10 miles of my house (that might be a long way for urban-dwellers, but isn't far in rural terms)
bridgdav said:
Chef's salaries and working conditions.... Full Stop.
Split shifts, balancing of profits, limited allowance of straying from the corporate menu, laziness of management to make changes, cost of ingredients per cover, quality of support staff and second chefs / cooks. Add to that the expectations of value and cost to the customer and you'll find pressure to cut costs in all areas.
Who would want to be a chef in this day and age...?
This is exactly your answer.Split shifts, balancing of profits, limited allowance of straying from the corporate menu, laziness of management to make changes, cost of ingredients per cover, quality of support staff and second chefs / cooks. Add to that the expectations of value and cost to the customer and you'll find pressure to cut costs in all areas.
Who would want to be a chef in this day and age...?
super7 said:
Also... Does the Landlord/Lady rely on Chef, A cook, or do they do it themselves. If the Landlord/lady is a dab hand in the kitchen you save a lot of money and don't need a cook/chef to screw it up for you!
This appears to be a common factor, a lot of the time the salaried chef doesn't seem to give a toss.Pubs where one of the tenants/owners cooks seem to be better.
Kermit power said:
I find the worst, though, to be the likes of the Devon, Dorset & Cornwall tourist areas, where such a large proportion of the custom will be non-repeating holiday trade that it makes sense for publicans to put all the focus on looking nice, and less on the actual quality of the food.
Just as a counterpoint, I know of one Cornish publican who jacked it in because he COULDN'T vary his menu because so much of his trade was OAPs from the surrounding villages who still wanted the same spread of junk they enjoyed in the 70sFrankthered said:
Hoofy said:
Interesting restaurant - well, I tried a Polish one the other day. Very tasty stuff! Or did you mean some dhead pub serving 3cm large quail's egg scotch eggs balanced carefully on triangular pieces of slate and charging £8?
Yes, there are some of the dhead pub serving 3cm large quail's egg scotch eggs balanced carefully on triangular pieces of slate and charging £8?head pubs where we are - lovely Basingstoke - or at least nearby! In terms of restaurants, other than Indians (not really my thing), Chinese (several, all average) and a Thai place (also pretty average), the options are really Wagamama, Pizza Express, Ask, Giraffe, Zizzi, GBK and one place called Coal that i believe is a small regional chain (and pretty average).Not really sure about the food in the pubs in town, but there are a few around and about that do decent, freshly made stuff at a reasonable price.
Hoofy said:
Wetherspoons - that sounds disappointing; it's standard menu stuff but should be fine unless you're expecting celeb chef stuff.
It was just a bit dried out - felt like it had been sitting around a bit too long - maybe it was a bit too quiet on the day!I think if it's a freehouse or the landlord/lady has control of food it's quite achievable to have good food at a reasonable price. However too many try to be all things to all people which i think is where it fails.
I would think if you have the landlord or a reasonable cook in kitchen with a cleverly designed menu that changes it's doable. You just need to work out a number of core ingredients which can be easily pre prepared in bulk. Like mash potatoes and gravy. The use this for a couple of dishes like bangers and mash, pie and mash, lamb shank and mash pork chop and mash etc. Pre prepaired base curry sauce is an example then just use onions chillis dried spices and chicken thigh. Get a mincer and supplier of decent beef. Knock up burgers in no time, meat loaf, cottage pie, lasagne etc Cook two ot three very large lasagna's every 2nd or third morning then refrigerate when cooled. Cook a massive pot of chilli con carne at the same time. But you can't have a really extensive menu so pick dishes, write up 10-12 mains on chalk boards and change them about every few days. Then most use the same core ingredients but cooked in a different way
I would think if you have the landlord or a reasonable cook in kitchen with a cleverly designed menu that changes it's doable. You just need to work out a number of core ingredients which can be easily pre prepared in bulk. Like mash potatoes and gravy. The use this for a couple of dishes like bangers and mash, pie and mash, lamb shank and mash pork chop and mash etc. Pre prepaired base curry sauce is an example then just use onions chillis dried spices and chicken thigh. Get a mincer and supplier of decent beef. Knock up burgers in no time, meat loaf, cottage pie, lasagne etc Cook two ot three very large lasagna's every 2nd or third morning then refrigerate when cooled. Cook a massive pot of chilli con carne at the same time. But you can't have a really extensive menu so pick dishes, write up 10-12 mains on chalk boards and change them about every few days. Then most use the same core ingredients but cooked in a different way
PBDirector said:
Just as a counterpoint, I know of one Cornish publican who jacked it in because he COULDN'T vary his menu because so much of his trade was OAPs from the surrounding villages who still wanted the same spread of junk they enjoyed in the 70s
There is an element of truth in this - the cafe in the garden centre I work at is not half bad, but the food is dull. The demographic is everything you imagine a Dorset garden centre to be. One day I summoned up the courage to ask the chef why the 'soup of the day' was always so boring and he replied "if I try anything vaguely interesting, even a vague twist on an old favourite, the soup just doesn't sell".
My local seems tot be able to do fantastic food at reasonable prices - probably because they specialize in smoked meat. So brisket & fires would be c £15 , beef ribs similar price, or you could be reet posh and have galician octopus & monkfish for c£25.
The foot long pork crackling at their other pub is also bloody nice.
In contrast the previous managers/owners of those same pubs served poorly reheated ste, so I feel lucky to have them as my locals
The foot long pork crackling at their other pub is also bloody nice.
In contrast the previous managers/owners of those same pubs served poorly reheated s
te, so I feel lucky to have them as my localsStaff is one of the main factors. In the old days you would have someone from the Village work in the kitchen plating scampi and burgers. Now people expect restaurant quality food at a cheap price, but for that you need a trained chef, of which there is a short supply, and secondly they then have to drive a distance to the pub which means you have to pay a further premium opposed to a city pub with a greater population and better transport links...
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