Pub food - why is it frequently so bad?
Discussion
evilmunkey said:
me and her indoors went to whitby for the day today and on the way back stopped off at a lovely pub near pickering just over the north york moors on the way home to leeds. called the fox and rabbit. i had roast beef yorkshire puddings and the trimmings and the other half had a steak in peppercorn sauce with veggies etc. the food was fantastic and all fresh no frozen. beef cooked beautifully and the steak was as asked medium. food bill was i think about 20 quid for the 2 of us and that included a glass of red for her and a shandy for me. i would happily go back there. it isnt a chain pub and possibly the best pub food ive ever had.
As I visit the area from time to time, I've just had a look at their menu just out of curiosity. I think two mains plus drinks for £20 is a little way off?!ApOrbital said:
48k said:
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
Use to be my local not been inside in years.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
http://www.pubgraftonregis.co.uk/
White hart above is pretty much a restaurant and not a pub but does decent "pub grub".
A lot of pub managers are average people (rather than lifelong in-the-trade), and if you look at what a lot of average people feed them selves on, it's no wonder that serving second rate food is considered all right.
My local butcher sells very nice ham. But, rather than come to an arrangement with them, the pub opposite sells ham egg and chips with thin, processed rubbish. Or did, I've not eaten there since.
The previous landlords served very good meals. I guess it's down to how much they value standards or profit.
Sticks. said:
My local butcher sells very nice ham. But, rather than come to an arrangement with them, the pub opposite sells ham egg and chips with thin, processed rubbish. Or did, I've not eaten there since.
Been to a few pubs over the years, up and down the country, that advertise local ham egg and chips. Often a couple of slabs of excellent ham and double fried chips and eggs. Easy peasy. This is a no brainer. And I do not mind a slightly higher markup but to be honest, the cost never registered as silly.
jmorgan said:
Been to a few pubs over the years, up and down the country, that advertise local ham egg and chips. Often a couple of slabs of excellent ham and double fried chips and eggs. Easy peasy. This is a no brainer. And I do not mind a slightly higher markup but to be honest, the cost never registered as silly.
This is what I was driving at. No one who cooks for a living should be able to sell bad ham, egg and chips. And yet they do!
Johnnytheboy said:
jmorgan said:
Been to a few pubs over the years, up and down the country, that advertise local ham egg and chips. Often a couple of slabs of excellent ham and double fried chips and eggs. Easy peasy. This is a no brainer. And I do not mind a slightly higher markup but to be honest, the cost never registered as silly.
This is what I was driving at. No one who cooks for a living should be able to sell bad ham, egg and chips. And yet they do!
Working up the back of Milfprd Haven one year, and a pub does chicken or ham pies. Home made. Little pie bowls with a pastry cut out chicken or pig on. Pastry all the way around and not a super heated broth with a puff pastry doodad lobbed on top. Superb.
Ship Inn in Mevagissey used to do fish and chips. What is new or special about that people ask? They got it off the boats when they came in and straight to the plate. Been 20 years or so since I last stayed there for work.
Pub/Hotel in Bodmin used to do excellent steaks for a good price, they would select each one from the local butcher.
It is not hard.
Sticks. said:
A lot of pub managers are average people (rather than lifelong in-the-trade), and if you look at what a lot of average people feed them selves on, it's no wonder that serving second rate food is considered all right.
Exactly.As snobbish as it sounds, I've concluded that a vast proportion of the population are utterly clueless as to what constitutes good food.
By good, I'm not meaning Michelin star grade stuff, I'm just talking about the difference between poorly produced frozen crap and fresh, decently cooked/prepared food.
It's one of the reasons why I'm quite cautious of Trip Advisor reviews.
I hope my local landlady isn't reading this!
The food in my local was adequate at best. The landlady's brother is the chef and the difficulty seemed to be persuading him to get out of his comfort zone.
I think she lost patience and has drawn up and implemented a new menu unilaterally, and it's (for pub food) great!
I'd say it's gone from a 4/10 place to eat to a 7/10, just from trying a few more interesting and varied dishes, rather than the same half dozen "pub classics" with lots of chips.
Rumour has it the chef is thinking of leaving, despite being family as he doesn't like "all the cooking".
The food in my local was adequate at best. The landlady's brother is the chef and the difficulty seemed to be persuading him to get out of his comfort zone.
I think she lost patience and has drawn up and implemented a new menu unilaterally, and it's (for pub food) great!
I'd say it's gone from a 4/10 place to eat to a 7/10, just from trying a few more interesting and varied dishes, rather than the same half dozen "pub classics" with lots of chips.
Rumour has it the chef is thinking of leaving, despite being family as he doesn't like "all the cooking".
TheJimi said:
As snobbish as it sounds, I've concluded that a vast proportion of the population are utterly clueless as to what constitutes good food.
By good, I'm not meaning Michelin star grade stuff, I'm just talking about the difference between poorly produced frozen crap and fresh, decently cooked/prepared food.
It's one of the reasons why I'm quite cautious of Trip Advisor reviews.
I'm in total agreement here, I've screwed up several times and eaten at a pub with rave tripadvisor reviews only to be served microwaved foodservice dross. Pubs are guilty until proven innocent imho; if you can't see the kitchen, assume they're hiding something; nothing but 16 year olds, a freezer and a wall of microwaves in there. The photos on tripadvisor reviews are more helpful than the reviews. They can be very unpredictable: there are as many flat roof estate boozers with decent landlords/ladies/proprietors who can be bothered to cook as there are chocolate box places in affluent villages that microwave everything. By good, I'm not meaning Michelin star grade stuff, I'm just talking about the difference between poorly produced frozen crap and fresh, decently cooked/prepared food.
It's one of the reasons why I'm quite cautious of Trip Advisor reviews.
As has been said, producing good food is expensive. In our bar (its not in my profile so shouldn't be classed as advertising?) we don't scrimp on ingredients and we make from scratch the food we serve (with the exception of bread) and it does cost a lot of money in both ingredients and staff costs. Compared to wet sales, food makes very little, but if you are going to do something, do it properly. Some will complain the food is slightly more expensive than 'another bar / pub chain', but it is their choice what and where to eat and that is fair enough, but, you get what you pay for.
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...?
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...?
Just returned from holiday in Menorca, we went to the same place every night for food, the owner was fastidious about his food and his customer service, he also instilled that same work ethic in his staff..result is very good freshly cooked food, OK maybe not the cheapest but it was worth it for the food/service..and the kitchen remained open till midnight. Try getting a meal in a UK pub beyond 9.00pm..very difficult I would suggest, problem with UK is we don't really understand customer service very well. We in the UK seem to be happy to exist in a Jeremy Kyle style world where the lowest common denominator prescribes the quality/servcice we get..ok rant over 
Simple food, cooked well, that's all you need.
I ran the kitchen in an Italian restaurant, everything made on the premises, local meat and veg, presented well and we were very popular. The kitchen was open and quality was consistent day to day and week to week which really counts.
I did have to compromise on recipes though, proper al dente pasta was not well received so unless the customer asked it would be slightly overcooked. Ingredients were removed from certain dishes as many people would ask if they could be left out eg anchovies, olives, capers.
A fair few diners would not like the lasagne as they were used to ready meal sloppy lasagne and in other dishes we used vast amounts of cream as this was how people liked it. Steaks were a nightmare as one persons medium was anothers rare, used to break my heart having to cremate a beautiful steak, however the customer is always right, even when they are wrong
Often had a smile when people would return from an Italian trip and report that they disliked the food out there, mistaking our anglicised menu for the real thing rather like people expecting to find curry house food in India.
I ran the kitchen in an Italian restaurant, everything made on the premises, local meat and veg, presented well and we were very popular. The kitchen was open and quality was consistent day to day and week to week which really counts.
I did have to compromise on recipes though, proper al dente pasta was not well received so unless the customer asked it would be slightly overcooked. Ingredients were removed from certain dishes as many people would ask if they could be left out eg anchovies, olives, capers.
A fair few diners would not like the lasagne as they were used to ready meal sloppy lasagne and in other dishes we used vast amounts of cream as this was how people liked it. Steaks were a nightmare as one persons medium was anothers rare, used to break my heart having to cremate a beautiful steak, however the customer is always right, even when they are wrong
Often had a smile when people would return from an Italian trip and report that they disliked the food out there, mistaking our anglicised menu for the real thing rather like people expecting to find curry house food in India.
kev b said:
Often had a smile when people would return from an Italian trip and report that they disliked the food out there, mistaking our anglicised menu for the real thing rather like people expecting to find curry house food in India.
One of the simple things I liked was good bread and good olive oil. Only to hear an English voice complain, “no butter?”Us punters are part of the issue.
48k said:
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
Used to be good in he late 70s and early 80s too, according to my late father. (we lived in Deanshanger)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
Edited by Pothole on Monday 7th August 18:20
briang9 said:
Just returned from holiday in Menorca, we went to the same place every night for food, the owner was fastidious about his food and his customer service, he also instilled that same work ethic in his staff..result is very good freshly cooked food, OK maybe not the cheapest but it was worth it for the food/service..and the kitchen remained open till midnight. Try getting a meal in a UK pub beyond 9.00pm..very difficult I would suggest, problem with UK is we don't really understand customer service very well. We in the UK seem to be happy to exist in a Jeremy Kyle style world where the lowest common denominator prescribes the quality/servcice we get..ok rant over
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