Roast Dinner

[Prisoner 24601]

Chomping away on a roast dinner at home this afternoon, the thought occurred to me that it was so much better than any of the roast dinners we've had in pubs or restaurants in the past six months. It's around 16.99 for a roast dinner at a gastro pub, but the quality is usually poor right? Nine times out of ten the average cook at home will always produce a much better roast dinner than a chef in a half decent pub.

I think one of the main reasons pubs really struggle with roast dinners is because they cook it all en masse at around 11am then slowly serve it over the next 4 hours, the food suffers.

[illmonkey]

Agreed. I generally won’t bother as it’s something I can cook so much better. But the reason is they batch cook. Dry potatoes, over cooked veg etc.

Although, if the OH is up for a walk around the park and a roast with a few beers on a Sunday afternoon, who am I to say no!

It’s be easy to part cook spuds, Yorkshire’s etc. But you can’t cook a beef joint for 2 at a table.

[castex]

Sixteen ninety-nine will buy a cracking leg of lamb to serve 5 or 6 with lots of potatoes.
No, you don't get yorkshires.
It's worth the effort and time!

[Doofus]

A sign outside a pub that says "Carvery" strikes more fear in my heart than one that says "£4.99 Steak"

[caminator11]

I want a crisp hot potato, not a soggy excuse that’s languished under a heat lamp for hours. I want a vegetable that tastes like it was taken care of instead of something that’s been gently steaming in a shoe for 6 months. Just put the fking time in. Why can the restaurant industry not take care of a roast?

Batch cooked pub roasts are the worst thing about the UK. Worse than anything. I’ve never had a good roast in a pub, even nice pubs.

I’m so angry thinking about it

[bigandclever]

How do you get on when your 100 lunch guests are rocking up whenever they like over a 4 hour period?

[illmonkey]

bigandclever said:

How do you get on when your 100 lunch guests are rocking up whenever they like over a 4 hour period?

How is it any different to a normal service? They can nail that, so what’s different?

[caminator11]

illmonkey said:

bigandclever said:

How do you get on when your 100 lunch guests are rocking up whenever they like over a 4 hour period?

How is it any different to a normal service? They can nail that, so what’s different?

When I order a burger the meat wasn’t cooked with everyone else’s at 11am, the potatoes fried and left under a heat lamp, the veg dumped in lukewarm water and left to disintegrate. It’s made to order like normal covers of food

Roast dinners are a scandal and I will vote for anyone that pledges to clean it up.

[Leptons]

illmonkey said:

How is it any different to a normal service? They can nail that, so what’s different?

You can’t work out that a roast takes time to, well, roast?

Are you going to sit there at your table for an hour and half whilst your Beef dinner cooks?

[Leptons]

caminator11 said:

When I order a burger the meat wasn’t cooked with everyone else’s at 11am, the potatoes fried and left under a heat lamp, the veg dumped in lukewarm water and left to disintegrate. It’s made to order like normal covers of food

Roast dinners are a scandal and I will vote for anyone that pledges to clean it up.

A Burger and Fries takes 10 minutes to cook from scratch

[Welshbeef]

castex said:

Sixteen ninety-nine will buy a cracking leg of lamb to serve 5 or 6 with lots of potatoes.
No, you don't get yorkshires.
It's worth the effort and time!

Not sure where you get your lamb from but £16.99 doesn’t get you a leg of lamb. We paid £39 for a 3kg only a few weeks ago - from Tesco as it happened.

[caminator11]

Leptons said:

caminator11 said:

When I order a burger the meat wasn’t cooked with everyone else’s at 11am, the potatoes fried and left under a heat lamp, the veg dumped in lukewarm water and left to disintegrate. It’s made to order like normal covers of food

Roast dinners are a scandal and I will vote for anyone that pledges to clean it up.

A Burger and Fries takes 10 minutes to cook from scratch

Ok I’ll give you that - but I would wager you can pre roast meat and keep it moist while preparing the sides for each set of covers individually.

I think it’s generally the way potatoes, veg and Yorkshire’s are treated that truly lets the side down.

It’s like the fact you need to roast the meat in bulk gives places a free pass to molest all of my beige components.

[illmonkey]

Leptons said:

illmonkey said:

How is it any different to a normal service? They can nail that, so what’s different?

You can’t work out that a roast takes time to, well, roast?

Are you going to sit there at your table for an hour and half whilst your Beef dinner cooks?

My beef tonight took 40 mins. But I get your point. Generally it’s not the meat that’s the problem, it’s the spuds and veg.

Have the spuds basically cooked and just need 20 mins along with the yorkies.

[thebraketester]

Doofus said:

A sign outside a pub that says "Carvery" strikes more fear in my heart than one that says "£4.99 Steak"

Same. Carvery.... how utterly depressing. I would rather boil my head than go to a carvery.

[castex]

Welshbeef said:

castex said:

Sixteen ninety-nine will buy a cracking leg of lamb to serve 5 or 6 with lots of potatoes.
No, you don't get yorkshires.
It's worth the effort and time!

Not sure where you get your lamb from but £16.99 doesn’t get you a leg of lamb. We paid £39 for a 3kg only a few weeks ago - from Tesco as it happened.

Morrison (their meat is just better), 1.3kg on the bone for about £13 I think it was.

[Chozza]

Roast Dinners in Gastro pubs - I assume the Chef has Sundays off and leaves it to the pot washer - given the standard i've seen.

What is strange is that some customer want it ! Turn up at a gastro pub with a Sicilian Chef and want to be served a roast dinner just seems like a waste to me.

Same applies to Christmas Lunches served at works do's in december - Even worse when the kitchen is busy and they only have the limited Xmas menu - Brakes must make a fortune.

[57Ford]

bigandclever said:

How do you get on when your 100 lunch guests are rocking up whenever they like over a 4 hour period?

I would get on with that extremely badly and there’d be a lot of shouting and swearing.
In short, I personally couldn’t do it justice so I wouldn’t offer it.

It is possible though, time the roasts so there’s a fresh joint every half hour. Have the spuds par-boiled and ready every hour to be roasted off for 30 mins as required. Have veg prepped and sat in water.

[Evoluzione]

I wonder how many years you've notched up before coming to that stunning deduction.

I came to the conclusion a while ago that (depending on what i'm charged) if I could have cooked it better at home, then that is where I should have stayed. That's my rule and it doesn't matter at what level of food i'm at, it applies. I can't make a Big Mac, a donner kebab, a special chow mein or proper fish n chips. Just like I can't make some of the high end dishes in decent restaurants either.
You serve me up some crap you got out of a Farmfoods freezer at an exorbitant price and i'll complain.

Edited by Evoluzione on Monday 8th November 13:21

[bristolbaron]

Hmm.. I’m on the fence on this one. The wife knocks up a pretty decent roast, but we have some lovely country pubs which serve crackers around here. Maybe my standards are low, but there’s a world of difference between our local and a generic carvery type affair.

[Evoluzione]

castex said:

Welshbeef said:

castex said:

Sixteen ninety-nine will buy a cracking leg of lamb to serve 5 or 6 with lots of potatoes.
No, you don't get yorkshires.
It's worth the effort and time!

Not sure where you get your lamb from but £16.99 doesn’t get you a leg of lamb. We paid £39 for a 3kg only a few weeks ago - from Tesco as it happened.

Morrison (their meat is just better), 1.3kg on the bone for about £13 I think it was.

That must have been on the knockdown shelf. Generally a portion is .5kg (pre-cooked) per person, so for 6 people you'll need 3kg which is cheap at around £30.