What's happened to all the decent pub food?

Since when has pub food been any good? They usually bung a ready meal from Asda into the oven and serve you it for 3-4 times the original cost.
 
As long as you stay away from the commercial chains you can get some good grub in pubs.

The speed at which meals appear is usually a fair indication of the quality. And if you hear a 'ding' followed by your meal arriving!!
 
stulid said:
You need to go to a pub out in a village away from the commercial tat, thats where you will find a good carvery for £6-£7 including a pint.
Click to expand...

this.

Dartmouth arms near Wolverhampton
The Holly bush, Salt, Nr Stafford

Most of the decent pub food disappeared along with the decent pubs :D
 
Ahleckz said:
I'd agree with this. There are some decent places which look like pubs and do pub grub but they charge so much that the place really can't be called a pub. £12 for bangers and mash? That'll be right.
Click to expand...

you really need to go to more affluent areas for decent pub food, not the city centre, so area's like milngavie, bearsden, etc.

this is my local http://www.theburnbrae.co.uk/index.php and the food there is amazing.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
you really need to go to more affluent areas for decent pub food, not the city centre, so area's like milngavie, bearsden, etc.

this is my local http://www.theburnbrae.co.uk/index.php and the food there is amazing.
Click to expand...

I've eaten and drank there a couple of times, and it's pretty 'meh'. I got the view that it was more of the same microwaved stuff that you find in most pubs. I wouldn't rush back.

This is really good, though a bit of a jaunt from the city - http://kippencrosskeys.com/.
 
Honestly, the recession happened. Food margins are very dependent on volume, and people are eating out less. Raising food prices is tough in a recession, and people start (ludicrously, IMO) judging more on quantity, so the quality suffers instead.
 
Probably depends on the area of the country you're in too.

I have two good pubs near me, but it is £10-12 for the cheapest main. + Drinks.

For the country pubs to survive I think they'd had to slightly change what they offer. No longer is it a cheap bit of food for local people but it is a nice place for people to travel to and get a nice meal.
 
It depends what you want from pub food.

Without thinking too hard, I can come up with a list of 5 to 10 pubs around South Cheshire that offer excellent food. You're looking at £10 to £15 for a main though. All are either independants or part of a small group (eg Brunning & Price).

As bsoltan said, these are places which IMHO attract people for relaxed meals with friends as a bit of treat rather than those looking for "pub grub" at sub £7 for a main.
 
I rarely eat in pubs I do not know anymore and if I do, I always order meals they have to prepare fresh and cannot really muck up. Gammon and burgers really. I never order things like lasagna as it is usually microwaved rubbish. I am very lucky as I have a few excellent pubs near me which really are first class. Food which has been grown, or shot locally is a winner every time, though of course, at a cost.

http://www.thewellingtonarms.com
http://www.potkiln.org

I have always found Fullers pub food to be of a decent standard and I have to also commend Wetherspoons for serving up basic food really quite well, for an amazing price.
 
There's a nice village pub near here that does an awesome bacon double cheeseburger and a mountain of chips (I usually only manage about half of them) + salad for a fiver. Much nicer than the wetherspoons equivalent, and probably twice as much food.

Me and my mate cycle there when the weathers good, and reward the exercise with a proper burger and pint. :cool:
 
Dano said:
Do you still have decent pub grub near you or is it all tat now?
Click to expand...
No, it's all tat round here and always has been. I do resent paying £12 for a Sunday roast when I know I can get as good at a Wetherspoons or a carvery for nearly half that. No excuse either, it is just them being lazy and profiteering. I don't think they realise people will happily pay more if they know they're going to get something incredible. Ultimately, by serving rubbish they will kill their trade because people will stop going out for food. I think I will be.

Edit: exception to this is one near work. If you order off the specials board you can get some really nice food in season. I've had some nice braised oxtail and pheasant there recently.
 
Last edited:
Around cambridge there are quite a few pubs but none do outstanding food by any stretch. I mean, you can pay 17-20quid for a sunday roast ffs! And I'd much rather eat my own.

One, which was about 15quid, I had to send back (for all of the 4 of us) as the meat was inedible! Didn't get a refund as they said that the kids and us had eaten some of it... we tried the meat, spat out, and tried the veg which weren't great.
They asked if we'd like some chicken as it was a less tough meat than beef... WTH?!

Prices seem to be getting high for pub food (down south anyway) without any foundation of quality about them. I've not found any that I would class as great, apart from the Hole In the Wall, which the head chef is Alex Rushmer from masterchef a couple of years ago, and the prices are comparable to most the crap pubs round here too.
 
It does seem to have split down the middle, I can think of very few pubs who do their own down to earth food.

Round here they've either gone up market or they've gone down the Break Bros route and started buying a lot of stuff in frozen.

I think part of the problem with the restaurant industry in the UK is everyone expects a stupid amount of choice. When you've got a menu with 20+ items on it, some of which might go days without being ordered you need to go down the frozen route. Too much prep work and waste otherwise.

That said, I will still get a burger and chips at my local.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom