PUB FOOD

[Simon Majumdar]

Now In am not talking about places like The Eagle/Fox/Sutton Arms etc etc which are to all intents and purposes restaurants that are located in pubs. I am talking about bog standard pubs offering food ( although that is a loose description ) which has been portion controlled ( thanks be to God in some cases ) vacuum packed and pre cooked. It is always nasty and rarely edible even after a few pints

For example, last night I had the misfortune to go to a pub called The Cardinal in Francis St, Victoria. The pub itself was a typical identikit Sam Smith's pub but the beer was reasonably well kept and not ludicrously expensive. After a few pints, I was hungry and drunk enough to consider looking at the menu. One item leapt out at me and made me recoil in horror

A THAI VEGETARIAN SCHNITZEL

I do not think there are enough words to describe on how many levels that is an offence against humanity. I was almost tempted to try it just to see what appeared.

Main offender in this area seem to be Wetherspoon pubs whose menu's can only appeal to the turps drinkers amongst us as they know they will throw it up later in the evening so it will not do any lasting damage

Why can't pubs stick with nuts and of course Pork Scratchings? Am I missing something, surely there must be ordinary pubs that can do decent food rather than ripping people off with this crap.

S

[Scottf]

Thing is Simon a lot of people I know actually think going to one of these places is a meal out/treat. So until the demand dies the supply of crap will keep on coming

[Adam Balic]

I know "Thai" seems to be a problem for Pubs here. My wife ordered a "Thai Fish Cake" from a local pub, what she got was a potato/canned salmon normal type fish cake, not even a sad little sprig of coriander or anything. She complained that is wasn't a Thai fish cake, the chef came out and demanded to know why it wasn't . Silly boy to annoy my wife that much.

I think it may be a chain pub thing? Those places with the St. Bernard dog symbols (?), terrible. Is this also a problem of outside catering?

The one pub that I buy food in is very small (one bar in a little room with 140 single malts ~8 real ales), it sells toasties (Brie & ham, Stilton etc) which I would rather eat then overpriced chain pub filth.

[Miss J]

There's a pub on the Isle of Dogs called The Grapes, and it's got (gasp) perfectly reasonable pub food. You can get a pint of decent prawns, a good bowl of seafood bisque, and edible sandwiches.

The Grapes

[Lord Michael Lewis]

Thing is Simon a lot of people I know actually think going to one of these places is a meal out/treat.  So until the demand dies the supply of crap will keep on coming

For a lot of people it is a treat. So what? Simon should have known better.

[Tonyfinch]

Pedants Corner time again. The Grapes is not on the Isle of Dogs,but in Narrow St. Limehouse. There is a fish restaurant upstairs.

[The Artful Dodger]

Why can't pubs stick with nuts and of course Pork Scratchings? 

S

Aaahhh, the snack with hair.

Do you have a preffered brand?

Can you remember 'Grays' butchers making there own on Wednesday mornings. People used to queue to buy them, still hot from the oven

[Miss J]

Ah...well, I've walked to it from Canary Wharf. Maybe they need to put up one of those "you are no longer on the Isle of Dogs" signs for disoriented workers?

[Simon Majumdar]

Thing is Simon a lot of people I know actually think going to one of these places is a meal out/treat.  So until the demand dies the supply of crap will keep on coming

For a lot of people it is a treat. Simon should have known better.

It is not the fact that people choose to eat in a pub that matters. It doesn't matter if it is a treat or not

My criticism is not of the customer but of the company that treats a captive audience with such disdain. When people are settled in for a night in the pub, they tend not to move on ( based on no other research than my own drinking habits ) and they pubs chains take advantage of this.

You could argue that the food is cheap. Looking at the menu last night, the main courses were around £8. I suspect you could have found something more edible than the aforementioned Thai Vegetarian Schitzel for less than that somewhere. I think the reality is that in all things in life, you get what you pay for

You also have to ask yourself that if a fully staffed kitchen in a restaurant can offer a menu of , say, 6-8 items in each course twice a day, how can Wetherspoons have a menu that offers what looks like approaching 75 items all day? Simple, it is pre-packed/Boil in the bag/vacuum sealed/portion controlled and can be prepped by any member of staff with little or no training.

It is I think the same argument as that of people eating fast food from McD's etc. I can understand why people eat there ( supposedly cheaper, easier etc ) but that does not make the suppliers of such food any less cynical.

S

[Tonyfinch]

As a matter of mega pedantry you officially leave the Isle of Dogs when you walk over the footbridge spanning the river inlet by that tall apartment block with lookout towers. No flies on me when it comes to the East End.

[Tonyfinch]

There's not much interest to be had in arguing about whether what Simo says is true because it clearly is.

The more interesting issue is why it's true. Millions of people watch cookery programmes every week. They're some of the most popular programmes on TV. People like Jamie Oliver, the Two Fat Ladies, Gary Rhodes etc. become media superstars. Cookery books sell in their tens of thousands, Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsey are household names. And yet.And yet.....people are shovelling ever greater quantities of shite down their throats whether in pubs or in junk food joints. And they think its a treat. Doesn't add up. Or does it?

[Gavin Jones]

And yet.....people are shovelling ever greater quantities of shite down their throats whether in pubs or in junk food joints. And they think its a treat.

Simple, it's the other way around.

They 'shovel shite down their throats' and in their minds it is as the food on the screen. It is variously late capitalism or post-modernism or indeed any other name you like to call it.

[Scottf]

For a lot of people it is a treat. So what? Simon should have known better.

So they should be entitled to decent food then which is the crux of the thread I believe.

[Gavin Jones]

I very much like the idea of a

THAI VEGETARIAN SCHNITZEL.

Don't think of it as food more as a rewrite of history:

When the Austro-Vegetarian Empire stretched from Vienna to South-East Asia.

Such dishes as Prawn Goulash and Pad Czech (pork dumplings in sauerkraut) sustained an enormous population which was the legacy of the Byzantine Empire. This extraordinary socio-political construct relied on a huge civil service to support the corrupt Christian-Buddhist dynasty which controlled it.

World War I broke out due to serving a non-vegetarian schnitzel to Archduke Franz-Fanon in Bangkok. After the hideous loss of life culinary borders were set up in the post war settlement with Britain controlling significant portions of Eastern European diet. This was a recipe for the disaster to follow.

There is little culinary evidence of this vast empire now save for the noodle, its supreme culinary gift to the world.

[macrosan]

Yeah, I read that too ...

[Jinmyo]

Pork dumplings in sauerkraut. Hm.

[Tonyfinch]

Are you pissed again Gavin?

[Gavin Jones]

No sadly, sober.

When I am incomrephensible I am sober, when drunk merely reprehensible.

[Miss J]

THAI VEGETARIAN SCHNITZEL.

Don't think of it as food more as a rewrite of history:

And written whilst sober, as well?

[Vanessa]

I think Gavin hit the nail on the head - in both the above posts!

v

[Winot]

I feel reasonably well qualified to talk about bad pub food as it formed the basis for most of my childhood eating out experiences. My dad was a bank manager and so we weren't poor by any means, but the sensibility was decidely lower middle class. My parents took (and still take to some extent) the view that eating at restaurants was an unnecessary luxury. After all mum could cook a family meal for the cost of a single restaurant meal. And I have to say that the few experiences I had of 1970s restaurants (mainly Italian) put me off too. Pubs were better value. More to the point, they weren't as intimidating as restaurants. I suspect that this attitude survives today -- witness the success of Wagamama and the like that provide food without frills. In fact I know it does, having sat thorugh an office meal out yesterday at a fairly relaxed but "posh" restaurant (i.e. napkins, glassware, waiters) and watched a number of the staff look decidedly uncomfortable with the whole thing (and no, it wasn't just the company).

So I think that any analysis of this topic has to include a class perspective (but then I say that about every topic).

W.

[Lord Michael Lewis]

For a lot of people it is a treat. So what? Simon should have known better.

So they should be entitled to decent food then which is the crux of the thread I believe.

Are suggesting that people who choose to enjoy a meal in a pub aren't capable of deciding what decent food is?

I don't like hamburger chains, so I don't frequent them, neither do I like the kind of food that Simon describes in his post, so I don't eat it. However I draw the line at suggesting what others should or shouldn't like, which is the crux of my post I believe.

[Stone]

For a lot of people it is a treat. So what? Simon should have known better.

So they should be entitled to decent food then which is the crux of the thread I believe.

Are suggesting that people who choose to enjoy a meal in a pub aren't capable of deciding what decent food is?

I don't like hamburger chains, so I don't frequent them, neither do I like the kind of food that Simon describes in his post, so I don't eat it. However I draw the line at suggesting what others should or shouldn't like, which is the crux of my post I believe.

Plotnicki!!!!

[Scottf]

Are suggesting that people who choose to enjoy a meal in a pub aren't capable of deciding what decent food is?

I don't like hamburger chains, so I don't frequent them, neither do I like the kind of food that Simon describes in his post, so I don't eat it. However I draw the line at suggesting what others should or shouldn't like, which is the crux of my post I believe.

No.

Your prerogative I believe.

[Lord Michael Lewis]

Now In am not talking about places like The Eagle/Fox/Sutton Arms etc etc which are to all intents and purposes restaurants that are located in pubs.

In the above lines, I think you answered your own question. When a pub's business begins to focus on meals it becomes, by definition a restaurant located in a pub. A pub, on the other hand, has its business selling beer and sundries. I would imagine that the Eagle/Fox/Sutton Arms etc etc, all employ chefs who earn wages similar to a publisher.

You also have to ask yourself that if a fully staffed kitchen in a restaurant can offer a menu of , say, 6-8 items in each course twice a day, how can Wetherspoons have a menu that offers what looks like approaching 75 items all day? Simple, it is pre-packed/Boil in the bag/vacuum sealed/portion controlled and can be prepped by any member of staff with little or no training.

Is this surprising? No chef to pay, no food waste, no loss.

What would be alarming is if restaurants were to follow suit.