I am so proud
I'm very proud of our menu. I'm proud because for the first time ever I've managed to chalk it up without it looking like it's been scratched out by an angry poltergeist.
Giles Coren once visited the pub and said the oysters were "creditable". But that was before my time. Last year I met Coren at a friend's dinner party. I actually rather liked him. Someone else there suggested to me that I try and plug the pub to him. I didn't dare.
30 comments:
Bell, that is a nice menu. I'd he all over the Rib Eye Steak Sandwich w/Peppered Mayo! How does it rate with the other items on the menu?
The steak sandwich is something else. I'm really pleased with it. Very popular. It's two large pieces of top-quality ribeye cooked to order, in a ciabatta with rocket and a homemade mayo with peppercorns.
I can recommend the Gunmakers burger
I'm in two minds about the burger. Yes, I think we do a good one, but it isn't really what chef wants to be making or what I want to be selling. I usually only order burgers in pubs where I don't trust the food, on the basis it's the thing they're least likely to have fcked up.
£10 a bit pricey for fish and chips, but then again you are in London. A decent looking menu!
Decent menu as others have said, but £13+ for fish and chips and a pint?! I spend less on my weekly shop.
Normally I don't let Anonymous comments through moderation, but couldn't resist those two. The second in particular is a great example of what's wrong with some people's attitudes to food in this country!
£10 for the kind of fish and chips we serve is not expensive. I accept it might be a little pricey for some people, but then if you're that skint you probably shouldn't be eating out except on high days and holidays. (Indeed, if I recall correctly, Paw would only take the Broons out for a "slap up feast" when he'd had a big win on the pools).
PS. It would only be £13 for fish and chips and a pint if you opted for Harvey's Sussex Best: all the other draught beers are a touch more expensive than £3.
"The second in particular is a great example of what's wrong with some people's attitudes to food in this country!"
There's nothing wrong with the French or Spanish attitudes to food, but it's hard to imagine spending £30 for two simple meals and drinks in the equivalent of a decent pub over there.
I'm not accusing you of rinsing anyone. For a decent part of London I imagine these are competitive prices. I just think it's most of us who have it wrong in this country: eating good food out just doesn't cost this much in many other countries.
I agree that you could get better prices for great food in a restaurant in some parts of Italy or France, but good food costs a lot in restaurants in Paris or Milan, which is to compare like with like.
PS. You don't have to be anonymous when you leave comments - just click on "Name/URL" in the comments box and enter your chosen handle. I don't like publishing anonymous comments, even when they're sensible ones like yours!
Bloody good prices compared with the Netherlands!
Ten quid for pub fish and chips is not that bad, especially considering the location. There is a 'pub' in Bristol that charges nearly 13 quid, and they are proud to tell you that you only get 12 chips. They stack them up like a Jenga tower. Poncy beyond belief.
I happily pay over five quid for that meal from a chippy, and they don't have to deal with drunkards and washing up.
You want to try living in Ireland.
First of all try finding a pub outside a city that does food and then try to find one where you can get a pint and a meal for the equivalent of £13.
Just as an example her's a pub that does food in Cork City - have a look at the menus.
www.clancys-bar.com
€15.95 for a plate of pasta and you have to pay extra for chicken !
€64.95 for a steak for two.
You've got it easy !
£10 for fish and chips isn't bad value at all when you consider how low fish stocks are. Don't want to get into a debate on fishing policy, but people shouldn't be affronted when they have to pay up for increasingly rare food.
Also, I disagree on the burgers comment. I often use burgers as a yardstick to measure how much the chef actually cares about his cooking. It's easy to do a mediocre burger but a good burger is something to be savoured.
Being fair to Paw Broon, he was at a disadvantage though, having to feed 10 bairns.
Is that £3 for a supermarket Scotch Egg or is it homemade? I spotted one a few weeks ago and it looked like a supermarket one, in which case that is expensive. I paid £3.50 for a huge homemade one in the St John in Archway and it was a corker.
"I agree that you could get better prices for great food in a restaurant in some parts of Italy or France, but good food costs a lot in restaurants in Paris or Milan, which is to compare like with like."
now hang on a minute Stonchy, which are you running: a pub or a restaurant??
The scotch eggs and pork pies are handmade by the specialist butcher shop around the corner - we don't make them ourselves. Apart from locally baked bread, they're the only things we buy in. The scotch egg offers less value than other items on the menu, if I'm honest, but it does come with a generous side salad and is beautifully presented! They're popular and I'm always happy to tell people where they're from so they can go and buy their own for home.
"now hang on a minute Stonchy, which are you running: a pub or a restaurant??"
I'm in the pub business. Some pubs do excellent food. Mine is one of them. The weird, chippy anti-food in pubs agenda isn't one I sign up to.
If you run a proper commercial kitchen in your pub, many aspects of restaurant management become relevant to you, and your offer becomes comparable to a restaurant.
You know, I might like to run a pure drinker's bar or pub one day - I do think there's a place for them (The Bow Bar in Edinburgh is a great example). But this place has long been known for its food and that's something I'm proud of and keen to build upon. I find it immensely rewarding, interesting and challenging. This might upset people, but it's not difficult to get beer cracked, and frankly I've already done that. If anyone thinks they're publican of the year because they serve a nice pint of bitter, I think they need to think again. Wine is a bit of a steeper learning curve for me but thankfully I have someone helping me with that!
A kitchen in a pub is a waste of barrel space.
I suspect you wouldn't like my pub then! I think you're going to be very sad as you see the pubs you deem to be pukka close one by one. As I said, there's room for some decent drinking-only pubs - but not very many of them.
Be proud of your burger! It is, undoubtedly, one of the finest I have ever tasted!
I'd fully support you on the "get what you pay for" angle if you can cast iron guarentee non of your food is reheated or microwaved (big bug bear of mine), however on "its not what my chef wants to do", that's bad, very bad, your chef should be able to turn his hand to the basics with just as much consideration as he puts in to the poncy that overdominates the London pub scene east of Holborn. Especially given the prices you charge ;-). I look forward to buying the most expensive pint of Landlord ever and a side pork pie soon.
Of course we don't heat up meals in the microwave, you berk.
If you want the most expensive pint of Landlord ever, you'll have to look further than here.
TBF to me, I have had food that is advertised as "home cooked2 and is clearly microwaved in establishments in a different league to Weatherspoons (which BTW I don't frequent). Not suggesting your establishment cuts corners but I think you overgenerlise on peoples tastes and expierences.
I bet you don't do Sky either... ;-)
Our posts/edits are crossing...I'm sure I'll enjoy both the pint and the pie.
Thanks for the scotch egg info; will sample one next time!
Wheres the presentation? not very welcoming young Jefferey is it? !
Troyvaleting, have you ever tried to chalk an entire menu onto a board before ???
It's a hell of a lot harder than you may imagine. Just writing a simple sentance that does not look like a dixlexix spider created it is difficult at first.
I have respect for the achievement of Jeff here.
If the menu is being chalked up fresh every day, wouldn't it be just as well to write what the soup of the day and pasta of the day actually are? This 'of the day' stuff is a hangover from printed menus that never changed, isn't it?
I think some of the complaints about prices are because the standard of pub food in this country is generally so low that people are often very cynical about whether their meal will actually be worth the money they pay for it, or anything like it. You're suffering for other pubs' sins.
Since nobody else has mentioned him, can I say, on behalf of newspaper sub-editors everywhere, that Giles Coren is a wanker? His sister's very nice, mind - I met her once ... and his father was one of the funniest men in Britain ...
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