Anyone else not like Gastropubs?

[WisteriaLodge]

It's probably just me and I'm probably being unreasonable but anyone else not like them? They seem to be everywhere now, they look pleasant enough but they all look the same including the over priced menus, pale blue or grey tongue and groove in the dining/ bar area, I don't know, I just want a real old fashioned 16th century country pub with a roaring fire! There's no point to this post I'm just musing (moaning) but I can't be alone in feeling like this can I? My local pub has just been turned into one with a local 'celebrity' chef turning the menu all fancy. Maybe I'm getting old ha ha!

Bump

Yes , very samey and generic from decor to menu not ‘gastronomic’ really just basic food from the wholesalers

beer battered fish and twice cooked chunky chips with a pea and mint puree (mushy peas then)
steak ditto the chips with a ‘field’ mushroom (just a big mushroom)
lamb tagine (specials board)
Sunday roast with a (medley) of fresh market vegetables - so cabbage peas and carrots
vegetarian option ALWAYS halloumi

served on a nice chunky large plate with a raised rim with pea shoots chucked over everything

I think you've summed it up exactly how I feel about them TwoMonthsOff I think even the menus are the same going by your post! I miss having a real local pub, gastro pubs seem so in authentic, trying so hard to be a local pub but never will be.

Oh and the "twice cooked" bullshit...

I forgot sourdough bread…..
always sourdough

I just want a proper old school ploughman’s not too much to ask

And no £ signs on the menu prices

Gastropub bingo !

I'm so glad I'm not alone!

I really hate triple cooked chips, basically 3 times the fat, gross!

Also brioche burger buns taste all sugary and buttery which is a desert flavour and doesn't go with beef burger meat.

Agree with Twomonthsoff, it's bland and I get more joy heating up oven chips at home.

Also brioche burger buns taste all sugary and buttery which is a desert flavour and doesn't go with beef burger meat.

Agreed! How did someone decide that these would make a good burger bun?

Brioche burger bun
Bingo !

I really hate triple cooked chips, basically 3 times the fat, gross! And they always get served upright in a mini metal bucket......fuck off!

Fuming about new Gastropub local to me. It was an old fashioned country pub with blokes and their dogs and a limited but inexpensive menu (2 mains for £12 midweek etc pre covid) and inexpensive jugs of cocktails.
Now it's a grey tongue and groove gastropub with the cheapest main a brioche bun burger at £18, the locals and their dogs have moved too. I liked walking there on an evening and the prices were good so would have meal on the spur of the moment after a wine as didn't cost that much.

‘Crushed potatoes’ (aka mash)

Often a jus instead of gravy too

I avoid them if at all possible (along with any Wetherspoons given their owner). Part of the issue is the ownership of pubs being divorced to an extent from breweries.

@WithIcePlease
now the wine, whilst served in a beautiful glass will be £7 for 125ml of everyday Australia Cab Sauv

Same. I like proper old man pubs with farm implements on the walls and a hundred dusty stone tankards hanging from the ceiling, and a proper steak pie on the menu. Not a fake pie/hat only pie.

I hate wanky gastropubs with their daft menus with just a number as the price and no £ sign.

I've met my people!

And confit is another though I have no idea what a confit is

If I’m having peas I want them on the plate. Not crushed and smeared across in a green wipe.

Totally agree with you, I yearn for a real old local pub with a roaring fire and old horse brasses and shiny old mahogany wood and comfy seats. The pubs round our way have all been stripped of original character and made into bland eye wateringly expensive gastropubs like you describe. I have to console myself with putting this cgi medieval tavern on the telly from time to time

m.youtube.com/watch?v=uZqn5YxgQ1I

I went to one once and the menu’s were fixed to an old Rupert annual with a bulldog clip

@Celticdawn5 twee and Kirsty allsop

Rupert Annual