Pub food and more.

[LifeOnEarth]

Hi all, I’m a long time lurker, sometimes poster but I’ve changed my username for this occasion.

if you went to a pub restaurant for lunch or dinner, what would you like to see on the menu? Would you always go for classic pub grub or would different types of food entice you in? What would make you visit the pub if you had to drive. Would you even visit a pub if you had to drive?

What would you prefer on your table? Mayo and ketchup in their original bottles or decanted into ‘nice’ bottles. Or would you prefer to have your condiments served in a separate dish?

If you’re a woman, would you feel happy walking into a pub on your own? If not, what would make you do that, how would I make you feel comfortable?

Would you take your young children into a pub for a parent toddler meet up? Would you go to an out of town/rural/village pub for a business breakfast (probably via the local chamber of Commerce).

What could I offer you to make you feel comfortable?

Thank you 🥰

No brioche buns for burgers!

Yes, OP - great pies: shepherd’s/cottage/fish!

PS I agree with no brioche buns for the burgers but we burger lovers seem to be a minority. I could trade my burger for the pies or great sausages with caramelised onions and cooked cabbage.

Have you never been to a pub? Most are Brakes Brothers through and through. As are a very sizeable number (probably the majority of restaurants) come to that. That your surprised by this suggests you need to do a lot more research in to the competition.

As for your questions.

A short menu, done well. Better to change it regularly than have a lot on at a time.

I used to go to a good pie and mash pub - mix and match 5 types of pie, 5 types of mash, 2 types of gravy, 4 veg. Not many items for the kitchen to keep in stock (and the mash could be made in a big vat of plain, with the cheese, mustard or whatever stirred into each portion) but a lot ofmpossible combos. And they changed the pie flavours regularly.

At least 1 veggie main, 1 vegan and 1 veggie that's adaptable to vegan. Not burgers. Particularly not fake meat burgers - they are the current default and it's getting really boring. Also not salad. Veggie/vegan does not mean 'am on a permanent health kick'. And make sure there's a starter and pudding for the dietary requirements you cover in the mains. Not sorbet or fruit salad for the pudding. And not a starter that's the same ingredients as the main.

Clearly label all dishes veg/vegan/gluten free/nut free. As a PP said, many only do the mains. Remember to add a key - it's no use having handy symbols if you don't tell people what they mean.

Clean, well-maintained, single sex loos.

Low sound levels - hard floor for ease of cleaning, but plenty of muffling fabrics on the walls & windows to prevemt echo. And music turned.down.

Business breakfast? Pub yes, out of town pub no - I'd want it near the office

Classic pub grub like gammon and chips, pie and mash and I love a rotisserie chicken!

I am happy to have plain old 'gammon and chips' though-maybe with an egg or bit of pineapple on it. I don't want 'oak vintaged gammon steaks with triple-roasted beer-bettered chips lovingly cooked on our home-spun range' which you're going to charge me £27 for.

As others have said:

Fewer things done really well rather than a huge menu
The absolute basics - food served on plates, knives, forks, condiments etc either on table or immediately accessible - nobody wants to wait around while their food gets cold. Don't care what brand or what container it comes in.

Clean toilets.

Either no dogs at all or a dogs/family area. Or a free for all but also with a "quiet" area. Basically just somewhere either an adult alone or two on a date could sit quietly and chat.

Other than that it depends on the type of pub and what I'm there for, there's too much variation to answer all your questions.

Normally I'd be fine walking into a pub alone as a single woman but obviously there'd be some pubs (middle of afternoon with loads of footy fans) I might avoid.

Oh and as a tip if ONE person enters for seating just ask "how many" or "table for one?"

Don't say "table for two?" as if you're being followed by an invisible friend or "JUST one/JUST you?/by yourself?" Etc. I'm pretty thick skinned and used to travelling alone/for work etc but it's still a bit off-putting! If you want lone women (or men!) to feel welcome at your pub tell your staff not to use wording that suggests it's weird!

Nice, grown up, non-alcoholic drinks which aren't full of sugar for drivers/teetotallers/pregnant women, please.

And for god's sake drill it into your staff that if a customer points to one of your nice fancy flavoured tonic waters on the menu and says she would like one of those, make sure you're actually listening to what she says and don't assume she wants vodka in it, which is what happened to me once when I was both pregnant and driving.

I'd expect a menu that you can manage. A pub we go to regularly has a small menu of what I'd call old fashioned pub food. Nothing fancy but they always have everything, it's as described and piping hot.

I prefer condiments in the bottle (or at least on the table even if decanted into plain bottles), its so annoying when you have to ask and then they bring one teeny tiny thimbleful of mayo for a table of 6 (or don't come back with anything at all until you've almost finished).

Pubs should do pub grub - if i want a curry or chinese I'll go to an indian or chinese restaurant. Only exception to this is pizza, as long as its fresh.

I'll go to a pub if I have to drive, generally to eat. Agree with pp about decent alcohol free drinks, not just the cruddy lemonade/pepsi out of the squirty gun at the bar which are always rank.

Yes I have done pub meetups with young DC. But only if there is play space, preferably both indoor and outdoor. The best pub for this near me has 2 seating areas, one near the play stuff for families with DC, and one round the other end of the bar for childfree groups.

In terms of walking in as a lone woman, it's great if there is a welcome station (not aure what the right name is) where a staff member is near the door, like in restaurants, rather than just having to wander around or find the attention of the person behind the bar. But men who are just going in for a pint probably don't want that setup.

Just thought of more thing (and too late to edit my previous post):

Would you take your young children into a pub for a parent toddler meet up?

Having reread a pp's post upthread, with toddlers I'd want it to be a dog free pub. I live rurally and I've never seen a pub really successfully pitch itself as both dog and child friendly (and most round my way opt for dog friendly).

I worked in a place for a decade that had branded bottles of sauce but topped up when getting low, with gross catering brand sauces.

They were never thrown out, or washed, just endlessly topped up, and the crusty sauce wiped off the lids. Absolutely disgusting.

i would like child menu to be small versions of the main meals not a nuggets and chips style menu, no prob them being included but my DC used to want grown up food and ate veg etc. also smaller plates available for the less hungry and ability to order a starter as a main to come when the others meals did. Or even the ability to size up a starter as a main for anyone who fancied the sound of the starter but wouldn't want a main as well. Oh and a couple of healthy options too or ability to request salad or veg undressed instead of chips / potato. Like the idea of a dessert menu that could offer a ‘tasting trio’ of small portions for those unable to decide 😃
good luck and come back to tell us where it is when you get it.

I worked at TGI Friday's in the 90s-they also did this. We'd spend the morning set up filling up bottles of ketchup with other bottles-it was two-tone much of the time.

Would you take your young children into a pub for a parent toddler meet up?
YES and I’d love more pubs to think about this. Please have a play area either in or outdoors (or both). Pubs I like to visit with kids have things like crayons and colouring sheets/plain paper, or one has a delightful toy section with secondhand toys which can be played with there or swapped back to the table. Books too. Nothing noisy for other diners just things like activity cubes for babies, books with soft flaps etc. Having affordable lunch options are important. If you had some kind of bring your child deal on your quiet weekday lunchtime even better, or why not organise a bring your own baby meetup for lonely new parents.

You'd be best off going to a café. Pubs are for adults, they're not play centres, children should be in one area only if the parents absolutely must take them.

Soft toys and books with flaps etc. in a pub restaurant is so unhygienic. A soft play centre is what that poster must be thinking, not an establishment for boozing.

I want light mayonnaise please.

Contrary to lots of people - I wouldn’t want toys etc. My kids sit at the table nicely. But if there’s a kids corner they want to go and then start wandering about and it’s a pita.

Personally I would take a look at fullers pubs menus- they aren’t mega fancy, and its around 6 choices for a main - but what they do, they do well- make sure sausages are top notch quality, same with fish , very good quality pies( even if you buy in) and offer good interesting veg, not just peas and carrots - my own combo would be - 1 ‘exotic’ thing - Thai/makay/Japanese etc. a pie ( vary it up) a fish thing or fish and chips , a burger thing , a good vegetarian thing, ( can and cheese with broccoli or lasagne or cottage pie) a good salad option ( ploughman's, prawn or Caesar etc )
a toasted sandwich option and a proper homemade soup -

So many comments, thank you all so much for your input. I have spent the day looking at pubs and having meetings.

To a previous poster, I will share a sample of what I’d like on the menu. This will probably be tomorrow though. I’m really so grateful to you all for sharing your ideas 🥰

I had a nosy at the fuller's website, I think they're a southern thing as I hadn't seen them. It's a bit odd that they have a 'plant based' sharer/starter but no plant based/vegan main at all.

I have taken my team to a local pub for a breakfast meeting, and i know some other teams who have full calendars who also regularly use it. Not generally to discuss work, but to celebrate retirements, christmas outings, or just a job well done. The breakfast menu is just like any of the other numerous cafes around, but quieter and with more comfortable seating. We dont buy alcohol, obviously.

@floraldreamer ooh that’s a bit odd as I think there has always been a vegetarian option everytime I’ve been on the mains . Will take a look - I think they probably are more down south - they have some very nice pubs with rooms too - Butcombe too down here have similar - both have what I think is good pub food -

@floraldreamer yep just checked - this is one I know well - def got 2 or 3 veg options on mains on ‘main menu’ - gnocci, a salad one and burger

https://www.anglers-teddington.co.uk/food/menus

@floraldreamer and some nice veggie bits on the bar snack menu, they are one of the places I know that do chargrilled hispi cabbage too and I love it !

They do indeed-I just looked at the menu for my closest one (Birmingham) and it had 'plant based nachos' on the sharer starter menu but nothing else suitable for vegans.

I was in a wetherspoons yesterday (I know, I know!) and my coeliac friend couldn't have anything at all on the menu now they've discontinued the steaks. He contemplated ordering egg and chips and asking for a baked potato instead of chips but ultimately didn't fancy that and made do with a bag of crisps.