To be disappointed that more and more village locals are being turned into "fine dining" gastropubs?

[Beerlovingwalker]

I live in a fairly nice part of South East England. Sometimes I'm out on a walk and fancy popping in the local for a pint, wearing my muddy boots and sporting very windswept hair. I step in, to find that what was a great local watering hole has turned into yet another pretentious fine dining "gastropub". They all state that one can still walk in for a pint, but it's really actually an upmarket restaurant disguised as a pub and - judging by the lack of locals at the bar - no longer a place where the average joe feels comfortable to pop in for a casual drink.

If I decide to book for a meal once in a while, the portions are absolutely miniscule, and the prices don't have pound signs in front of them! Just a number. ("Duck confit with braised cabbage - 9"; that sort of thing). The prices are always extortionate. Is pub grub no longer in fashion?!

I love food and meals out as much as the next person, but it saddens me that local residents are being deprived of a decently priced local pub, for drinking and socialising purposes as much as eating. I wouldn't be so bothered if there was a good balance of all types of establishment, but it seems to be happening more and more where I'm from.

AIBU to feel this way?

Give me a nice gastropub any time, I feel comfortable going in.

And that's part of the problem, a bit like how people will pile into a Costa rather than an indie coffee shop. They're bland and boring safe.

@applebypark

Personally I prefer the gastropub - I've never liked drinking in pubs, I'm practically teetotal these days but if I did go out I'd rather drink in a bar than pub. I'd rather eat nice food than drink booze though. I am city-based though, it may be different for more villagey locations where a pub is part of the community.

That's fine but why can't you go to a restaurant? Pubs and restaurants used to be different things. In a city presumably you have loads of choice - why would you even want to set foot in a pub if you don't drink?

It is a very interesting situation in commercial terms. In a small village in SE Cornwall we have a fair number of choices: within walking distance: two. Inside very small roads, add another four, one of them part of the Tom Kerridge documentary series referenced above. Go seven miles and we have a national newspaper recognised gastropub; add another two miles radius in the opposite direction and there is a second choice of famous gastropub. Because we are aged, we don't usually go to the pub to drink, but we enjoy good food. We have good choices in gastropubs, but can we get a decent curry? No, I have learnt to make those at home.

I love a good pub meal, especially a carvery, so that doesn't bother me. Some gastro pub food is easily as good as an a la carte restaurant but far cheaper.

The good gastropubs around us tend to be chef-owned, and they definitely don't view the local sports pub/trades hang outs as the competition. They have the five star luxury boutique hotels in their sights, certainly for lunch. Drink-drive laws tend to encourage hotel guests to dine in the hotel where they are staying, unless they are very abstemious.