To ask what dishes you would say are 'pub grub'?

[Ilovepearjuice]

My friend is hoping to take over a pub and wants to keep the menu to fairly traditional, starting with the firm favourites. She asked for some opinions on what these favourites would be.

My initial thinking was:
Fish and chips
Lasagne
Pie and mash
Ploughman's
Roast on Sundays

So, people of Mumsnet, when you think of a proper, traditional British pub, what do you expect to see on the menu?

Thank you all so much. Will pass all of these great ideas over. Really useful, especially the veg/GF advice.

It's 7:14am and I'm already hungry and looking forward to my next pub visit.

Lasagne - I'm fighting your corner!

@Sirzy

The best places locally all have a published link with local butchers so people know what they are betting meat wise.

I love this!

I hate it when the only option on Sundays is a roast. I much prefer the choice as I really dislike roast dinners.
Oh my GOD I thought I was the only one! Can we go to the pub? I found one near me that does more than roast dinners, but it’s crap in all other ways – eg served a kids breakfast with beans in an oven-hot cast iron mini skillet.

I agree we need to know what kind of traditional pub. Countryside and roaring fire and walkers steaming in their damp cagoules calls for a different menu than cavernous Wetherspoons with swirly carpet and wipe-clean menu.

I had to Google hunters chicken, having never seen it on a pub menu, so traditional does vary.

Yes yes yes to a really good lunchtime sandwich menu: nice chunky bread, interesting fillings, proper ingredients, good chips. A ploughman’s, a couple of salads, soups, pate.

For children I like it when the menu has a more pick and mix approach, and a mix of things like chicken nuggets (ideally proper homemade ones though) and smaller Versions of main menu

Definitely include a curry option, they go down well.
My local does sausage and mash inside a giant Yorkshire pudding. It's very popular.
Hunter's chicken goes down well.
But maybe also more than one interesting vegetarian and vegan option?
I see too many with a massive range of steaks and burgers then one dull, unappealing vegetarian option to tick the box.

It is all a bit stodgetastic. How do people have room for lasagne and chips and garlic bread?

I would like to see the option of salad instead of chips for those of us with smaller appetites.

Pizza makes good profits. Dough, tomato sauce and cheese.
Roasts only on a Sunday. Make it easy for herself.
I love a cheese board instead of pudding

@JingsMahBucket

God. This all sound so boring, repetitive, and stodgy. 🤢 Every single menu the freaking same. Don’t people get tired of this?

This is why I dislike holidaying in the UK. Such shit food.

Stew is a good call in the winter months, serve it in a big Yorkshire pudding, I actually don't mind the frozen ones used for this purpose as the stew soaks into the pudding, but if there is plenty of oven space, real ones would be even better. Scoop of mash in the Yorshire too.

Soup with plenty of crusty bread.

Really good burgers, both meat and veggie, with homemade onion rings and coleslaw.

It would be nice to see some less carb heavy options, like chicken thighs with lemon/garlic/thyme served with lots of seasonal veg. Decent salad with the option of a poached egg on top.

Lasagne and a really good bolognaise.

Fish and chips.

Chilli, easy to do veggie or meat.

Steak sandwich, pie and mash/chips, chicken in a basket(!) , ploughman's

Pies
Ploughmans
Lasagne
Fish & Chips
Sausage & mash/chips
Scampi & chips
Steak & chips
Ham, egg & chips
Gammon with egg/pineapple & chips
Burgers
Roast (on sundays)
Veggie lasagne

Prawn cocktail, soup, pate on the starter menu, ice cream, crumble, sticky toffee pudding on the dessert menu.

@NeverDropYourMooncup

On top of other suggestions (and there's a good trade in Curry Nights in a lot of places), what I think would be good is if there's a place where people with allergies/intolerances can be sure the food is reliably safe to eat. I don't just mean in terms of nuts or seeds or the new regulations, I mean things like;

Dairy Free - no milk in the burger buns (so bin the sodding brioche) and the ability to ask for vegan cheese without having to pay the best part of a tenner for a flat mushroom.

Gluten free - no breadcrumbs in the sausages, burgers, the mustard (yep, premixed Colman's has gluten, mixing up your own from the powder doesn't), using cornflour or potato flour to thicken stews, not putting all burgers on buns as a matter of course because 'can't you take it out of the bun?' isn't making it gluten free, if you serve chilli (meat or veggie/vegan, just have tortilla chips that are gluten free for everybody, as no one will notice the difference except for celiacs (because they can trust them). Same with poppadoms instead of Naan - get GF ones for everybody - obviously Naan isn't GF, but why put the poppadoms out of action as well? Not buying in chips that are coated in flour. Being able to have something in breadcrumbs that is GF would be great - like fish and chips, Scampi and chips, etc.

Don't confuse needing to be GF/DF with being vegan. Because that makes for the worst of all worlds.

With the margins on food, it would be pretty easy to plan into pricing so that nobody is penalised by having to pay more for less in order to eat safely - Spoons' vegan curry is about a teacup's worth, but costs as much as a huge curry full of dairy and gluten as thickeners, for example; which is pretty shit for those who can't eat anything else on the menu.

Essentially, where a substance really doesn't have to be in a meal, make it easy for it not to be there and normal for somebody to be able to order it without being told 'oh, we're out of that' and I think that'll also get a dedicated bunch of regulars eating there who just can't trust the other pubs in the area.

This is a really good example of the problem with many of the posts on this thread - this is you describing your dream pub, rather than thinking about what's commercially viable. It absolutely sucks for people with allergies that they aren't more comprehensively catered to but there's a reason that people don't run restaurants around allergies in the way you suggest; it would lose them a lot of money.

Veggie options
Lots of sides ie....onion rings, coleslaw, chips, seasonal veg, side salad etc....

@Haveyoubrushedyourteethtoday

Schnitty or a parmie. Both preferably.

What's a schnitty?

Are you allowed to wear a coat while eating it?

Basically, anything that anyone thinks 'oh, OP's friend should do this because none of the pubs around me do this and I'd like it' may be lovely ideas but there's probably a really good reason that no one's doing it.

Hunters Chicken
Ribs with chips, corn on the cob and coleslaw
Lasagne and garlic bread
Bangers and mash
A curry with rice and naan
Ham egg and chips
Fish and chips

@Sirzy

For children I like it when the menu has a more pick and mix approach, and a mix of things like chicken nuggets (ideally proper homemade ones though) and smaller Versions of main menu

Definitely. mix and match a main, a side, a potato dish and a drink inc half portions of adult mains.

I know someone who put a giant prawn cocktail on his main course pub menu, after a regular had often requested it.

It was a great success.

A couple of really good veggie options would be great, ones that don't seem like an afterthought. Maybe veggie chilli loaded wedges, or a mushroom Wellington, a really good veggie burger is a good idea.

Otherwise
Fish and chips
Some type of pie with mash and peas
Scampi chips and peas
Steak chips and onion rings
Gammon and egg
Baguettes at lunch time and baked potatoes with toppings

Anyone else see the thread title and thought it was going to be this thread?!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3975763-friend-says-i-m-being-arsed-aibu-to-think-i-m-not

Made me never want to hear the words "pub grub" again!

Where is this pub?
Does it mainly cater for locals, or is it in a visitor area?
Is it a ‘gastro’ pub, or basic?

Something ‘local’
Shepherd’s pie (plus veggie option)
Pie with mash or chips
Chilli (plus veggie option)
Hot fish finger sandwich
Grilled halloumi wrap
Big salad with choice of chicken, ham, halloumi, felafel
Burgers incl grilled chicken, Beanburger, field mushroom or ‘cauliflower steak’. With great chips or sweet potato fries.
Panini / club sandwich

Hearty, filling etc
But it doesn’t have to be a themed stereotype of The Rovers Return.

It depends what type of pub it is, lots of these suggestions are a bit Wetherspoons. I’d avoid menus with lots of these suggestions and go somewhere that had a local, seasonal menu.

Definitely meat/ veggie chilli with rice & tortillas
Cheesy chips

As a veggie I wouldn't eat at a pub if the only dish available was pasta or risotto.
Lasagne would be ok but a good pie even better. Also if doing a Sunday roast making sure there is a good veggie roast option.

Jacket potatoes