Hows this for good value ,can you beat it ?

[Moz]

I just been out for a pub /dinner at one of these new family pub chain ,wacky warehouse one I think
I took my old fella an my good lady an her mum ,
we had
2 full (massive !) mixed Grills, 2meals for 1
2 surf/turf meals (steak/scampi!) 2 meals for 1
1 icecream sundae ,
1 choc profiteroles ,
1 bottle of white wine,
4pints of stella
total £44

the food was good an well presented ,an for 4 people I found it excellent value for a pub chain meal ...

I know its only pub nosh but Im sure that was very cheap,

 

[JulieL]

I don't like the 'chain' pub places......although I do accept that they are good value for families with the 2 for 1 deals and family friendly environments.

Having no kids we tend to avoid these places.....too many little darlings running wild while you're trying to eat your meal for me!!!
Also I had a friend who was a chef and used to work for one of these chains........she said they had to produce replicas of the menu pictures - no deviations from this at all were allowed - it drove her mad!!

I prefer the Country pubs where you can get good home cooked food - and 'proper' chips from the chip pan if you want them..........these days it's usually all frozen chips when you go out for a meal (yuk!).

We've found some great canal side pubs........just moor up the boat, good food and a few bevvies...........fantastic!!!

 

[Steve]

My mum used to work at a Mansfield pub (i think these have ceased to be now, they were bought out). She was a cook in the kitchen, they had "instructions" for every meal, on the wall, with a picture and "pie" diagram of where things should be on each plate.

Everything was kept frozen in big chest freezers, then thawed down in a 1000w microwave and thrown on a hotplate or in the oven.

These places dont need chefs, just anyone that can read instructions, and have basic food hygiene knowledge (no offence to my mum!).

In fact, mixed grills were already essembled in cling film in the freezers (at a guess, fresh meat comes in, divided into portions and frozen). They had a big chest freezer JUST for bags of chips.

 

[securespark]

I went to one near Macclesfield....

Granted it was a Bank Holiday, but the manager should have known this, and catered accordingly. We waited 40 mins for food, the kids food arrived with adults, despite us asking for it first, my food was completely overdone so asked for it again. It came back worse, so asked for it a third time. The third lot came back one shade lighter than the first, so grudgingly accepted.

The toilets were swimming in water, there were no highchairs, crayons etc (that were promised with the kids meals).

The final straw was my overcooked food and when I went to complain, asking if it were reasonable to wait 40 mins for the meal to find out the reason it was so long was because it had spent 38 of those 40 mins in the DFF, the manager had a fit.

Won't be visiting that chain again.

 

[petewood]

Went to the Moorlands nr sheffield, I think it's 'Brewer's Fayre'. there were about 10 of us including kids. The food took a long time to come and as it didn't all come at once some of the kids had finished eating before others had got their meals. Some of the food was cold in the middle and went back to be re-heated. Some of the stuff ordered didn't arrive and had to be re-ordered. We were given all the desserts for free with apologies. At the end of the meal, as so many things had gone wrong we were given a voucher, I think it was about £30. No-one wanted to go back, even for free, so we gave the voucher away.

These places can be good if you have small kids as has already been said but we eat in pubs quite often now and have learnt that the best ones are the ones that advertise home-cooked food.

 

[Confiteor]

...my food was completely overdone so asked for it again. It came back worse, so asked for it a third time. The third lot came back one shade lighter than the first, so grudgingly accepted....

You're brave. I'd be very concerned that the second attempt, and almost certainly the third, would come with some "added ingredients".

I just look for my money back these days. It's not worth risking some minimum wage student emptying the contents of his nose into your food.

 

[AdamW]

I've been to a few "Hungry Horse" pubs and I find the quality varies wildly.

In one, the food is excellent. the 20oz steak really does look big enough to be a 20oz steak, it is cooked to perfection, it comes quickly.

But another one, I've tried ordering a rare steak, by the time it came to me (I had seen them wander round the pub with it for 10 minutes, assuming it was someone else's) it was cold. So, I explained this, they took it back into the kitchen and slapped it back onto the hotplate... now it was an overdone steak.

Another time I went there, I ordered a burger and it had blatantly been precooked and then microwaved through. Perhaps it was a "locum" cook trying to save time (they do have a lot of tricks they use), but a microwaved burger tastes weird and goes dry. So minging I had to send it back. Second one was no better! Couldn't be bothered to get my money back after it all.

Still, you learn which are the good places and which are the bad ones, it's just a shame you can't go out and be guaranteed good food.

Oh, there is a gastro pub near me, does cracking food. One thing though... they have a tendency to pop a serving of salad or coleslaw on the plate and THEN whack it under the heatlamps! Yup, hot coleslaw, yum.

 

[Moz]

me an my peggy sue have just been back to the food pub again , she had a roast lamb dinner , an I had half chicken roast , £8.60 for both ,
as I was there I could see in the kitchen an ,yes food was being cooked , chickens on scewers fresh cooked meat smells etc , an although it was about a 30 min wait , the food was good/tasty ,the veg was steaming/wet ,as if been just boiled....
maybe some places do precook the stuff an just reheat ,

AdamW

hot coleslaw...uurgh ....or stale burger buns toasted on a nice home made burger ...meal ruined ...Returned to kitchen

anyway I dont mind paying a lot more for food if its good but for pub grub at 2 for 1 an tasty an looks nice , you cannot go wrong really ,

 

[securespark]

It's not worth risking some minimum wage student emptying the contents of his nose into your food.

Ooooh - so that's what it was...