| Perfect Pub Meal 14:39 - Sep 28 with 10087 views | westwalesed |
I am likely to be taking over a rural pub soon (gulp!!!) and was wondering for some feedback around what peoples expectations of a perfect, traditional pub meal would be.
To give you a bit of context, I have for many years in the past worked as a Private Chef, and although recently I have changed careers (Mental Health) cooking is my main love. Just waiting for a good opportunity to along and I think this is it.
The pub is very, very old, and I am thinking of going down the uber-traditional route - makin it an eating pub rather than a boozer. It's got a big beer garden for the summer months.
I have my own feelings on this and I suspect they will be similar to what crops up again and again on here.
Thinking of running dementia friendly lunch services and also meals on wheels for the local community.
Also, and this is one of my pet hates, whatever happened to a proper bar menu - homemade Scotch Eggs, Quiches, Pies, simple doorstop sandwiches. All thoughts greatly appreciated? |  |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 14:49 - Sep 28 with 4713 views | Dewi1jack |
Area we can eat with our pups present- outside of course.
With straight red cards for unruly dogs!
Oh and the same for children!!
Good Sunday roast.
Good steak dish
Good Asian/ Indian dish
Good fish dish
And probably the most important in my book-Fresh locally sourced ingredients as far as possible.
Dislike going out for food to be fed badly frozen food.
Good luck mate. |  |
| If you wake up breathing, thats a good start to your day and you'll make many thousands of people envious. |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 14:54 - Sep 28 with 4703 views | westwalesed |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 14:49 - Sep 28 by Dewi1jack |
Area we can eat with our pups present- outside of course.
With straight red cards for unruly dogs!
Oh and the same for children!!
Good Sunday roast.
Good steak dish
Good Asian/ Indian dish
Good fish dish
And probably the most important in my book-Fresh locally sourced ingredients as far as possible.
Dislike going out for food to be fed badly frozen food.
Good luck mate. |
I'm a purist so everything will be made from scratch mate, and I' lucky as Pembrokeshire has unbelievable produce if you know where to look...…..interesting one about an Indian / Asian dish.
I'm torn at the moment between going uber traditional (as I said it's a highly historic pub) - thinking of actually having a cauldron of Cawl on the go on the fire - like something you would find in St Fagans. [Post edited 28 Sep 2018 15:25]
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 15:15 - Sep 28 with 4676 views | jack247 |
Keep the menu simple. Don’t have pages and pages, I much prefer eating at pubs that have maybe 10 main meals but do them all really, really well. Don’t over complicate either, If it’s going to be a traditional pub, don’t offer fancy restaurant/gastropub meals. People who want that kind of thing go to those kind of places. Id want a home cooked roast dinner or a classic pub meal if I went to a pub like that.
Little touches get you repeat business. Throwing in an extra bowl of chips or some garlic bread now and then costs next to nothing, but it’s the sort of thing that gets people coming back and telling their friends. | | | |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 15:26 - Sep 28 with 4657 views | westwalesed |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 15:15 - Sep 28 by jack247 |
Keep the menu simple. Don’t have pages and pages, I much prefer eating at pubs that have maybe 10 main meals but do them all really, really well. Don’t over complicate either, If it’s going to be a traditional pub, don’t offer fancy restaurant/gastropub meals. People who want that kind of thing go to those kind of places. Id want a home cooked roast dinner or a classic pub meal if I went to a pub like that.
Little touches get you repeat business. Throwing in an extra bowl of chips or some garlic bread now and then costs next to nothing, but it’s the sort of thing that gets people coming back and telling their friends. |
Much thoughts so far - simple, classics, done properly and from scratch and not costing the Earth. Love the idea about free touches, obviously need to not go overboard with that mind. | |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 15:43 - Sep 28 with 4619 views | Brexithomas |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 15:39 - Sep 28 by Lohengrin |
Forget about ethnic cuisine, nobody does it better than the Asians themselves and you will suffer by comparison. “It was alright but not a patch on...”
Keep it traditional as regards food and ales and carve yourself a proper niche and reputation to match would be my advice. They do a lamb shank at The Skirrid Inn near Abergavenny that I drive up there for quite often, get that cawl on the go, mate, with lightly toasted sourdough to accompany it and I’ll be winging my way down to you.  |
first to be shiped to sh1te muslim land when brexit bells toll mayhaps they feed you chcken birani by the bundles when they lash your pink hide for not sooking off allah c0ck
<asiatic food> hey? play with my erse hole you aint welsh i swear on the bible |  | | |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 15:48 - Sep 28 with 4618 views | westwalesed |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 15:39 - Sep 28 by Lohengrin |
Forget about ethnic cuisine, nobody does it better than the Asians themselves and you will suffer by comparison. “It was alright but not a patch on...”
Keep it traditional as regards food and ales and carve yourself a proper niche and reputation to match would be my advice. They do a lamb shank at The Skirrid Inn near Abergavenny that I drive up there for quite often, get that cawl on the go, mate, with lightly toasted sourdough to accompany it and I’ll be winging my way down to you. |
If Health and Safety wasn't so bananas, I'd love to have a cauldron of Cawl constantly on the go, bowls, bread and chunks of cheese by the fire and punters help themselves (for a price of course). Same with Welsh Cakes - "toast your own Welsh cakes on the baking stone" type scenario.
I'm torn on having a decent Curry on the menu - I know how to cook one properly, but as you say, my instinct is to go down the full on traditional route and perhaps revive some forgotten Welsh recipes. | |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 15:49 - Sep 28 with 4614 views | Nogginthenog |
7 pints of guiness and a bag of crisps. Happy to help. Oh and good luck with your venture. |  | | |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:06 - Sep 28 with 4587 views | Scotia |
The idea of a bowl of cawl on an open fire is brilliant, so is the welsh cakes. That's the kind of thing that'll get people talking.
Another must for me is home made chips, can't beat them. | | | |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:10 - Sep 28 with 4578 views | MrSwerve |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 15:43 - Sep 28 by Brexithomas |
first to be shiped to sh1te muslim land when brexit bells toll mayhaps they feed you chcken birani by the bundles when they lash your pink hide for not sooking off allah c0ck
<asiatic food> hey? play with my erse hole you aint welsh i swear on the bible |
Hi Perch. |  |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:16 - Sep 28 with 4557 views | Lohengrin |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:01 - Sep 28 by westwalesed |
Ahh, thanks for the warm words mate.
It's been a long time coming and many nights of "could I actually do this" but now financially in a position to buy the place and, if it goes completely tits up, it would be a pretty unique place to live in!!!!!! I've already contacted ST Fagans, hopefully get some feedback soon!
What other old touches do you think would be unique? Also, what are your views on proper bar snacks not just nuts and crisps? |
Decor? Horse brass and other old, agricultural memorabilia is the sort of thing I conjure in my mind’s eye when I think ‘traditional.’ An open fire is an obvious must if possible.
I was in a rural pub in Cornwall a few years back and they slid me a couple of small bowls when I sat at the bar. One containing small squares of local cheese, another of pickles. That was a nice touch. |  |
| An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it. |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:18 - Sep 28 with 4552 views | stevethejack |
As mentioned a smaller, good quality menu rather than an encyclopedia of food.
What about cheese and biscuits as a side dish with a pint, no heating it up and they last for a while, small platter, medium and large.
Pints and cheese go so well together, love the idea of scotch eggs, how about rissoles too?
A big portion of the menus dedicated to Welsh cuisine sounds fab. |  | | |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:32 - Sep 28 with 4514 views | westwalesed |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:16 - Sep 28 by Lohengrin |
Decor? Horse brass and other old, agricultural memorabilia is the sort of thing I conjure in my mind’s eye when I think ‘traditional.’ An open fire is an obvious must if possible.
I was in a rural pub in Cornwall a few years back and they slid me a couple of small bowls when I sat at the bar. One containing small squares of local cheese, another of pickles. That was a nice touch. |
I've always been one for doing small things like that - costs nothing at all in the grand scheme of things and the "word of mouth" benefits would be huge. Any bread with the cheese or just some taster? A few little homemade sausage rolls could do the same trick.
Yeah - décor - I'm thinking of going down the mainly wooden, Welsh Farmhouse type look, whilst at the same time being comfortable. Mind you an open fire usually creates warmth regardless! | |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:34 - Sep 28 with 4509 views | westwalesed |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:18 - Sep 28 by stevethejack |
As mentioned a smaller, good quality menu rather than an encyclopedia of food.
What about cheese and biscuits as a side dish with a pint, no heating it up and they last for a while, small platter, medium and large.
Pints and cheese go so well together, love the idea of scotch eggs, how about rissoles too?
A big portion of the menus dedicated to Welsh cuisine sounds fab. |
Thanks for your input mate. I wonder if I could get away with a free, very small taster plate of crackers and cheese with a pint or as mentioned above, maybe a few bits of cheese.
All the best pubs, hotels I have been in have generosity running through them, but obviously you can't give away freebees all the time! | |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:38 - Sep 28 with 4501 views | Lohengrin |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:32 - Sep 28 by westwalesed |
I've always been one for doing small things like that - costs nothing at all in the grand scheme of things and the "word of mouth" benefits would be huge. Any bread with the cheese or just some taster? A few little homemade sausage rolls could do the same trick.
Yeah - décor - I'm thinking of going down the mainly wooden, Welsh Farmhouse type look, whilst at the same time being comfortable. Mind you an open fire usually creates warmth regardless! |
Yes, mate. They had some proper, old-school home baked stuff. The sort of bread that puts supermarket crap to shame.
I’m starving now talking about this.  | |
| An idea isn't responsible for those who believe in it. |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:40 - Sep 28 with 4492 views | westwalesed |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:38 - Sep 28 by Lohengrin |
Yes, mate. They had some proper, old-school home baked stuff. The sort of bread that puts supermarket crap to shame.
I’m starving now talking about this. |
Haha, me too mate.
Gonna go home and make some Glamorgan Sausages!!!! | |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:57 - Sep 28 with 4470 views | sherpajacob |
Pork scratchings. Nothing else needed.
although many years ago when it used to be a good pub, The Gower inn would put out free bowls of roast potatoes on the bar about 15 minutes before closing time for us lads to scoff. Always much appreciated. |  |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:57 - Sep 28 with 4470 views | jack_lord |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:40 - Sep 28 by westwalesed |
Haha, me too mate.
Gonna go home and make some Glamorgan Sausages!!!! |
Cawl in a cauldron. Sounds amazing as you can actually picture it. |  |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 17:01 - Sep 28 with 4460 views | jack_lord |
| Perfect Pub Meal on 16:57 - Sep 28 by jack_lord |
Cawl in a cauldron. Sounds amazing as you can actually picture it. |
Pies and mash/vegetables or Pies with Chips? | |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 17:06 - Sep 28 with 4439 views | Jackfath |
A taster tray of your cask ales. 3 third of a pint glasses of each with some tasting notes. |  |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 17:07 - Sep 28 with 4440 views | Glyn1 |
Good luck to you both, long hours, hard work and not much money.
Make sure that you do a traditional Sunday roast to lure the punters in, so that they'll remember to come back weekday evenings, and severely restrict the menu to a few basics for weekday lunches. |  |
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| Perfect Pub Meal on 17:14 - Sep 28 with 4425 views | jackal |
Good luck with it all.
On opening night invite a coachload of Planet Swans posters.
Should be an interesting night.
Better leave this new idiot off the invitation list. |  | | |
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