Eating out: how can British pub/restaurants do it so cheaply?

csirl said:
Go to UK very often. Quality of food in most pubs is superior than in Ireland. You also get more choice - not just the bland roast carvery that you get here.
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This is interesting. Some people think Irish Pub food is Vastly superior to UK pub food, some people think the complete opposite.
It's an argument that could only be settled with a scientific study.

One thing I know for sure, is that for value for money, the UK pub food wins hands down. Like in Weatherspoons, you can get a big Sunday roast with a free pint of Ale for about £6, or 2 meals for a fiver, or a big breakfast for less than £3, or a coffee and a Muffin for less than £2.
When my brother visited me in UK recently, he was amazed about how cheap pub food was compared to Ireland.
 
LouisCribben said:
Like in Weatherspoons, you can get a big Sunday roast with a free pint of Ale for about £6, or 2 meals for a fiver, or a big breakfast for less than £3, or a coffee and a Muffin for less than £2.
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the food is frozen, then microwaved on demand. Thats pretty much all the 'chef' does. And from the amount of grease in the sinks, I can tell you it ain't healthy!
so, cheap yes, healthy and nutritious - no
 
I lived in England for 10 years and ate my dinners in plenty of pubs, especially if there was a match on the telly. Have to say, on average, the quality of the food was better in Ireland then over there. There are of course exception to that but having pulled pints in both countries, Irish pubs tend to buy better quality local produce and cook it better as well.

I do find ethnic food better in the UK, I've never eaten a decent Indian meal in Ireland for example, any local curry house in London would beat the so called best Indian restuarants in Ireland hands down any day.

As for costs, to put it simply, it's more expensive to run a business in IReland then in the UK
 
LouisCribben said:
One thing I know for sure, is that for value for money, the UK pub food wins hands down. Like in Weatherspoons, you can get a big Sunday roast with a free pint of Ale for about £6, or 2 meals for a fiver, or a big breakfast for less than £3.
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Even for a group with the buying power of Weatherspoons the price of the meals should tell you that it can't be good. I like value for money but I also like good food and I'm willing to pay for it or if I can't afford it out then I'll make it at home.

Any pub grub I ate in England was absolutely dire, the obesity rates in the UK are shocking, they are deservedly not known for their good food (please don't quote back a couple of the famously good restaurants) in fact they'd be bottom of the pile in relation to most of Europe. I once asked for minced burger rare and was informed that it was the law (not that I believe it is true) that it had to be cooked well done, what does that tell you. This is after all the nation who invented turkey twizzlers and sunny delight.
 
Bronte said:
I once asked for minced burger rare and was informed that it was the law (not that I believe it is true) that it had to be cooked well done, what does that tell you.
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Well it tells me that you are taking a big chance eating a rare burger.

[broken link removed]
One of many warnings.

I love a big fat juicy steak "cooked" blue to rare but there is a massive difference cooking steak as opposed to minced beef.
 
Bronte said:
Even for a group with the buying power of Weatherspoons the price of the meals should tell you that it can't be good. I like value for money but I also like good food and I'm willing to pay for it or if I can't afford it out then I'll make it at home.

Any pub grub I ate in England was absolutely dire, the obesity rates in the UK are shocking, they are deservedly not known for their good food (please don't quote back a couple of the famously good restaurants) in fact they'd be bottom of the pile in relation to most of Europe. I once asked for minced burger rare and was informed that it was the law (not that I believe it is true) that it had to be cooked well done, what does that tell you. This is after all the nation who invented turkey twizzlers and sunny delight.
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When you say that England has not a good reputation for food, I guess there are stereotypes which prevail, and I think it's entirely unfair.

In England, the quality and variety of produce in Supermarkets is more or less identical to Ireland. People have access to whatever food they want, and it can be cooked using whatever techniques and receipes they choose. Also there are plenty of highly trained chefs (same as in Ireland).

It's all very well saying that "they are deservedly not known for their good food", but that's quite a sweeping statement, and how would you prove such a thing.
I've lived mostly in UK for a few years now, and I see no difference between Irish food and UK food. In the UK I can eat whatever food I want, whenever I want, same as in Ireland, same as in any developed country really.
 
I wouldn't make too many assumptions about the sources of food in Irish or UK pubs. The chickens are more likely to have come from Thailand than Athy.

I noticed in the UK recently that one of these chain pubs had a thriving breakfast trade of older people and young mums at about £2.50 or £3 a head. I doubt if they are making a pile of money out of this, but I'm sure it gives them some contribution towards their overheads.
 
SparkRite said:
Well it tells me that you are taking a big chance eating a rare burger.

[broken link removed]
One of many warnings.

I love a big fat juicy steak "cooked" blue to rare but there is a massive difference cooking steak as opposed to minced beef.
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Well some people eat totally uncooked minced beef with a raw egg on top ! And they're not ill or dead. There's also carpaccio which is raw beef and raw ham in Italy and Spain. Suish is uncooked.

I have a strong constitution and I've tasted raw Irish sausages and raw rashers too.
 
any time i've been on a stag in the Uk, get a good feed for 2 for 1 for £5/6 in the likes of Yeates etc...bangers and mash, burger and chips etc. bog standard foord but fills the gap and your not looking for top notch grub when your going to be drinking gallons of beer!!!
I cannot figure out how it's so much cheaper then ireland either

But I see Diceys on harcourt St now has a carvery for 6.50 i think. And some of Coppers dishes are under a tenner and you have to tell them to stop putting food on the plate!
 
Carvery in the Bleeding Horse cost 7.95. Travelled to UK a lot over last 10 years for holidays and work. Found that Irish grub is better although UK is improving.
 
Purple said:
The quality of food in England is, in my experience, far lower than here. Add lower rent, lower insurance, lower taxes and (the big one) much lower wages, and you have the answer.
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I have to echo this. Most pubs in UK are chains selling processed and frozen food. I ordered a 'tuna steak' expecting a pan-grilled seared tuna type meal. Instead I got a bread battered blackened dry lump served with chips and frozen peas.
There is not much variety and the food is not so fresh in these chain pubs. You need to compare like with like.
The food in Irish pubs is a real step above the UK as is food in Ireland in general, simply because we haven't gone down the chain and franchise route like most other English speaking countries...UK/US/Australia.
I really notice this as I am a long term expat that visits UK on business and returns home usually at the same time. Massive difference.......
 
Thought I'd add my 2 cents.

I was recently in Westport and was shocked at how expensive the restaurants were. They were all at Dublin pre-recession fancy restaurant prices. To give a bit of context, in an average Italian restaurant (i.e. nothing special) a side order of garlic bread is €8. This is probably twice as much as you'd pay in Dublin.

It put me off the place really.
 
UFC, Killarney is the same - it's hard to find somethere reasonably priced. I suspect good old Ireland is ripping off tourists yet again .
 
galleyslave said:
UFC, Killarney is the same - it's hard to find somethere reasonably priced. I suspect good old Ireland is ripping off tourists yet again .
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Yeah I couldn't help but think the restaurants had got together and decided to keep their prices high. Every one of them was really expensive!
 
Anyone trying to make money selling a carvery dinner for £3.50 is going to have to go down the route of heavily industrialised foods.
This might be cheaper, but is not (IMHO) in the same league when it comes to quality and taste. I would recommend watching the DVD of the movie Food inc. [broken link removed] for anyone interested in learning about industrialised food and where its heading.

I do think Irish restaurant prices are high, but they are coming down and there is good value to be had if you shop around.
 
soy said:
Anyone trying to make money selling a carvery dinner for £3.50 is going to have to go down the route of heavily industrialised foods.
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The possibility still remains open of pubs in Ireland selling poor food but with a big mark up. At least poor food in the UK is cheap.
 
While your average British pub is I agree pretty poor, the gastro pub movement in the UK is something that (in my experience in Dublin at least) has simply not in any way been mirrored here. I've had many really very good meals in gastro pubs in the UK over the last few years, along with fantastic, interesting beers, whereas my experience of the couple of so-called 'gastro pubs' in Dublin is one of bad service and at best bland, tasteless food and the usual mega brews.
 
I once ordered something from one of those Weatherspoon places in Scotland. It was inedible.......though I did once order a cheese and ham toasted sandwich in a pub in the west of ireland. When I got it, the bread had green mould on it. Bar man just scraped it off and went, its grand now. Funniest thing ever.
 
Just back from lunch there...

I had 5 courses

Pumpkin Soup with Garlic Bread
Cesar salad (starter)
Roast duck breast in apple sauce with sweet potato and eggplant (main)
Creme Brule
Americano coffee

Its was delicious top quality nosh....and all for the cost of 44 RMB or 4.43 euro

Its hard to beat living in China for value.
 
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