Food Pub Grub!

If I had to eat from only one "food group" for the rest of my life, it would probably have to be the cuisine of the public house. Here, then, is a thread for those who wish to celebrate the timeless, hearty happiness that comes from the best pubs the world over.

What's some of your favourite grub? Where do you get it? Is there anything you make yourself? Soups, appetizers, sandwiches, entrees, even desserts, common or high-class.

I got the idea for this one when I resolved to make potato-leek soup with bacon for supper. Ended up even better than the potato leek soup at the Claddagh, though I'll still get a crock of the stuff any time I go. They have a Guinness beef stew that's to die for, too.

There's nowhere around here that one can get some decent Scotch eggs anymore. I haven't tried to make them myself yet.

There's an English pub nearby that serves a damn fine chicken tikka masala and an onion soup that my dad insists is a food group unto itself. Bloody good bangers and mash, too.

And there's a Scottish pub on Massachusetts Ave where I actually got to try haggis. I try to tell people it's worth at least trying once; no one seems to believe me.....

There are at least a couple of joints within driving distance that serve blood sausage/black & white pudding. I think that will be my next culinary adventure.

 

I live in the States, so we don't really have pub food like you do.
But I know that I love shepherd's pie and I think that fits in as pub food.

 

Dude, I live smack in the middle of Indiana. But sometimes I'm totally jealous of folks living in Ireland, even England. Beautiful land, good food; if I hadn't put down roots here, I'd likely spend a lot of time over there.

But yeah, shepherd's pie counts. I grew up eating it, and It. Is. AWESOME.

 

Bangers and Mash is probably my favourite comfort food. Especially if it's served with fried onions.

 

Based on my experience of spending about 10 weeks of my life there, I dont believe that there are any real pubs in the US.

Am upmarket pub is a place that MAYBE sells pie and chips, fish and chips, lasagne, burgers, etc etc - has a dog sitting by the bar and a fruit machine. If you fancy something really exotic there is sometimes a guy who tours all the pubs selling whelks and other seafood, but I wouldnt trust any of it.

A place that sells anything with balsamic vinegar is a trendy wine bar.

The only food you can get in a REAL pub though is:

1 - pickled egg and cheese and onion crips
2 - pork scratchings
3 - menthol cigarettes

 

Well, a bar is a whole different thing to a pub!

We have bars in the UK too, and they are fine.

But you cant get real beer in them, or buy stolen car stereo's, play darts or snooker,etc etc. You also will very rarely see a dog wandering around a bar apparently completely on its own and ignored by everyone.
--- merged: Aug 14, 2012 at 5:32 PM ---

In simple terms, to me (and it is a personal definition, but a serious one this time) a pub is a place where the same people mostly go. You can just go in and will always be the same locals/regulars.

A bar is a place that treats you like a customer - where they might have a chef making nice pizza, they might have a gimmick of brewing their own beer, where people might dress up to go out to. Might be a nice place to have a drink.

A pub is a place where you are part of social group, where everyone is in the clothes they work in (even if dirty overalls), where you know all the staff and they are more like mates.

_

To put it in a sentence, a pub is not a place you would take a girl to on a first through about tenth date. Taking her down the local is like the equivalent of her not bothering to wear makeup when you meet up, or you not bothering to close the bathroom door at her place when youre taking a slash.

 

A pint of shandy would be considered a "cocktail" in my old local!

 

Those are my kind of bars/taverns/inns/pubs/what-the-fuck-ever-give-me-a-drink-i'm-starving, where I know who is going to be sitting at the bar before I walk in.

Bars around here can range from a hole-in-the-wall that might have 6 different kinds of liquor and 4 beers on tap to higher end food with craft (domestic or imported) beers.

We have an "Irish Pub" here with good food, but the fucker has a Union Jack hanging in it. What kind of irish pub has a british flag in it? Well, besides being used as a backdrop for the dart board. Saw that in a place in NYC once.

 

There is a decent pub here in Singapore that has very good Sunday roast. It comes with roast pork and roast beef. The only pub I've had it better was a very decent local in Hackney (London's east end).

There are some decent pubs in Canada but there are more than enough crap ones to make it hard to find a decent one.

 

Yep I did.

And this is why I queried why he wanted to take me to his local pub !!!!
SF is right, you don't usually take your dates or very early relationships to your local pub, a wine bar would usually be less familiar.
And in my blog I explained the whole scenario when we walked in, was awkward lol.

 

This place is pretty good:
Newport Arms Hotel, Kalinya Street, Newport, New South Wales - Google Maps

Beer Garden & Bistro Dining :: Newport Arms Hotel

Pretty hard to complain about beer and a pretty good view overlooking the water in Northern Sydney. The food is fairly good too.

 

I read that post and thought YAAAAY a TFPer close to where I live, but then I realised it was NEW South Wales.

 

I absolutely love pub chips (or crisps, depending on what continent you're on ), especially if they come with a super spicy dipping sauce. Beer battered mushrooms are awesome, too.

 

Yokel that I am, I must ask. What are pork scratchings? Obviously, it's pig, so it sounds tasty.
--- merged: Aug 15, 2012 4:01 AM ---

We've got a place 'round here that seems to at least come close to the general concensus of the definition of 'pub'. Very casual, some regulars, most folk feel free to talk to other tables, there are more guests than customers, the staff--from servers to kitchen--feel at liberty to come around and chat. They offer up awesome chips with curry sauce (mild or hot) for the dippings. Supergroovalistic fried mushrooms, too.