5 ms·

You're right, British cuisine does take all the good bits from everywhere, but then brings them down to its level ;) While I've definitely had great food in pu

You're right, British cuisine does take all the good bits from everywhere, but then brings them down to its level ;) While I've definitely had great food in pubs and I agree that London has spectacular food options, I'd still opine that across England as a whole, "good pub food" is the exception rather than the norm.

mhh__ 7y ago
Can't remember exactly where it was now (Cambridge-way) but I went to (what looked like) a traditional English pub that happened to serve really good Thai food. Slightly bizarre pairing but very tasty.
- pjc50 7y ago
  That's the Wrestlers on Newmarket Road :)
  - mhh__ 7y ago
    It might've been but I don't think it was actually in Cambridge if memory serves.
    - pm215 7y ago
      The Navigator in Shelford is another good Thai-food pub in the area.
- stuaxo 7y ago
  There are a lot of those around. There's a pretty good on in Brighton. Thai restaurant upstairs, pub downstairs (where you can order the Thai food too). Similar thing near me in London, very middling karaoke pub with pretty decent curry from upstairs.
  - mhh__ 7y ago
    There was no separation, it was an English pub serving Thai grub rather than a double premises. The chef was apparently of some note although I didn't look into it.
Doctor_Fegg 7y ago
It's 100% the norm in plenty of areas of Britain. Here in the Cotswolds we're spoilt for choice - there's at least one good food pub in pretty much every village. The same's true of the Yorkshire Dales, much of Mid-Wales, much of the South-West, and so on. Generally in the ex-industrial areas it'll be less impressive. Pub food in much of the Midlands, for example, is essentially whatever's offered by the owning chain (often Marstons or Greene King). But it's not necessarily terrible, and there are some smaller chains who are pretty good (e.g. Brunning & Price). It's more a function of the fact that the pub is ubiquitous in British society - you wouldn't expect haute cuisine from a bar in the Midwest either.
- DanBC 7y ago
  > Here in the Cotswolds we're spoilt for choice - there's at least one good food pub in pretty much every village. To be fair for every Green Dragon (Cowley) or Tunnel House (Coates / Sapperton) there are plenty of tourist traps selling pre-made cook-chill food from microwaves or tired carveries.
  - Doctor_Fegg 7y ago
    The Tunnel House is great. The Daneway at the other end is very different in character but equally enjoyable. I think the tourist trap pubs are largely restricted to the few honeypots - Bourton-on-the-Water springs to mind, but then I've had good pub food in both Stow and Broadway.
- cogidub 7y ago
  >> Generally in the ex-industrial areas These are the places people actually live.
  - pm215 7y ago
    Not exclusively -- London's the biggest city, and more generally the south east of England covers one tenth of the land area but has over one third of the UK population living there. So lots of people live down south, as well as in the industrial north.

mhh__ 7y ago

Can't remember exactly where it was now (Cambridge-way) but I went to (what looked like) a traditional English pub that happened to serve really good Thai food. Slightly bizarre pairing but very tasty.

pjc50 7y ago
That's the Wrestlers on Newmarket Road :)
- mhh__ 7y ago
  It might've been but I don't think it was actually in Cambridge if memory serves.
  - pm215 7y ago
    The Navigator in Shelford is another good Thai-food pub in the area.
stuaxo 7y ago
There are a lot of those around. There's a pretty good on in Brighton. Thai restaurant upstairs, pub downstairs (where you can order the Thai food too). Similar thing near me in London, very middling karaoke pub with pretty decent curry from upstairs.
- mhh__ 7y ago
  There was no separation, it was an English pub serving Thai grub rather than a double premises. The chef was apparently of some note although I didn't look into it.

Doctor_Fegg 7y ago

It's 100% the norm in plenty of areas of Britain. Here in the Cotswolds we're spoilt for choice - there's at least one good food pub in pretty much every village. The same's true of the Yorkshire Dales, much of Mid-Wales, much of the South-West, and so on. Generally in the ex-industrial areas it'll be less impressive. Pub food in much of the Midlands, for example, is essentially whatever's offered by the owning chain (often Marstons or Greene King). But it's not necessarily terrible, and there are some smaller chains who are pretty good (e.g. Brunning & Price). It's more a function of the fact that the pub is ubiquitous in British society - you wouldn't expect haute cuisine from a bar in the Midwest either.

DanBC 7y ago
> Here in the Cotswolds we're spoilt for choice - there's at least one good food pub in pretty much every village. To be fair for every Green Dragon (Cowley) or Tunnel House (Coates / Sapperton) there are plenty of tourist traps selling pre-made cook-chill food from microwaves or tired carveries.
- Doctor_Fegg 7y ago
  The Tunnel House is great. The Daneway at the other end is very different in character but equally enjoyable. I think the tourist trap pubs are largely restricted to the few honeypots - Bourton-on-the-Water springs to mind, but then I've had good pub food in both Stow and Broadway.
cogidub 7y ago
>> Generally in the ex-industrial areas These are the places people actually live.
- pm215 7y ago
  Not exclusively -- London's the biggest city, and more generally the south east of England covers one tenth of the land area but has over one third of the UK population living there. So lots of people live down south, as well as in the industrial north.