It’s back to that old chestnut of the cheap pub lunch, or
rather the lack of it! Boak & Bailey have written on the subject recently
and reached pretty much the same conclusion as the rest of us – decent and affordable
pub grub is no longer a given, at least in areas of the country. As regular readers
will know, I have made my own thoughts about food in pubs, quite clear over the
years, see “Is a cheap and cheerful pub lunch too much to ask
for?” Unfortunately, it is, especially in London and the south
east, where cheap, decent and honest lunches have almost vanished from the region’s
pubs and bars, although this isn’t the case in other parts of the country.
Visits over the past few years to Bath, Birmingham, Burton, the
Black Country, Manchester and Sheffield have demonstrated that what the rest of
the country enjoys, those who live in this corner of the kingdom, lack. Unless
you know where to look, that is. However, that can be difficult, at times,
although the best option here is to look out for special offers, such as
reductions on certain days of the week, rather than at peak times.
On Friday, for example, I spent a couple of hours in the small,
and attractive west Kent town of Westerham. I visited all three pubs in the
town centre, and in due course will be writing a post about my visit. For now, it’s
worth mentioning a couple of promotional offers that I noticed in the Greene
King run King’s Arms, a former coaching inn situated in the heart of the town. For
details, see the attached photos, although being of a certain age, it’s worth
highlighting the “Senior’s Menu” menu offering that runs Monday to Friday 12:00
pm to 5:00 pm allowing diners to choose from a selection of smaller portion
main courses. Two courses for £10, or three courses for £12.50.
Now, the King’s Arms is an imposing 17 room hotel, with a
contingent of kitchen, waiting and bar staff taking care of guests’ needs. It
is therefore good commercial sense to make full use of their set-up to sell a
few extra meals, at lunchtimes. Not so for your town centre local though, or
perhaps not even for your idyllic country pub. Last year’s post attracted a
significant number of comments, including several from people in the licensed
trade, which laid bare some of the problems faced by pub owners when it comes
to providing food for their customers.
Apart from the obvious requirement to maintain high
standards of food hygiene, the biggest issue seems to be finding, and then
being able to afford, a decent and reliable chef. If you are sensible, and don’t
want all that hassle, then stick to the pre-prepared stack of cheese rolls,
baps, cobs or whichever bakery term is appropriate for the region. Wrapped in clingfilm,
and displayed on the bar, in a basic, transparent cabinet, what could be more
welcoming for punters in search of a bit of “blotting paper” to soak up some of
that beer.
Alternatively, if you wish to be a little more, up-market, then
why not go down the charcuterie option, as the Fuggle’s beer cafés in Tonbridge
and Tunbridge Wells have done? Although
mainly offering a selection of cheeses and cold meats, both outlets have facilities
for limited hot snacks such as toasted sandwiches and hot dogs. On Thursdays,
the latter are on offer at just £6.00 each and given that the “dogs” inside the
rolls are proper German Bratwursts, this is a good offer, and one I have taken
advantage of several times over the past year.
Last Thursday was no exception, but what made the offer even
better on that occasion, was a free pint of Larkin’s Best Bitter – itself a rare
find, as I shall explain later. Fuggle’s operate a “loyalty card” scheme in both
their outlets, which is exclusively for cask ale lovers. Participants are given
a card, containing 10 spaces – one for each pint of cask ordered. The bar
person will stamp the holder’s card, at time of purchase. Once all 10 spaces
are stamped the card holder is entitled to a free point of cask. The scheme
only applies to cask ale and a full pint must be ordered to acquire a stamp. There
are no time limits involved, but the free pint awarded at completion of the
card, must also be cask, rather than keg.
To my mind, this is an excellent way of promoting cask beer,
and a nice gesture on behalf of Alex Gregg, the owner and founder of Fuggle’s.
Last Thursday, Larkin’s Best was one of the cask ales gracing the bar at the
Tonbridge outlet. I knew this in advance, as Fuggle’s list all their draught beers
– both cask and keg, on their joint website.
I said earlier that Larkin’s
Best Bitter was a rare find, and I say this because this excellent,
full-bodied beer is hardly ever seen in local pubs. Most of them prefer to
stock the weaker, and to my mind, inferior Traditional, which at 3.4%,
is a full percentage point lower in strength than the Best, a feature
that is reflected in both the body and the taste of the beer.
Larkin’s founder, the sadly deceased Bob Dockerty,
always claimed that “Trad”, as it is known in the trade, was
popular in rural pubs, due to its low strength. Drinkers could enjoy a couple
of pints of this beer, and then drive home, safe in the knowledge they were
unlikely to fail the breathalyser. This may well have been the case, but for
those times when you are NOT driving, Trad fails to satisfy and
is not really the beer for those who like a bit of body in their beer. Imagine
my sense of anticipation then as the barman pulled my rich, foaming, and
full-bodied pint of Larkin’s Best, and I’m pleased to report it tasted
every bit as good as it looked.
The hot dog too was enjoyable (see photo above), and I went for the German
option which came with Sauerkraut, crispy onions, curry ketchup, and mustard. I
gave the curry ketchup a miss, as I’m not a fan of tomato sauce. With that excellent
pint of Larkin’s Best, it was the perfect combination for an early lunch. I’m
sure that other landlords, could put on a similar offering, especially as there’s
little in the way of additional expenditure, such as expensive cooking equipment,
extraction and separate preparation areas required.
