Country Pubs and Eating Out.

[rose2008-2008]

Living near quaint villages i love eating out in a good old traditional English pub in the country. My aunty and uncle used to take me and my mum and dad out every couple of weeks or so and go to a different eating place out in the country. Theres nothing like it. A good old Roast and a pud to follow with lovely beers and drinks to accompany your meal. Maybe some entertainment nowadays i know live bands play in quite a few pubs round and about. I love the atmosphere a friendly pub can bring and its a shame i heard last night on the television they will be shutting more down but hopefully they mean in town not rural ones!!.

How many others of you love having a meal out and what sort of places do you like?.

[stroppy*cow]

I like the "carvery" type meals, so I can choose what veg I fancy, and how much.

We tend to be restricted by what is accessible

[ed_blackadder_1]

Living in the sticks we have quite a few nice Pubs and every now and again we go to one, we especially like the ones where you can sit out, then you can stay for ages.  Good local produce and beer and a big bowl of water for the dogs. Lovely.

[ilove2patch]

Seafood restaurants on the side of the harbour. Don't do it much as I am on my own so only go occasionally with lovely friends.

[cloud_castle]

Too many of the chefs in the pubs round here think they are 'celebrities' and cook up very odd combinations of food at quite high prices too - main courses starting at around £15 and going upwards.

It varies so much. The other week we had friends staying and out for a meal - I only wanted something light so I had a smoked mackrel ploughmans.  The smallest mackrel fillet I'd ever seen, a tiny portion of salad, a huge palid pickle onion and a half stale bread roll and one pat of butter, I was given another when I asked for it.

Contrast that to a pub in rural Devon where I had a cheese ploughmans recently - two wedges of cheese (I took one home as there was so much and it weighted 5oz!) a lovely mixed salad, including slivers of peppers and spring onion along with the usual lettuce, cucumber and tomato, two quaters of apple, one red and one green, a propper pickle opnion, crisp and brown, a small dish of really good chutney and two wedges of fresh bread, slighty warm - one granary and one white and plenty of butter, It was absolutely delicious and £2 cheaper than the previous one.

Cornwall does tend to be a rip-off for food, in and out of season.  You're quite lucky if you can find a pub that cooks good honest food that hasn't come out of a plastic bag and a microwave at a reasonable price!

[ed_blackadder_1]

Have found that Cornwall is expensive compared to some parts of Devon,  The ones in the trendier places in South Devon and Plymouth are very dear, but they have celebrity chefs like the Tanners and Michael Cains so I wouldn't bother, and don't get us going on Padstein, 

You need to go where the locals, go great food and great prices nothing fancy just wholesome home cooking.

[chips-and-brown-gravy]

I am a local! 

As soon as I retire I'm out of here.

[ed_blackadder_1]

I thought Devon and Cornwall was where everyone retired to or had their 2nd homes.

I am a local too. Everything is dear, Fuel, Housing, eating out,  Water oh don't get me started on Water.

[captainbovine]

I live in N. Wales and have found the standard of food in the pubs is dropping dramatically.....one place hasn't altered it's menu in 14yrs!!!!!

Also, most of the places are filling up their menu's with pasta this is cheaper for them to buy in but not cheaper for us!

I too have had really bad ploughmans. I used to like going out for a meal but now I feel as if I can do better at home. I hate being out and then feeling like I've been robbed!!!!

[chips-and-brown-gravy]

It's only those who retire on NHS or local authority pensions who can afford to retire down here. Second home owners really get my goat, they don't bring anything to the ecomony and means that some of the coastal villages are completely dead in the winter, locals can't afford to live there, schools and local shops close and the community dies, Boscastle and Port Isaac (where they film Doc Martin) are two very good examples as well as most of the villages on the River Fal.  My neighbours grandparents used to live in the house that is used as Doc Martin's home, her whole family came from there and the only one left is her brother who is one of the few fishermen left there, such a shame. His children can't buy propery there and the son has just emigrated to Australia.

Why anyone wants to retire to Cornwall is a puzzle to me, you need to drive everwhere as there is virtually no public transport (my nearest bus stop is two miles walk), weather is generally pretty poor, cold damp winters which are lousy for joint and chest problems, water rates are astronimical, very poor public services.  Most seaside towns close at the end of September and my real pet hate, sometimes you can go weeks without seeing the sky because of thick, grey cloud cover.

You're right about it being expensive, everything costs more from food to water, taxis are more expensive than London black cabs, beer is nearing London prices, building work is very expensive too - I have just had a quote for roof repairs - OUCH!

As you can gather it's not my ideal place to live.

[cookiecookuk]

the last tim i ate out was with a mate of mine and we went to localish pub and took our meals outside.we sat talking and not once did the waitress come out to us to see if we wanted desserts or another drink the my mate went to go to loo only to find the pub shut.we were gob smacked.....

[millielilac]

Live in the Lake District ...but not bang in the middle of the touristy part ...so its lovely .

Lots of country pubs with good home-cooked food ...eat out far too much. Had a lovely roast dinner today followed by home made sticky ginger pudding ( shared with my hubbie cos portions are so big ).

Last night we went into our local town ( just 2 miles ) and had a lovely evening at the Spanish Tapas Bar run by an authentic Spaniard and his Cumbrian wife. Just like being in Spain ....staff wear Spanish clothing and its decorated like a Taverna...great fun...

[ed_blackadder_1]

They are advertising 2 houses in our village as ideal holiday homes  the price £300,000,  no wonder kids can't afford to buy,

[rose2008-2008]

That sounds lovely a Tapas Bar in Cumbria, i love Spain and all that that goes with it. Yes eating out can be expensive and varied in places for price. All the things we do for pleasure are so dear, awwww awful really. Its nice to have a treat now and again.