Blame it on what you like, the cost of drinking in a pub vs. drinking at home, a ‘cultural’ shift in the public’s psyche, people being too busy to go out in the evenings, etc.

Whatever the cause is it’s a real shame. It’s a bigger shame that the pubs that remain are transforming their businesses.

What is this magical saviour of British pubs? Food!

Just a few short years ago the mere mention of British pub food would send a shiver down the spine of even the least discerning gastronome.

Let’s just say back then a Sunday roast would have zero moisture in the meat and way too much in the (soggy) vegetables. The food was renowned for being awful and rightly so.

Even that ‘traditional’ ploughman’s lunch you used to order wasn’t traditional at all. It was an invention of the cheese marketing board!

The whole food scene in pubs was low rent. I’ve been in places in the past where I’ve seen what was coming out of the kitchens and it made me stare longingly at the jar of pickled eggs on the bar…

Back then we weren’t going to the pub for the food. The pub was almost strictly for drinking and socialising, the food was simply there to mop up all that booze.

But this has changed…dramatically.

The gastro pub has gone from a rare place you would have to seek out to being almost every single pub in the country.

Every pub now displays its menus rather than its guest beers. It must be driving CAMRA mad!

Food has become the reason most people visit a pub. Now I’m going to come right out and say it…that makes them restaurants.

That’s right your local pub has become a restaurant. Go in there on a Monday night and there will be hardly anyone there. Go on a Sunday and it will be packed with families eating roasts, I even see then with bottles of water on the table!

You may think this is a good thing, but then we come to the prices.

Pubs used to offer cheap eats, not anymore though. Most pubs are pricing themselves in the same league as ‘real’ restaurants.

There are many ‘true’ gastro pubs and I’m not knocking them. The food is worthy of your money and they offer something truly special.

It’s the local pubs which are jumping on the bandwagon and charging nearly £15 for a shepherd’s pie that I have a problem with.

Put the word ‘gastro’ at the top of your menu and double the price seems to be the pubs way out of closure.

But this doesn’t serve us as customers (service in pubs for the price they charge is a whole other article!), it’s isolating the local pub as they do not offer value. To me that’s what pubs should be about.

I have even recently been to a pub during the day and no problem to sit with a beer. We went back that same evening and were told we would be moved from our table if anyone comes in and wants to eat!

They should be places to relax with friends without needing to take out a second mortgage when the bill comes.

Please remember to tell me if your local pub has changed for the worse or is still a real local in the comments below!

Michael Robinson

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The Food Curator

The Food Curator (AKA Michael Robinson) is an aficionado of all things food and bon viveur based in London. A passion for cooking and dining has driven him to put fingers to keyboard to bring you his thoughts on the world of food. When not writing, eating or cooking he has a love of American muscle cars. Pop on over to my Facebook page and let's start a Facebook food revolution together: http://tinyurl.com/thefoodcurator

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