The hot takes and unpopular opinions
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@Tim said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
Good pubs are few and far between in NZ. Very expensive, bad food, mediocre beer, and surly or indifferent service. No atmosphere.
Totally depends on where you are and your attitude. Certainly no shortage of good pubs through Central Otago.
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@Crucial said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
@Tim said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
Good pubs are few and far between in NZ. Very expensive, bad food, mediocre beer, and surly or indifferent service. No atmosphere.
Totally depends on where you are and your attitude. Certainly no shortage of good pubs through Central Otago.
As someone from Wellington I find the original take from @Tim utterly ridiculous ( and I was probably triggered and posted in haste as often happens on the fern ) but then it depends what we’re talking…..loads of little country pubs/bars have atmosphere and are quite delightful but to be fair lots are bog standard shit holes with rubbish food and nothing but TAB screens and pokies for entertainment.
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@MN5 i think the qualifier for me yes, as you say plenty of great country pubs with atmosphere etc..but as one of only a few theyre probably a draw card so dont have to work for it...but i think what ive been impressed with in melbourne is how many great pubs you find on some random suburban street...with another one 3 streets over...no draw really other than the people living near by...and they'll still be great
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@Kiwiwomble said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
@Tim said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
Good pubs are few and far between in NZ. Very expensive, bad food, mediocre beer, and surly or indifferent service. No atmosphere.
...kind of agree compared to what we have in Aus, i have a probably 7-8 within a 10 minute walk, all will do good pub food (and 2-3 will have a dining area with a fancier menu) and all will in in an old building with loads of character...almost certainly on a corner, and since COVID they all have claimed the footpath or parking bays outside so you can sit in the sun
they all "work for it" too, tipping comps, get take aways on uber eats/deliveroo etc, most will sponsor some sort of local sports team, and you'll see all kinds of people in them most nights of the week
I don't think all Oz is as consistent as your 7-8 min walk.
Ya lucky devil.
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The main problem with pubs in NSW is the smoking laws. They're so idiotic that outdoor smoking can mean an open section in the middle of the pub that does nothing to ventilate the pub whatsoever. An awesome pub I used to frequent allowed what used to be just an eating area to be a smoking area and the pub is essentially a full smoking pub now.
Far too many pubs turn a blind eye to people vaping inside too. Why are vapers so inconsiderate? Was at a party on Friday where one dude was a vaper and he started vaping inside and kept doing it despite multiple people asking him to stop - until the host threatened to kick him out.
The sooner I become supreme dictator and summarily execute all you smokers and vapers the better. TBF, I will let you live and keep smoking, in camps, outside the cities where you'll spend your days beautifying the roadsides.
Hmm, this post might be another for the Grumpy thread.
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@Nepia said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
The main problem with pubs in NSW is the smoking laws. They're so idiotic that outdoor smoking can mean an open section in the middle of the pub that does nothing to ventilate the pub whatsoever. An awesome pub I used to frequent allowed what used to be just an eating area to be a smoking area and the pub is essentially a full smoking pub now.
Far too many pubs turn a blind eye to people vaping inside too. Why are vapers so inconsiderate? Was at a party on Friday where one dude was a vaper and he started vaping inside and kept doing it despite multiple people asking him to stop - until the host threatened to kick him out.
The sooner I become supreme dictator and summarily execute all you smokers and vapers the better. TBF, I will let you live and keep smoking, in camps, outside the cities where you'll spend your days beautifying the roadsides.
Hmm, this post might be another for the Grumpy thread.
Even dumber is the rule that smokers can't eat in their own smoking section. I know of pubs where you can't even see a smoker, let alone smell their smoke, yet they're forced to eat their burgers in the fresh air with us puritans.
Do their fellow smokers get upset that their Dunhill Blue tastes off when polluted with the smell of a greasy burger???
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@Nepia I said when they banned smoking in pubs in Qld that what they should have done was implemented a clean air standard so smokers could still smoke but everyone else wasn't affected.
There's not much worse than a smoker going into a dingy confined space and coming back reeking of smoke.
Vapers on the other hand are against the wall on day two.
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@voodoo Dunhill Blue used to be my cigarette.
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@antipodean said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
@voodoo Dunhill Blue used to be my cigarette.
I may have inhaled a few in my time also
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I can’t speak for Aus or NZ but I fear that the lovely picture you paint of the typical English pub is one that is getting rarer and rarer. So many pubs are being closed down and many others being hoovered up into a mass of corporate sameness. Oh and don’t get me started on Irish “theme” pubs.
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@Catogrande said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
I can’t speak for Aus or NZ but I fear that the lovely picture you paint of the typical English pub is one that is getting rarer and rarer. So many pubs are being closed down and many others being hoovered up into a mass of corporate sameness. Oh and don’t get me started on Irish “theme” pubs.
You can't spoil my memories pal, even if they were never real.
Had so many good nights at the Holly Bush in Hampstead - the interweb says it's still going strong
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@Catogrande yeah a couple of the nice pubs I used to frequent over there are no more, one closed the other just a cafe.
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@Catogrande RIP The Gunmakers in Clerkenwell. Just hope The Griffin is still going.
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@Catogrande said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
I can’t speak for Aus or NZ but I fear that the lovely picture you paint of the typical English pub is one that is getting rarer and rarer. So many pubs are being closed down and many others being hoovered up into a mass of corporate sameness. Oh and don’t get me started on Irish “theme” pubs.
I think there is a real town / country divide here.
Around us once you venture out of the town you have Red Lion, Cricketers which are beautiful standard English pubs full of vibrance and atmosphere. Tough to get a table. The Victoria used to be an old mans pub which has just totally been redone & is now up there with the other two. The Sands was my local, which unfortunately closed at Covid and hasn't reopened. It's up for sale at the moment. As you go further afield there are countless more.
However, in town it's Wetherspoons (dodgy as fuck), Slug Lettuce & one another which I've never been in. Reeks of blandness.
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@MajorRage yeah in twells we had some great locals, 3 within less than 5 minutes. In orps we have the shitty high street ones and go the other way to Petts Wood there's a harvester I think and a spoons. But venture a bit further (15 min bus) and you get stuff like the five bells in chelsfield.
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Paranormal Activity
The usual normal, overhyped no-action garbage
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5 Bells still going strong! That does my heart proud. What about the Bo Peep?
