The hot takes and unpopular opinions
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5 Bells still going strong! That does my heart proud. What about the Bo Peep?
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@Catogrande said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
5 Bells still going strong! That does my heart proud. What about the Bo Peep?
Yeah I'm not gonna google that.
Edit: We only discovered the five bells by pure chance - bus from right outside our house during the fuel crisis and that was the closest we could get to the farm shop. Happy accident!
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@Bones said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
@Catogrande said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
5 Bells still going strong! That does my heart proud. What about the Bo Peep?
Yeah I'm not gonna google that.
You’ve not been then? It’s just up the lane a bit from Chelsfield. Used to be a cracking pub albeit a bit twee.
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@Catogrande oh yeah have seen that one on the bus ride home! Haven't been as it looked like silver hair is a requirement.
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UK vs NZ vs Aus pubs... I've come to the conclusion that there's shit ones, and good ones (with character) - in each country... but in each country, the "flavour" of the good/shit is slightly different.
In the UK - you get the corporate bland shit like Wetherspoons, Slug/Lettuce, All-Bar-One, etc. Even, to a lesser extent, the 'chain country pubs' - Harvesters was one, I think? "Hungry Horse"? Some others... those places in the countryside - that are big bland chain attempts at replicating the "good". And then the good - the classic village pubs, hitting your head on crossbeams every time you go for a piss. Sometimes a beer-garden on a canal.
NZ - it's nearly the reverse, in the North Island at least. Just off the top of my head - really shitty bland country pubs, with some farming tools on the wall in an attempt to be "character" - but really... shit beers on tap, and just... country-bogan. And a very few decent bars in some of the cities. Although I'm probably prejudiced, as most of the bars I frequent - in my 2 years back in-country, I'm already known to the staff, and typically get staff/hospo discount.
South Island - might be reversed again? Some classic country pubs - my recollection of Chch bars (admittedly-pre-earthquake) - was decidedly Slug/Lettuce/All-Bar-One-esqueAus - I don't have a wide experience... but my feel was more of a UK pattern.... plenty of shit "glossy/corporate bars" in towns, with some fucking cracker country pubs... and in Melbourne at least, some quirky fucking-random country-type-pubs in the middle of the city.
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@Kruse said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
"Hungry Horse"
I fucken love Hungry Horse. I can get a pile of indulgent, shithouse food for next to nothing.
The Robin Hood Tunbridge Wells | Menus
Come and try our delicious dishes, big on taste and little on price, you'll be sure to find the perfect meal at The Robin Hood. Discover our famous Big Plate Specials or enjoy a classic pub favourite.
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@Catogrande said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
That upsets me
You could call it an unpopular opinion
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@Kruse said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
In the UK - you get the corporate bland shit like Wetherspoons, Slug/Lettuce, All-Bar-One, etc. Even, to a lesser extent, the 'chain country pubs' - Harvesters was one, I think? "Hungry Horse"? Some others... those places in the countryside - that are big bland chain attempts at replicating the "good". And then the good - the classic village pubs, hitting your head on crossbeams every time you go for a piss. Sometimes a beer-garden on a canal.
We have quite a few decent pubs in our area - my Local is a community Pub in the village community centre which does a good range of beer and wine. Loads of Gastropubs down our way. Some have managed to combine the "local" feel with decent food, other's haven't and it's just a restaurant with a pub theme, sadly.
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@Bones said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
I fucken love Hungry Horse.
I remember a Burger shop in Welly and/or Lower Hutt called the Hungry Horse. It was great.
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I feel quite lucky. My local is a converted villa free house with a constantly changing ten taps. They don't allow smoking anywhere on site, have no pokies. They have about 40 different whisky's and a similarly broad range of the other mains spirits a small but decent range of wines.
I'm not a dog person at all but they are 'dog friendly' which is unusual in NZ. They even take a snap shot of all the pooches and have a gallery of dog mug shots on either side of their take out fridge.
Owner is a decent guy, works hard, knowledgeable, not averse to locking you in if its a good night - makes sure he chats to everyone and looks after his locals. I enjoy a reasonable discount. All the staff are friendly and know the beer on offer. Good mix of locals and walk ups. Locals acknowledge you and will have a chat if you want or leave me alone (my preference usually). Plus a really good kitchen that isn't just your normal deep fried shit run by a group of Koreans who manage to produce a lot of food from a kitchen smaller than my one at home.
The only downside is - as I've said before - you pay for the privilege. Mine host would get $20K a year off me.
Overall there's still too many bland chain type pubs around. 100 metres from my local is a Good Home. But they serve a need. Lots of people want bland. I usually manage to find a decent place serving good beer with a reasonable atmosphere without much difficulty when I travel. Or a dossers pub which would be my second choice.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
@Bones said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
I fucken love Hungry Horse.
I remember a Burger shop in Welly and/or Lower Hutt called the Hungry Horse. It was great.
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Craft beer pubs - I just hate them. The beer is simply more expensive than a "normal" pub and for some reason because they're a "craft beer" place the food is overpriced as well.
You get charged restaurant prices for beer which is slightly better than normal and restaurant prices for what is little more than pub quality food...
I could literally pay a few bucks more and go to a nice restaurant where there's quality food and a good selection of alcohol or if I want a pub meal just go to a normal pub where I get much better value for money.
So that's what I do, I either go to a restaurant or a pub and craft beer places can kiss my *ss.
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@Windows97 said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
Craft beer pubs - I just hate them. The beer is simply more expensive than a "normal" pub and for some reason because they're a "craft beer" place the food is overpriced as well.
You get charged restaurant prices for beer which is slightly better than normal and restaurant prices for what is little more than pub quality food...
I could literally pay a few bucks more and go to a nice restaurant where there's quality food and a good selection of alcohol or if I want a pub meal just go to a normal pub where I get much better value for money.
So that's what I do, I either go to a restaurant or a pub and craft beer places can kiss my *ss.
Just grab a gorilla burger and fries ( those vans are everywhere and the food is delicious and filling ) to go with your Pumpkin IPA and quit your moaning.
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@Kruse said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
UK vs NZ vs Aus pubs... I've come to the conclusion that there's shit ones, and good ones (with character) - in each country... but in each country, the "flavour" of the good/shit is slightly different.
In the UK - you get the corporate bland shit like Wetherspoons, Slug/Lettuce, All-Bar-One, etc. Even, to a lesser extent, the 'chain country pubs' - Harvesters was one, I think? "Hungry Horse"? Some others... those places in the countryside - that are big bland chain attempts at replicating the "good". And then the good - the classic village pubs, hitting your head on crossbeams every time you go for a piss. Sometimes a beer-garden on a canal.
NZ - it's nearly the reverse, in the North Island at least. Just off the top of my head - really shitty bland country pubs, with some farming tools on the wall in an attempt to be "character" - but really... shit beers on tap, and just... country-bogan. And a very few decent bars in some of the cities. Although I'm probably prejudiced, as most of the bars I frequent - in my 2 years back in-country, I'm already known to the staff, and typically get staff/hospo discount.
South Island - might be reversed again? Some classic country pubs - my recollection of Chch bars (admittedly-pre-earthquake) - was decidedly Slug/Lettuce/All-Bar-One-esqueAus - I don't have a wide experience... but my feel was more of a UK pattern.... plenty of shit "glossy/corporate bars" in towns, with some fucking cracker country pubs... and in Melbourne at least, some quirky fucking-random country-type-pubs in the middle of the city.
have to say, i cant think of too many chains or corporate pubs in Aus, all seem independent (around me anyway), so they either are or they're putting in some effort to hide the fact they are part of a chain
and i love a craft beer pub, will often have a different schooner with each round...when i just want to drink the same beer all night i'll buy a slab and drink at home
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@dogmeat said in The hot takes and unpopular opinions:
I'm not a dog person at all but they are 'dog friendly' which is unusual in NZ.
Ugh, I hate dog friendly pubs and cafes, and all of them in Sydney basically are. Nothing worse when you you're having a quiet beer or eating brunch and some dog comes over and starts licking you or two little dogs decide to have a fight right next to you.
Again this is another dog owners thing as opposed to the dogs themselves.
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https://www.facebook.com/hungryhorse.co.nz
