CrazyDave Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 18 minutes ago, jackwhite said: What's your take on the menu from The British? Again, I'm slightly disappointed with it. It's pretty standard pub fare, and maybe he's been restricted to that, I just thought they'd go a bit wider. I do think £17 and £16 for fish & chips and fish cakes respectively is at the higher end of things. Kind of prices I'd expect to see in Wine Down. Well. Chips as a side at Wine Down is a fiver, and a fish finger starter worthy nothing is eight quid. The prices strike me as about right, and your comments suggest you are a bit out of touch with restaurant pricing. Eg. Ramsey Park Hotel fish cakes and fish and chips are £17, Coast is £18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banker Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 1 hour ago, Gizo said: Or cost cutting. I’m hearing KWC is in considerable financial straits. Probably bit of both, the prices they charge now are now are extremely high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDave Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Just now, Banker said: Probably bit of both, the prices they charge now are now are extremely high. Maybe they should expand into doing sausage baps better than strang stores? I heard a rumour there was already somewhere doing that, but nobody has bothered to back up their claim with a recommendation yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopek Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 40 minutes ago, jackwhite said: Kind of prices I'd expect to see in Wine Down. Wine Down have to pay their staff though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banker Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 6 minutes ago, Kopek said: Wine Down have to pay their staff though. So does everyone else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Voice of Reason Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 1 hour ago, jackwhite said: What's your take on the menu from The British? Again, I'm slightly disappointed with it. It's pretty standard pub fare, and maybe he's been restricted to that, I just thought they'd go a bit wider. I do think £17 and £16 for fish & chips and fish cakes respectively is at the higher end of things. Kind of prices I'd expect to see in Wine Down. Well you say pretty standard pub fare. I recently went to the Shore in Laxey. Fish cake for starters, steak for main, as you might find in most pubs. But this was done to more than pub standard and for not much more cost. Standard pub fare might include steak and ale pie. But there are steak and ale pies and steak and ale pies. Hospitality people know that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Passing Time Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 3 hours ago, jackwhite said: What's your take on the menu from The British? Again, I'm slightly disappointed with it. It's pretty standard pub fare, and maybe he's been restricted to that, I just thought they'd go a bit wider. I do think £17 and £16 for fish & chips and fish cakes respectively is at the higher end of things. Kind of prices I'd expect to see in Wine Down. Prices are about right if you are in a decent restaurant but a bit pricey for a pub. That being said, if the fish is fresh as opposed to frozen and the fish cakes made fresh and not frozen then they're not going to be much cheaper. Richard can be an excellent chef provided he doesn't get bored too quickly. I've eaten his food in Tan Rogan/Samphire and Coast and each time it's been excellent. Let's see how it plays out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopek Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 2 hours ago, Banker said: So does everyone else! Not quite the way it works in Pubs though. In a Pub, the staff, often doubling up as bar staff, the overheads are paid from Brewery wage, utility bills. Usually there isn't a rent charged. An independent cafe/restaurant has to cover all those costs from it's own takings! So, it could be said that Pub grub is subsidised by the Breweries overall operation? In which case the catering output could be cheaper than an independent has to charge~? Of course it doesn't work out like that, they look at what other places are charging and charge the same!. It's possible in a Pub to get a 70% gross on the food ! A luxury to an independent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kopek Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Still on cafes and prices. Had lunch last week in a recently opened cafe/restaurant, edge of Town. Nice place, lovely staff, so so decor! Food wise, seemingly typical of current style and prices quoted on here. However..... Quiche and salad, £ 12, the quiche used a 10/12cm pastry case, nothing wrong with these, I've used them for functions but.... more of a tart than a quiche? Little if any egg, shallow and 'modern' in it's filling, probably Goats cheese and cherry Toms! For a quiche, I would expect a wedge from a 30cm flan dish, at least 25/30mm deep, lots of eggs and the required filling with melted cheese on the top !!! As for the 'salad', a cupfull of mixed leaves, too much Frissee, nothing else, not even a dressing!!! As a tart, it worked well but why not describe it as a 'Tart' ~? A starter? 12 quid? Hmmm! Another example, an out of Town cafe you could 'cycle' to..... Tomato and Basil soup £ 7 I think, pureed with cream, not any taste of Basil ? Not how I would make it but then it's not an exclusive recipe? Was it good, well no but it may suit their clientele, especially if they are only used to Heinz Tomato soup!!! Do the Chefs get any feedback on their efforts? Dot the serving staff pass on any comments to the kitchen? Probably not with Divas in the kitchen!!! With both of these examples, the food was very good for what it was, was it what was expected??? Was it value? I'm just having fun with the vagaries of food critisism but it shows how easy it is for both customers and kitchen to get it wrong? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 12 hours ago, Kopek said: However..... Quiche and salad, £ 12, the quiche used a 10/12cm pastry case, nothing wrong with these, I've used them for functions but.... more of a tart than a quiche? Little if any egg, shallow and 'modern' in it's filling, probably Goats cheese and cherry Toms! For a quiche, I would expect a wedge from a 30cm flan dish, at least 25/30mm deep, lots of eggs and the required filling with melted cheese on the top !!! As a tart, it worked well but why not describe it as a 'Tart' ~? A starter? 12 quid? Hmmm! When does a quiche become a tart exactly? What do you then call it? Omlette Tart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwhite Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 17 hours ago, CrazyDave said: Well. Chips as a side at Wine Down is a fiver, and a fish finger starter worthy nothing is eight quid. The prices strike me as about right, and your comments suggest you are a bit out of touch with restaurant pricing. Eg. Ramsey Park Hotel fish cakes and fish and chips are £17, Coast is £18 That may be the case but Ramsey Park is a hotel and Coast, I'd say, a higher end restaurant. I think Laxey, as mentioned elsewhere, is a bit of an outlier as it's fairly remote, a destination place, in very nice surroundings. There's also the restaurant attached, if you want to go higher end. I don't see The British the same, is the point I'm making. I always find it funny Dave that you think you're the ultimate hospitality guy, just because you want to tell us you eat out a lot. There are guys who follow Liverpool all over the country, it doesn't make them actually qualified to manage or play for them! There wasn't actually any need for you to say 'you are a bit out of touch with restaurant pricing'. If I am, then the chef further down the page is too, but you know better? It's possible to have a conversation without being condescending, but since you started it.... My points on all of this, maybe not ideally made, are: 1. I find it odd, and slightly disappointing, that a chef of apparent acclaim is happy to leave The Claremont only to go to work in an H&B establishment and, effectively, do the same food but better. 2. If that's the road they're going down, I'm surprised they are charging the same levels as the likes of Wine Down. If I'm paying those prices, then, personally, I'm going to pick Wine Down as opposed to a really well done fish and chips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwhite Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 44 minutes ago, The Phantom said: When does a quiche become a tart exactly? What do you then call it? Omlette Tart? That ones an easy definition for me, I'm not going home with a dirty quiche! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyDave Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 32 minutes ago, jackwhite said: That may be the case but Ramsey Park is a hotel and Coast, I'd say, a higher end restaurant. I think Laxey, as mentioned elsewhere, is a bit of an outlier as it's fairly remote, a destination place, in very nice surroundings. There's also the restaurant attached, if you want to go higher end. I don't see The British the same, is the point I'm making. I always find it funny Dave that you think you're the ultimate hospitality guy, just because you want to tell us you eat out a lot. There are guys who follow Liverpool all over the country, it doesn't make them actually qualified to manage or play for them! There wasn't actually any need for you to say 'you are a bit out of touch with restaurant pricing'. If I am, then the chef further down the page is too, but you know better? It's possible to have a conversation without being condescending, but since you started it.... My points on all of this, maybe not ideally made, are: 1. I find it odd, and slightly disappointing, that a chef of apparent acclaim is happy to leave The Claremont only to go to work in an H&B establishment and, effectively, do the same food but better. 2. If that's the road they're going down, I'm surprised they are charging the same levels as the likes of Wine Down. If I'm paying those prices, then, personally, I'm going to pick Wine Down as opposed to a really well done fish and chips. All I did was point out that your comments re pricing were completely wrong by googling a couple of places. I could easily spend a few more minutes making the point more clearly that it really isn’t expensive in 2024, but you can always do that yourself or spend the time finding all these places that apparently do fish and chips for less? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackwhite Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 1 minute ago, CrazyDave said: All I did was point out that your comments re pricing were completely wrong by googling a couple of places. I could easily spend a few more minutes making the point more clearly that it really isn’t expensive in 2024, but you can always do that yourself or spend the time finding all these places that apparently do fish and chips for less? 🤣 With the current cost of living it's getting very expensive to eat out anywhere these days, even lunch at the sandwich shop. Ultimately you're lucky to get much change out of £100 these days if you're out for a proper meal, regardless of where you go. It just seems any new place these days is just very much the same. There's little innovation. It would be good to see diverse places springing up but, with the aforementioned prices and ongoing cost of living issues for people, I'm not sure that's sustainable on the Isle of Man currently. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Phantom Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 13 minutes ago, jackwhite said: With the current cost of living it's getting very expensive to eat out anywhere these days, even lunch at the sandwich shop. £8 for a sandwich at Roots! Although they are deeply filled bagels and just about worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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