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Anorak News | Gastro-Enteritis

Gastro-Enteritis

by | 15th, October 2003

‘THE link between booze and crime is well documented. On September 10 last month reports of noise and rowdy behaviour exceeded 10,000.

In the olden days, beer used to be served in vessels like this

And the chief culprits were not the likes of drunken Kevin and Wayne fighting in the street for the affections of the lovely Bianca, but Simon and Lucinda loudly discussing the merits of their organic lamb burgers with polenta stuffing and basil cream mash as they left the Chien Et Canard Finca.

The Ploughman’s lunch might have been a composite of yesterday’s loaf, a stale wedge of cheese and a single slice of orangey tomato, but it rarely led to criminal conversations or got in the way of the main pub business of drinking.

Now a survey has been conducted into what impact gastropubs have had on us.

According to this research, as published in the Good Pub Guide 2004 and reproduced in the Times, the cost of pub food rose by an average of 13% between May 2001 and May 2003.

That compares unfavourably with the movement in the retail price index, which over the same period lifted by just 4.2%.

It’s clear that the bastion of good honest cooking, the refuge of the pickled egg and home to a simple, honest-to-goodness twice-cooked pub lunch has been brought to its knees by mine host’s pan-fried bass with Mediterranean-style garnish.

But worry not! As any hardened pub dweller knows, the way to save money on nosh is to eat after you’ve sunk eight foaming pints, at which juncture everything passing your lips will taste like ambrosia and nectar, albeit with a soupcon of curry sauce.’



Posted: 15th, October 2003 | In: Broadsheets Comment | TrackBack | Permalink