Sneak peak at pubcos' summer menus
Pub giant JD Wetherspoon (JDW) revamped its menu for summer, but diners took to social media to vent their upset about the removal of their “favourite” dishes.
The pub chain took off options including tandoori chicken, 8oz rump steak, hotdogs and cheesecake to make way for new additions.
One of the new, summer menu dishes is a ‘drive-thru’ burger, which JDW said is made with 100% British beef, served in a brioche bun and combining ‘baconnaise’, maple bacon slices, beef patty, American cheese slices and gherkin slices.
The burger, which has been added to JDW’s gourmet burger range, is wrapped in tin foil, enabling heat to build and slightly steam the bun, making it moist and indulgent.
The baconnaise sauce is inspired by classic American burger toppings and uses 100% real bacon pieces, smoked with a hint of spices and mixed with mayonnaise.
Summer adaptation
Whitbread-owned Beefeater has released its new menu for the summer and dishes include chicken and chorizo skewers; grilled halloumi salad; and scallops for starters.
Main dishes featured are grilled tuna steak; halloumi and chimichurri veggie burger; smoky barbecue steak burger; and lemon and thyme chicken, alongside new puddings such as chocolate marquise cake; pink gin truffle; and chocolates churros sundae.
Mitchells & Butlers brand Toby Carvery is famous for its meat and veg options and it has adapted this for its summer menu.
Sandwiches, including prawns in seafood sauce, and turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce, are all on offer alongside baked vanilla cheesecake sundae, and jam and coconut sponge for pud.
Stonegate-owned high-street chain Yates unveiled a new menu earlier this month (June), including a host of changes to the previous offer.
New options include a fish finger sub sandwich from £3.95, pancake stacks from £2.25, and halloumi and chips from £5.25.
The chain’s burger options have expanded and Yates has introduced four new choices - from a crispy southern-fried chicken Alabama burger and Mexican chilli cheese burger, both priced from £7.95, to a zingy vegetarian ‘bang Thai dee’ burger, available from £6.45.
However, the group was keen to emphasise the existing dishes that would remain on the menu - the 8oz rump steak (from £7.75) will stay on the grill menu and the ‘heroes’ section still has options such as chicken tikka masala (from £4.95), beef and ale pie (from £5.25), and fish and chips (from £4.95).
Health conscious
The new menu also means new deals, with the group’s offers including: Best of British; Spiced Up; Winner Winner Chicken Dinner and Burger Club, among the daily options that run throughout the week.
The drinks selection has also changed. For guests wanting a treat, options include the Cherry Cream Cola (from £7.95) and Ice Cream Splat (from £8.95).
For health-conscious consumers and those choosing not to drink alcohol, mocktails such as the Virgin Pornstar Martini (from £3.45) and the Virgin Apple Mojito (from £3.45) are on offer.
Brewpub chain Brewhouse & Kitchen ripped up the pub food rule book last month (May), declaring ‘the death of pub grub’ with the launch of a new vegan menu across its pub, in time for summer.
The brand said: “The UK’s casual dining scene presents some of the most diverse and culturally explorative menus on offer globally. The line is firmly drawn, however, when we reach the pub variety.”
Pubs, it claimed, are renowned for predictable comfort foods of soggy burgers, pie and mash, and old-time favourite badly fried fish and chips. But “this summer, traditional pub grub dies,” it added.
“If you’d rather some British farm-assured ‘beer-can’ chicken, West Country crab cakes, beetroot and thyme risotto, Korean breaded tofu and falafel and chipotle fritters, all washed down with wood-aged Belgian craft beer, then we’d like to introduce you to Brewhouse & Kitchen’s newly launched summer menu.”
