Menu Ideas

Critics shame pub food as unhealthy

18-Aug-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Pubs have been criticised for supplying unhealthy food to children that falls “far behind” the standards of the retail sector.

Avoiding jargon can increase interest in beer and food pairings

10-Aug-2017 By James Beeson

Using less specialist vocabulary can help pubs and restaurants sell beer and food pairings to customers, according to the US Brewers Association (BA).

Bidfood unveils Christmas range with 'free-from' focus

19-Jul-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Bidfood has revealed its Christmas range for this year, which includes more than 120 new products and taps into the ‘free-from’ trend.

Walkabout announces new ‘heritage-focused’ menu

19-Jul-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Stonegate Pub Company brand Walkabout has announced its new menu, which taps into the company’s Australian heritage and is due to hit sites later this month (25 July).

Menus

How menu hacking can help your pub

27-Jun-2017 By Andrew Don

Menu hacking, a trend acquired from the US and Australia, is catching on in the UK. But why? Andrew Don reports

Nutritional information on menus demanded by consumers

19-Jun-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

More than two-thirds (67%) of consumers want to know the nutritional information of every dish on a menu when they eat out, according to Fourth, software partner to the hospitality industry.

In association with Alaska Seafood

Why frozen fish could be the new 'fresh'

19-Jun-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Working with frozen fish and seafood could help pub chefs meet growing consumer demand for a greater variety of fish dishes, be more creative and cut wastage, they just need to cast aside preconceptions first, finds The Morning Advertiser.

The future of food in the on-trade revealed

14-Jun-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Meat-free options, inspiration from food festivals and experience-led occasions are the future of food, according to creative think-tank The Innovation Group.

London pub to focus on Asian food after £250,000 refurb

31-May-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Star Pubs & Bars will focus on Asian food at its new south London pub following a pricey refurbishment later this month.

Pub brunch and breakfast trends revealed

31-May-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Eggs, Millennials and food-to-go are the latest trends operators need to look out for in their brunch and breakfast offer, according to foodservice bakery company Kara.

Optimising menus is key to combat rising food costs

24-May-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Customer analytics can help pubs make more money in an environment of rising food costs, according to private equity firm Livingbridge.

National Vegetarian Week: what pubs were doing

17-May-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pubs took to social media to showcase the vegetarian fare available on their menus, throughout National Vegetarian Week (15 to 22 May).

Harvester launches £20 Groupon meal deal

17-May-2017 By Helen Gilbert

Harvester, the Mitchells & Butlers brand, has launched a Groupon deal offering a meal and drink for two for £20.

Premiumisation of Mitchells & Butlers sites results in sales boost

17-May-2017 By Helen Gilbert

Mitchells & Butlers has credited an "innovative agenda" including vegan meals, low-calorie Prosecco and its Miller & Carter steakhouse format for the rise in food and drink sales across the group.

Cooking with Red Stripe: pub to launch Caribbean menu

11-May-2017 By Helen Gilbert

A soon-to-open London pub is to debut chicken wings cured in Red Stripe lager as one of the choices on its Caribbean-themed menu.

Fuller's pub and Italian restaurant 'menu swap'

11-May-2017 By Helen Gilbert

A London pub is ‘swapping menus’ with a neighbouring Italian restaurant to offer customers more choice. 

Slug & Lettuce targets vegetarians and sharers with new menu

09-May-2017 By Helen Gilbert

Stonegate-operated pub chain Slug & Lettuce is expanding its vegetarian and sharing plates offer.

Beefeater launches new menu with dishes as cheap as £5

04-May-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Whitbread steak pub arm Beefeater has unveiled a new Daytime Saver menu with dishes available for £5.

Ale house launches 'first' crackling menu

04-May-2017 By Helen Gilbert

A London alehouse has debuted what it claims is the UK’s first ‘crackling menu’ aimed at complementing the venue’s craft-ale offering.

Coeliacs shun pub food in favour of restaurants

04-May-2017 By Helen Gilbert

Coeliacs are shunning pubs in favour of restaurants, The Morning Advertiser (MA) has learned.

Slow food tops 2017's culinary trends

02-May-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Reducing food waste and slow-cooked food are the two main trends operators must keep an eye out for this year, according to research from Mintel.

How to make: 'perfectly wobbly' panna cotta

30-Mar-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Emily Scott’s Cornish pub the St Tudy Inn came 39th in this year’s Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs awards. Here’s a classic dessert ideal for ending a lavish meal.

Some of the 'best' TripAdvisor responses from pubs

30-Mar-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

TripAdvisor has come under fire many times from the hospitality industry and operators have previously blamed the review site for staff resignations, sleepless nights and police intervention. Here we look at some of the responses pubs have given to irate...

Celeb gastropub owner James Tanner launches pre-made dessert for pubs

29-Mar-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

A top gastropub chef, who starred on the BBC's Ready Steady Cook, has unveiled a new pre-made dessert for foodservice operators created with Arytza Food Solutions. 

Bye bye, Boardy: how tableware is leaving those dreaded wooden boards behind

15-Mar-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

You’ve all seen the pictures – a flaccid steak sits on a stained wooden board, drenched in greyish peppercorn sauce slowly seeping to the edge. It's futility incarnate.

How to make: stone bass with sauerkraut and Toulouse sausage

14-Mar-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

This dish, served up at Cheshire Cat Pubs sites, is delicious and deceptively simple. 

Yates launches new spring menu

14-Mar-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Yates, the Stonegate-owned high street chain, is launching a new menu later this month (21 March).

Chefs’ Choice Awards 2017 winners revealed

10-Mar-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

Hundreds of foodservice suppliers battled it out to have their products named the best at the inaugural Chefs’ Choice Awards in London earlier this week.

JD Wetherspoon adds hot dogs, bagels and quinoa salad to menus

07-Mar-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) has added a range of new dishes to its menu. 

How to make: Steve Smith of the Freemasons' chicken, mushroom and asparagus

21-Feb-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Steve Smith’s Lancashire pub the Freemasons at Wiswell, rose from sixth to fourth place in this year’s Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs. This dish fuses fresh, seasonal flavours with a lavish foie gras sauce.

How to make: Andrew Pern of The Star Inn's Whitby lobster with cod roe pâté

15-Feb-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Andrew Pern’s Michelin-starred Yorkshire gastropub the Star Inn at Harome was named the best in the country at the Top 50 Gastropubs awards in January. This dish is exemplary of the skilled, sensitive cooking on offer at the 21-year old business.

‘Sexy craft beer’ launch exclusive to swanky London eatery

10-Feb-2017 By Nicholas Robinson

A new craft beer has been created especially to pair with dishes at London Mayfair’s Sexy Fish restaurant, indicating the segment has more room to grow alongside food.

How to make: Mark Dodson of the Masons Arms' chocolate and passion fruit delice

02-Feb-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

This recipe by Mark Dodson of the Michelin-starred Masons Arms, Devon, which came 15th in this year's Top 50 Gastropubs, elegantly toes the line between classical French high-end cooking and British comfort food.

Cut your pub a slice of the profit with pie

31-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

More and more people are choosing to eat out rather than at home and, with a growing demand for increasing informality when doing so, pubs are ideally placed to cash in on the British public’s enduring love affair with pies.

Inside Fuller's Ale & Pie pubs

27-Jan-2017 By Nikkie Sutton

Pies and pubs go together like a horse and carriage, so it should have come as no surprise that London brewer and pubco Fuller’s would make the most of the relationship through a hugely successful on-trade brand.

Cancer warning over chips and roast potatoes

23-Jan-2017 By Michelle Perrett

Pub chips and roast potatoes are under the spotlight after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) issued a warning about the possibility of cancer-causing acrylamides. 

How to make: Stosie Madi of the Parkers Arms' pheasant breast ballotines

18-Jan-2017 By Daniel Woolfson

Stosie Madi’s Lancashire gastropub, the Parkers Arms in Newton-in-Bowland, is one of the north’s top dining hot spots. This seasonal game dish uses tender, locally shot pheasant. Alternatively guinea fowl or turkey can be used as a substitute

Healthy menu planning

On a health kick

29-Nov-2016 By Nicholas Robinson

Once the Alka-Seltzers have been returned to the medicine cabinet after the festive binge, customers will emerge from their party mentality in search of health food sanctuary. Enter the pub...  Andrew Don reports

EATING CHALLENGES

Teesside pub creates gut-busting 8,000-calorie kebab 'sandwich'

21-Nov-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

A pub notorious for creating huge eating challenges has unveiled its latest gastronomic creation – a perilously unhealthy parmo and kebab sandwich. 

LANCASHIRE DAY

Top chefs showcase best of Lancashire produce with one-off lunch

18-Nov-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

Five of Lancashire’s top chefs converged on London to showcase the best of their region’s produce and cooking with a special five-course menu yesterday (17 November) in honour of Lancashire Day.

Dish Deconstructed

How to make: John Calton of the Staith House's seared scallops

16-Nov-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

The Staith House, in North Shields, Tyne & Wear, has garnered serious acclaim for chef-patron John Calton’s accomplished cooking.

CHRISTMAS

Pub's 'upsetting' reindeer meatballs spark controversy

14-Nov-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

A Kent pub has sparked controversy by serving meatballs made from reindeer meat to mark the festive season. 

HEALTHY OPTIONS

Eating out in UK is 'absolute nightmare' for diabetics

09-Nov-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

Pubs and restaurants are missing out on millions of potential customers by not providing or flagging low-sugar options suitable for diabetics, a leading campaigner has warned. 

CHRISTMAS

Christmas food offers: our guide to festive feasts

09-Nov-2016 By Alison Baker

With summer now a distant memory, planning for the festive season is well under way for many licensees. 

EATING CHALLENGES

Bristol pub creates gigantic 72oz steak eating challenge

04-Nov-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

A Bristol pub has laid down the gastronomic gauntlet for its customers with the launch of a gut-busting eating challenge.

DISH DECONSTRUCTED

How to make: John Dory with creamed peas, lettuce and pancetta

31-Oct-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

Wright Brothers, based in London’s Spitalfields market, supplies more than 150 pubs and restaurants across the UK with fresh fish and seafood. This recipe from Wright Brothers chef Richard Kirkwood is a sure-fire crowd pleaser

MENU IDEAS

Obscene Trump Tower burger created to celebrate US election

27-Oct-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

The Blues Kitchen has launched a massive burger designed to look like Donald Trump to be served across its three London sites in the run up to the US election.

MEAT

Vegetarians, avert thine eyes: how meat cookery is evolving in the UK pub sector

25-Oct-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

Amidst the all-consuming talk of superfoods and health-conscious customers, you’d be forgiven for thinking meat had fallen by the culinary wayside. You’d be sorely wrong... 

Drink Deconstructed

Winter mocktail: the Valencia Berry

20-Oct-2016 By Sara Hussein

Hit the frontier of winter fruits with this berry good mix 

DISH DECONSTRUCTED

How to make: chef Josh Eggleton's apple & blackberry crumble

27-Sep-2016 By Daniel Woolfson

This traditional dessert by Josh Eggleton, chef-patron of the Pony & Trap, Chew Magna, will be a sound addition to any menu as the nights begin to draw in earlier. Extra points for serving fireside.