British pubs for sociologists

Reid© ( snipped-for-privacy@fell-walker.co.uk) wrote: : : I suppose getting into the shoving and pushing and waving a : tenner is a bit daunting in a foreign culture? When there is bar : service in Spain I have noticed people making a space and giving : priority to the foreigner (not in a touristy place of course) I : would like to think that happened here and perhaps it might in a : non tourist area? :

Spain is a whole different thing -- I have a special place in my heart for the Merenderos on the beaches along the SOuth Coast where there is one waiter serving well over a hundred people -- service was slow, nobody felt rushed, if you really needed him he wore bells on his shoes so you could locate his position in the room and wave him over easily.

Another recountable experience in Spain was when I was staying in a hotel in Barcelona on a business trip and couldn't sleep -- I went down to the lobby bar at about midnight -- had my room key on that big old lucite block that they hang room keys on -- it doesn't exactly fit in your pocket

-- you're supposed to leave it at the desk when you go in and out -- so I ordered a glass of wine and put the key on the bar.

About 10 minutes later a drop dead gorgeous, highly perfumed, obviously "professional" young lady slides onto the barstool next to me -- now I knew not a word of Spanish and she seemed to be irritated that I wasn't engaging her services. When it all got sorted out (with the help of a bilingual stranger) I learned that putting your key on the bar is a quiet signal to the bartender that you'd like a call placed on your behalf.

'nuff said!! Don't put your room key on the bar in Barcelona and don't hold hands with your wife on the streets of Istanbul.

ooh, that's exactly what I was about to say! In a standard italian restaurant the bill procedure is quite slow, right when it would not need to be, and you could have some reasons (theater, travel etc) to be in some hurry. And after all, itìs their intereste to have the money! ;-)

Usually you have to:

that could take half an hour! sometimes we skip 3) and 4) and go to the cashier (if any... or towards the exit) with the bill and the money, saying to the staff that we are sorry but have a date a few minutes later or something like that...sometiemes skipping also 1) and 2) - exp in Pizzerias.

So I like US restaurants, where you usually get the bill without asking with the coffee... or Uk pub when you pay the drinks (and sometimes the food) when you order.

ciao max

Rosalba e Massimo ( snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net) wrote: : : So I like US restaurants, where you usually get the bill without asking : with the coffee... or Uk pub when you pay the drinks (and sometimes the : food) when you order. :

You would, then, really appreciate the Vietnamese restaurants in SoCal. Each table has a number. When you're done, you just walk up to the cashier and tell them your table number -- you're out the door whenever you decide it's time to go.

In article , Ken Wheatley writes

Hee hee. I expected a flame, but not from that direction!

In article , Reid© writes

What about metered pipes directly from the cellar to the table? Cut out the middle man altogether.

The problem possibly lies with those pubs that aim to maximise their profits by expanding the area they have available for customers to sit (one pub near Beachy Head comes to mind, as does the Anchor at Bankside). Unfortunately, they still have the same number of slow bar staff, which is where the bottleneck occurs, so there would be no significant increase in sales, but lots more pissed off, if not pissed, customers.

I must say that the recent refit and expansion of the Anchor was not before time, although service is still very poor.

that should work inthe UK too. get up, go get your coats, start putting them on, head for the door. Someone will either stop you and remind you you havn't paid, or will politely remind you you havn't paid, or you get a free meal :)

Well, the Slug and Lettuce in Henley on Thames has (very pretty) waitress service, and not just for food. However, getting a waitress to take your order isn't 100% reliable - I think they're there for food only technically, or you have to ask nicely for more beer..

I have had waitress service at the Duck on the Pond in Long Itchington... there's got to be other places too.

I find that its always unexpected, and very pleasant.

Why not cut out the middle man and pour the stuff straight down the toilet?

In article , Mike O'Sullivan writes

Good idea.

I never had any trouble because of this in any place of Turkey... What was your experience about this ?

Following up to congokid

Yo sushi, if my memory is working well, sometimes have this, they also sometimes have a robot trolley that comes round. It wouldn't work in a pub of course.

Following up to Mike O'Sullivan

why not cut out the middle man and give your money straight to the government

Following up to Andy Bolstridge

sounds like my sort of place.

I doubt this pub is expecting repeat business anyhow... :-)

Dave

In article , Reid© writes

The one in Poland Street in Soho has - or had. I just drank water from the little table dispenser during that visit, though.

hmm, keg only draught beer (IIRC Stella, Kronenbourg & JohnSmithSmooth*) in a town which until recently boasted one of the best old breweries in the country (Brakspear - "one of the best" because it was a beautiful old place & made great beer) & Henley still has one of my favourite pubs - The Bird In Hand, where (shock!) you still have to go to the bar yourself to get simple food & stunningly good cask beers.

(* actually I'm thinking of Henley's BarMed, but I suspect the range in S&L isn't much better) cheers MikeMcG

Following up to MikeMcG

"Slug and lettuce" I have been in did proper draught beer.

Slug and Lettuce ranks just behind Wetherspoons pubs as the most souless pubs in the UK. Most airport lounges have better atmosphere (and beer) than those places. They are better avoided at all costs. You can always find a good local near a Slug and Lettuce, there is never a need to go into one.

I don't agree. I've generally found Wetherspoon's OK, or better, on beer quality, and I like the "no recorded music, no big screen football" policy amenable (tho' I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the latter plague has found its way into the one in Charing X Road). They are also refreshingly cheap in London, where most boozers charge over two quid a pint.

Alan Harrison