NationStates Jolt Archive

I've been to quite a few pubs in London, bars in the US and Germany and other countries.

But, in the UK meet thread, someone referred to a "proper" pub.

I thought the White Hart was a "proper" pub. Good beer, a rail on the wall to put your pint and your ashtray and talk with friends after work. A small set of tables in back for people who might actually want a bite to eat, but you're really coming there for the pint.

The customers are people who live and work in the area - I was the only tourist in there, and there were no really young people in the place.

So, what, to you, is a "proper" pub?

Dingy windows, sticky tables, chipped dimple mugs and lukewarm beer.

Dingy windows, sticky tables, chipped dimple mugs and lukewarm beer.

The White Hart fits that, although the lukewarm beer came in a glass.

add a pool table and dart board in there and yer pretty much spot on...being a...pub expert myself....

Of course you also need the right people as well...

the really old guy in the corner who only moves to put glass to mouth...pay fer the beer and goes fer a slash...

the mouthy git that no one likes

the comedian

the guy who gets pissed up but is reletively harmless and his mate...who is a certified psychopath

the barmaid

the pissed up and miserable landlord

the kids who just turned 18 and are out for a quick jar before heading into town

NO FOOD!

add a pool table and dart board in there and yer pretty much spot on...being a...pub expert myself....

Of course you also need the right people as well...

the really old guy in the corner who only moves to put glass to mouth...pay fer the beer and goes fer a slash...

the mouthy git that no one likes

the comedian

the guy who gets pissed up but is reletively harmless and his mate...who is a certified psychopath

the barmaid

the pissed up and miserable landlord

the kids who just turned 18 and are out for a quick jar before heading into town

NO FOOD!

Not even crisps?

It's the company and a friendly bartender/waitress that makes a good pub. You can get drunk on alcoholic water like PBR and still have a good time.

Trilby63;11654187']Not even crisps?

The White Hart didn't have crisps. If you were dumb enough to sit in the back and order something to eat, it was generally a mistake.

Oh, and I saw the old guy in the pub every night.

Beer.

So, what, to you, is a "proper" pub?


I wouldn't know. The only pub I knew of around here was at the University in the student center...which was promptly torn down upon my being approved for admission... :( :headbang:

there's a good "proper pup" in cardiff called the Castle Arms. proper pubs to me are pubs that don't play music, don't try to be 'trendy' or pretend to be clubs in the evening, are dingy and usually a hundered years old or more - nice and grimy, dark, lots of oak.

there's a really good one here in southampton actually, thinking about it. been a pub since 1640-something but got bombed in the war and rebuilt brick by brick same as before... the place looks permamently like its going to fall down any second though :p

Of course, a proper pub requires more than just beer.

It requires excellent fried fish, it requires friendly locals, who are regulars, a decent bartender and barmaid, a pool table, and whatever you order to eat comes out pretty damn good.

No. That is in no way a proper pub. A proper pub serves only crisps if anything at all, and they're soggy and unpleasant.

there's a good "proper pup" in cardiff called the Castle Arms. proper pubs to me are pubs that don't play music, don't try to be 'trendy' or pretend to be clubs in the evening, are dingy and usually a hundered years old or more - nice and grimy, dark, lots of oak.

there's a really good one here in southampton actually, thinking about it. been a pub since 1640-something but got bombed in the war and rebuilt brick by brick same as before... the place looks permamently like its going to fall down any second though :p

Music.. There should be no music..

All the pubs around where I live have all changed.. It's all "Gravity" and "Eden" which are terrible names for pubs!

Trilby63;11654251']Music.. There should be no music..

All the pubs around where I live have all changed.. It's all "Gravity" and "Eden" which are terrible names for pubs!

No music in the White Hart. It's also incredibly old, dark, and made of half rotted wood and a thousand coats of paint on the outside.

Trilby63;11654251']Music.. There should be no music..

All the pubs around where I live have all changed.. It's all "Gravity" and "Eden" which are terrible names for pubs!

Certain types of older music, marches or drunken singing is acceptable.

And those are terrible names for pubs. A proper name should reference the location, the name of the owner or some sort of delightful hobby practiced by locals (i.e. Lawn Darts).

Certain types of older music, marches or drunken singing is acceptable.

No karaoke. That's compounding a felony.

No. That is in no way a proper pub. A proper pub serves only crisps if anything at all, and they're soggy and unpleasant.

:eek: How can you forget the...

http://www.acescratchings.com/New%20Website/small%20images/kpnutspack.jpg

Proper pub is one that has pool tables, a dukebox, and serves a large verity of achol.

Trilby63;11654251']Music.. There should be no music..

All the pubs around where I live have all changed.. It's all "Gravity" and "Eden" which are terrible names for pubs!

damn right.
and its a shame... there was a nice pub here called the Avondale House which i went to once a few years ago, and was very nice - a 'proper' pub. i go away to uni and go back a year and a half later, and its restyled itself completely. gone is the classic oak interior and comfortable seats, replaced with garish yellow-painted walls, uncomfortable cube-chairs, chrome on bloody everything, blue neon round the all-chrome bar, shit music blaring out louder than i can even begin to tolerate... i wasn't happy :(


a proper pub is basically a pub that's not a complete load of wank

No karaoke. That's compounding a felony.

God no, not Karaoke.

I'm talking about drunks singing some ancient drinking song. A song passed down through the ages by drunks, something akin to "My hat, it has three corners."

No. That is in no way a proper pub. A proper pub serves only crisps if anything at all, and they're soggy and unpleasant.

Bah, they've got to have fish.

No one has mentioned Pork Scratchings - they must be served in any good pub. Has anyone seen Scampi Fries for sale anywhere except in an old pub?

A proper pub is one where they still hold meat raffles and leave the meat on the bar for your inspection for at least a few hours before you can win it and take it home.

Dim lighting, a dark wood bar, plenty of seating, somewhere where you can just go and talk to your friends and drink and relax.

Oh, and maybe a pool table and/or dart board and some music playing quietly enough to talk over.

Bah, they've got to have fish.

No pub deserving the name ever sells any form of food except bags of crisps and peanuts. And those have been on dsiplay for decades, so very few people a stupid enough to buy them.

One that hasn't been redecorated since 1923, and there is a bloke with a jack russel terrier in a flat cap in the corner.

No music in the White Hart. It's also incredibly old, dark, and made of half rotted wood and a thousand coats of paint on the outside.

Reminds me of the pub in Gipton, Leeds...roughest council estate in Leeds if not the whole of the North East. This was in the early 80's and basically the council moved all the citys' undesirables into this one council estate.

Given that the population was dying off in Gipton due to old age by the long term residents and this influx of deranged youth (speed freaks, skag heads, piss heads, violent offenders and the rest of the joyfull dregs of society) it was bound to turn into Crim Central. At one point it turned into a total no go area for everything....police, busses, taxi's...milkman.

There were two pubs serving Gipton. One did not survive the year and the second turned into a Russian style gulag with gates on the doors and windows and the 'pub' dogs. Two freaking huge Rottwielers. They were preternatural in their size. The landlord was this mad on nutter. He scared me. In fact many of the people in that pub scared me. The fun of watching some blokes kick off and then the rather inevitable inept glassing. Usually its the hand that got it, although I did hear of a rather nasty attack where a bloke lost an eye.

The beer however...Tetleys....The landlord may have been an utter and complete toerag....kept a fine cellar. Best bitter ever. Perfect temperature and a head to die for. Truly an immortal pint. To achieve perfection...and to taste it made the risk worthwhile. The buzz off four or five of these beauties was pleasant in the extreme. It did make walking home via the curry house interesting however.

Now to me....that is extreme pubbing and I am glad to say that these kinds of pubs are on the decline. They are much more decent but sadly only by becoming a chain or franchise pub ala Hungry Horse or some other vile dreck chain cheapo food/pub. Yes. I hate them.

The violence in the pubs seems to have moved from those shitty estates into the town/city centres...as far as I can tell anyway. Brits seem to rather enjoy the ritual of getting bladdered and 'being hard'...I was at a mates stag do in Bristol and this tiny little kid tried to kick off on me. I had to laugh and then walked away. Fuck it. I ain't going nowhere near a court for a numpty tosser like you. (the blokey was a brit as well! LOL oh how I laughed at the irony...in the middle of Bristol in Wales and I'm being harangued by a plucky little Brit!)

Did meet a few Welsh who were a good laugh in a Bierkellar monstrosity. I will say no more.

When I used to go out into the villages around Leeds with my friends we'd usually end up pissed as bastards. As you could take the train anywhere within West Yorkshire for 35p we'd end up in some really obscure pubs. Back then the trains used to service many more outlying communities than they do now. Otherwise we'd take the bus.

Many a day was spent hitting really ancient pubs. 17th and 18th century country pubs...cask beers or with Porter right on the bar itself. Watch some village cricket and just really chill and get nicely toasted on the beer. The thing is that this beer was about 3.7% to 4% and you could over the day drink a pretty hefty amount. Some of these guys (miners or farmers) could hit 15 pints...daily!

Of course they had beer guts the size of the southern hemisphere and would die young but they seemed content.

The pubs themselves could be anything from Working Mens Clubs with very 1950's feel of a Union facility to dinky pubs with fireplace, stone floor and benches...not tables. Music would be either live or in the salon the juke box...in the lounge no music but games and the like.

The walls in some places were so yellow from tabbacco you would be scared to touch the wall in fear of getting stuck and then swallowed whole by that putrid stainage.

Then bus back into Leeds. And a curry :)

Bristol in Wales

erm... Bristol isn't in Wales :confused:
its in England


anyway i agreed with most of the rest of what you said :) (and the welsh do know how to drink :D)

erm... Bristol isn't in Wales :confused:
its in England


anyway i agreed with most of the rest of what you said :) (and the welsh do know how to drink :D)

Yeah...I was parodying the drunk Brit on tour in Spain kinda thing..... LOL :)

Had a really good night...the groom was wankered and the rest of somehow managed to get back to the yuth hostel at about 4 am!

No karaoke. That's compounding a felony.

If you'd ever won money doing karaoke, you wouldn't think it's so awful. :p

Beer, jukebox, pool table, darts, KP nuts, smoke, good company. Also, a big screen is an advantage when it comes to football matches.

Beer, jukebox, pool table, darts, KP nuts, smoke, good company. Also, a big screen is an advantage when it comes to football matches.

From Manchester, huh? United or City?

Beer, jukebox, pool table, darts, KP nuts, smoke, good company. Also, a big screen is an advantage when it comes to football matches.

No big screen, please.

If Sky didn't own all sport, there wouldn't be so much demand for a big screen in the pubs.

No big screen, please.

If Sky didn't own all sport, there wouldn't be so much demand for a big screen in the pubs.

I think having sky own football is a good thing, if you can't get to the match then having to go to the pub with your friends and watch the game in public is the next best thing.

From Manchester, huh? United or City?

I was born a Red :D

I was born a Red :D

Ugh.

I think having sky own football is a good thing, if you can't get to the match then having to go to the pub with your friends and watch the game in public is the next best thing.

I guess you love it then. When an important series is coming up, Sky moves the series to Sky Extra, which you pay extra for.

Nice.

Ugh.

I was born a red and I'll die a red, if you cut me I even bleed red. I use this logic to prove that all City fans are just United fans in denial, after all if you cut them they all bleed red too ;)

I guess you love it then. When an important series is coming up, Sky moves the series to Sky Extra, which you pay extra for.

Nice.

No, the pub pays extra for. I won't pay for sky at home for the reasons I gave above, watching sport should be a communal thing.

If you'd ever won money doing karaoke, you wouldn't think it's so awful. :p

Karaoke belongs in the karaoke box, not in the pub.

The inventors of karaoke know that (you'll never find karaoke in a tachinomi or izakaya- the J equivilants to pubs), and you should too.

A good tachinomi (aka tachinomiya - literally "standing bar") has everything a good pub should have - booze, age, a certain atmosphere, good staff, and good regulars.

I was born a red and I'll die a red, if you cut me I even bleed red. I use this logic to prove that all City fans are just United fans in denial, after all if you cut them they all bleed red too ;)

Bah. Stuart Pearce FTW!

I guess you love it then. When an important series is coming up, Sky moves the series to Sky Extra, which you pay extra for.

Nice.

its all on sky now...except for big national games and the Champions League....

but you can watch satenta (sp?) ... broadcasts out of Ireland...opps....theres a fee for that as well....

football has become a money machine or rather had...its slowly starting to fall to bits....soon its going to be like (with all due respect) Scotland.

A good tachinomi (aka tachinomiya - literally "standing bar") has everything a good pub should have - booze, age, a certain atmosphere, good staff, and good regulars.

and bad guiness at about £6 a pint. I almost cried the first time I got a tab.

Karaoke belongs in the karaoke box, not in the pub.

The inventors of karaoke know that (you'll never find karaoke in a tachinomi or izakaya- the J equivilants to pubs), and you should too.

A good tachinomi (aka tachinomiya - literally "standing bar") has everything a good pub should have - booze, age, a certain atmosphere, good staff, and good regulars.

But it never hurts to walk out of a pub with more money than when you entered. ;)

and bad guiness at about £6 a pint. I almost cried the first time I got a tab.

There's such a thing as bad Guinness?

There's such a thing as bad Guinness?

I never believed in it either. Then I drank a pint of it in Japan.

I never believed in it either. Then I drank a pint of it in Japan.

Egads! Now I'm going to have to have the hot Japanese chicks come to me, rather than the other way around. :(

and bad guiness at about £6 a pint. I almost cried the first time I got a tab.

I've never been in a place I'd call a real tachinomiya that had Guniess. Lots of bars and pseudo-pubs here that have it, but not tachinomi.

There's such a thing as bad Guinness?

Yes indeed. Partly due to the travel involved. And partly due to the Japanese confucian heritage, wherein the outside form is more important than the inner reality.

But it never hurts to walk out of a pub with more money than when you entered.

Sure it does, if you bastardize the experience. 's the equal to saying the same thing about church.

Sure it does, if you bastardize the experience. 's the equal to saying the same thing about church.

If I go into a pub, spend $80, and still walk out with $120 more than I started with, I'm not about to complain. ;)

Egads! Now I'm going to have to have the hot Japanese chicks come to me, rather than the other way around. :(

Naw. Come anyway. A tachinomi isn't where you want to buy a Guiness. Grab a nice jizake (served right - ie not heated, and jizake are not the rocket fuel crap that's usually exported) or a good shochu. And J beers are good too.

But tachinomi (and real pubs for that matter) aren't necessarily the best places to pick up.

Naw. Come anyway. A tachinomi isn't where you want to buy a Guiness. Grab a nice jizake (served right - ie not heated, and jizake are not the rocket fuel crap that's usually exported) or a good shochu. And J beers are good too.

But tachinomi (and real pubs for that matter) aren't necessarily the best places to pick up.

I've never been able to find shochu in the UK, that stuff is amazing.

If I go into a pub, spend $80, and still walk out with $120 more than I started with, I'm not about to complain. ;)

If I go to a "pub" and it turns out to be a karaoke place, I'm liable to walk out. Karaoke has it's place, and it's not in the pub.

Naw. Come anyway. A tachinomi isn't where you want to buy a Guiness. Grab a nice jizake (served right - ie not heated, and jizake are not the rocket fuel crap that's usually exported) or a good shochu. And J beers are good too.

But tachinomi (and real pubs for that matter) aren't necessarily the best places to pick up.


Not like I can pick up hot Japanese chicks anyway. I've got a live-in gf. ;)

The folks I used to work with, though, used to joke that they could never send me to any East Asian country on business. They said I'd never come back. :D

But then, they did send me to Chile. Seems they were well aware of my attraction to Asian women but didn't know about my thing for Latinas. I didn't wanna come home from Santiago at all. ;)

If I go to a "pub" and it turns out to be a karaoke place, I'm liable to walk out. Karaoke has it's place, and it's not in the pub.

no...that would be underneath a piledriver

http://www.crestwoodtubulars.com/images/piledriver.jpg

I've never been able to find shochu in the UK, that stuff is amazing.

i know what you meamn. It's quite similar to vodka - the good stuff's gooooodd and the bad stuff's good for metal polish and fueling your car or cell phone (http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,58119-0.html).

If I go to a "pub" and it turns out to be a karaoke place, I'm liable to walk out. Karaoke has it's place, and it's not in the pub.

Meh, it's entertaining. You get either "wow, that person can really sing!" or you get to mock people for embarassing themselves. It's a win-win. :D

no...that would be underneath a piledriver

http://www.crestwoodtubulars.com/images/piledriver.jpg

LOL

No, actually karaoke can be quite fun if done right. I've never seen it done right back home. Here it's (generally) done in a place called a "karaoke box". It's basically a p-lace where you rent a small comfortably appointed room with a karaoke system. No standing up in front of the bar and assaulting people.

LOL

No, actually karaoke can be quite fun if done right. I've never seen it done right back home. Here it's (generally) done in a place called a "karaoke box". It's basically a p-lace where you rent a small comfortably appointed room with a karaoke system. No standing up in front of the bar and assaulting people.

I found one of those places in Little Korea in NYC. I liked it a lot. Couches, coffee table, beer brought to you (rather than pushing through a crowd to get a bartender's attention)...good times. :cool:

I found one of those places in Little Korea in NYC. I liked it a lot. Couches, coffee table, beer brought to you (rather than pushing through a crowd to get a bartender's attention)...good times. :cool:

Bingo! That's karaoke. Not some dumb attempt to transpose it on a proper pub.

LOL

No, actually karaoke can be quite fun if done right. I've never seen it done right back home. Here it's (generally) done in a place called a "karaoke box". It's basically a p-lace where you rent a small comfortably appointed room with a karaoke system. No standing up in front of the bar and assaulting people.

I found one of those places in Little Korea in NYC. I liked it a lot. Couches, coffee table, beer brought to you (rather than pushing through a crowd to get a bartender's attention)...good times. :cool:

I am jaundiced I admit...on the stag do we hit a chinese kareoke/restaurant....

You see the issue is not in and of itself the actual kit. Its the users.

If you do this you should have enough time to find out if yo can actually sing. Even an approximation would be ok. However if you singing is such that every Rhino, Elephant, Hippo and girble suddenly appears on your doorstep when you do it in the shower....well its not really a good idea to inflict such insane warbling on the rest of us. I perfer the use of deadly force although I have been told that it is not consumerate with the crime. I disagree. Shooting is too good. Disolving in a vat of acid while still alive is too tame. Hanging/drawing and quartering is a tad better but not by much.

Shootinginto the innards of the sun while encased in the European Space Station with *insert your most hated entertainer and all their ilk here* would be a kindness. But not punishment.

No....the worse punishment would have to be being fed alive to Pavarotti....!

Admittedly, most people that do karaoke suck (thankfully, I'm not one of them ;) ). However, if you can get past the pain, it's really kinda funny. I enjoy mocking them. :D

people who suck is fair enough...I do and have been known to belt out 'Born to be Wild'....I am talking about those who are beyond....beyond making your ears bleed and your nose fall off.....


you know the ones....

brrrrrr

people who suck is fair enough...I do and have been known to belt out 'Born to be Wild'....I am talking about those who are beyond....beyond making your ears bleed and your nose fall off.....


you know the ones....

brrrrrr


Oh, I do. And that's when I go outside for a smoke. ;)

No. That is in no way a proper pub. A proper pub serves only crisps if anything at all, and they're soggy and unpleasant.

This is sounding more and more like the American Legion post that I drink at.

The state of Georgia did ban smoking in public places, but we were a little smarter than California. We left bars untouched.

No. That is in no way a proper pub. A proper pub serves only crisps if anything at all, and they're soggy and unpleasant.

Ahh, you are refering to the large town/city proper pub.

In small towns/villages/rural areas the proper pub also does good wholesome food.

proper pubs to me are pubs that don't play music, don't try to be 'trendy' or pretend to be clubs in the evening, are dingy and usually a hundred years old or more - nice and grimy, dark, lots of oak.

That's pretty much my definition, yeah. Generally there'll be a fireplace, too, though whether it's ever lit's another matter. Double pub points if some historical figure went there once and it was named after them.

That's pretty much my definition, yeah. Generally there'll be a fireplace, too, though whether it's ever lit's another matter. Double pub points if some historical figure went there once and it was named after them.

one reason I like Irish pubs is the music....locals playing their instruments wiv der mates....is good...!

That's pretty much my definition, yeah. Generally there'll be a fireplace, too, though whether it's ever lit's another matter. Double pub points if some historical figure went there once and it was named after them.

Minus points if it's been bought by a chain, and tarted up for the tourists. Oh, like The Porcupine near Leicester Square. Sure, the fish is good, but you can tell it's all done up for tourists.

I think these places qualify as real pubs.

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/mancunian/expats/s/87/87111_the_great_survivors_.html

Minus points if it's been bought by a chain, and tarted up for the tourists. Oh, like The Porcupine near Leicester Square. Sure, the fish is good, but you can tell it's all done up for tourists.
I like the Porcupine, but it's part of the Nicholson chain - reliable in terms of what to expect, but they'll never wow you. Likewise Sam Smith pubs (bonus marks for cheapness, mind).

Possibly the finest pub I've been to is the Marquis Wellington, Leicester. Owned by a local brewery - Everard's - and home to the wondrous Old Original Ale. It even has bar billiards!

Independant pub for starters.
Old building bordering on dingy, darkly laquered wood.
At least 5 varieties of local beer.
Big screen for sport.

You're looking for a mix of the Odd One Out (Mersea Road) and the Goat and Boot (Bottom of East Hill), Chris.

Not a chain member, if there's any music at all, it's from a jukebox with tracks from the late 70's, nothing live, there should be a dartboard, tables made of oak with a few beermats, the only food on show should be peanuts, local beer, and most importantly a quite good looking barmaid with God-awful manners should be around.

Independant pub for starters.
Old building bordering on dingy, darkly laquered wood.
At least 5 varieties of local beer.
Big screen for sport.
Heresy!

The Tennent’s Bar, halfway down Byres Road, Glasgow.

Proper beer (none of this weak, fizzy lager pish), comfy booths, friendly staff, entertaining regulars and, most importantly, two minutes from Uni.

One in which i can bring my dog inside, serves Smithwick's and some fairly decent food.