a PM post

So I've been spending most of the day contemplating what we could have on our pub menu(s)

At the moment and of course it is subject to change I have decided on 5 separate menus which should suit the business model that I'd like to follow.

Bar Menu
Lunch Menu
Childrens Menu (still to do but Emily is helping here so proper input)
Evening Menu
Sunday Lunch

There will also be a monthly seasonal specials board which will add maybe 3 starters and 3 main courses to the evening menu (and maybe the lunch menu) each month

I initially made just one menu for the restaurant but it soon reached around 50 dishes including desserts which is just ridiculous so I've reeled it in a bit.

The Bar area and Restaurant area in the pub are quite clearly separated and I really want to treat them as two separate entities within the same building. When you walk into the bar it'll be like walking into a very "as you'd expect" village pub. Open fire, wooden beams bit of horse brass here and there and the air filled with jolly banter.

The restaurant area at the moment looks very much like it is, an old saloon bar filled with tables. I want to completely revamp it and leave the customer in no mind as to it's intended purpose...it'll be a restaurant full stop.

So I'd be interested to know what you think about these -

Bar Menu -

Freshly baked baguette, sandwich or tortilla wrap filled with choice of filling –

Egg mayo
Sliced egg & tomato
Ham salad
Ham & Mustard
Ham & Pickle
Tuna Mayo & Sweetcorn
Hummus & Red Pepper
Cheese Salad
Cheese & Onion
Cheese & Pickle

Nachos
Chips
Cheesy Chips

Lunch Menu -

Starters -

Soup of the day
Prawn cocktail
Chicken liver paté with crusty bread
Mini vegetarian meze platter
Breaded mushrooms with garlic mayo

Mains -

Tagliatella alla ragu
Traditional beer battered cod, chips and peas
Chicken curry and basmati rice or chips
Chilli con carne with long grain rice or chips
Steak and ale pie and mashed potato or chips served with peas

Desserts –

Selection from the dessert cabinet.

A la Carte evening menu -

Starters -

Rabbit & pistachio terrine
Smoked Berkshire trout with beetroot salad and horseradish créme fraiche
Dry cured bacon potato cake with poached egg and crumbled black pudding.
Watercress and wild mushroom paté with juniper berries
Carpaccio of beef with rocket & parmesan cheese
Panfried scallops with cauliflower purée

Mains –

Panfried salmon with crushed new potatoes and minted pea purée
Fillet of venison with celeriac mash, cumin glazed carrots and red wine jus
Pork fillet with creamed leeks and seasonal vegetable salad
Duck Confit with crispy potatoes and chilli peas
Tagliatelli with wild mushroom and white wine sauce
Salted cod with chorizo, butterbean and goats cheese stew

Desserts –

Selection from the dessert cabinet
British cheese and biscuits

Sunday Lunch -


Starters -

As per A la Carte menu

Mains –

Panfried salmon with crushed new potatoes and minted pea purée

Traditional roast dinner.

Choose from –

Slow cooked pork belly
Roast rib of beef
Stuffed shoulder of lamb
Cashew nut roast

Roast Potatoes (cooked in duck fat or rapeseed oil)
Potato Dauphinoise
Broccoli
Caulifower
Glazed carrots
Gratin of brussel sprout
Yorkshire pudding

Desserts –

Selection from the dessert cabinet
British cheese and biscuits

Quite like the Sunday one as it offers a vegetarian alternative to a traditional Sunday roast.

Like I say the specials board will be seasonal and will also offer more vegetarian dishes. I think it's difficult to add too many veggie dishes to a general menu without being repetitive and uninteresting especially from a meat eaters perspective.

Desserts will be varied and proudly on display in a glass fronted cold cabinet for all to see. Whatever they are they will be made in house and served up with the usual cream, custard or ice cream.

The basic premise is that it'll all be local food from local suppliers and producers (where possible) used simply to create wonderfully delicious food at a reasonable price to be enjoyed in a relaxed and convivial environment.

Leaving Steak off the menu could be a bit controversial mind you but then again it can go on the specials board. Does every single pub in the UK have to have steak ?!?! Maybe.....I'm really not decided. Perhaps we could.....perhaps we couldn't....oooh what a dilemma.

Roger Roger over and out.....