Does /ck/ have any thoughts, constructive critism or recomme

>>7553663
Thanks, I haven't got to the beer/liquor yet but I plan to have a wide variety on tap to pair with food. Lots of whisky, bourbon and scotch too. Also wines, but nothing too crazy expensive

>>7553666
Good point, I wanted to keep it basic but I should make it a bit more descriptive

>>7553657
Your picture is from an English pub (I recognise the draught beers).

I like your menu but I am surprised at Bangers and Mash with leeks? . . nothing wrong with it but if it's with anything extra it's normally garden peas.
And I hope you have salt and vinegar on the table with the Fish and Chips.

t. Nigel Canterbury-Smythe.

>>7553657
You should serve a nice mac and cheese. Local brew pub has it on its menu. It's good quality large macaroni with the best mornay sauce I've ever had. I think they dropped the ball by not putting crumbled bacon on the top, though.

>>7553657
OP, it sounds good. I really like your menu overall, and I think you've done a service to each dish in your preparations. However, the menu as a whole became a bit predictable. If you are going for something like that as a stylistic choice, then it might not be a bad one, but for instance, I noticed a good deal of brown sugar use; brown sugar is great in all of these dishes, but it seemed a bit too much just for my taste. Also, for how often it appeared, it was in pretty predictable places, where I would prefer to see it paired with something more interesting, say replacing the soy sauce to go with miso in the salmon entree.

But that's nit-picking and personal preference. It's a good menu overall, and I would definitely eat and drink at this establishment. To nit-pick once again, baby bella and crimini are not wild mushrooms. Chanterelle and morel are delicious and excellent choices (though I'd consider others as well if I were you), and Agaricus mushrooms like the bellas and criminis are fine mushrooms, but the latter two are cultivated and shouldn't really be labeled as wild mushrooms.

Also, you should consider adding fermented pickles to your menu. And scotch egg. I just now read what you said about avoiding fusion, but I stand by what I said about miso-brown sugar salmon.

>>7553879
Mac n Cheese is kid food. This is a grown up place.

OP, you should def include porcini in your risotto.

>>7553906
Comfort food, what OP asked for, can often be considered something you eat as a child. I see nothing childish about a well made mac and cheese.

>>7553657
Things you could add

Meatloaf
Fried Chicken
Clam Chowder- or really any kind of soup. You gotta have something to dump ingredients in when they start to go south

>>7553657
>cold board
what the fuck senpai
>sopping
what are you-

>>7553866
I didn't read his menu. Are the leeks alongside or mixed into the mash? In the next country over from mine, pubs make a dish of mashed potatoes, parsnips and carrots whipped with bacon grease and either leeks or carrots then serve it with sausages and pork-and-onion gravy.
It's delicious.
If it weren't for cabbages and roots, no one would eat vegetables.

>>7553977
No, his menu said braised leeks (after the gravy)

Like I said - Nothing wrong with that but Traditional British bangers and mash is pretty simple, usually with peas and a nice strong thick gravy. . . .that's pretty much it!
Mixing stuff with mash again is fine but I think OP wanted to avoid fusion food.

>>7553895
>Also, you should consider adding fermented pickles to your menu. And scotch egg
Scotch eggs are a pain in the butt to make and has a short shelf-life.
You could consider mixing your suggestions to include pickled eggs! There is no country pub in Britain that doesn't have a jar of pickled eggs behind the bar.

That cold board sounds fucking ridiculous, in a good way. You could stick "dried mixed fruits" at the back and lead with the wildberry jam though.

"Drizzle" on the trencher seems unnecessary.

I'd take the 16 count off the oysters (how does that work with five different types? Or is that a customer choice?).

Maybe "including" instead of the brackets on the risotto mushrooms, depending on how predictable your supply is.

Stick "ribeye or sirloin" at the front, otherwise you'll have to ask every god damn time.

Might want to say "sausages" in the description instead of repeating "bangers" twice.

>panko topping; finished off in the broiler
Stuck out as an oddly pedestrian description. Panko gratin maybe? "Chunked" also seems unnecessary.

The mains all sound quite rich and sweet, do you have anything for party members that might want something lighter? Or even a salad? There's always one.

Might as well just split the gelato and sorbet, unless you're specifically offering them as a pair (I'm guessing no.)

"please" before "ask your server" to appease the snobby types.

Are you sure you're going to be making Irish coffee enough for it to be worth it? It's kinda a pain in the ass.

I like the locally sourced highlights, but the house-made one is a double edged sword. It's on some things that I would expect to be house made as a matter of course, such as the tartare sauce, but its absence then makes me suspicious of other items like the fresh spaghetti and the duck confit. I mean, I assume you are actually making those yourself anyway, but where do you draw the line on which items get that mark?

>>7553657
oh fuck i could go for that pan fried pork belly

>>7553909
Ive got your back homie, I agree with you, mac and cheese is a great idea.
A truffled mac and cheese, using a truffle paste and buffalo mozzarella as a starter.
I would like it served in a small earthen or cast iron pot on a wooden board, nice little drizzle of oil on top with a crack of black pepper, imagine golden gooey oiley crust on top. Pint of larger and maybe some homemade pork rinds on the side. Shallow fish of balsmic and sea salt for dipping.

Any of you niggers had pickled green tomatoe?
I bought some from a deli a few weeks back and included them on a charcuterie board last night, fucking GOAT, might work well on OPs cold board, sorta like a mild better textured pickle.

What are you charging for this stuff op?

You realize that 80% of the menu will require google for your customers.

>>7558243
Usually when they don't put prices it means "fucking expensive".

Considering menu items like "24 month iberico ham" and "25-day dry aged grass-fed bone-in ribeye" and oysters from Brittany I wouldn't assume this is targeted at people with particularly shallow pockets.

Anyone else think OP's menu is too long? I think you can simplify it and have a rotating starter/main and still provide enough variety

Seasonality is big here (ausfage) and a rotation is a good way to get produce at its best (and cheapest)

Otherwise pretty good op

It's an ugly menu, I hope you haven't bothered with much of the formatting yet, and that the footnotes are mostly for our consumption, most of that shit doesn't need to be footnoted.

Anyway, where are you? That's going to affect the critique of your menu.

Bear in mind this is going to be largely negative because I'm focussing on what I see as faults. Also I'm Australian so there might be some irrelevant criticism, big here at the moment in pubs is American and fusion, but obviously more upmarket traditional British pub fare is probably appealing to your crowd.

Baked brie seems pretty old fashioned, very 70s.

Maintaining the supply of all those oysters seems a bit of a pipe dream, also 16 is unusual, oysters are commonly half or full dozen for a good reason.

Onto the mains: how gastronomic is your gastropub (terrible term), how much pub? You probably don't want to fuck off the plebs completely, so instead of fish, meat, etc I'd split the menu more or less by price, say into the pub classics section, where you put the burger, bangers and mash, fish and chips, etc; and then your showcase, more fine dining meals go into the upper category, I don't know what you'd want to call them. I know it sounds a bit silly, but it's just a visual thing.

The pasta, unless you are hot shit at pasta, I'd probably fuck it off completely. Risotto is one of those things that people will judge you harshly on, unless you and your guys will do it amazingly then I'd be inclined to just cull it. I think your menu has far too many items anyway.

Steak, unless you are doing something different with each steak, I'd cut it down to one.

cont

>>7553657
I'd do a 360 and walk right out the back door, but I don't eat at pubs anyway so am probably not the target market.

>>7559939
Pork chops, rib or loin? I'd be tempted to have belly here, the richness of the fatty cut really allowing some interesting light things to offset that. I like what you've done here, though the polenta seems a bit of a missed opportunity. As a suggestion instead of the apple consider poached crabapples, they look great on the plate and taste good too. Bacon and onion brings good flavour to the cabbage, so maybe I'd incorporate the bacon there though that's pretty minor.

Your Osso Bucco, well obviously you don't want to dump everything with mash, but here mash could be a good contender instead of the risotto (I don't have a thing against risotto I swear), it just doesn't seem an ideal carrier for the sauce. Perhaps a good slot for your polenta? "Brown bread for sopping" sounds singularly unappealing, What about "with toasted dark rye fingers", or frankly literally anything else

Bangers and mash, here's where I'd want to source your snags from a good local butcher and plug that fact. If that's not possible I'd hope you can get really good ones from your supplier, otherwise you'd have to put in and do them in house or frankly (heh) have none at all. They are oft neglected but good quality really shows. Again with "brown bread for sopping"

Fish, too many, you need to fuck off either the sea bass or wahoo. I understand the need for fish and chips as well as a nice fillet option but there's no need to double up, too many items outside of a specialist or seaside restaurant and people might start to question the freshness and quality. Rice with the wahoo seems a bit uninspired.

If this is going to be an English establishment, I'd recommend some sort of semi elevated ploughman's lunch option. It wouldn't be hard to do with the ingredients you'd already have on hand, and while slightly predictable, would add a certain layer of comfort to your menu. People are subconsciously afraid of new food experiences, so salting the board of fare with familiar dishes will let your patrons feel simultaneously comfortable and also more adventurous in their entree choices.

I tend to agree with >>7553666 >>7553671 and >>7553879 as well.

>>7558263
i don't think he wants the clientele you are describing, they will all be eating at micky D

>>7560011

Dessert

One pie, or a rotating selection. Like with the fish, no need to give people a chance to question whether something is fresh or not. I'd suggest that the cheese be optional.

Sticky toffee pudding- what's so bad about dates?

Gelato and sorbet, cut down the selection, you almost certainly aren't going to go through enough be able to maintain the quality. You should be able to do just the vanilla in house, maybe raspberry sorbet too, but if you aren't going to, tie it in to a good local producer man.
Overall, looks pretty good, the menu needs to be formatted with some thought, needs to be less verbose in places too. No vegan or even vegetarian mains option other than the rav is a bit of a worry.

>>7553657
OP you haven't given much feedback.

Although I agree with >>7560012 in that it tends to have an English feel about the menu and perhaps a Ploughmans selection would be good for a lunchtime menu (although I disagree with his other stuff)

Dessert.
Cheese isn't served with dessert . . . .and Apple pie or Rhubarb crumble should be served with custard or cream - That's it!

>>7553977
Fuck, that mash thing sounds delicious.

>>7553657
Well, I'd eat here. Good show on not making your carbonara some fucking milky stew of noodles and ham.

protip; never get carbonara in Montreal

File: maxresdefault.jpg (302KB, 3000x1998px) Image search: [Google]

302KB, 3000x1998px

It's a pretty sweet menu, steak sounds pretty good.

Suggestion: Pudding Chomer.
You've got a solid Asian thing, got the Mediterranean. The English pub is clearly represented. Then there's this kind of hint of french with the oysters and of the north east with the burger. Bring it together on the deserts with a little kiss from Quebec and you've got a good thing going. Cheap and easy to make, hella satisfying, simple enough as a dish to be accessible to the customer while still being obscure enough (at least where I live) to be exciting.

>>7560564
Don't listen to him. ALWAYS cheese with apple pie.

The restaurant I worked at didn't offer it but so many people requested it that we ended up changing the menu. Personally I'm more of an orange cheddar with pie guy though

File: 4157817[1].jpg (49KB, 1200x630px) Image search: [Google]

49KB, 1200x630px

>>7553977
R O T M O S
O
T
M
O
S

>>7553657
Use white cheddar on your burger. Yellow cheddar a shit. I recommend Cabot extra sharp.

>>7553657
First time I've ever looked at a menu and wanted to try literally everything on it

Puddings, puddings and more puddings.
Jam roly poly
Spotted Dick
Treacle Sponge

Look em up. Whenever I get back to the UK I go to this pub that does specialist beers a d typical pub meals. The beers are good but the puddings are out of this world. I watched what was coming out of the kitchen after mains and almost every adult had a pudding of some kind.

Use real suet - it makes a big difference.

>>7560755
>steak sounds pretty good.
No. It's sounds marvelous, but steak isn't comfort food in my opinion. I think a high quality meatloaf (ketchup glaze with ground mustard, brown sugar) with twice baked potatoes and a vegetable would be a good alternative to this.

Beef stroganoff would also be a good option, not sure if that's very "british" though

>>7561034
>>7560822
Same guy here.

I would throw in the option of using local heirloom tomatoes in your menu when they're in season or bare minimum find a LOCAL source for as much of your produce as possible. Vine ripened produce tastes so much better and I really hate finding mediocre produce when I'm paying more than $20+ a plate at a restaurant. It doesn't have to be organic, but simply being "local" goes a long way.

>>7553657
Do ducks drink beer?

>>7561118
Yeah I was wondering about that. It can't be good for the duck. Hope the poor thing is not ingesting very much,

>>7561062
Second. A good tomato can actually elevate a burger as opposed to a mealy GMO slice that just provides goo.

>>7561162
>GMO slice
retard

>>7553657
Ziggy No!

>>7561162
fuck off with your psuedo science anti-GMO bullshit

>>7553657
The thing I don't like about gastropubs is that once you sit down, you feel obliged to order a full meal.

File: 1349217226441.jpg (42KB, 720x439px) Image search: [Google]

42KB, 720x439px

>Signature Cold-Board

File: beer-vending-machine.jpg (950KB, 2227x1808px) Image search: [Google]

950KB, 2227x1808px

>>7553657

ou really need calimari on this menu ivce opened many calimari gastrapubs take it from me

>>7553657

Wahoo is a dumb name

Nobody know what a Trencher is, change the name and put trencher in the description
"classic gustatory treat of yesteryear, the medieval trencher"

lobster mac and cheese is way overdone, change it to lobster bake, lobster casserole, lobster au fromage avec noodel, or better yet, bring back Lobster Thermidor or Lobster Newburg, those are absolute killers that are largely forgotten, put a twist on them, garlic suace or something.

More British classics like cauliflower cheese, yorkshire puds, a carvery plate,

beer flights and/or beer pairings, you can stock a massive number of beers very cheaply these days, people actually pay for craft beer in bottles in my area

ditch the risotto and carbonara or add something to them- grilled chicken for the noodles and seafood(catch of the day?) in the rice

organize the main courses by quality going downwards: steak, meat, seafood, poultry, rice and pasta

and salads need to be on the menu. chef, wild and waldorf are all you need, but you MUST have a salad course. Bitches love salad

one more idea, have concept days based around a prix fixee menu that will challenge people a bit but give them something to plan on trying out. Thursday is wild greens and seafood day with bisque and stargazy pie, Saturday is wild duck stromboli and bisque day, shit like that

>>7562524

forgot: consider a sophisticated ploughman's lunch as a sharing appetizer as an alternative to the cold board

>>7562531
>complaining about "trenchers"
>recommending a fucking "sophisticated ploughman's lunch"
are you shitting me?

>>7562524
>people actually pay for craft beer in bottles in my area

Why wouldn't someone pay for beer in bottles?

Do you have any idea how filthy those tap systems are?

>>7562579

dude, if someone said "trencher" to me in public, out loud, I'd asume he was talking about a latrine, not the food item

Ploughman's lunch is a huge gastro trend, tons of places are picking it up. It's not the different from a cld plate, you can have several types of apples, cheese, a selection of pickles, etc etc. it's a great cheap way to cater to foodie scum

>>7562602
draft has always been king, bottled beer is pleb tier, up until now, when you have to have the weirdest minor craft brew in a can or bottle from bumfuck with a naked titty bitch on the label

>>7562633
yes but you think "hooch" is an obscure word for only the most advanced linguists

>>7562642
No its an obscure word for people who live 100 years ago. Its not a thing modern people of any linguistic ability use

>>7562651
Using a word and being able to recognize it when your see it on a page are two different things.

Unless you're you, and you have to sound out each word as you read it.

>>7562659
is this whole 'hooch' being a term that modern people use thing a meme now?

>>7562672
>using a word in everyday speech and recognizing a word on paper are the same thing
Please sound out the words again, or ask a literate person for help.

You can do it, I believe in you anon.

>>7562689
recall that the whole meme started by a guy on this very board using the term in modern speech confusing everyone involved, not some guy just saying people should recognize it

>>7562524
>people actually pay for craft beer in bottles in my area
Why have you worded this like it is an unusual and surprising thing?

>>7556047
This sounds fucking great.

>>7553657
Good menu, but I'm pretty sure that nobody eats cold scrapple; it's supposed to be prepared in a way that crisps the outside and leaves the insides a bit softer. Source: living outside PA for years

>>7562711
No. One idiot was confused and everybody mocked him. Were you that idiot, perhaps?

File: 1451697302199.gif (172KB, 400x400px) Image search: [Google]

172KB, 400x400px

>>7556047

oh man you're doing things to me.
Also I think lobster mac and cheese is a little overplayed.

>>7561162
>mealy GMO slice
They don't grow GMO tomatoes, but they are picked green and ripened with ethylene gas. They could also be irradiated, which doesn't bother me since it doesn't affect the taste.

>>7562633
>bottled beer is pleb tier
No, bottles of shit beer tastes like shit. There are plenty of craft brews that are great out of a bottle. IMO, draft is preferred because keg coolers keep the beer around 34 degrees, compared to whatever the fridge with bottles is set at. I keep my beer in my meat drawer at home because it stays in the mid 30s.

>>7553657
You've asked for constructive criticism and suggestions but have provided nil for feedback or response to suggestions OP.

>>7553657
How much do you think your Cold-Board will go for?

And what about the Osso Bucco?

I want to get a better feel for your pricing.

>>7563721
addendum: The overwhelming majority of your dishes are sweet, OP. You should maybe change a few of those items to more savory dishes.

>no chicken entree
>only 1 vegan/vegetarian option
>risotto in a gastropub

>>7563803
>only 1 vegan/vegetarian option

be thankful he's letting you sit at a table with the real humans

I would like to see a steak and ale or mined pork pie, personally

>>7553657
>https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m4x7Yup5LOe_-Dq-hTr5tyJO1CI-zW8TmTNEWW_5WpM/edit?usp=docslist_api

nix the guava duff and replace with tarte tatin

The most successful gastropub I know has changed chefs and menus many times over the years. But the one thing it's held to is the slow food aesthetic of locally sourced ingredients. They host a number of food and beer events, and are sure to have a couple things on tap you pretty much can't get anywhere else. They also keep the menu small, which keeps the quality of the offerings pretty high.

Here's their current menu:
http://jimmysno43.com/food/

Notice that even with a tiny menu they have everything from a burger and pork belly to vegetarian choices.

>>7553657
Get your patrons drunk first
They won't be as picky