The Plough: Vegetable Famine. (Lounged)

[captain_paxo]

A couple of weekends ago my girlfriend and I took a friend of ours for a late-afternoon Sunday lunch at the Plough. It was our first trip to the place since its refurb.

My intention was to order a Roast with all the trimmings and my girlfriend and our dining companion were after a Macaroni Cheese with vegetables on the side. I was very much looking forward to consuming 'all the trimmings' but was sadly disappointed because when I went to order I was informed that I'd have to wait 90 minutes before the vegetables would be ready as they were presently being 'prepared in bulk'. A busy lunch service was the reason given for the lack of veg.

I was slightly taken aback as the pub at that stage (16.00) was really quite quiet. How hard is it to peel a few potatoes and carrots and steam some Broccoli? I then (tactfully) enquired whether the chef might be able to rustle up a couple of portions of veg for us but was asked not to get upset and that the bulk procedure of vegetable preparation would make this quite impossible.

As we?d schlepped up the hill to the Plough we thought it silly to leave and we all enjoyed the delicious Dijon Mustard Macaroni Cheese baked with Spinach leaves (though how those leaves managed to slip through the vegetable pre-preparation net is beyond me)? no vegetables on the side for us! Vegetable irritations aside the pub looks great and the beer was excellent.

Anyone else had anything similar incidents to report?

[Domitianus]

I believe I have posted my admiration for the Plough and in particular its Sunday roasts here before. Couple of weeks ago, however, I was quite disappointed to be given very fatty lamb indeed which it was almost impossible for me to finish. Setting this aside, they usually do get it spot on and it is well worth going for. In future I will simply ask them to ensure that they give me nice lean slices of lamb.

[lozzyloz]

c_p for a catering op like this it really is quite mechanical. There is little or no improvisation as you would get in a true Gastro. Prep starts on the Saturday. A lot of the food is then cooked fairly early on Sunday so that meals can be rolled out when the Sunday rush starts. It isn't quite as easy as you think to just peel a few carrots and steam some brockley especially as the preppys have either left by this time or are busy clearing down the kitchen. By 16.00 its approaching end of a shift. Probably not what you want to hear but The Plough isn't a Gastro Pub and most of the ingredients are managed centrally. The Chef/Manager just buys off the approved list. Having said that I do think they are good for what they do and I think that's probably all credit to the management who seem to be trying hard.

[captain_paxo]

Well... sounds like it's worth giving them another shot. Like I said, the food I did recieve was delicious, as was the beer.

[AdaDoom]

I'm repeating what I posted on another thread as it seems relevant:

We walked out of the Plough recently as they were unable to offer ANY dairy free meal (our daughter is allergic) and the chef was incredibly rude about us even requesting such a thing (rolling eyes and tutting). He was also uninformed about the ingredients...suggesting sausage and mash might be dairy free (but there turned out to be butter and milk in the mash), which suggested the food is not cooked on the premises. They were incfrediably unhelpful and do not even have a kids menu so I would not take children there again. I have also seen a Brake Brothers van delivering there early in the morning...

I suspect the meals are delivered pre-prepared hence the spinach in your pasta.

Have eaten there since without children and food was really poor. Would not recommend it.

[Christopher]

The food in all of their* pubs is crap. Let's face it. The Crown & Greyhound, The Phoenix, The Southwark Tavern, The White Hart - all the same. Nice beers though - which is what they are most concerned with I guess.

*THEIR = "Castle" which is a group within Mitchell & Butler - the same people that have such fabulous pubs as O'Neil's and All Bar One...

[figgins]

Went in there Sunday afternoon, hoping for nice veggie sunday roast. No veggie option apart from "Brie and mushroom wellington" and something else equally unappetising. Anyone know a good place for veggie Sunday roast? The Upland(s) had run out by two o'clock (!)

[Brendan]

In my experience roasts in pubs are always disappointing.

I have generally found the food in the Plough to be ok. Nothing special but just the usual pub fare that one has come to expect. It is certainly no worse than and just as much of a rip-off as the other pubs on Lordship Lane or in London generally.

[TillieTrotter]

I've got to agree there Brendan. I often go out to the country for a sunday lunch and am always so suprised at how good it is. Why should it be soooo different in London. Surely they can source the same quality of veg etc as say a Sussex pub!

[Jah Lush]

FFS! I don't understand why people want to eat a roast dinner in a pub on a Sunday. The food is usually finished by three or four o'clock and the standard isn't that great and everywhere is packed. Personally I never fancy eating a roast until about five anyway and it's long gone by then. If you're going to be so picky about what you and your kids want to eat on a Sunday, cook the damned thing yourself. It's not that difficult.

[northernmonkey]

Re a good veggie roast, went to the Old Nun's head for the 3rd time yesterday, the veggie nut loaf is good there (way better than the toad in the hole places insist on serving up as veggie options elsewhere), only thing is if you want a yorkshire pudding you have to request it, but its never a problem. Had the chocolate brownie for desert - its amazingly good, which makes the fact that it was served with cheapo soft scoop vanilla ice cream (you know, the type from your childhood, that is yellow and tastes of nothing) more bizarre - tip would be to go for cream!

[ratty]

Well there is only one place for a Sunday Roast in this area and if people aint found it now then they never will. Veggie is not an option though but c'est la vie!

Jah - I fluctuate throughout the year in agreeing and disagreeing with your sentiment. Sometimes I prefer home cooked, and I LOVE making it, but lately my hatred of washing up has seen me in the pub for dinner the last 3 Sundays and I thoroughly loved it!

[zephyr]

Jah Lush Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> FFS! I don't understand why people want to eat a

> roast dinner in a pub on a Sunday. The food is

> usually finished by three or four o'clock and the

> standard isn't that great and everywhere is

> packed. Personally I never fancy eating a roast

> until about five anyway and it's long gone by

> then. If you're going to be so picky about what

> you and your kids want to eat on a Sunday, cook

> the damned thing yourself. It's not that

> difficult.

Sometimes it is nice to have a break from routine. We normally have a family roast at 6pm on Sundays but went to the Old Nun's Head a couple of weeks ago for a roast instead. It was great (if a bit expensive for a family of 6).

I do agree - the brownie is lovely!

[SeanMacGabhann]

heh heh - had this very chat with Jah the other evening.

I never left the house yesterday but usually it's a pub lunch for me. And The Nun's Head is the best in the sub tenner bracket by a long stretch

[Jah Lush]

Dear ratty, might I suggest you invest in a dishwasher. And, well, let's face it the choice is yours. If Sunday pub lunches extended till about seven in the evening I'd probably go myself on the odd occasion.

[Administrator]

Lounged

[captain_paxo]

-- moved topic --

[Jah Lush]

Hey! What'd I do? Doh!