Irish pubs vs British pubs

lufties

Well I can only speak for london when it comes to Britain really. Irish pubs (dublin in particular) are more friendly, bar staff are arms and legs above their british counterparts. The service I've had in london pubs recently has been awful, overpriced and service without a smile. Getting poor pints thrown out to me by trainee bar staff, long needless ques for drinks..generally in ireland bar staff are professional, I guess its different culturally whereby un england they used to **** bar/restaurant service

The Backwards Man

Dublin pubs v London pubs

Donkey Oaty

All pubs are equally worthy of respect, whether they be Irish, British, LGBTQ or Muslim.

looksee

lufties wrote: »

Well I can only speak for london when it comes to Britain really. Irish pubs (dublin in particular) are more friendly, bar staff are arms and legs above their british counterparts. The service I've had in london pubs recently has been awful, overpriced and service without a smile. Getting poor pints thrown out to me by trainee bar staff, long needless ques for drinks..generally in ireland bar staff are professional, I guess its different culturally whereby un england they used to **** bar/restaurant service

So...?

brummytom

That's London for you. Try pubs in absolutely anywhere else in the country.

danrua01

Thank you for this insight. Some pubs are different than others.

Your Superior

One could easily say the same thing about Dublin pubs. Nonsense post.

WesternZulu

Irish pubs are more cosy and welcoming; whereas for the most part in the UK it seems any old dive will do.

I think it comes for the fact that in Britain that most of the pubs are owned by breweries and rented from them by individuals who therefore don't have as much of an incentive as their Irish counterparts to invest heavily in the pub itself.

Your Superior

WesternZulu wrote: »

Irish pubs are more cosy and welcoming; whereas for the most part in the UK it seems any old dive will do.

I think it comes for the fact that in Britain that most of the pubs are owned by breweries and rented from them by individuals who therefore don't have as much of an incentive as their Irish counterparts to invest heavily in the pub itself.

What a load of bollocks. Many Irish pubs are dives, crapholes and unwelcoming. Probably about the same %age as those in the UK.

fran oconnor

Have to say as far as the welcoming part goes i think pubs in England are generally very poor, I have only had one really good experience and that was in a small town in the North East. Been to loads of different parts of England.

Your Superior

fran oconnor wrote: »

Have to say as far as the welcoming part goes i think pubs in England are generally very poor, I have only had one really good experience and that was in a small town in the North East. Been to loads of different parts of England.

I can say the same about Ireland. Had many many terrible visits to pubs, with the occasional good one in towns in Clare, Kildare and Tipperary.

I think it's just a cultural thing. I personally find the forced "craic" and "aren't we grand" culture in Irish pubs to be tiresome, much preferring pubs in the North of England or Suffolk. At least there's no trad music there or jukeboxes full of country and western rubbish...

Horses for courses really.

danrua01

Been to Liverpool and Leeds, people are normal as here. Except ONE place in Leeds... those guys were the friendliest and most welcoming ever.

Of course you're going to get "unwelcoming" places in a capital...

wretcheddomain

There are some great pubs, good pubs, mediocre pubs, and bad pubs wherever you go in Ireland or the UK.

There's no mystery here.

ScumLord

the only problem I'd have with pubs in London is that it's mostly chain pubs like wetherspoons. There's nothing wrong with them, they're the travel inn of pubs. Everything is to an acceptable level but it's not going to be the most fun or exciting place in the world.

People in UK pubs tend to go in for a bit of food or meet up with friends so they're all stuck in their own clicks and you don't get the mingling you get in Irish pubs. I've only seen one side of London pubs though I'm sure there's a better nightlife and independent pub/club trade that I've just never had time to see.

I wouldn't call London pubs expensive though.


There are some really spectacular old pubs around the UK though, I went into one that was hundreds of years old and made it's own beer downstairs in the same vats the Romans used to make their beer. £2.20 for a pint of real ale, can't argue with that. It was a heritage town and the fact they weren't trying to fleece you just because their pub was old was nice.

brummytom

Your Superior wrote: »

pubs in the North of England or Suffolk. At least there's no trad music there or jukeboxes full of country and western rubbish...

I live in Manchester... I'm just getting ready now to head out and play trad music with a C&W singer (Nathan Carter? Poor man's Daniel O'Donnell apparently) in a Manchester pub. :pac:

WesternZulu

Your Superior wrote: »

What a load of bollocks. Many Irish pubs are dives, crapholes and unwelcoming. Probably about the same %age as those in the UK.

Where did I say that there aren't any pubs in Ireland that are dives, crapholes and unwelcoming?
From living in the UK though I think the % is higher than in Ireland.

I don't see the same extent of 'British' themed pubs the world over so there must be some truth to the Irish pubs being better, however slightly.

Your Superior

ScumLord wrote: »

the only problem I'd have with pubs in London is that it's mostly chain pubs like wetherspoons. There's nothing wrong with them, they're the travel inn of pubs. Everything is to an acceptable level but it's not going to be the most fun or exciting place in the world.

People in UK pubs tend to go in for a bit of food or meet up with friends so they're all stuck in their own clicks and you don't get the mingling you get in Irish pubs. I've only seen one side of London pubs though I'm sure there's a better nightlife and independent pub/club trade that I've just never had time to see.

I wouldn't call London pubs expensive though.


There are some really spectacular old pubs around the UK though, I went into one that was hundreds of years old and made it's own beer downstairs in the same vats the Romans used to make their beer. £2.20 for a pint of real ale, can't argue with that. It was a heritage town and the fact they weren't trying to fleece you just because their pub was old was nice.

The vast majority of people do not only go the pub for food. Proper pubs don't serve food, for one thing. Meeting up with friends, maybe, but the level of mingling is no different to Irish pubs.

Also you really are going to the wrong places in London. There are some magnificent pubs there, great at any time of day or night. I do think that the best pubs are up north though, Chester, Manchester, Leeds etc plus the towns surrounding like Huddersfield, Wigan, Stalybridge and Saddleworth can't be beaten anywhere.

Your Superior

WesternZulu wrote: »

Where did I say that there aren't any pubs in Ireland that are dives, crapholes and unwelcoming?
From living in the UK though I think the % is higher than in Ireland.

I don't see the same extent of 'British' themed pubs the world over so there must be some truth to the Irish pubs being better, however slightly.

We don't open British pubs abroad usually, we just colonise them and turn them in to British pubs....

On a serious note, it may be because British pubs don't fit easily into a national stereotype the way Irish pubs do, with the Guinness signs and tacky crap all over the walls, using names like O'Leprechauns Irish pub.

Your Superior

brummytom wrote: »

I live in Manchester... I'm just getting ready now to head out and play trad music with a C&W singer (Nathan Carter? Poor man's Daniel O'Donnell apparently) in a Manchester pub. :pac:

I'm sat working in Manchester today myself. Going to go for a pint later before my train, the Northern Quarter is calling.

ScumLord

Your Superior wrote: »

The vast majority of people do not only go the pub for food. Proper pubs don't serve food, for one thing. Meeting up with friends, maybe, but the level of mingling is no different to Irish pubs.

Also you really are going to the wrong places in London. There are some magnificent pubs there, great at any time of day or night. I do think that the best pubs are up north though, Chester, Manchester, Leeds etc plus the towns surrounding like Huddersfield, Wigan, Stalybridge and Saddleworth can't be beaten anywhere.

I spent a fair amount of time wandering the streets of London and going to different pubs, the only way I could find independant places was to search online and get a taxi to there and back to where I was staying.

On one street I was looking for somewhere to eat and every one of them was a pub restaurant and every one of them (on the same street, 5 different places) where the same chain pub (not wetherspoons). When I did find older traditional pubs I'd find out once inside they're basically owned by wetherspoons, they've just kept them traditional because of heritage orders, wetherspoons own most of those old traditional pubs too.

Walk down any random street in London and everything a chain something, the corner shop is tesco express, the restaurant is a nandos, the pub is a wetherspoons (even if it doesn't look like a wetherspoons). There certainly are independently owned business (and they tend to be of a high standard to compete) but the vast majority of businesses you'll come across on any given street in any English city is a chain.

whisky_galore

WesternZulu wrote: »

I don't see the same extent of 'British' themed pubs the world over so there must be some truth to the Irish pubs being better, however slightly.

It's easier to 'package' the Irish pub concept, hell there are companies that fabricate fake Victorian counters and shelving in an attempt to replicate the idealised Irish pub and source millions of items of Oirish tat to hang on the walls and ship them around the world.

I take each pub on its merits, whether it's genuine Irish, faux Irish, British, Aussie, German or American or whatever.

FTA69

One thing I miss about Ireland is the bar-staff. Over here the staff will only pour one pint at a time and take one order at a time, they'll never remember your drink when you go up again and there's also a too-cool-for-school attitude in some of the "trendier" places where they think it's a privilege for you to be served by them. You'd be hauled over the bar in Ireland for that sort of carry-on.

That having been said, the minimum wage in the UK is a pittance and impossible to live on in London - as the saying goes, if you pay peanuts you get monkeys.

The comments about chain-pubs is fair enough but not every pub is like that; most people's experience of boozing in London is in the city centre which is a tourist trap. Places like Angel, Islington, Camden, Clapham, Shoreditch have plenty of independent or innovative venues where a great night can be had. Similarly, during the boom - many pubs in Dublin and Cork sprung up that were carbon copies of each other and were little more than soulless meat-markets charging through the absolute b*llocks for a pint.

lufties

ScumLord wrote: »

I spent a fair amount of time wandering the streets of London and going to different pubs, the only way I could find independant places was to search online and get a taxi to there and back to where I was staying.

On one street I was looking for somewhere to eat and every one of them was a pub restaurant and every one of them (on the same street, 5 different places) where the same chain pub (not wetherspoons). When I did find older traditional pubs I'd find out once inside they're basically owned by wetherspoons, they've just kept them traditional because of heritage orders, wetherspoons own most of those old traditional pubs too.

Walk down any random street in London and everything a chain something, the corner shop is tesco express, the restaurant is a nandos, the pub is a wetherspoons (even if it doesn't look like a wetherspoons). There certainly are independently owned business (and they tend to be of a high standard to compete) but the vast majority of businesses you'll come across on any given street in any English city is a chain.

This is the world we live in, I purchased a winter hat in mountain warehouse(a chain) today to keep me warm on nightshift. There was one wool hat in the whole store, everything else was made of plastic, polyester etc..mass produced ****e in other words.

I used to be a type that would wander to random cafes or pubs, now I always Google first or use yell.com, although now I've even found these recommendation sites to be found wanting.

We are in a strange period of humanity where big impersonal corporate companies that we work for prevent us from well..being human and connecting with each other on a natural level.

FTA69

ScumLord wrote: »

I spent a fair amount of time wandering the streets of London and going to different pubs, the only way I could find independant places was to search online and get a taxi to there and back to where I was staying.

On one street I was looking for somewhere to eat and every one of them was a pub restaurant and every one of them (on the same street, 5 different places) where the same chain pub (not wetherspoons). When I did find older traditional pubs I'd find out once inside they're basically owned by wetherspoons, they've just kept them traditional because of heritage orders, wetherspoons own most of those old traditional pubs too.

Walk down any random street in London and everything a chain something, the corner shop is tesco express, the restaurant is a nandos, the pub is a wetherspoons (even if it doesn't look like a wetherspoons). There certainly are independently owned business (and they tend to be of a high standard to compete) but the vast majority of businesses you'll come across on any given street in any English city is a chain.

That's the case in Central London but not the case in most other parts of the city. Yes in a place like Shoreditch you'll have a Nandos, McDs and a Wetherspoons somewhere but they're a small minority of the businesses there. In the suburbs you'll usually have local and workingmen's pubs as opposed to chains. Your description only sums up the Zone 1 centre and not other parts.

lufties

FTA69 wrote: »

That's the case in Central London but not the case in most other parts of the city. Yes in a place like Shoreditch you'll have a Nandos, McDs and a Wetherspoons somewhere but they're a small minority of the businesses there. In the suburbs you'll usually have local and workingmen's pubs as opposed to chains. Your description only sums up the Zone 1 centre and not other parts.

Putney high street, zone 2 and full of ****ing horrible chains.

uch

Head up to the North of England, anywhere from Birmingham North and you'll find some little Gems of Pubs.

The Backwards Man

uch wrote: »

Head up to the North of England, anywhere from Birmingham North and you'll find some little Gems of Pubs.

Even down south, plenty of great pubs, particularly in the small towns and villages, though they are disappearing faster than the country pubs in Ireland. Plenty of good bar staff in England too, just as there are plenty of crap ones in Ireland.

FTA69

lufties wrote: »

Putney high street, zone 2 and full of ****ing horrible chains.

I've never been to Putney so I can't comment but I could give you a multitude of other areas where that isn't the case. Angel, Camden, Shoreditch, Hoxton, Clapton, Dalston, Hackney, Finsbury Park, Sheperd's Bush, Notting Hill, Portobello, Brixton, Peckham and Vauxhall are all places north, east, south and west that are nothing like you describe.

grimm2005

FTA69 wrote: »

The comments about chain-pubs is fair enough but not every pub is like that; most people's experience of boozing in London is in the city centre which is a tourist trap. Places like Angel, Islington, Camden, Clapham, Shoreditch have plenty of independent or innovative venues where a great night can be had. Similarly, during the boom - many pubs in Dublin and Cork sprung up that were carbon copies of each other and were little more than soulless meat-markets charging through the absolute b*llocks for a pint.

Completely agree with this. I've had a few brilliant nights out in Camden that easily rival or were better then nights I've had in Dublin, and the bar staff were perfectly grand and in the World's End for example are incredibly fast and efficient, more so then I've seen in most places in Dublin. People seem to forget that London is a gigantic city that's exponentially larger then Dublin, there's many areas to go out on a night out and places that will suit everyone's niche.

FTA69

grimm2005 wrote: »

Completely agree with this. I've had a few brilliant nights out in Camden that easily rival or were better then nights I've had in Dublin, and the bar staff were perfectly grand and in the World's End for example are incredibly fast and efficient, more so then I've seen in most places in Dublin. People seem to forget that London is a gigantic city that's exponentially larger then Dublin, there's many areas to go out on a night out and places that will suit everyone's niche.

Agree with you except on the World's End. Without fail, everyone behind the ramp there is a useless c*nt when it comes to pulling pints and serving people. Half of them are stoned off their tits so it's no surprise. Filthiest jacks in the western world as well.

grimm2005

FTA69 wrote: »

Agree with you except on the World's End. Without fail, everyone behind the ramp there is a useless c*nt when it comes to pulling pints and serving people. Half of them are stoned off their tits so it's no surprise. Filthiest jacks in the western world as well.

I didn't visit the jacks but found the service to be great, things were constantly moving the night I was there couple of weeks ago, was never waiting more then a minute to get my drinks.

lufties

grimm2005 wrote: »

Completely agree with this. I've had a few brilliant nights out in Camden that easily rival or were better then nights I've had in Dublin, and the bar staff were perfectly grand and in the World's End for example are incredibly fast and efficient, more so then I've seen in most places in Dublin. People seem to forget that London is a gigantic city that's exponentially larger then Dublin, there's many areas to go out on a night out and places that will suit everyone's niche.

Worlds end, jesus what a kip!!

homerjay2005

i go to England at least once a month and in general, the quality of beer and pubs are absolutely s*ite. poor serving techniques, alot of the pubs are old fashioned and lacking any soul what so ever.

if theres one thing we do better in Ireland than anywhere else, its pubs and alcohol.

FTA69

homerjay2005 wrote: »

i go to England at least once a month and in general, the quality of beer and pubs are absolutely s*ite. poor serving techniques, alot of the pubs are old fashioned and lacking any soul what so ever.

if theres one thing we do better in Ireland than anywhere else, its pubs and alcohol.

On the contrary, most British pubs serve at least some locally-produced beer or ales and offer a much bigger variety of drinks. In the vast majority of pubs in Ireland you're limited to Guinness and a plethora of identical p*ssy lagers.

lufties

homerjay2005 wrote: »

i go to England at least once a month and in general, the quality of beer and pubs are absolutely s*ite. poor serving techniques, alot of the pubs are old fashioned and lacking any soul what so ever.

if theres one thing we do better in Ireland than anywhere else, its pubs and alcohol.

Unwelcoming I'd say is a biggie, and the staff have no clue how to deal with customers.

Well its spurring me on to give up drink so than can only be a good thing.

lufties

FTA69 wrote: »

On the contrary, most British pubs serve at least some locally-produced beer or ales and offer a much bigger variety of drinks. In the vast majority of pubs in Ireland you're limited to Guinness and a plethora of identical p*ssy lagers.

Heineken, carlsberg etc

FTA69

lufties wrote: »

Heineken, carlsberg etc

Exactly. P*ssy lagers that taste the same as the next one. And you'll see the exact same beers in nearly every Irish pub, although that's thankfully beginning to change,

ScumLord

FTA69 wrote: »

That's the case in Central London but not the case in most other parts of the city.

I accept that, but I would maintain that the majority of businesses you'll come across in any part of london is a chain, you have to know where to find the other places.

I went to the Tiroler Hut austrian bar/resturant in London and had great craic, I haven't been to a place like it. It was cheesy as all hell, crammed and pretty expensive. I don't know whether it was some event they planned but as we finished our food people started doing karaoke, one guy was the spit of david hasselhoff and sang david hasselhoff songs. Normally that would have me heading for the door but there was such a fun atmosphere you could only enjoy it.

The_Captain

Londoners in 'not very chatty' shocker

Meangadh

brummytom wrote: »

I live in Manchester... I'm just getting ready now to head out and play trad music with a C&W singer (Nathan Carter? Poor man's Daniel O'Donnell apparently) in a Manchester pub. :pac:

Oh God, he's made it across the water??? I know there's the whole 800 years and all that malarkey, but do we really need to inflict that on the British??? :pac:

ceadaoin.

I lived in London for years and found the pubs good and in a lot of cases friendlier than ireland. We had a couple of proper 'locals' where the landlord/landlady knew us and we would chat to the regulars. They were run by irish people so maybe that's why but most of the regulars would have been Londoners. My husband was involved with darts and most of the pubs he played in were friendly. This was in chiswick and around shepherds bush and hammersmith.

The Backwards Man

Meangadh wrote: »

Oh God, he's made it across the water??? I know there's the whole 800 years and all that malarkey, but do we really need to inflict that on the British??? :pac:

He's from Liverpool. Like The Beatles.:)

EDit

Part of the problem is that so many independent pubs (ie, not owned by one of the big Brewers and which tend to have a more homely feel and better service) in rural England seem to have closed down in recent years. When I go back over to the town where my parents live, it's bloody sad as so many of my old drinking haunts have been turned into restaurants, flats, old people's homes, or simply boarded up. From my time here (living here for past 10 yrs) it seems the pubs in Ireland have faired better in terms of surviving the recession.

fryup

i'm going to wetherspoons tomorrow

can someone recommend me a bitter

anncoates

Speaking for Dublin, ironically a lot of what we think of as classic Dublin pubs are actually typically British Victorian pubs.

Our pub cultures are very similar. Generally, England and Ireland have some great pubs and some bad pubs. I don't think we have a trademark on it. .

Barry Edmonds

Being able to retire to a cosy pub and enjoy a quite pint is a man's God-given right. Unfortunately today it's very difficult to find a good pub, even rural pubs will have the tv blaring away in the corner.

The only advantage Irish pubs have is that they don't usually have fruit machines.

anncoates

ScumLord wrote: »

the only problem I'd have with pubs in London is that it's mostly chain pubs like wetherspoons.

With respect, that's not true. There's lots of chain pubs but there's nice boozers in London, like any part of England.

Meangadh

The Backwards Man wrote: »

He's from Liverpool. Like The Beatles.:)

Wow. I mean I thought the famine was bad- but to subject us to the aural tourture of Wagon Wheel??! Too far England. Too far.

MarkAnthony

I've lived in England, Scotland and Ireland for some reason I have a very well developed opinion on this subject.

Firstly you can't really compare the three, you need to identify the areas so here's my take on South Eastern English Pubs, Dublin pubs and Edinburgh pubs.

Dublin Pubs are amazing, the variety, the friendliness something for everyone. Service is always a bit dodge IMHO, especially when there is no designated area to order from the bar and you have to practically piggyback ride someone sat at the bar to get served.

Edinburgh Pubs, never had a spot of bother but people are a bit more stand offish, much better service than Dublin, cheaper generally. Bouncers a model of politeness and restraint usually.

South East England - You simply can't beat an English Pub for lazy afternoon drinking, better food, better facilities, better service. Way too many chains with a sterile feel though, nighttime 'pub' drinking finishes (or used too) way to bloody early.

London Pubs - might be a cultural thing but I find them very friendly, maybe my thick English accent helps.

Final point I've been to 'Irish Bars' in various countries throughout Europe, every single one of them run by an Englishman.

fran oconnor

Your Superior wrote: »

I can say the same about Ireland. Had many many terrible visits to pubs, with the occasional good one in towns in Clare, Kildare and Tipperary.

I think it's just a cultural thing. I personally find the forced "craic" and "aren't we grand" culture in Irish pubs to be tiresome, much preferring pubs in the North of England or Suffolk. At least there's no trad music there or jukeboxes full of country and western rubbish...

Horses for courses really.

Oh I failed to mention them poxy fruit machines that reside in English pubs, I actually refuse to drink in a pub that has some ****bag in the corner using these damn things.

ancapailldorcha

fran oconnor wrote: »

Oh I failed to mention them poxy fruit machines that reside in English pubs, I actually refuse to drink in a pub that has some ****bag in the corner using these damn things.

One of the most depressing things I've ever seen. I've actually seen guys spend hours on end at them, no exaggeration.