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Are Carvery Lunches a thing of the past? (Someone can't handle their portions!)

Jennehy

Is it because the boom is back or because of all the sit down deli at petrol stations. €15-€20 seems to be the average now for a sit down lunch.

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MadDog76

Under His Eye wrote: »

I prefer a la carte myself.

A La Carte is a Carvery you don't get to see......

MadDog76

Ush1 wrote: »

People saying it's healthy are kidding themselves. The gravy does be laced with salt and butter, spuds with cream etc... But it's tasty. Not something I'd get too often.

Relatively healthy by comparison to the alternatives, ie. you can see what you're getting unlike processed food from fast food places and supermarkets etc.

Nothing wrong with a bit of butter, pinch of salt or cream if you have a balanced diet.
Carvery's are not the cause of the obesity epidemic in Ireland.

MadDog76

_Dara_ wrote: »

I’m sure it does happen elsewhere. And it’ll be obvious when it does when it comes to roast spuds anyway. It’s easy enough to tell. Mass catering events at hotels will take that shortcut for weddings, debs and the like.

Individual restaurants don’t do it as much. I've prepped veg at some.

Some people tend to scoff and say “lol, everywhere does that, carvery food is the same as what you are served at higher priced restaurants” as if they are so clever and we’re all being duped. But not every restaurant does it and it’s not that hard to tell the difference. You don’t need a sophisticated palette to know.

Hate to break it to you but professional kitchens peeling potatoes and prepping veg by hand is very much a thing of the past by and large depending on the individual dish being prepared........ you think you can tell the difference but you really can't because there is no significant difference.

Fine dining restaurants tend to undercook their veg because that's what the majority of their customer base expects, pubs/carvery's tend to overcook their veg for the same reason.

Cushtie

A few years ago when our young fella was in crumlin hospital for a fairly long stay we used go to a place down the road that did a savage carvery. Can't think of the name of it now, but the food was excellent, BIG portions!! The staff were great aswell. We kinda got to know them after a while and when they knew we had a kid in hospital they would often give a discount or throw in a free desert. Meant alot at the time.

Ush1

MadDog76 wrote: »

Relatively healthy by comparison to the alternatives, ie. you can see what you're getting unlike processed food from fast food places and supermarkets etc.

Nothing wrong with a bit of butter, pinch of salt or cream if you have a balanced diet.
Carvery's are not the cause of the obesity epidemic in Ireland.

As I said it's not a bit of butter or pinch of salt, it's normally got huge amounts of both.

I don't add salt to anything I eat and when I have a carvery I'd have to drink pints of water after as it's so salty.

branie2

I think they're still going strong

Under His Eye

Have your carvery if you wish but I still want my fish and chips.

whiskeyman

Some of the best carverys I've had were outside Dublin.
Headford arms in Kell's in worth travelling for.

MadDog76

Ush1 wrote: »

As I said it's not a bit of butter or pinch of salt, it's normally got huge amounts of both.

I don't add salt to anything I eat and when I have a carvery I'd have to drink pints of water after as it's so salty.

So you're getting plenty of water down you too, another reason to applaud the health benefits of a carvery meal!

Balanadan

I'd love a savage feed of a carvery right now.

Liamalone

Carveries are on the rise it seems! Long live the Carvery!!!!

theteal

Cushtie wrote: »

A few years ago when our young fella was in crumlin hospital for a fairly long stay we used go to a place down the road that did a savage carvery. Can't think of the name of it now, but the food was excellent, BIG portions!! The staff were great aswell. We kinda got to know them after a while and when they knew we had a kid in hospital they would often give a discount or throw in a free desert. Meant alot at the time.

From the Childers hospital the closest pub I can think of is The Eleanora, although there are 3 more pubs within 100m - of which the Halfway House would be the standout.

Balanadan

MadDog76 wrote: »

Relatively healthy by comparison to the alternatives, ie. you can see what you're getting unlike processed food from fast food places and supermarkets etc.

Nothing wrong with a bit of butter, pinch of salt or cream if you have a balanced diet.
Carvery's are not the cause of the obesity epidemic in Ireland.

I have a carvery every day of the week and I'm fit and healthy.

_Dara_

MadDog76 wrote: »

Hate to break it to you but professional kitchens peeling potatoes and prepping veg by hand is very much a thing of the past by and large depending on the individual dish being prepared........ you think you can tell the difference but you really can't because there is no significant difference.

Fine dining restaurants tend to undercook their veg because that's what the majority of their customer base expects, pubs/carvery's tend to overcook their veg for the same reason.

It wasn’t very long ago that I was doing just that. You haven’t been in all the restaurant kitchens. Neither have I. You can’t summarise them neatly.

You don’t know me and whether or not I can tell the difference. I just don’t enjoy carvery. It’s blah (including many of the name-checked places on this thread) and the amount of food given isn’t a draw for me either. It’s far too much food. My husband eats big dinners, far bigger portions than me and he rarely leaves a restaurant hungry in Ireland. I don’t know where ye’re all going that ye are left hungry.

The one time my husband and I were left hungry leaving a restaurant was when we decided to try a Michelin-starred place. Fine-dining wasn’t for us. Far too expensive for too little food and too fancy. People portray those who don’t like carvery as food snobs but that’s not me and hubs. There’s a lot of food between carvery and fine-dining.

Under His Eye

A year since the last carvery thread.

Takings must be down at the savage eateries across the nation.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Under His Eye

Prison was 2 pages back.

Muahahaha

dudara wrote: »

A good carvery lunch can really hit the spot at times. The quality of the vegetables is the biggest letdown in most spots though. It wouldn’t be my every day cup of tea but it’s nice to enjoy one with my parents.

suicide_circus wrote: »

as hangover feeds go it's not that bad for you. such a shame they boil the bejayzus out of the veg so much, all the vitamins and fibre destroyed.

The veg is my main gripe about carveries, it is always way overcooked until the flavour is knocked out of it. Plus no matter where you go it seems to be the same -smash potatoes, baton carrots, cabbage or perhaps a carrot-parsnip mix. There is never any imagination on a carvery, there are over 70 different ways to serve a potato but carveries rarely go beyond three or four. Plus all the pubs seem to be buying their veg from the same supplier so it is identical from pub to pub.. I know it isnt economically viable to have chefs prepping veg and potatoes but if some carvery did this with a bit of imagination I would gladly pay more.

The meat on them is usually pretty decent, better in some places than others. You have the usual caveat of meat lying there too long and drying out but that only happens on carveries that are quiet. Generally the standard of meat is a fair bit higher than the standard of veg.

Agree with what others say about portion sizes being too big. I used to work in a pub with a carvery years back and we sold very few deserts which spoke volumes imo. Also a lot of women at the carvery would be telling the chef to go easy on the portions then others that didnt would be leaving a fair whack of food on their plate uneaten.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

freshpopcorn

Muahahaha wrote: »

Also a lot of women at the carvery would be telling the chef to go easy on the portions then others that didnt would be leaving a fair whack of food on their plate uneaten.

You've just proven all the feminists wrong. Women and men aren't equal and never will be because women can't handle a portion at the carvery!

elperello

There are plenty of good carvery lunches available but I think they are losing business to places that sell take away lunches. A lot of towns have a shop selling take away lunches. It's basically a carvery that you take home in a plastic box and heat up. They can be very good and are cheaper than pubs or restaurants. Some people prefer to take the dinner home and eat in the evening.

JohnnyFlash

Patww79 wrote: »

There's 'savage'. Have we had 'swill', 'troughs', and 'prison' yet? I'm waiting to complete a full line.

Why does it bother you so much that other people don’t like things you do? You seem to go around in a state of high agitation.

freshpopcorn

elperello wrote: »

There are plenty of good carvery lunches available but I think they are losing business to places that sell take away lunches. A lot of towns have a shop selling take away lunches. It's basically a carvery that you take home in a plastic box and heat up. They can be very good and are cheaper than pubs or restaurants. Some people prefer to take the dinner home and eat in the evening.

I get this and these have become more popular.
I know locally you'd see a lot of people being home their dinner from the local carvery/restaurant as well.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Muahahaha

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Well its rare enough I eat carveries these days but I dont see the problem with posting here on ways they could improve. Getting rid of the ubiquitous watery and flavourless baton carrot and serving something with a bit of imagination would be a start.

Cushtie

theteal wrote: »

Cushtie wrote: »

A few years ago when our young fella was in crumlin hospital for a fairly long stay we used go to a place down the road that did a savage carvery. Can't think of the name of it now, but the food was excellent, BIG portions!! The staff were great aswell. We kinda got to know them after a while and when they knew we had a kid in hospital they would often give a discount or throw in a free desert. Meant alot at the time.

From the Childers hospital the closest pub I can think of is The Eleanora, although there are 3 more pubs within 100m - of which the Halfway House would be the standout.

The half way house. That was the one. Cheers.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Jennehy

_Brian wrote: »

Who said anything about my wife cooking ?

You couldn’t boil a kettle.

Class of 82

gmisk wrote: »

Ó Neills in Suffolk Street do one

Going to go there Monday now after reading this thread. Has been on the agenda for ages.

Thoughtform

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Why does it bother you so much that other people don’t like things you do? You seem to go around in a state of high agitation.

I agree with him though - the snobbery around carvery seems like just a bandwagon. I love really good restaurants but a carvery can be tasty and filling at the right time too. Like chips after a night out. I don't think anyone is claiming it's high-quality food (although I'd say it depends on the establishment) however it's just meat, spuds, veg, stuffing and gravy. The hysterical descriptions of it are a tad dishonest. Reminds me of the way some folk pretend bread is akin to poison.