(edit - I thought this was a "puke" smiley)).Beer, agreed. The food though comes either from the fridge (ie cheese board - last time I ordered this I only got 5 crackers!) or Ploughman, etc, or the FREEZER: Fish & Chips, etc. It's lazy, easy to prepare, mostly unhealthy, and uninspired food. When was the last time you heard someone say "Hmmm Dinner/Lunch, where can we go. I Know, The Wig & Pen." I'd rather pay more and get something FRESH. Reminds me of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares...I can just imagine him going off his F...king head regarding the W&P Menu...Tourist wrote:Personally, I am grateful to have a world-class brew-pub (The W&P) just down the road. The (multi-award-winning) beer is top-notch and the food is not overpriced.
I mostly agree. I've never actually had the food there, when I went there for lunch last week, we stood in line and then thought, na f--- this. (Ended up having a 'liquid lunch.') There's Senior meals for $11, and the rest of us pay round $15 and up for the usual boring Club fare. There's two things that make it bearable: $4.50 Zeirholz, and the Deck out the back - well away from the Pokies, and it's mostly smoke-free. I mostly joined because my wife works just down the road, and don't get me started on Pot Belly...Tourist wrote:I don't really think you can compare it to the Labour Club in Belco, which is riddled with pokies, no atmosphere etc. (I won't mention the food
There isn't, and that's my point. Why doesn't someone open a bar/pub that ticks all the boxes? - Good quality beer, reasonably priced, great fresh food made by a competent cook, great atmosphere. How hard can this be? The W&P IMO only ticks the first box. Sometimes the atmosphere is okay, but I find the place is often either too busy (ie Fridays after work) and you can't get a seat, or completely dead - ie tomorrow (Sunday afternoon) when I go there to listen to their "Live Music".Tourist wrote:Lob is having a gripe because of the price, yet has a gripe at other places with lack of choice - I challenge him to name me a place in Aus that has a wide range of craft beer at $4.50 a schooner. W&P and Zierholz are great places to go for a few beers. They are not for having massive benders.
I have been rather moody lately. Probably good advice : )Tourist wrote:Please do yourself a favour and ignore Lob's litte tantrum.
I grew up in NZ in the 70s and 80s, and I could get unfrozen fish & Chips Everywhere. Big slabs of tasty fleshy white shark, with batter that didn't fall off. The chips were cut in shop from real, fresh, potatoes. In Canberra everything is brought in prepared, ready for the kitchen staff to place in the deep fryer. If the W&P wanted to "lift their game" they could. Farmers Markets are open every Sat morning. Why not buy Potatoes fresh and local, rather than Frozen McCain that's been shipped from who knows where? Why is this so hard for these lazy Canberran pubs, bars, clubs, and restaurants? Quality isn't always perfect in NZ also, but can still get great food, coffee, and beer in Wellington in lots of places (though still on the pricey side), yet it's the same population as Canberra.Tourist wrote:Dude, it's pub food! Where do you go to get unfrozen chips, anyway?
Red Oak in Sydney make excellent "hand cut" chips, But the % of pubs providing real potatoes is probably 0.5% or less. Pathetic really considering how inferior frozen spuds taste. (Not to mention their higher carbon footprint.) Thought about trying out the new brew pub in Manly, they're about as pricey as W&P. My main problem is that I drove around the US for a month drinking fantastic beer, locally made, no bullshit fraud tactics. Not to mention the unbelievable prices. I get back to Australia, and Jesus Christ. It's the prices everywhere, the sh__ burgers, the *fraud* everytime I walk into bottle store, etc, etc. The other day I bought a 6 pack of "Pikes Oakbank" Pilsener from Dan Murphys Phillip. From the label I was under the impression it came from a small brewery in the Clare Vally, SA. As I was drinking the first stubbie and thinking 'hmm this tastes rather bland' I started to read some of the very small print at the very bottom on the back label "BREWED AND BOTTLED UNDER LICENCE BY AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENT BREWERIES..."Tourist wrote:I went to the Local Taphouse in Sydney - have you been there? Seems to be the sort of thing you are after, but the prices are up there with micro's such as W&P.
At some point, no matter how good the beer is, if the prices keep going up, you reach a point where you think, "these pricks just think everyone in this town is a f---ing rich public servant on 100K a year". For me it was the last major price increase about 10 months or so ago. I remember, a schooner would cost me about $1 more than, say, Coopers Pale at the Uni Pub. Suddenly, after the last price hike, it was a lot more for a schooner, but you could still get "value" by buying by the pint. That's when my attitude to the W&P changed. I drive everywhere; Why should I pay a lot more because I prefer to drink by the schooner? There's a *lot* of beer in a pint. Some of the W&P's beers are of a higher alcohol content.Tourist wrote:I have to admit that I have a soft spot for the W&P - as a member of the Canberra Brewers, we are well supported by the pub and head brewer, Richard, who lets us in on his recipes, techniques and good humour. He tries our beers and gives feedback, improving our beer and knowledge of brewing. I am sure this support extends to pretty well anyone who is interested in beer and brewing. If you see the brewer around, go and have a yak. As an added bonus, the beer is fantastic!
My extra $ is always well-spent.
Mate, it so so incredibly easy to update a website. If you're a business and you go to the trouble of setting up a website with menu prices, what's on, etc, etc, then it's downright unprofessional (and rude) not to maintain it. All you need is CuteFTP and Dreamweaver:Tourist wrote:If you want to hang shit on the W&P website, go for it - nobody cares but you.
I'm sure they are still doing flights back to NZ.. Maybe we could round you up enough coin for a fair? Geez I though Poms were bad.lob wrote: I grew up in NZ in the 70s and 80s, and I could get unfrozen fish & Chips Everywhere. Big slabs of tasty fleshy white shark, with batter that didn't fall off. The chips were cut in shop from real, fresh, potatoes. In Canberra everything is brought in prepared, ready for the kitchen staff to place in the deep fryer. If the W&P wanted to "lift their game" they could. Farmers Markets are open every Sat morning. Why not buy Potatoes fresh and local, rather than Frozen McCain that's been shipped from who knows where? Why is this so hard for these lazy Canberran pubs, bars, clubs, and restaurants? Quality isn't always perfect in NZ also, but can still get great food, coffee, and beer in Wellington in lots of places (though still on the pricey side), yet it's the same population as Canberra.
It's called running a profitable business mate.... Why would you pay some one to go down and buy your potatoes, wash them, peel them & cut them when you can get frozen for half the price? It's also determined by the market and what people want and are willing to pay for. There is probably only 0.5% of pubs using real potatoes because 99.5% of people are happy with the frozen variety at a reduced price. They don't produce 1 million Ferrari F40s every year when the market is screaming out for a budget price commodore..lob wrote: Red Oak in Sydney make excellent "hand cut" chips, But the % of pubs providing real potatoes is probably 0.5% or less.
Maybe if you put this amount of effort into work / study whatever... the cost wouldn't bother you.. I mean really we are talking a couple of dollars here!! And as far as your rant goes on BUL. Don't friggin buy it.. easy. You are aware so why worry about other people they probably like it.... I don't give a shit if they brew BUL. I brew my own to avoid that..lob wrote: At some point, no matter how good the beer is, if the prices keep going up, you reach a point where you think, "these pricks just think everyone in this town is a f---ing rich public servant on 100K a year".
I didn't say it was perfect. It rains a lot in Wellington, and the big one (quake) can't be too far away. The coffee is excellent though, and you can still get very good fish and chips.matr wrote:I'm sure they are still doing flights back to NZ.. Maybe we could round you up enough coin for a fair? Geez I though Poms were bad.
So you're quite happy to explore making the best beer possible, but when it comes to (the accompanying) food....matr wrote:It's called running a profitable business mate.... Why would you pay some one to go down and buy your potatoes, wash them, peel them & cut them when you can get frozen for half the price? It's also determined by the market and what people want and are willing to pay for. There is probably only 0.5% of pubs using real potatoes because 99.5% of people are happy with the frozen variety at a reduced price. They don't produce 1 million Ferrari F40s every year when the market is screaming out for a budget price commodore..
I don't buy BUL. Not on purpose anyway. I've only bought it by mistake. Peroni recently because until recently it was imported from Italy. It is hard when the only referrence to being BUL is in very small print at the base of the slab. And Pikes Oakbank Pilsener because, i dunno, I was tired, and there were lots of words on the back label, mostly in reference to Clare Valley. I was in a hurry, etc. If you don't give a rats arse about the BUL scam, then don't read any of the posts on it. I couldn't give a rats arse that you don't give a rats arse...matr wrote:....as far as your rant goes on BUL. Don't friggin buy it..
"Issues"..."all the best"...wtf. That's pretty weird stuff. I may rant and rave a bit, but Jesus, I just thought it was a bit of back and forth banter, free-thought, constructive criticism, etc.Tourist wrote:Thanks for your insights.
I think you have some issues that are bigger than the W&P.
All the best.
Paul
I didn't see that anything constructive could come out of this and I was getting bored.lob wrote:"Issues"..."all the best"...wtf. That's pretty weird stuff. I may rant and rave a bit, but Jesus, I just thought it was a bit of back and forth banter, free-thought, constructive criticism, etc.Tourist wrote:Thanks for your insights.
I think you have some issues that are bigger than the W&P.
All the best.
Paul
When this beer first came out (possibly mid-90s?) it was brewed by Coopers at their old Leabrook brewery. At that stage it was a pretty good beer. It disappeared from the shelves for a while.lob wrote:The other day I bought a 6 pack of "Pikes Oakbank" Pilsener from Dan Murphys Phillip. From the label I was under the impression it came from a small brewery in the Clare Vally, SA. As I was drinking the first stubbie and thinking 'hmm this tastes rather bland' I started to read some of the very small print at the very bottom on the back label "BREWED AND BOTTLED UNDER LICENCE BY AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENT BREWERIES..."
