Vocal Voices

... for a menu meal or a carvery, not à la cart, but pub type grub?

It's a neighbour's 75th next week and a few of us wanted to treat her.

I am the "Internet" guy so I have been doing some searches and am stunned! We cannot agree on Chinese, Italian, Thai, Indian and so on, so a good old British carvery looks to be the choice: or not.

I am getting prices at about £20 per head, and that's without a starter, 'afters', or tea and coffee or other drinks. This is not Michelin star stuff, it's a midday meal.

What do you think we should be paying?

£20? Here is £12.99
Dessert, drinks obviously extra

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Hunters Lodge Carvery, near Wincanton, which Mrs O and I used to visit pre-Covid, is currently priced at £13.95 / head, child's £7.50. That's with as much veg as you can eat.
The more up-market Crown at Marnhull, which again we've used in the past, is doing a Sunday Roast (a carvery by any other name) ranging from £17.95 to £25.95 depending on your choice of meat - but of course you get table service for that.
The Kings Arms at East Stour near here does a Sunday Carvery plate priced between £15.50 (smaller plate, one meat) to £18.50 (standard plate, multiple meats). Not sure if you can go back for seconds of veg.

As Vic says, desserts and drinks are extras.

Certainly Chinese takeaways have gone through the roof, price-wise, in the last year or so down here. What was a £4.95 container is now more like £7.20. We do our own rice in the microwave to save costs. I guess you could say a decent Chinese meal for 1 person would be in the region of £15 and that's as a takeaway. Thai is a fair bit more expensive in my (limited) experience, Indian or Italian no real idea I'm afraid - but looking at the menu for the local Tandoori restaurant / takeaway, it looks like it would be £2 - £3 per head more expensive than the Chinese, and +10% for dining in.

So, less than £20, but not far off .....

That does sound a bit dear WM. Toby Carvery are under £10, but yes you do pay extra for a dessert. Our local pub which is hugely popular and used for all sorts of celebrations do a roast mid week and Sundays for £12.45, they are always packed. Does it have to be a carvery? Lots of nice pubs do specials throughout the week which could suit you better, worth having a look.

Carveries here go from €14-17.95, and you can get a small plate for €10-13.95. I always have a small plate and even then it can be nearly too much for me.

For a non-chain pub around here that sounds pretty standard for a meal off the menu. Starters are usually around £6+, mains upwards of £17 and puddings £6+ too. I can’t think of anywhere around here that does a carvery now to compare, the Toby in Cannock is now a Miller and Carter.

I know a couple of the pubs around here do a lunch menu which is a bit cheaper but not as varied.

Jo, those are the sorts of prices I am finding. The traditional carveries have all but disapeared and the (few) Toby ones do not get good write ups.

The weather forecast for C's birthday is dry and sunny and 19 °C so I have had a word with the guests (7 of us in total). and we came to an agreement between us and with the local oriental takeaway.

A sharing platter of five mains and starters (sweet and sour, chow mein, kung po, ribs, spring rolls and fried rice) comes in at about £63 and pennies, with free prawn crackers. Add in a couple of bottles of plonk from the Co-op and the whole banquet is about £85. Bring your own chair.

C and I both have those night light candle driven hot plates, so we can keep stuff warm, and a bucket of ice will keep the drinks cool.