Sponsored by
The Wheelwright Arms, Havant,
Vintage at Goodwood took place last weekend, celebrating music, culture, design and other aspects of British culture from the past five decades.
Food was also part of the mix back then – from the devilled eggs of the 1940s, to the flocked wallpapered Indian restaurants in the seventies and the toasties of the 1980s.
The cost of living since the 1970s also tells a story – 500g of back bacon was 37p, 3.86 in 2007, Cheddar cheese was 13p, up to 1.45 by 2007, sliced bread 10p to 90p and a pint of beer 15p to 2.62.
However, we spend less on food than our forebears did. In the 1950s, a third of the budget went on food. Now it's 15 per cent.
Although food in Britain has changed over the decades, pubs have been through the mill recently, having to reinvent themselves by offering food over just a packet of crisps, or pork scratchings.
Despite the possibilities of buying fresh, local, seasonal food, many pubs have remained in chip-land. Add some frozen peas, sausages, maybe a frozen piece of battered cod, a factory-made lasagne or meat pie with some ale. Too few venture down the road of employing a chef who can actually cook local, seasonal ingredients from scratch, with pride and knowledge. All too often it's a fat fryer, microwave conveyor belt out there.
The Wheelwright Arms in Havant recently opened its doors with new owners. The 106-year-old building has been modernised inside, pale mauve paint and black chandeliers fighting to blend in with the more usual wooden pub chairs. A large television fights with conversation, soaps on loud. Staff look bored but are pleasant and welcoming – although glued to the TV.
The small menu features scampi, chips and peas; sausages, chips and peas; steak and ale pie with chips and peas; vegetable lasagne. You get the picture. There's also a carrot soup and garlic mushrooms for starters, no desserts mentioned anywhere on signage in the pub. Sandwiches are available and prices are around the 8 mark for a main course.
My scampi were uniformly shaped, breaded and tasted like wet flannel. I ate the chips and a large helping of ketchup and called it a day. A glass of on-tap zinfandel blush rose was mediocre.
Havant is crying out for a pub which celebrates real food in 2010. The Wheelwrights Arms has possibly missed a golden opportunity to reinvent itself as a destination pub where people go to for good, seasonal, local food.
When looking back on 2010, will we celebrate the revival of good British food made from scratch by chefs who really care? Hmmm…but what does the customer want?
I wish the new owners well. My bill came to just under 10.
Carol is a chef, former restaurateur and editor of Savour, the Guild of Food Writers magazine
The Wheelwright Arms, Emsworth Road, Havant, PO9 2SN,
(023) 9248 3365.
Open: From 12 – 3pm and 6 – 9pm for food (not Friday nights).
Food: **
Service: ***
Atmosphere: ***
Disabled access: Perfect via the car park, a seemless entry.
How to get there: From Portsmouth, exit at Havant on the A27, following the signs to the station, taking the second exit on the mini roundabout onto East Street which becomes Emsworth Road, the pub, a large one, on the left.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 15 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 15 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
