Portsmouth pub creates 'The Substantial Meal' cocktail made with Peperami and pork scratchings to poke fun at Covid tiers

But under tier two lockdown from December 2, Portsmouth pubs can serve alcohol only alongside an order of a ‘substantial meal’.

And the manager of The Deco pub, in Southsea, has come up with The Substantial Meal cocktail to poke fun at the government’s latest Covid restrictions – even admitting it’s ‘grim’.

But The Deco’s ‘dish’ is more likely to empty your stomach than fill it, with its potent mix of gin, vodka, blackcurrant liqueur, and Guinness – served in a pork scratchings-rimmed glass with a stick of Peperami floating inside as garnish.

Creator Matt Brydon summed up his concoction and said: ‘I think “grim” is the word.

‘I felt the current situation needed a bit of joviality to it – there’s a lot of stress in our industry at the moment.

‘I thought it would be something to smile at, but I doubt anyone would be smiling if they tasted it.

‘I must confess I have not tried it – and I would strongly suggest no one else takes it on.’

A Facebook post advertising the drink suggested it has 800 per cent of the daily recommended allowance of salt, but Matt admits this is ‘a guess’ at best.

The idea for the drink – which will not be appearing on the menu any time soon – came about after one of Matt’s friends suggested the wet-led pub could stay open by serving snacks as meals.

Matt said: ‘No matter how impeccably presented a Peperami and a packet of crisps is, I don’t think it will count as a meal.

‘And then one of my friends suggested I rename a cocktail – and from there it got more ridiculous.’

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The Deco, in Elm Grove, opened 15 years ago with a food offering, but that was stopped within its first three years of service.

The manager said: ‘There’s a lot of wet-led pubs who don’t have the option to do food, so while the post is borne of a frustration with those facts, it’s no way a criticism – we understand why these steps are necessary.’

The pub is not offering click-and-collect takeaway drinks as it is ‘not set up’ for the service at present, according to Matt.

Pubs in all tiers can choose to offer takeaway alcoholic drinks.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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