Scotch egg - the substantial meal debate

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

Tony has read through the details.
And he says it talks not of substantial meal. The Beeb latched onto this phrase and the papers have run with it.
The requirement is a main meal, not substantial.

Scotch egg to me is a meal. Egg, sausage, it probably comes with a side.
Just as a salad is a main meal too to me.
Personally, I feel a sandwich and chips is a meal too.

[aero280 Profile]

There is a piece in the paper this morning that states that the term “substantial meal” is a legal term used to define when otherwise underage children can drink alcohol when out with their parents. It may have been picked up by the press and politicians, due to lack of any rigorous checks.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Yes, I remember hearing the term used when I I worked in pubs and family members ran them so I think that is where it comes from aero

And we’ve been discussing it in terms of “a meal” anyway

[Amyw Profile]

One of our town pubs has just announced they’re doing pizzas and pasties for £2.50 each , they’ve never done food before , it’s very much a drinkers pub . I’m surprised a pasty would cover it and it sounds like it will be just a pasty too , but I guess they’ve done their research as to what’s allowed .

I wonder are they actually going to send people round to do spot checks on pubs to ensure they’re complying with the rules

[liketocook Profile]

This place is a bit of legend, certainly more spit and sawdust than fine dining but the food is actually really decent for the price, pretty much all home cooked and "workmen's" portions. Prices may have increased since this article but not by much (50p I think). https://www.glasgowist.com/glasgows-che ... -star-bar/ They apparently don't lose any money on the food just cover costs but it brings a lot of business in at lunchtime when they would otherwise be quiet. I used to go to an office near there for meetings/training courses and we'd often head there at lunch time

[Pampy Profile]

Before the tiers came into effect (and my area was plonked into tier 3) a local pub offered meals for £1, in order to get punters in. He was quite open about losing money on it but said that he made up for it with the amount of alcohol he sold.

[aero280 Profile]

My phone has just pinged and announced an update to my Covid app. It actually uses the term "substantial meal"...

Bars, Pubs and Restaurants

Venues can only serve alcohol with a substantial meal. they must stop taking orders at 10pm and must close by 11pm.

[Suffs Profile]

A Botched Egg anyone?

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/business/p ... rs-6599814

[Gruney2 Profile]

I'd struggle to make that last long enough to accompany a couple or three pints. Isn't it the rule that you have to leave when your substantial meal has been eaten?

Frankly, I think the MP who started all this was being a smart ar-e.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

Surely you'd spend the first pint looking at the menu and making your mind up what to order, have a second one waiting for the order, the third to accompany your substantial meal, and a fourth as you contemplate whether or not you want a pud...

[scullion Profile]

i'm not sure that these blokes would bother with a green salad with their 'substantial meal' - and chips would be treble carbing!

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[Earthmaiden Profile]

Oh dear!

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13392880/ ... s-bin/amp/

[Seatallan Profile]

Oh dear!

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/13392880/ ... s-bin/amp/

You'd have to be seriously desperate for a pint to pay for grub you had no intention of eating wouldn't you?

[Amyw Profile]

I thought this might happen . Another pub near me has just said they’ll do a plate of pasta for £1.50 . If you want to go out for loads of pints with your mates then you’ll spend that £1.50 quite happily and leave the food on the side .

I think they should have just let people drink in tier 2 pubs as normal , as so many people are cheating the system as it is

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Someone on my local FB group was moaning about their neighbour having a party on Friday that kept them awake, they tried phoning the council noise people but they weren’t answering

I was at least the 12th person to comment - and the first to note that the noise is currently irrelevant, parties are illegal in Tier 2, just call the police. Nobody else seemed to see that anything but the noise was significant

Gobsmacked

[jeral Profile]

I'm sure I read somewhere that noise abatement officers work 9-5. I remember thinking chocolate teapot, although apparently they won't do much unless it is a repeat offender in question as a one-off once over is no longer a problem.

As to covid rules, if party people are breaking them then broadcasting that with excessive noise seems like shooting self in foot given the huge fines applicable.

Pub rules are so silly - and murky - that it's not surprising that even the police said they didn't intend to enforce them. Although no doubt some will in some areas. Pubs and all hospitality is now so desperate

[Pampy Profile]

The "noise officers" on our local council are available 24/7 and do seem to take valid complaints seriously. The police, along with council employees, are enforcing the rules quite strictly in this area too.

[jeral Profile]

The "noise officers" on our local council are available 24/7 and do seem to take valid complaints seriously. The police, along with council employees, are enforcing the rules quite strictly in this area too.

You'd better behave then
Maybe Austin Powers should be brought out of cryogenic stasis for the compliance adverts.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

No, our council noise team are usually on 24 hour call, after all noise is more of a problem during sleeping hours

I don’t know why they were shut down over a Friday night, probably a mixture of Hackney’s ongoing IT issues, lack of staff and actually assuming there wouldn’t be any events not better left to the police.

Which is the point - he shouldn’t have called the noise team at all he should have called the police so my sympathy for him is muted. It seems neither he nor other neighbours worked out that you call the police for Covidiots, which I find astonishing and actually rather worrying that the principle hasn’t sunk it far enough.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I think people are so confused by the rules that they are beyond thinking (that said, if you sit down and read them they're not that hard to understand even if they don't always make sense but not everyone finds it easy to read and digest information).

Going back to the food waste, the article related to a publican who sold sandwiches and chips with his beer. I'm not sure that that is what is meant by a 'substantial' meal even though it would be filling. It really is open to interpretation isn't it? I can quite easily imagine people paying for it and wasting it in exchange for a few beers and the social aspect. I think the trouble with opening just to serve drinks is monitoring social distancing both inside and out on the street as the evening goes on.