Cafes, Restaurants, Pubs & Takeaways

[Fester]

Great news.
Never paid more than £1 for a cup of coffee in my life. How people have been conned over the past few years for a cup of hot water is beyond me.
There are plenty of mugs around, not only in coffee shops.

I've never paid LESS than a quid!
The Latte and Americano in Cafe Nero are top notch, and HUGE for £2.75p, (or whatever it is)

[Nemesis]

What's that Oscar Wilde quotation?

The cost of everything, and the value of nothing ! :twoface:

[Bosun]

Great news.
Never paid more than £1 for a cup of coffee in my life. How people have been conned over the past few years for a cup of hot water is beyond me.
There are plenty of mugs around, not only in coffee shops.

How interesting. And where do you not pay more than £1 for a cup of coffee? Perhaps you would like to read the link as to the costs of the overheads of running a café, it may enlighten you, it certainly did me.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12099760/TripAdvisor-York-Bennetts-cafe-owner-leaves-brilliant-response-to-one-star-review.html

Mrs B and I enjoy a coffee and we try and avoid the 'chains' and use independent coffee shops. It's not just the coffee, but the ambience as well that counts, it's a nice experience when the two coincide and I can understand the popularity of the 'coffee culture'.

However, I do wonder what that experience is like for less than a £1.00......!

[Nemesis]

I agree there Bosun, having refused to drink more than one cup of coffee which we have unfortunately bought, we now, if going out for the day always have a flask of the stuff in the car. There are quite a few places where the coffee is decent, but having been served something resembling dish water we are wary ! Quite happy to buy coffee, if it is coffee, but so much of the stuff just isn't.

[Fester]

Get round to Time Bar in Conwy, because apart from amazing food, they do a cafetière for £2.50.
You get about 3 cups out of it, and it's the best quality coffee I've ever had.

[born2run]

I'm with Mull never paid for a cup of coffee anytime ever. I can drink as many coffees as I want all day at work for free that's more than enough. I don't understand coffee shops at all. I couldn't think of anything worse than sitting in a vapid room full of tourists and shoppers drinking a 3 quid cup of pretentious warm water. I hope this pound coffee shops puts all the other ones out of business so they can build something decent instead..... Z**

[Fester]

B2R, its freeloading like that, and penny pinching such as you and Mull advocate, that will keep the economy firmly bumping along the bottom, and no wealth being created for those young people trying to forge a career or a business. 

[Bosun]

I'm with B2R on this. And, it's much more sensible to do as he does at this time of year, each evening, take a few cans of low-cost lager down to the park or sit on a seafront bench and drink them rather than having to pay silly prices to sit in a warm pub having to chat to people and listen to inane conversations....

[DaveR]

Dylans are hoping to open the Washington in May 2017 - I think that may be a tough deadline to meet.

[born2run]

I'm with B2R on this. And, it's much more sensible to do as he does at this time of year, each evening, take a few cans of low-cost lager down to the park or sit on a seafront bench and drink them rather than having to pay silly prices to sit in a warm pub having to chat to people and listen to inane conversations....

Now beer is something worth paying for and so is a good pub. With a separate beer tax at about 54p per pint it's perfectly understandable that it costs a lot more than it does in supermarkets. Coffee on the other hand is not comparable. Pubs have always been traditional hubs for socialising and important in communities. Coffee shops are not and never will be.

[Bosun]

I'm with B2R on this. And, it's much more sensible to do as he does at this time of year, each evening, take a few cans of low-cost lager down to the park or sit on a seafront bench and drink them rather than having to pay silly prices to sit in a warm pub having to chat to people and listen to inane conversations....

Now beer is something worth paying for and so is a good pub. With a separate beer tax at about 54p per pint it's perfectly understandable that it costs a lot more than it does in supermarkets. Coffee on the other hand is not comparable. Pubs have always been traditional hubs for socialising and important in communities. Coffee shops are not and never will be.

Wrong. Coffee shops have been an important part in many civilisations histories and continue to be so.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeehouse

[born2run]

In America perhaps. Certainly not in the UK, what have coffee shops contributed to British society and culture? Pubs have given us or have contributed to countless genres of music, sport, television, comedy, food, literature. The list is endless. Coffee shops, Bob Dylan in the 50s and Friends (both American)

[Bosun]

B2R, if you had bothered to read the link you might learnt that coffee houses are an important part of British history. Since the 1600's, coffee houses have been seats of learning and business. The London Stock Exchange started in a coffee house, as did the Lloyds Shipping Register, and the auction houses Sotherby's and Christies.

And all rather before any American influence..... The list is endless, but just one example:

In 18th century, Dublin coffeehouses functioned as early reading centers and the emergence of circulation and subscription libraries which provided greater print access for the public. Coffeehouses were a culture symbol where different worlds came together to discuss topics of the newspapers and pamphlets. Most coffeehouses during the Eighteenth Century were equipped with their own printing presses or resided by book shops which most would later merge with for better business. (From Wikipedia)

However, if you require the history of pubs, I suggest you read Pete Brown's excellent books.

[DaveR]

The figures speak for themselves, the decline in pub numbers has been mirrored by the rise in coffee shops. People prefer them, simple as that.

[PhilMick]

When I was a lad in Walton Liverpool, before 1960, there was a temperance bar by Walton Church (CofE) that was every bit as busy as the local pubs. I can't remember any coffee shops or tea shops though. Although, there seemed to be a pub every few yards just like Conwy used to be. The temperance bar served draught drinks like dandelion and burdock. I also remember hot Vimto but I can't remember if coffee or tea were served.

My question is: did the Cocoa House in Llandudno serve the same function? Was it Llandudno's forerunner to coffee shops?