Stew house in UK?

Question

How many of you like stew (gravy, meat, pototoes, veg, etc) & who thinks a stew house (like a cafe or resturant but specialising in stews) would be a good idea in UK?

Answer 1

Great idea

I'm 35 and my mum still makes me her stew and dumplings when i'm poorly.

We don't have meat in ours though just, carrotts, potatoe, split peas, barley and sometimes with sweet potatoe or swede.

Answer 2

If it was a spicy stew house with cheap beer.

Answer 3

What a lovely idea! Lots of different stews, lamb, beef, chicken and even veggie stews with homemade bread to mop up with. You could also do other farm house cooking like home made mash and pies, and make your own sausages and mash. Good wholesome farmhouse cooking. The thought of it is make me hungry. I hope this turns into reality.....P.s Abergavenny in Wales would be a great place for this type of restaurant!!!!

Answer 4

Stew is certainly a magnificent meal, and it appears in British, French and Italian (esp. Puglia) cuisine, amongst others. A beef stew, using 2/3 chuck and 1/3 shin beef, with veg cooked in the stew and with added red wine is a permanent feature on my menu at home and for the private catering I have recently started to do.

Stew suffers from two problems. One, it takes a long time to cook, and, two, it has a bit of a reputation as proletarian food. I suppose if I called it 'Daube' I could charge twice the price for it.

One presumably could concoct a variety of stews - British Beef stew, Irish Stew, Lancashire Hotpot, Daube, Puglian stew, Moroccan Tagine etc, but, unless one is a gastronome of stews, or a chef, it is still a stew, and, to many diners, it is just a stew.

The concept has its attractions - presumably the waiters and waitresses would be dubbed 'Stewards and Stewardesses(!)', the ambience would be relaxed so one would not 'get into a stew', Discounts could be offered to academics - they are, after all, stewdents. A really well-cooked dish would be descibed as 'stupendous', politeness would be encouraged 'after stew, old bean', and, if one did not wish to use the establishment, one could eschew it.

Stew plays a vital part in British cuisine, and should certainly take a top place on the menu of a British-themed restaurant, but I would not take the risk, myself, of opening a business dealing only in stew.

Answer 5

I think it would be a good idea. Especially if it were specializing in simple but great food...kind of like the old pie and mash shops they used to have. You could do it out in gorgeously hip, retro kind of way...I'm thinking either 1930s decor or 1950s...people would love that!

Answer 6

PROBABLY

hope it works out for you

Answer 7

There should be one everywhere you go! I'd be a loyal customer.

Answer 8

i like stew but im in australia so one in the uks not going to help me!!! stew is good!!!

Answer 9

Yes, i think it`s a very good idea and if it were near me i`d be a regular visitor.....

Answer 10

stew must be joking

Answer 11

Good idea if it's done well.  Might not be so popular in the summer though.

Answer 12

LOVE IT :-)

Answer 13

Only if they put a bit of black pudding in it as thats what makes a stew really tasty!!