Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 11:28:03 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Monday Afternoon in a Theme Pub

Started by Blumf, November 22, 2021, 02:28:49 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Blumf

The theme being 'Peaky Blinders', a show I have never watched.

Nice enough bar/restaurant area. There are some mannequins dressed up as, one presumes, characters from the show. We'll see what the foods like.

What theme pubs have you been to?

wooders1978

A very strange one in Bruges where the theme was apparently "the muppets" - once inside however it became apparent that it was also the gathering place for FC Bruges ultras - a rather quick yet intense beer later I was the fack outta there - not recommended

Icehaven

#2
I went to an Irish pub in Prague once, but failed to see what was Irish about it other than they may have served Guinness.

The Black Country Museum near us does Peaky Blinders evenings now, which effectively turns several nearby pubs into PB theme pubs for a few hours as the attendees get tanked up beforehand. Not unusual to pass by at about 7 or 8pm and see all these blokes in flat caps and women in flapper dresses falling over and puking as they stumble down the hill from Dudley.

dissolute ocelot

I've been to the Scottish pub in Paris, the Auld Alliance which is shit - most of the beer and staff were English or Irish and aside from a bit of football stuff, very dull.

The only acceptable theme for pubs is spooky stuff. Skulls, cobwebs, torture devices, plaques explaining who is haunting you. The Creepy Wee Pub in Dunfermline is good, and Frankenstein's in Edinburgh used to be fun but not sure if it's still open.

The other theme you sometimes see is the beer-themed pub. Barrels, brewery merch, pictures of old beer carts and small children drinking. This is really low-level shit.

Can't say I've been in many interestingly themed pubs though: Irish, Australian, gay bars, sports bars, excessive numbers of theatrical posters. None of it is much effort.

EDIT: Lebowski's, the Big Lebowski theme bar in Edinburgh used to be good, movie on repeat, themed food, white Russians (not actually a good idea). But it's shut, although I think there's still one in Glasgow.

Tony Tony Tony

Been in Le Cercueil in Brussels.

The tables are made out of coffins with skeletons inside. The beers are as good as you would expect in Brussels and you get to drink out of a skull.

The place is very Goth inspired and plays metal on a loop.

Bit of a tourist trap but worth going to say you been once.

Oh and the staff all float about in Monks cowls with hoods up being taciturn miserable cunts, though you can experience similar in most places near me in Luton.

There's a small bar hidden away in a back alley in Wolverhampton where the theme is criminality and violence. It's actually very authentic.

Hat FM

my local pub has a lockdown theme (it hasnt reopened).

Captain Z

#7
.

Blumf

Quote from: icehaven on November 22, 2021, 02:56:46 PMThe Black Country Museum near us does Peaky Blinders evenings now, which effectively turns several nearby pubs into PB theme pubs for a few hours as the attendees get tanked up beforehand. Not unusual to pass by at about 7 or 8pm and see all these blokes in flat caps and women in flapper dresses falling over and puking as they stumble down the hill from Dudley.

I was at The Station Hotel, which will be part of that. Food was fine, noting amazing pub food-wise, but not horrific either.

madhair60

There's a pub near me where the theme is they sell beer and you buy and drink it

Quote from: icehaven on November 22, 2021, 02:56:46 PMI went to an Irish pub in Prague once, but failed to see what was Irish about it other than they may have served Guinness.



This isn't O'Che's, is it? Not far over the Charles Bridge into the old town - A Cuban-Irish bar run by a cockney.

checkoutgirl

Quote from: icehaven on November 22, 2021, 02:56:46 PMI went to an Irish pub in Prague once, but failed to see what was Irish about it

An Irish pub theme is "low overheads". Buy drink, drink drink, no food except maybe a toastie and a packet of crisps. More drink. No tables. Cram 'em in. More drink. Loud trad folk music. More drink.

There are Irish them pubs in Ireland but I'm assuming they're not aimed at the locals.

shoulders

Scart in Timișoara's theme is communist childhood and has a lot of antiques, in fact the basement is a Museum of sorts.

The retro communism theme is very common across central Europe with places like Proletaryat in Poznan and Red Ruin in Budapest.

Most recent was a Gaststätte in Leipzig called Kollektiv which was based on DDR life, like being in someone's house in the late 70s in East Germany.

I like these ones and find overall that they are good, a superior brand of theme pub

shoulders

Horror theme/Rock pubs have such a near flush overlap it's difficult to distinguish one from the other. Very occasionally one will be more upmarket, have better decor but worse music.

shoulders

Omerta in Kraków is themed after The Godfather but literally no-one, locals included thinks it adds a damn thing. The pub itself is great, one of those spaces that just lends itself perfectly for friendly socialising, but you could replace the signage and posters entirely at no loss.

WeissbierHex in Nuremberg has a witch theme which is more genteel and kitsch than anything genuinely horrifying.

Masoch Café in Lviv has a sadomasochistic theme, unsurprisingly, and while there you are whipped at your table by the waiters (who are not only women).

Das Klo in Berlin is a TOILET THEMED BAR.

Fambo Number Mive


Icehaven

Quote from: drummersaredeaf on November 22, 2021, 04:39:06 PMThis isn't O'Che's, is it? Not far over the Charles Bridge into the old town - A Cuban-Irish bar run by a cockney.

I'm not sure, it was about 2006 and the only other thing I remember about it other than being not very Irish was that it did this creamy spicy chicken and bacon broth thing that was absolutely delicious (but more Russian than Irish).

The Culture Bunker

About 12 years ago, I was in a bar called 'The Godfather' in Tartu, Estonia (it was the only place in town showing English football) that was decorated with loads of pictures and whatnot relating to gangsters both real and fictional.

In the same country, in Tallinn, there's a Depeche Mode bar, but I never got the chance to visit.

flotemysost

Quote from: shoulders on November 22, 2021, 05:37:45 PMDas Klo in Berlin is a TOILET THEMED BAR.

I knew someone who got engaged there (well, a toilet themed bar in Berlin anyhow, dunno how many there are).

The Friends themed cafe in Liverpool is predictably predictable. And I've been to Beatles themed pubs in Hamburg (understandably) and Yerevan (slightly more baffling), but not Liverpool.

Millions of Irish pubs that aren't in Ireland of course, but that's such a universal stalwart it hardly counts as a theme.

Probably more hipster S4C than a proper theme, but the bar above the Viktor Wynd museum in Hackney has lots of taxidermy and three-headed dead things in jars of formaldehyde and the like.

I love the idea of a Peaky Blinders themed pub though, as in I love how supremely shit and deso it is. There's a Peaky Blinders themed escape room in London I've walked past a few times except they obviously don't have copyright to the name so it's called "Crafty Blighters" or something instead, and every time I've gone past it looks like it's been out of action for some time, ahh now I actually feel a bit sad after typing that out.

Icehaven

There's Peaky Blinders places in Liverpool and London?! I object to there being any outside the West Midlands, we have so little!
Seriously though I've never seen the show, it looks like cheesy crap, and I'd no sooner go to one of the bars than chop my arms off but it's one of the otherwise scarce things that gets tourist dollar round here. And let's face it it's not going to last forever is it, London's London and Liverpool's going to have the Beatles for at least another millennium or two.

Ferris

Quote from: dissolute ocelot on November 22, 2021, 03:32:29 PMThe only acceptable theme for pubs is spooky stuff. Skulls, cobwebs, torture devices, plaques explaining who is haunting you. The Creepy Wee Pub in Dunfermline is good, and Frankenstein's in Edinburgh used to be fun but not sure if it's still open.

Frankenstein's was so bad that the one time it became an option (actually, the only option because it was past 11pm) we decided we'd rather go home than venture inside. Possibly the only boozer that has inspired that reaction from me. Sad to hear about Lebowski's too - a friend nicked a pepper grinder from there which (for legal reasons) I may or may not be looking at right now 10+ years later.

Burke and Hare on Hanover street was the best spooky themed Edinburgh bar. The loos were behind a bookcase, I had to help a drunk American open the door because she was seconds away from pissing herself but hadn't a scooby how to get to the facilities. May also be closed, actually

Good times.

Ferris

Has anyone been to an old-timey themed pub? I suppose that's a bit like the Peaky Blinders ones mentioned above.

They drop the pretence quick when a punter gets too lairy.

JaDanketies

Porno-themed cocktail bar in Manchester was good fun. It seems like you can't turn a corner without entering a themed cocktail bar in Manchester. A "Lost in Tokyo"-themed one was absolutely pointless.

shoulders

Viktor Wynd is ace. Wouldn't have it as a theme pub but definitely recommend.

Blumf

Quote from: madhair60 on November 22, 2021, 04:35:23 PMThere's a pub near me where the theme is they sell beer and you buy and drink it

Bit of a cliché, but must impress the hipsters.

shoulders

Quote from: The Culture Bunker on November 22, 2021, 05:59:04 PMAbout 12 years ago, I was in a bar called 'The Godfather' in Tartu, Estonia (it was the only place in town showing English football) that was decorated with loads of pictures and whatnot relating to gangsters both real and fictional.

In the same country, in Tallinn, there's a Depeche Mode bar, but I never got the chance to visit.

Also a Depeche Mode bar in Riga. They just love those glum cunts.

Quote from: shoulders on November 22, 2021, 08:30:56 PMAlso a Depeche Mode bar in Riga. They just love those glum cunts.

You could say that they Just Can't Get Enough.

Famous Mortimer

Sadly, the Chuck Norris Facts - themed bar in Reykjavik is, according to Google, permanently closed. They did quite nice chips.

We found ourselves in a Manowar theme bar on a daytime wander in Budapest.

Well the entire place was covered in Manowar pictures, but no other bands.


 

Not my photos. I'm not a metalhead and am only aware of them as a joke from their album covers. Just a massive fan who opened a pub?

Johnny Foreigner

I quite like pubs called The Coach and Horses, as they are usually full of coaches and horses.