Master builder, Bucklers Hard, update

[Seajet]

Peter,

I sometimes read the reviews on the Master Builders Hotel just when I need a laugh !

Going by boat it's a lovely place and well worth visiting; just for the sake of all that's holy take your own booze and food, fuel too ( even if you want to pay Montys' prices the fuel pontoon only opened on a whim last time I bothered visiting ) allowing for getting galebound...

 

[Seajet]

I have never been to The MasterBuilder so cannot comment on the specifics but I think some of the more general comments about cost are a little unrealistic.
As you can see from my profile I live in what a previous poster so nicely called "the boonies" or at least a cultural desert if most of the comments about Merseyside are to be believed. However I would be very surprised to pay less than £50/head for dinner in anything approaching a decent restaurant; if the food is good it is most probably worth it. As an example my better half and I went to a local restaurant a few days ago with a another couple: - we were there from 8.00 until 11:15 so no real chance of a service before we arrived or after; 4 starters, 4 mains and 4 deserts, 2 coffees, 2 bottles of sancerre and 1 bottle of sparkling water - £238.00 The restaurant has places for 44 diners and a staff complement that evening of 5 in the kitchen and 3 front of house. I don't think they're getting rich at that rate. Maybe someone better informed such as Cheery could help us out.

Sandgrounder,

note I said ' £100 for two is outrageous for there,ie the Master Builders.

I am going by descriptions from people who have been there recently, I stopped going 20 years ago when a harbour bod jumped into my cockpit at 08:00, ignored the harbour dues receipt displayed as requested and tried to force open my main hatch ( I always suspected hoping he'd get an eyeful) .

I understand the harbour dues collectors are better now but most report the Master Builders as just as dire as I remember it but even more of a rip-off, apparently even the Beken prints have gone now and they were one of the few good things !

We were at a pub yesterday where we are not unknown to spend over £100 for the two of us, but we know it's worth it at Badgers' near Petworth, several others too like the Hollist at Lodsworth; as for the Master Builders, that's what they would have to pay me !

 

[T_C]

As others have said, it's the ' pay up or p$ss off - if we can be bothered to serve you at all ' service which got me; and £100 for two is outrageous at that place; is the shop still a badly stocked rip-off too ?

Never been there, but sounds as if it should be in Cornwall.

 

[jimi]

I'm wondering if I live in a parallel universe where £50 per head for steak and chips with a bit of supermarket plonk seems a tad ott.

 

[sailorman]

I'm wondering if I live in a parallel universe where £50 per head for steak and chips with a bit of supermarket plonk seems a tad ott.

On the East Coast Jimi we cane dine out for a week @ those prices

 

[JumbleDuck]

I'm wondering if I live in a parallel universe where £50 per head for steak and chips with a bit of supermarket plonk seems a tad ott.

I think you (and I) live in a parallel world called "not the South Coast".

 

[Cantata]

I'm wondering if I live in a parallel universe where £50 per head for steak and chips with a bit of supermarket plonk seems a tad ott.

Don't worry, you're not alone...

 

[AHoy2]

I'm wondering if I live in a parallel universe where £50 per head for steak and chips with a bit of supermarket plonk seems a tad ott.

Around £15 per head plus drinks is about all my budget can stand and then not too often. As eatery prices have gone up so have my cooking skills (just above survival level now) but I can have a better quality booze in the process.

 

[l'escargot]

I'm wondering if I live in a parallel universe where £50 per head for steak and chips with a bit of supermarket plonk seems a tad ott.

I don't think anyone has justified £50 per head for steak and chips and a bit of supermarket plonk, but I think you would be hard pushed to find a 3 course meal with wine for £15 a head anywhere in the country - even away from the south coast. Certainly not in a relatively exclusive location or of any quality....

 

[AHoy2]

I don't think anyone has justified £50 per head for steak and chips and a bit of supermarket plonk, but I think you would be hard pushed to find a 3 course meal with wine for £15 a head anywhere in the country - even away from the south coast. Certainly not in a relatively exclusive location or of any quality....

But I know places where I can get a good two course meal for £15 per head (excl. drinks) in pretentious Lymington or quaint Yarmouth. The exclusive and quality comments were not specifically for the Master Builders I assume, although for the record I recently had an acceptable but pricey (by my standards) meal there, with somewhat indifferent service.

 

[Mark-1]

The bar menu:

http://www.themasterbuilders.co.uk/...6bc83ea5aec84292457a215repository_items_0.pdf

 

[lustyd]

I'm wondering whether the massive difference in experience is down to the several different eateries on the site appearing as one. From what I saw, each menu is prepared by different staff in a different kitchen and with different prices and different service, so although everyone has eaten at "The Master Builders" we're all talking about different restaurants effectively.

 

[Mark-1]

I'm wondering whether the massive difference in experience is down to the several different eateries on the site appearing as one. From what I saw, each menu is prepared by different staff in a different kitchen and with different prices and different service, so although everyone has eaten at "The Master Builders" we're all talking about different restaurants effectively.

Plus the Master Builder is a different pub on a misty February evening to a sunny Bank Holiday lunchtime. I'd also bet their staff turnover is massive with students coming and going so an excellent waiter might be gone the next time you're there and vice versa.

Plus we all have different standards. I'm quite prepared to believe that a £10 meal I consider quite tasty might be a shocking travesty to the taste buds of someone a bit more sophisticated.

Not an easy commodity to compare.

 

[Talulah]

Plus we all have different standards. I'm quite prepared to believe that a £10 meal I consider quite tasty might be a shocking travesty to the taste buds of someone a bit more sophisticated.

Went out with my parents for a pub lunch a couple of weeks ago. My Mother booked a table. She said it had been recommended by one of my sisters. The moment she said that the alarm bells went up. Sure enough it was awful.

 

[l'escargot]

But I know places where I can get a good two course meal for £15 per head (excl. drinks) in pretentious Lymington or quaint Yarmouth. The exclusive and quality comments were not specifically for the Master Builders I assume, although for the record I recently had an acceptable but pricey (by my standards) meal there, with somewhat indifferent service.

So do I, it's easy to quote cheaper especially if you don't compare like for like, but I am sure you would expect to pay nearer to £50 a head for 3 courses with wine in Egan's, what used to be the Bluebird or even the Angel & Blue Pig - and you would expect and get more than steak & chips and supermarket plonk for your money.

 

[l'escargot]

Went out with my parents for a pub lunch a couple of weeks ago. My Mother booked a table. She said it had been recommended by one of my sisters. The moment she said that the alarm bells went up. Sure enough it was awful.

I am always surprised at some of the places people rave over on the IW, especially those with limited competition that struggle to meet adequate/mediocre - for instance the Folly, it's only ever served up adequate "pub grub". If it wasn't for the location it would struggle against far better places to eat.

 

[lustyd]

Plus we all have different standards. I'm quite prepared to believe that a £10 meal I consider quite tasty might be a shocking travesty to the taste buds of someone a bit more sophisticated.

It's not necessarily being more sophisticated, quite often it's practice. I'm away with work a lot and so stay in hotels and eat out very regularly, on average probably 3-4 times a week. This very quickly gives different standards to those of regular folk, especially with regard to things easy to fix.
One of my favourites is Wetherspoons because they are cheap and the food standards in most of their pubs are high - cheap food cooked well is better than expensive food cooked badly, and this is a chain that understands that and gives consistency.
The Anchor sells "sizzling steaks", a simple requirement of this is that the skillet they serve it on must be extremely hot - enough to make the food actually sizzle. They manage this about 1 in 10 times, and often this results in them having overcooked the steak to compensate which leads to dry tough steak. Add to this the overcrowding (not their fault) and lacking service (definitely their fault) among other things and I decided to take my business elsewhere. Their ale is distinctly average despite being the same ale as served much better elsewhere. An Ale pub should at the very least understand how to look after ale!
Michelin star restaurants on the other hand, must provide perfect food and perfect service. At Maze, the table next to me asked if they could skip the final course as they had tickets to a show and there was a tube strike on. The waitress returned 30 seconds later and explained their food would be given priority and the restaurant would arrange a car to take them to the theatre. When I took out my phone to get a picture of my g/f a waiter was immediately next to me offering to get a snap of the two of us - he had not been visible one second previously.

I don't expect every place I go to to match the Michelin star experience but the preparation must make the best of the food, the service should be good enough to deserve a tip, and the facilities should be clean and tidy. Beyond that, the price needs to match what is delivered, and that was the only downside with The Master Builders. If they dropped the prices a bit their reviews would be drastically different because expectations would not be for top notch service and food.

 

[lustyd]

I am always surprised at some of the places people rave over on the IW, especially those with limited competition that struggle to meet adequate/mediocre - for instance the Folly, it's only ever served up adequate "pub grub". If it wasn't for the location it would struggle against far better places to eat.

+1 - The Folly is a poorly implemented Wetherspoon type pub which happens to be next to the water and allow people to dance on tables. It would, in fact, improve drastically if Wetherspoon or similar took it over. In fact, it would make a cracking Wetherlodge. The Lifeboat is a better example of this kind of pub entirely.

 

[Giblets]

I am always surprised at some of the places people rave over on the IW, especially those with limited competition that struggle to meet adequate/mediocre - for instance the Folly, it's only ever served up adequate "pub grub". If it wasn't for the location it would struggle against far better places to eat.

My thoughts entirely. There are a couple of places in Seaview that spring to mind.

 

[l'escargot]

...The Lifeboat is a better example of this kind of pub entirely.

Without doubt. We go to the Lifeboat if we can't be bothered to shop or cook just for a quick meal and probably go there half a dozen times a month throughout the year. The food is entirely consistent and the service quick no matter how busy they are - I've never had a sizzler turn up that wasn't sizzling...