It’s not always easy to get away from the chain or Irish themed bars and pubs in New York City, but sometimes you come across an absolute classic as we are featuring today- Rudys.  Ruby’s is in Hell’s Kitchen and is an institution in New York City. This small bar is so good you want to pack it up, with its pig, beers and very friendly staff and bring it home- it is so good.  Rudy’s features what is sure to be the cheapest draft beers in the city, and there is quiet a choice including, the Pigslapper we features a few days back.  If you are hungry, well the menu is pretty simple- hot dogs and guess what they are free, yes free a perfect way to enjoy a few beers.  The décor is a bit old school, the 70’s tiffany lampshades are pretty daggy, the wrap around couches have seen better days (much better days)  but it is so fantastic and you wouldn’t change a thing.   There’s great grungy and sultry tunes of the 60’s 70’ and 80’s ad to the experience and atmosphere. The place is not trying to be fashionable or styled to look and feel like it is, it somehow just turned out this way and this is what makes this bar so good and full of character.  It’s just down to earth and real.  Rudy’s has a great friendly place for pitcher or two, the choice of beer is great and it’s a fantastic night out which won’t cost you the earth.

http://www.rudysbarnyc.com/

We had a wonderful afternoon visiting the Tui brewery and headquarters in Mangatainoka New Zealand, which is a short drive from Palmerston North on the North Island. What an awesome little set up the guys have, it is fantastic.  Set amongst farmland the historic Tui tower can be seen for miles so there’s no problem finding it.  There’s an amazing welcoming centre complete with bar and giftshop, plenty of outdoor seating and a huge expanse of grass to enjoy a beer or meal. The bar features some pretty interesting drops of beer too, not only do they serve the Tui we have come to love on our Beer tour of New Zealand but they also stock a couple of beers not sold anywhere else- so it’s pretty special.  Tui offer tours of the brewery which is amazing, seeing how they produce beer from the freshest of ingredients. The friendly staff not only show you behind the scenes of the brewing process they end the tour as all good tours should end finishes with a taste of their tasty brews you even get to take home a Tui glass- how good is that!

For more information: http://www.tui.co.nz/default.asp

The traditional pub counter meal is usually a chicken parmy, a snitzel, a mixed grill or a favourite of our Bangers and Mash. Originating from England bangers were a colloquial name for sausages and sure are tasty. The bangers and mash as the name suggests are grilled sausages onto of a bed of mashed potato then covered in rich gravy. If you are really lucky your pub might even add caramelised onions with the gravy to make it even tastier. The some of the earliest bangers and mash on the menu date back to around 1919 when English Pubs invented this quick to prepare and cheap dish. There are quiet a few variants of bangers and mash and it usually  has to do with the sausage type- some of  the new fancy pubs and bars are experimenting with gourmet sausage varieties which will keep the dish popular for decades to come.

Check out our pub grub site below

www.pubgrub.com.au

When it comes to great Australian pub meals nothing goes past the Chicken Parmigina or as it affectionately know the Chicken Parmy. This tasty crumbed chicken fillet is grilled or fried then covered with a slice of ham tasty tomato pasta sauce and smothered with cheese before being placed under the grill until golden brown. It is then served with chips (or fries, pommes as they are known in some countries) and a fresh salad or sometimes vegetables. Many pubs also do a veal / beef version prepared just the same. They are truly delicious and washed down with a pot or schooner of the best Australian beer you have had a fantastic lunch. The Chicken Parmy is that popular in Australia there are several websites, magazines and other forms of media rating the best pub parmy in the country.   If you know a great tasting Parmi write us a comment so we all can try it.

When it comes to meal time down at the local pub things are a little different around the world. German’s enjoy a bratwurst, American’s enjoy spare ribs, Australia’s pubs have just about always got a Chicken Parmy on the menu and in the UK nothing is tastier than a Toad in the Hole to wash down that pint of lager. The Toad in the Hole is a tasty mixture of mashed potato, caramelized onions and some nicely grilled sausages all put together in a Yorkshire pudding then covered in rich gravy. Most of the pubs do it and it is absolutely delicious.