A man who spent five years working in a Wetherspoons kitchen whilst studying at uni has shared some behind-the-scenes insight into the pub menu.
Cheap and cheerful, Wetherspoons is a popular go-to amongst pubgoers in the UK. The former employee said he enjoyed working there - especially the social aspect that came with it.
One of the other perks, he said, was that staff members got a free meal if they were working for seven hours or more. According to the man, a lot of the food items are either deep fried or heated up in the microwave before they're served to customers.
The Mirror reports that the man took to Reddit to share his experiences of working in the pub chain, as well as discussing how some of the food is prepared.
He clarified that the burger patties "come in a packet as you'd get at Tesco", and so aren't made completely from scratch, however, they are "properly grilled". The bacon is also cooked fresh, not microwaved as some people think.
The former staff member, who goes by the username u/Itsdarkinhere11, said: "The pizza is decent in my opinion, and the curries aren't bad for being microwaved. I'd avoid the steaks, I never ate one but always thought they looked awful."
When asked about some of the different burger types, he continued: "The beef ones are cooked fresh, they're not the best but for the price, they're not bad. Gets a bit dicier when you start going for chicken or veggie or vegan in my opinion."
Then he discussed how some of the other food items on the menu are cooked. He alleged that eggs were "fried on a flat top grill thing", which wasn't the easiest to clean, and were then "scrambled and poached in the micro".
He claimed that "poached eggs came pre-poached", and that it was "always funny watching managers try to come up with excuses for how we could serve fried/scrambled eggs but not poached or vice versa".
Eddie Gershon, from the Wetherspoon PR team, told the Mirror that "fish is freshly battered every day", while pizzas and paninis are both "made fresh to order". He added that "curries are made to bespoke Wetherspoon recipes and are delivered frozen and then heated in the microwave".
In regards to breakfast, Eddie revealed: "For the majority of the time, breakfasts are cooked to order. During some busy periods, in order to ensure customers are served promptly, some items are pre-cooked and held for a limited time.
"Our poached eggs are pre-poached to ensure the quality of the product is consistent for the customer."
He continued: "A small percentage of our dishes, by volume sold, are microwaved. Most high-volume products such as burgers and steaks are grilled and a number of other meals such as pizzas and jacket potatoes are oven cooked.
"Wetherspoon’s top three cooking methods are (in order): 1. Grilling ('clam' or flat grill OR 'char' grill), 2. Frying, 3. Oven-cooking."
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