Food and drink

WHEN you picture Wetherspoons, you probably think of cheap pints, even cheaper food, colourful carpets, and a lively Friday night.

But your night out at Spoons doesn’t have to end with an expensive taxi home – with dozens of hotels across the UK and Ireland, the budget pub chain is quietly offering some of the best value city breaks around.

I headed to Dublin to see exactly what a night spent in a Spoons hotel really entails.

Spoiler alert: this particular Spoons hotel feels like staying overnight in a museum, and the rooms are nicer than you might think.

There are 56 Wetherspoons hotels across the UK and Ireland, so I decided to try out a stay at Keaven’s Port, a unique convent-turned-hotel in Dublin.

Keaven’s Port sits on Camden Street, which is where you’ll find crowds of locals out for drinks in Dublin – away from the expensive pints of Temple Bar.

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This well-positioned pub hotel puts you on the same street as popular nightclub The Camden, which you’ll find buzzing on the weekends.

And as for daytime sightseeing, here you’re only a 20-minute walk from popular attractions like Dublin Castle and Trinity College.

Wetherspoons are known for repurposing unique historic buildings including former opera houses, corn exchanges and banks.

Not only does this guarantee some decent square footage for all those restaurant tables (as well as a prime spot in the town centre) but it makes for a pretty unique overnight stay.

This one I found to be particularly unique. Keaven’s Port hotel is made up of eight old Georgian townhouses as well as a chapel.

The collection of buildings used to belong to Ireland’s Little Sisters of the Assumption, a convent established in the 1890’s.

Now, the chapel has been restored and is part of the bar and restaurant area. I must admit, sitting in a confession booth under stained glass with a bowl of chips and a pint is a tad surreal.

Getting to the rooms takes weaving through a series of corridors and lounge areas, each of which are packed with historical artefacts that made this stay feel more like a trip to the museum.

Lining the walls were old dresses and textiles, painted portraits and more belonging to historic residents of Camden Street Upper, as well as information boards telling you all about the history of the building.

One lounge area sees a giant Guinness-style harp, cosy sofas and a chessboard, while another sees antique furniture, Renaissance paintings and a collection of battered books packed with fascinating old stories.

After making your way out of the maze, you’ll reach the main bar and restaurant area (which thankfully has its own entrance, too).

Everything about the restaurant screams Spoons – tiled floors, a very long bar, plenty of high tables with stools as well as booths and larger tables for groups.

Just when you think there’s more than enough space, a spiral staircase decorated with mirrors leads you down to an even larger restaurant, as well as courtyard for the summer beer garden months.

We all know Spoons pubs in the UK offer some great-value deals on food and drink, but can you get good value over in pricy Dublin?

It turns out you can. An Irish spice bag with a soft drink costs €10.50 (£8.86), and a small cooked breakfast is an unbelievable €2.95 (£2.49).

You can grab a pint of Abbott for €2.60 (£2.19), wine by the glass starts from €4.30 (£3.63), and cocktail pitchers from €9.95 (£8.39).

A hot drink will only set you back €1.70 (£1.43), and it’s free refills from then on all day.

But what are the rooms like? Once you make it out of the busy bar area through to the elevators, the noise of the bar soon disappears.

If I’m totally honest, I went in expecting a cramped room with stained furniture and some strange marks on the walls.

Thankfully, I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw when I stepped in.

First of all, these rooms are very spacious. The large double bed had crisp white sheets, and there was plenty of room surrounding it to open up your suitcase.

The spacious desk was laid with the usual tea and coffee facilities. Here you also get posh shortbread biscuits and water cartons decorated with pictures of Irish poet W.B. Yeats (I kept mine as a souvenir).

The bathrooms were pretty glam too with black marble, a large mirror and a surprisingly spacious tub and shower. All in all, not at all bad for the price point.

Inspired by the local history, I did a bit of my own research. Namely, I wanted to know, who actually was St Keaven?

The name supposedly comes from St. Kevin, a sixth-century Christian hermit and saint, with a church named after him in nearby Camden Row.

Little is known about the Irish saint, other than that he appears in Seamus Heaney’s poetry and that he is associated with the glacial valley of Glendalough in nearby County Wicklow.

If you fancy, you can actually take a day trip from Dublin city centre into Glendalough to walk beside its glacial lakes with Wild Rover Tours (from €43). If you want to see some of Ireland’s rolling green hills and sparkling lakes away from the city, I’d highly recommend giving it a try.

But if you’d rather stay in the centre and make the most of the cheap pints in the bar below your room, it’s a great place for pre-drinks before rocking up to The Camden.

Rooms start from €86 (£72) per night, or £36pp based on two sharing. Click here to book.

Prices correct at the time of publication.

IT’S 10pm on a Sunday and I’m dancing alongside 50 strangers, an Aperol spritz in one hand and a skewered olive in the other.

I’m at La Ciclatera Sotto Il Mare, a bar tucked into the medieval walls of Bari in southern Italy.

This historic port city is the capital of Puglia, sitting in the heel of Italy’s boot on the Adriatic coast.

And it’s that same coastline I’m now gazing at, swaying to Italian tunes the locals know every word to as they dig into shared pizza boxes.

It’s a moment that really captures the city’s vibe, and is just one of many reasons to see it for yourself.

This summer, easyJet started flying to Bari from Manchester, joining its existing routes from Gatwick and Bristol. With a flight time of just under three hours, it’s a fresh alternative to the usual long weekend in Barcelona or Lisbon.

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Until now, Bari has largely been known to Brits as a stepping stone to the more famous corners of Puglia — but it deserves better..

Bari’s real charm lies in its old town, Bari Vecchia, where you can easily lose a whole day.

Its alleys twist between pale stone houses strung with washing lines, past tiny churches and crumbling shopfronts, before opening on to squares packed with restaurants, bars and trendy gelato spots.

Despite being on the coast, Bari isn’t brimming with beaches but there are still sunbathing spots — Pane e Pomodoro is a 30-minute stroll from the centre.

This small stretch of sand is easy to swim from and dotted with bars. It gets very busy at weekends though, so arrive early.

Those after a bit of culture should check out the Basilica di San Nicola, an 11th-century church built to house the remains of Saint Nicholas, the man who inspired Santa Claus.

A few streets away, there’s the 12th-century Castello Svevo, which has a museum and art exhibitions, as well as panoramic vistas from its ramparts.

But the biggest attraction in Bari is the food. It is the birthplace of orecchiette — the “little ears” pasta shape Puglia is famous for — and you’ll find it on most menus.

The best I had was at La Beuat, a modern seafood spot on a tiny square in the Carbonara district.

Every table was full of locals tucking into dishes such as grilled octopus and fiery spaghetti all’assassina — Bari’s signature pasta cooked in a scorching pan until the edges char.

Three courses for two with wine came to around €60 (£50), which is fairly standard for a good quality meal in the old town.

For more traditional vibes, La Cantina dello Zio is a family-run trattoria famous for its orecchiette with turnip tops.

Another favourite was Osteria del Borgo on Piazza Mercantile, one of the old town’s most atmospheric squares.

As I ended every evening with a stomach full of pasta, I was grateful for the short walk back to my hotel, the 4* Movenpick Bari.

Rooms are contemporary and comfortable and breakfast is served on the eighth floor, which has sweeping views of the city and harbour.

Bari is a great base for exploring the Puglia region and Ionian coast, where powder-white sands have earned it the nickname “the Maldives of Italy”.

Hire a car from around £30 per day to reach the more remote areas or let the train take the strain.

Polignano a Mare, the clifftop town famed for its beach carved into the cliffs, is fewer than 30 minutes away from Bari by rail.

Monopoli, with its whitewashed old town and string of turquoise coves, is also well worth an afternoon visit for a swim and plate of pasta by the harbour.

A little further afield is Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is renowned for its trulli (traditional cone-roofed stone huts).

That said, you don’t have to go far. Bari has more than enough charm, food and character to fill a long weekend — especially if you plan your days around what’s on the menu.

The hunt for the UK’s best fish and chip shop 2027 is on and there are 40 potential winners, as the shops near you make the shortlist and standout amongst thousands

More than 40 chippies have been named on the National Fish and Chip Awards longlist, as they battle it out to be winners of the National Fish & Chip Awards for 2027.

There are contenders in almost every county, from the seaside to small villages and big cities; the UK is home to an array of tasty chippies.

This lineup of fish and chip shops has impressed the judges, scoring ‘outstanding’ across a number of categories, including food quality, customer service, industry expertise and commitment to sustainability.

Selected from entries across the UK, the businesses in the longlist have impressed judges with their products, service and ability to represent fish and chip-loving communities up and down the country.

In their 39th year of awards, they continue to recognise greatness in the food world, across 14 categories, which includes the highly contested Restaurant of the Year.

The current Takeaway of the Year titleholder, Aman Dhesi, co-owner of The Scrap Box in York, Yorkshire, shared what his win meant to him last year.

He said: “More than six months on from winning, we’re still seeing the impact of the award. It gave the business a huge boost, as did reaching the top 10 the year before, but probably the biggest thing has been the opportunities it’s opened up for us outside the shop, from media and travel to meeting people across the industry and getting involved in some really exciting projects.

“For those in the top 40, I’d say enjoy the process and make the most of it. The awards journey really makes you look closely at your own business – what you do well, what makes you different and where you can still improve.

“We learned a huge amount through the process before we ever won. And don’t try to second-guess what the judges want. Be proud of what makes your shop yours and tell that story.”

The next stage will narrow this number down to 20 in the semi-finals, before the top 10 is revealed for 2027.

The shortlist for the 40 best Fish and Chip takeaways in the UK:

Bristol

Bishopston Fish Bar

Jolly Fryer

Devon

Chippies Plaice, Newton Abbot

Taffs Fish and Chips, Torrington

Dorset

Somewhere Else Fishy, Sherborne

Essex

The Hook of Halstead

Greater Manchester

Taylors, Stockport

Hampshire

Berties, New Milton

Best Fry, Southampton

Mike’s Traditional Fish and Chips, Eastleigh

Mister Pink’s, Milford-on-Sea

Hertfordshire

The Corner Plaice, Rickmansworth

Lancashire

The Cottage, Blackpool

Lincolnshire

Catch 22, Tattershall

Linfords Fish and Chips, Market Deeping

Pips Chips, Cleethorpes

London

Chipping Wharf Fish & Chips, Bow

Fish! Kitchen, Southwark

Skipjacks, Harrow

Merseyside

The Good Catch (Freshfield), Liverpool

Norfolk

Grosvenor Fish Bar, Norwich

Nottinghamshire

Angell’s Fisheries, Newark

Oxfordshire

Harrison’s Fish & Chip Co., Oxford

Somerset

Knights Fish Restaurant, Glastonbury

Suffolk

Tulula’s Fish & Chips, Halesworth

Surrey

The Hake, Weybridge

Seafare Guildford

Yorkshire

The Fish Bank, Sherburn-in-Elmet

Northern Ireland

County Antrim

Browns Award Winning Fish and Chips, Belfast

Merchant Fish and Chips, Ballymena

County Down

The Frying Squad (Balloo), Bangor

McCann’s Fish & Chips, Newcastle

Scotland

Aberdeenshire

Garioch Fish Bar, Inverurie

Lows Traditional Fish & Chips (Westhill), Aberdeen

Ayrshire

Enzo’s Fish and Chips, Irvine

The Fish Works, Largs

Inverness-shire

Hilton Chip Shop, Inverness

Monster Fish & Chips Co., Fort Augustus

Wales

Powys

Hennighan’s Fish & Chips Bottom Shop, Machynlleth

Vale of Glamorgan

Farnhams Fish and Chips (Boverton), Llantwit Major