Gastro pubs

A bunch of my old favs have gone away, such as the King's Head and Eight Bells, The Ennismore Arms, The Australian, just to name a few. I still have a local, the Fox and Hounds, but it seems as if pubs of this kind are going away.

I have gone to a couple of old favs that have become Gastropubs. Those are pubs with expensive beer and bizzare versions of pub food. Nosh that reminds me of this from the Catherine Tate show:


There was a Japanese bloke who didn't find this funny since the mushrooms are pronounced Shi'itake. Although, one of my Irish girlfriends did pronounce it the same way that Janice and Ray do in the sketch.

Next question, why are trad pubs dying out to be replaced by this sort of thing?

(or worse, the Ennismore Arms was torn down for a private home).