Sure there are of course plenty of great places. They weren’t like purged or something. But now you have to go searchings, like in the US
You don’t have to go far precisely because your local craft beer haunt, gastropub, sports bar and boozer all serve different clientele.
This is very consistent with there being a steady decline. (Likewise, some mock the perennial complaint that "people don't work as hard as they use to", but in fact hours worked per week has been steadily falling for 150 years.)
> You don’t have to go far precisely because your local craft beer haunt, gastropub, sports bar and boozer all serve different clientele.
I don't know what this is supposed to mean. If a country's is dominated by a certain establishment type I like, and then that type loses lots of market share to different types, I am worse off.