BITE user comments - 42yearsyoung
Comments by 42yearsyoung
The Seven Stars, Chancery Lane
Went here with my Dad the other night as it was his local when he worked in London 40 years ago. He was very pleased to see that they still hadn't mended the sticking door into the right hand bar ! Had roasted Guinea Fowl and a couple of unusual ales (for a central London pub). All top notch. I funny little place with loads of character and plenty of quirks. A lot of people won't get it at all which obviously makes it great (and not too busy...) Going back next week for more of the same.
11 Oct 2011 21:58
Visited here the other day for the first time in a while to try and give the place another go. I live down the road but drink elsewhere after bad experiences here in the past (rude service generally which we'd got fed up of putting up with even though the food has always been generally good).
As myself and my girlfriend entered and approached the bar the 3 staff behind it (the pub was nearly empty) either turned theirs backs to us or wandered off leaving us standing there until we gave up and left. Upon looking back through the front window from the outside we could then see the 3 members of staff laughing about what they had just done. Even ruder than usual ! Where do they find these people !
I can't believe Fullers let this pub continually be a badly run and staffed as this for literally YEARS.
We won't be going back as luckily there's plenty of better pubs nearby, the only people who drink there are the suits from the nearby Foxton's estate agents head office (Nice !). Hope they don't start drinking in my local though when this place inevitably closes down and blamed the "recession"...
16 Dec 2010 22:36
The Hole In The Wall, Chiswick
Great modern local in residential area away from the high street - hard to find if you're not a local. Very well kept ales - the Pride is better than any of the Fullers pubs nearby that I've tried (most). Good low(ish) level music, amazing garden (with grass!!!), 2 rooms to the bar - a main front bar and a smaller cozy snug plus a dining room where generally very good, posh, pub food (quite expensive), is served.
The couple that run it are great and very friendly and their staff are well drilled. When they took it over it was a little too much of a restaurant to start off with (although very good) but it's found a good middle ground now between drinking and eating with some great local characters at the bar too. Would feel happy coming here for a few beers with friends, dinner with my girlfriend or having Sunday lunch with the parents.
Sunday lunch can get pretty hectic though with too many moody pram pushers (the down-side of Chiswick I guess) expecting to be treated like royalty (as a reward for letting their offspring run around the pub until they fall over and cry ?) spoiling the atmosphere a bit for others. It's a PUB please guys - not a childminders that sells beer !!! Great that it's child friendly but it's not all about you, you, you !!!
Overall, a really good local pub. Yes it's been smartened up a bit, yes you can buy some posh food there, no it's hasn't got sky, no it hasn't got pitbulls scaring everyone out of the garden anymore but that's what makes it a good local pub that suits the community which is what a local pub should be.
Most of the reviews here are very out of date or written by people who would probably be happier in Giraffe on the High Street.
16 Dec 2010 22:14
The Queens Head / Easton, Clerkenwell
Had a good roast beef and decent pint of Landlord with friendly(ish) service here a few Sundays ago in what is basically a (Gastro, yes, but...) lovely un-messed-around-with London pub. Have just been back seeking the same but was very disappointed.
They don't do roast beef anymore (hadn't done for "Ages..." I was told) and there were no ales available ("That tends to happen at the weekend..." I was told.) Food we had WAS good but the chef is being let down by snobby and incompetent front on house staff who act like they've got something much more important to be doing than working in a pub. (Why do they then? I can never quite work that one out...)
When the chef moves to a different establishment can he/she please let myself and others that have left similar comments on this site know where so we can give it a go please ?
12 Dec 2010 21:58
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The Lord Palmerston, Dartmouth Park
Surprised by some of the reviews below, although most are pretty out of date. I've always found landlord Steve and his staff here very friendly and helpful and the beer selection impressive and well kept. It is a little bit gastro I guess (although far less so than many others in this area) which isn't really my thing either but it's easy to avoid that if you just want a pint or 2 by staying in the main front bar and avoiding the (separate) dining room. Very dog friendly too (just down the road from the heath) plus the music's some of the best you'll hear in any London pub, always a top notch selection - I heard everything from Bob Dylan to Northern soul via Studio 1 and Herman Dune on my last visit. Top notch beer and fine tunes in a smart but not too un-pub-like local.
11 Oct 2011 22:23