BITE user comments - BeeBee69
Comments by BeeBee69
It's been 6 months since I feist set foot in this pub and here it is 6 months later and the place is now my weekly hang-out. I come all the way from Ilford to have a couple of nice pints in a relaxed atmosphere and (sometimes) a cool DJ spinning some rather fine tunes
Love it
7 Mar 2015 23:54
A truly fantastic pub.
Cosy, good ever changing selection of ales.
Love this place.
2 Feb 2015 18:58
Nice pub. Was well crowded last time I was in there. Cheap as well
31 Dec 2014 17:50
Popped in on a Saturday night for a quick one and was pleasantly surprised.
Welcoming staff, clean venue, nice atmosphere.
The only downsides were the quite small selection of ales, although there were a couple of Essex brews, which tasted lovely. My biggest gripe was the large TV screen showing football highlights to nobody. If there is not a real match on and no-one is watching it please turn the TV off. It's just a distraction.
Also turn down the music (a touch too loud) and anything except godawful 80's pop and rock.
Would use it for a meet-up, but not for a proper night-out
16 Sep 2014 18:57
I haven't been in here for years. Not since it was all crap lager, big screens showing sports, and pool tables.
Decided to give it another try one Saturday evening before heading up to the Ye Olde Rose and Crown and was pleasantly surprised. The place was busy, but not rammed. My wife and I had no problems finding a table and the selection of ales was brilliant. Over the course of the night we tried 6 of the ales on offer and all tasted amazing. Well kept drinks in clean glasses.
The interior of the pub is well laid out and clean (including the loos). The bar-staff were friendly and helpful, and worked hard to keep up with a rush that occurred at about 8ish. The beer garden was both roomy and intimate at the same time.
The atmosphere was further enhanced by a DJ playing downtempo experimental music that was interesting, and yet not too obtrusive. The inclusion of a bouncer meant that you had the additional feeling of safety from anyone that may want to spoil peoples Saturday night.
Plenty of bus stops nearby means it should be hassle free for most people to get to and from.
31 Aug 2014 09:04
Railway Tavern, Buckhurst Hill
Walked in, looked around, walked out.
In the 12 seconds I was in there was able to check that they had no-ales, just lager, a big plasma screen showing sports, even though no-one was watching. Half a dozen punters shouting their opinions across the bar to each other whilst kids ran around their feet.
Truly awful place
28 Aug 2014 19:08
The Three Colts, Buckhurst Hill
Popped in on a Thursday evening and couldn't get to see what ales were on as the locals guarded the bar with antagonizing glares and folded arms, even though there were dozens of seats available. When I did get to the bar was able to observe their wide selection of shit lagers and two ales (Doombar and Timothy Taylor)
Supped our drinks while two white-van drivers swore across the bar to each other, and a couple of botox casualties compared their orange tans.
28 Aug 2014 18:59
The Crown and Crooked Billet, Woodford Green
Great pub. Car park, friendly staff, good selection of lagers and ales, music audible but not too loud, clean, smoking on the decking and a tempting menu.
Went in on a Thursday evening and the pub had a good crowd. Workmen on their way home, but not sort to hold court in the pub or view every stranger with suspicion. Bar staff were proper friendly and even warned me that one of the drinks was a bit iffy (many a pub would have poured it for you anyway). The decor, floor, seats, and tables were spotlessly clean.
No specialty or guest ales but a good selection of the usual suspects - Adnams, Speckled Hen, Doom Bar, etc
Looked at a menu, looked good (if a little high-end).
Would definitively return
28 Aug 2014 18:51
from the local press
"A venue formerly notorious for violence and under-age drinking has been transformed into a high-end brasserie selling soul-food and cocktails.
Bojangles Brasserie in Old Church Road, Chingford, will officially open to the public next weekend after owner Bryon Senior started renovating the premises in January.
Inspired by the British and American soul music movement and selling traditional Caribbean and U.S. dishes such as Jerk Chicken and New Orleans Gumbo, staff are hoping its troubled history will be a thing of the past.
Most people know the venue as the former Prince Albert, which had a reputation for under-age drinking and violent attacks.
The venue struggled to change its reputation under a series of owners and renamed the Bird Cage and then Chanz.
Now, with its new decor, including four VIP booths and crystal-studded feature walls, marketing and events manager Daniel O'Gorman is hoping to bring a bit of 'West End' nightlife and entertainment to Chingford.
He said: "Before, it was very much an over 18s to 21 crowd and the previous management were guilty of letting people in hammered.
"It is a late-night venue but we're bringing something of a certain standard to Chingford.
"There is nothing like it anywhere near besides your Jazz Cafe in Camden or Madame Jo Jo's in Soho but yet this area has a massive cross-section of cultures and Chingford Big Weekender is just one example of showing there is this demand.
"We recognise it is a challenge and all of us want to see it do well."
The venue will serve food daily from midday until 9.30pm when the seating area is then removed to open up the dance floor with live soul music on Fridays and cabaret on Saturdays until 2am.
Once a month, its doors will stay open until 4am for a club night, with performers such as American R&B dance singer Jocelyn Brown among those being sought.
Mixologist of fifteen years Arie Juliusburger, of George Lane in South Woodford, is hoping to entice 80s soul-lovers with his creative take on cocktails such as rum and ginger beer-based Ebony & Ivory, the Master Blaster and Sir Duke.
Britain's Got Talent semi-finalist La Voix will kick off the venue's first cabaret night on September 6. "
25 Aug 2014 14:10
From the local press
"The owner of a two hundred year-old pub is seeking to "return it to its former glory" following an extensive refurbishment.
Dating back to the mid 19th century, the Royal Oak pub in Hale End Road, Highams Park has become the latest restoration project for the Irish pub company, Tommy Flynn's.
It re-opened to the public on August 7 following a three-month closure with much of its original features restored and displayed for the first time in a generation. "
25 Aug 2014 14:03
Looks like it is being turned into a Spanish Restaurant opening in September.
22 Aug 2014 14:27
The Warrant Officer, Walthamstow
A fantastic pub in a not-too-great area. The staff are wonderful, welcoming and chatty. Always willing to help, allowing tasters of the ales and a professional service.
The pub also has many live bands playing down there and you can see that the management have given this some serious consideration. Not just covers bands playing loudly and badly, but folk, rock, jazz, blues, etc artists playing originals and clearly with tons of talent.
Worth a visit, but keep the phone number of a cab company in your pocket. Only other option is a single bus that goes in Walthamstow. and don't think about taking a "stroll" around the local area.
20 Aug 2014 14:08
A nice venue in a great location with a solid selection of ales. Unfortunately let down by the bar staff. Went in during a quite period and although there were only four of us at the bar, the two staff still served people out of sequence (causing clear annoyance) and took twenty minutes to serve everyone.
Shame
20 Aug 2014 13:59
The pub is a good pub, that could easily be a great pub. The architecture is snug and interesting, loos are clean, and the furniture is worn (not fake distressed) by tidy.
The only thing stopping this pub from being great is the big TV blaring out Heart FM, and the poor quality control on the beers. A recent visit resulted in a beer and a wine being returned, both undrinkable.
There was one piss-head at the bar who thought it was acceptable to call a women a "lezzer" across the pub (he seemed to know her, but she did not seem terribly impressed either way).
Shame, but not a lost cause.
20 Aug 2014 13:54
What a shame!
Great building, great location, bus-stops very nearby. Went in on Saturday night the only punters were a couple who spent the evening staring at each. The perfect place for a bit of live music or... anything really.
15 Aug 2014 14:20
Had yet another refurb. Went in at 10pm on a Saturday night and we were the only punters in there. Poor selection of drinks.
15 Aug 2014 14:10
Very disappointed. One wall is open into the shopping centre which means drinking as shoppers stroll by. A big screen on with random sports that no-one was watching (Dont like TVs on unless they are showing a specific event). No price board on display
14 Aug 2014 15:03
Nice enough décor and the bar staff were friendly - but at the end of the day just another pub with big screens, and there are enough of them around already.
What used to set this pub apart from the crowd was the live music, always something going on upstairs, now that's gone...
With Luna Lounge, North Star and Red Lion within walking distance they need to do something special to get me back in there
6 Dec 2013 17:29
The Railway Bell, South Woodford
If you like big screens showing footie that nobody is really watching, poor selection of ales, carpet that hasn't been replaced since the 70s, and loads of geezers in their workclothes going "oi, oi, savaloy" every two minutes then you are gonna be in heaven.
8 Mar 2015 00:07