BITE user comments - KathS
Comments by KathS
The Somerstown Coffee House, Euston
I've had really good food, wine and beer in this pleasant and attractive pub. It can be hard to get a table here early on a midweek evening unless you choose to sit in the restaurant, but it's a good place to spend the whole evening if you can.
5 Apr 2011 15:08
Lovely beer, decent bar snacks and a really friendly welcome. It's a really atmospheric old pub and has an open fire on cold days. Like most city pubs it's not open late or at weekends, but I can't recommend it enough on a weekday evening if you're in the area.
5 Apr 2011 15:05
In fairness to the Raglan, it has improved in the last couple of years. They've stopped booking out every spare corner on a Thursday night. It used to be that if you arrived at 9pm, 80% of the space held a scattering of people left over from parties which started at 5, while most of the customers were crammed into the bar area. The beer and wine are okay and we've had polite (if not totally reactive) responses to our requests to turn the music down once the pub's emptied out. There are much better pubs within 5 minutes' walk, but if you can't persuade your friends or colleagues to walk 5 minutes, it's not as terrible as it used to be.
5 Apr 2011 15:01
I've had some nice evenings in here. It's a pleasant place to be, the food is decent and their wine offers aren't bad. I've enjoyed the pub quiz too, although it's impossible to win it now unless you join the other tables in consulting your smart phone.
5 Apr 2011 14:51
The Nobody Inn, Newington Green
Decent pub with a nice atmosphere and good beer. The night I went it felt as though the two halves - locals watching footy on one side, low sofas and candles on the other - really melded, but it didn't help that the sofa side was reserved but hardly anyone had turned up yet.
5 Apr 2011 14:48
The Duke Of Wellington, Hackney
Attractive pub with decent beer and a good range of other drinks. Food is perfectly good quality gastro fare, but it's a real drinking pub nonetheless. I'd concur, however, that the regular clientele is young and trendy and I have ended up waiting while the bar staff giggled with them rather than selling me beer.
5 Apr 2011 14:43
The White Hart, Stoke Newington
Pleasant high street pub with a great pub garden, good selection of beer and enough space that even when it's packed (eg when football's on) you can still find a corner.
5 Apr 2011 14:35
The Rochester Castle, Stoke Newington
An unreconstructed Wetherspooons shed with the usual high turnover of not-enough bar staff. But... I've never had a bad pint here nor paid more than 3 quid. If you come here with regulars, you'll feel welcome and safe enough. And I've been to rougher pubs (although not for very long). But, yes, it's not part of the New Stokey.
5 Apr 2011 14:34
Jolly Butchers, Stoke Newington
Pleasant buzzy spot on Stoke Newington High Street with a good range of interesting beers. The clientele tends towards the twentysomething, and it's certainly loud, but then it's nice to see so many youngsters trying different beers!
5 Apr 2011 14:27
The Six Bells, Preston St Mary
Fairly pleasant pub in a nice bit of Essex. We were pleased to be able to get a reasonably-priced meal although the quality was nothing special. Unfortunately the roaring fire was in the same room as the *massive* sports screen, while we were sidelined to the dark and chilly dining area. However, the landlord was friendly and it would probably have felt very different if we'd been sat in the garden on a busy sunny day.
5 Apr 2011 14:24
Nice unpretentious locals pub serving decent beer. This sort of 'front room' pub is a rare find. It's not the sort of place you can hide in the corner, but while I was clearly a tourist, the locals were perfectly friendly and not remotely bothered by my presence in the thick of their conversation.
5 Apr 2011 14:20
The Bull and Last succeeds brilliantly as a restaurant with really interesting ingredients and high quality preparation. It's always full although as far as I know the recession isn't over yet. But I agree that it's not the best pub qua pub in the area - even as a gastropub. I went in at 10.30 the other night hoping for a pint and a scotch egg but because the kitchen was closed they had no bar snacks. Still, this is where I would book for a really memorable meal out at a reasonable price for the quality. The rest of the time I can be found in the Southampton Arms....
5 Apr 2011 14:17
I'm afraid I have to agree with the other reviewers who found this pub cliquey and unwelcoming. It's a shame as it's a real character pub, located next to a station and in lovely countryside. The last time I came here, the landlord snapped at me to 'either come in or go away' because I was waiting by the door while my friends scraped the mud off their boots (I was in shoes and socks myself). Yesterday the same man laughed at my friend and me when we expressed disappointment that we would be waiting on the train platform for 50 minutes as they were closed 'until Tuesday' (it was Sunday). And yes, he and the other staff were all sitting outside enjoying drinks and the evening sunshine. A small amount of apology would have gone a long way in not making us feel like terrible people for wanting to buy some beer off them.
13 Sep 2010 15:31
This pub is under new management and it's not an improvement - the prices have gone up, the music has now reached earsplitting levels and the staff are unfailingly rude. Add to the fact that it's full of drunken suits and the upstairs is nearly always booked for parties (meaning downstairs is rammed) and there really can't be a reason to give them your custom.
27 Feb 2009 10:18
The Pilot, Mumbles
I think it may have joined the list of closed pubs. It's pictured on a property website with closed up windows. Sigh.
30 Jun 2011 15:00