BITE user comments - beer_dreamer
Comments by beer_dreamer
Not been in here for 25 years until this last weekend. Hasn't changed - which is a good thing. Beer is fresh. Olde worlde atmosphere. Offers standard pub fayre. My Aunt's lasagna was cold in the centre. This was always a pub for drinking in and should as such remain.
14 Nov 2012 20:50
The Hare and Hounds, East Sheen
This 18thC pub is one of my locals and I can't see why the rating is so low. Very comfortable pub with an extensive garden for the summer. Beer is always well kept.
The only bugbear is that I've heard that the food can be hit and miss, and so on hearing that infomation, have yet to dine here.
If they remedy this then this would be head and shoulders above the rest in the area.
14 Nov 2012 20:36
We visited today and overall had a pleasant experience. The food is indeed overpriced but Shirley Hickmott, the landlady, was all too willing to trust us over payment (ie. not take a credit card behind the bar). The soup of the day (leek & potato) was hot and tasty with fresh coriander as a dressing. The beer fresh and with no complaints. Dogs are welcome. Wood burner kept topped up.
I can't agree with 'nstringer' above. Buggies would prove to be a hazard. You can carry your children from the pub car park or, in fact, from the more extensive Toys Hill car park 10 minutes walk away.
I feel there is a particular local issue here, and not being one, I had a happy interlude on a sunny late autumn day.
14 Nov 2012 20:18
The Pig and Whistle, East Sheen
A novel marketing opportunity for The Pig & Whistle.
A pub for swearing in Sheen.
An alternative for those who would rather watch the sport....
The Ship is 10 minutes walk away by the river via Sheen Lane. The have Sky and there is no swearing.
29 Oct 2012 00:02
Completely closed and looks ripe for conversion into "luxury accomodation" or suchlike...which is a shame because the memories from when I last visited 10 years ago recall a pleasant and vibrant place.
28 Oct 2012 23:39
Having embarked on a sojurn of a decade or more in north London I have returned to the area and see that the glacial pace that the bar staff exhibit has barely changed. I remember the experience of standing at the bar (and clearly concious of the feeling) that I was slowly being subsumed into the ether of the pub. Invisible to the naked eye. At 3pm on a Tuesday afternoon.
However, on a recent visit with a friend (with whom I made many visits in the early days of this century) I was reminded that this is perhaps not a peculiar phenomena to this particular pub.
Why? Well, I noticed that the beers available (Sierra Nevada etc) virtually corresponded with a hostelry that I became familiar with during my stay just south of Enfield. And indeed, it transpires, M&B are the owners of both.
There on a sunny day the bar was usually 6 deep, and with the numerous staff seemingly encased in concrete boots, some of us duly left after 10 minutes and made the arduous journey 2 minutes across the The Green to be served with alacrity at a equally boistrous and vibrant rival.
My analysis being that just maybe this is systematic of the group or brand as a whole.
Generally I can never understand, being the solitary occupant of a bar area, being asked the question (eventually) "Are you being served?". A quick cursory glance of the serving area establishing that the plurality of staff on duty must be visually impaired.
28 Oct 2012 22:42
A decade or so ago I used to come here regularly and experienced some wonderful times. But the years since seem to have sullied this place and it pleads defeat. It clearly trades on it's location, and given this, it is listing badly to one side but perhaps hopefully not yet holed below the waterline.
A precarious mountain of used glassware teetered on the side of the bar, with various plates of decaying fayre abandoned on tables throughout the pub, whilst the staff stood around behind the bar glaring moodily at you if you dared to catch their eye.
Some plucky gent was consuming the food in a corner. Not daring to raise his head beyond the end of the table. Might he be visually accosted by the wretched bar staff.
The decor is a ghost of past glories. Scuffed chairs and battered wallpaper being the order of the day. The carpet was seeded with detrius from the night before whilst the pot plants wilted, no doubt in part to the torpid atmosphere.
The prices are eye watering.
Youngs aggressively cost their beverages but to do so you have to offer a superior experience.
Sadly this is not one of them.
28 Oct 2012 13:42
I would concur with all below. Excellent local pub. Got to sample half a pork pie (and mustard), scotch egg and a collection of cheeses with pickles placed on the bar. Beers are top notch. Friendly service. Warm flow of conversation melds with the juke box - not competing with it! I was grinning from ear to ear. Travelled 40mins + to get here. And will do so again in the very near future.
8 Oct 2012 18:01
This is how a pub should be. Dozing dogs. A real fire. Customer burble not pumping 'music'. Attentive service. Lights just right and not too bright. Friday evenings you may well have to stand up for a while but after a bit you won't notice because of the excellent atmosphere.
8 Oct 2012 17:52
The Salisbury Arms, Winchmore Hill
Reside locally. Visited in early August with a friend over from Morocco and the food was very good. Prompt and hot. Although it was a Wednesday afternoon. The faux Tudor gas fire in the winter is welcoming. And the decor idiosyncratic, in a good way, end to end. The only criticism I have is this: if it is a beautiful week day evening or weekend day then get more bar staff on! I have stood for 20 mins or more to be served. Given up and gone to The Kings Head nearby. Just as chaotic but they do know what they are doing under such circumstances...and you don't have to wave �20 notes in the air.
29 Sep 2011 20:28
The Orange Tree, Winchmore Hill
In the last extravagant burst of summer, late in September, I visited The Orange Tree after a stroll along the New River. The beer garden has won numerous local CAMRA awards in the past and is indeed a very pleasant place to dwell. You can very much imagine being in the countryside it's so quiet. Even though the A105 is a couple of minutes away. Inside it's old school charm. Something that got lost along the way 10 years ago or so.
29 Sep 2011 20:10
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The Bull Hotel, Ludlow
When Chris Barrack used to run this place 25 or so years ago there was no equal...even at the Church Inn.
14 Nov 2012 20:59