BITE user comments - geofff
Comments by geofff
When visiting a new town, I try & track down a spoons for some town history lessons on the walls & this one does well.
Would have stayed for more drinks, but driven back-outside by their ferocious air-conditioning. I'd foolishly dressed for a summers day on a summers day.
Take a duvet.
19 May 2014 14:54
It's a depressing state of affairs when the profit from converting just the small ground floor pub space into a 3rd flat is enough to persuade a cynical developer & an uncaring local planing dept to join together to kill a popular historical pub. I've fond memories of its cosy cramped spaces.
This local community hub got destroyed without even the lever of a pub car park that a property speculator could try & redefine as pre-developed land & therefore allowable for development.
Lets hope the shell is allowed to keep some of its character. Our planners seem to have a touch less contempt when dealing with Reigate's heritage than Redhill's next door. Converting Redhill's ancient Flying Scud (that was older than Redhill) into what could be a post-war polyfillered austerity prefab was a planning disgrace. Redhill's good looking historical Greyhound was similarly converted into a blank shell, stripped of its architecture & is now a souless tragedy of economy commuter flatlets that could have been knocked-up a botch builder at any date.
24 Oct 2013 15:34
I rather like this 'warehouse pub' with good food & great beer. But its prices irritate.
Why on earth does Wetherspoon consider that its huge, souless, beer hall at Redhill is one of its premium price sites? Why charge us impoverished Redhill folk abt 8% more than other local, more up-market, 'spoons?
Redhill's roast/steak & curry night prices are 50p more than other pubs in more expensive towns nearby. With 4 people eating & drinking, it's cheaper to drive to their more upmarket pub conversions at say Dorking/Purley/Oxted?/Croydon/Selsdon. We'd treat The Sun as our regular default canteen, but that surcharge does deter us.
Other Wetherspooons are in expensively converted buildings, on prime sites. This one is just a huge ex discount carpet warehouse below a concrete multistory car park, on the unpopular edge of town. (A town that's packed with unrentable empty shops). This pub's neighbors show what Redhill customers want. It is next to a Poundstretcher; a 39p birthday card shop ('to show she's worth it'?), a Next obsolete stock discounter; a Poundland, a 'mum saved at Iceland' & assorted sub-discount units.
It must be one of the cheapest buildings Wetherspoons lease, by volume. If they choose to drop the Redhill surcharge, the place would thrive. They might then knock-through to both neighbors & increase its warehouse chic.
24 Oct 2013 14:45
They protect their car park with pay & a display machine, but their car park is near empty evenings & weekends
On a rainy Sunday evening, I was told after 10 minute wait they had no influence to stop the tow team they employ from visiting outside of commuting times.
Back to machine, but did not have right change in pocket or in car,
Back to wait at bar for change for their machine.
Faced the rain again to extract a ticket from the machine.
Back to the car to display it
Dripped at the bar for another 10 minute wait to get the cash refunded.
Judging by the empty car park, other customers agree it's not worth the effort if you are just dropping in for a passing pint.
24 Oct 2013 12:38
Nice ancient pub, but staff so bad it's an entertainment. Huge waits at an empty bar. We agreed a crack specialist team have probably been brought in to try & close it for a housing development? After 2nd choice of beer offered came back 'sorry empty', resorted to asking for any beer-like liquid.
Next visit; Supervisor could not see my point that taking my touch card away to the till to be touch processed by her without even a printed receipt meant the customer had no idea what just got charged to his card.
Next visit; the only alternative to the vinegared beer was also returned as it was far worse.
Next visit; huge entertainment when a large table in empty restaurant found that most off the food just ordered was 'off'. We were looking for the comedy-show cameras, when the staff kept returning to say the replacement food & vegetables were also off. (More entertaining than the Python's 'do you have any cheese' sketch)
Next visit; Ever seen bar staff take your coins, and then thoughtfully wipe your beer froth level with a finger swipe. Me neither until this pub. Come along you'll be hugely entertained.
24 Oct 2013 12:21
The Yew Tree 'Time well spent', Reigate Hill
If you enter a bar past a pub's newspaper rack, you can't go far wrong
11 Jan 2011 13:33
Several years on & the staff are still allowed to use their own clock, set quite a few minutes early. Puzzle why Toby head office allow this.
Ok it lets the staff go home a bit early. But the cost to the customer hits when the guy before me was refused a 7pm carvery deal as their 'staff time' clock said it was past 7. The 'Toby Time' clock cheated him of about �12 (he didn't want to make a fuss in front of his 3 guests). I paid for the 7pm deal some 2 minutes later after pointing out the real time on the till. Doubt either of us will ever have a warm 'regular customer feeling' for the place.
Well done for getting the real ale back though
Enjoy the 'yorkshire comedy pudding' charade mentioned below; The staff are forced to try and dump a half plate size balloon of deep fried flour & water froth, onto your empty plate before you start.
Re name; Perhaps it's because I remember the 1960's & fizzy tins of party beer, but I was physicality unable to invite a friend to meet me at 'The Toby'. Perhaps the brand owners will have to wait for my generation to die off before their continued investment in the 'Toby' name pays off. To me is remains naff devalued brand name. At least stick a small 'Laker's Toby' sign out to give us squeamish ones a less embarrassing alternative?
11 Jan 2011 12:28
Went in - No draft beer pull visible - Went out
Quite liked the smell being pumped from their odour machine though
11 Jan 2011 12:00
Hi, sorry, panicky drinkers can stop writing to bewildered Geoff, about the 'boarded up Sun' (I posted to the wrong pub)
I immediately reported the post for deletion but I guess it may take time.
The excellent early morning breakfasts now available there seem to be served by the same people serving in day & evenings. Keep up the good work guys, hope more staff are on the way.
24 May 2010 09:38
Yet another local pub boarded up for conversion or demolition for yet more apartments.
Puzzled why our councils subsidises places for the community to get together, while at the same time encouraging our locals to be destroyed.
Unless planners stop treating a pub and it's car park as a brown field development opportunity & give pubs some protection, few will be able to survive.
The Greyhound (next pub to the North) suffered an appalling bad conversion into flats & had all the character of the old building sucked out.
The Causeway (next pub to the South) destroyed to build 30+ apartments (how can profit from pints keep a pub going when it's car park is worth �7million as soon as planning permission is granted?)
The New Inn (the nearest pub opposite) The old landmark building that used to greet people entering Redhill from the North. is now a tatty plumbing shop
20 May 2010 11:43
Yet another local pub boarded up for conversion or demolition for yet more apartments.
Puzzled why our councils subsidises places for the community to get together, while at the same time encouraging our locals to be destroyed.
Unless planners stop treating a pub and it's car park as a brown field development site & give pubs some protection, few will be able to survive.
The Greyhound (next pub to the North) suffered an appalling bad conversion into flats & had all the character of the old building sucked out.
The Causeway (next pub to the South) destroyed to build 30+ apartments (how can profit from pints keep a pub going when it's car park is worth �7million as soon as planning permission is granted?)
The New Inn (the nearest pub opposite) The old landmark building that used to greet people entering Redhill from the North. is now a tatty plumbing shop
20 May 2010 11:39
Puzzled why Wetherspoons keep their Redhill pub in their premium price category.
I love the way that Wetherspoons expensively convert old buildings, but this is certainly not one of them, it's just a beer hall made by sticking a bar along one wall of a huge warehouse under a multistory car park, that used to be a carpet showroom.
Why does the beer cost more here & the food cost 50p more that in the nearby Wetherspoons that are smaller, in far more expensive buildings, that have had costly conversions?
20 May 2010 11:04
Saw the pub on OS map & came down off a delightful downs walk just across the road from the pub. I'd hoping for some food & a pint. The 'bar food' offered a small shepherds pie for �13, + �7 for a couple of veg with it. The non-bar food menu prices gave me vertigo. Seems enough rich punters nearby to support it, though notice even stockbrokers can't afford the veg.
After a �3.20 pint, headed for Leatherhead & found a Weatherspoon
While eating my melt in the mouth 8oz steak, fresh mushroom, peas, tomato, jacket potatoes ext I realised it was cheaper than a portion of Running Horses peas. �6 steak & a pint - �3.20 (Running Horses pint) so steak = �2.80.
I know my place & sadly realise my place is not in this nice pub
7 Apr 2010 09:40
O'Niells are not happy with transforming the inside of their pub into an uncared for mess, they somehow get away with pumping over-amped noise throughout Redhill. They're at the central cross-roads & at night the noise reaches the ring road in all 4 directions.
Seems little point in the council trying to improve the litter strewn, hostile concrete wasteland that Redhill centre becomes at night, while this pub is allowed to turn the centre into a 'blade runner' scene, by swamping the echoing centre with an audio ghetto soundtrack.
16 Sep 2008 16:57
Love the white noise of hundreds of people chatting quietly over a good value, good quality bevys with no music/tv
Shame that over the years they've never managed to remove the beer stick engrained into their tables.
If you read a paper don't expect to walk home with the front page it'll be molecularly fused to the varnish.
Super-glue was a spin-off from the space race. Surely there's a world beating application waiting for the first person to register a patent on the gunk from a Wetherspoon table?
While in rant mode. I might add that they thoughtfully wrap a hygienic serviette around the knife & fork, or spoon - bizarrely all except the actual eating bit which they lay on the sickly, beer swilled table. Nothing kills the appetite for Wetherspoon grub quicker than the leverage needed to prise off the bit of the spoon or fork you are about to put in your mouth from the bacterial syrup that calls the tables home.
Bur if you think the build up on the tables is bad, spare a thought for the floor, they soak the table top in dirty water from an antique floor cloth & squeegee the resulting gunk into the carpet - hugely entertaining to take a house-proud female at 'carpet feeding time' & watch the horror in her face.
16 Sep 2008 16:31
re biggest yorkshire pud I've ever seen comment below.
The system is for the carver to take a plate immediately place in the middle 'the giant yorkshire pud' (2p of cheap flour, fat & air). It will appear on your plate even if you ask for turkey. He'll then arrange slithers of meat around what little plate is still visible.
A good game is to refuse the pud & enjoy the chef having to follow his script by picking one up and saying 'are you sure?'
16 Sep 2008 16:01
An interesting menu & good price, (chef perhaps over-eager with the sugar & oil) but I was the only customer 8pm with a family staff of 4. Don't offer any draught bitter as 'nobody asks for it'. However, it seems unlikely there's local demand for not 1 but 2 oriental lagers on draught.
Nice people, wish them well, but perhaps they might try investing in a small barrel of bitter. Meanwhile locals will morn the death of a pub with no beer.
Shame, a small 'snug bar' (separated from the rather overpowering cooking smells at the open bar) might give them a second income. Also real ale & good or5iental food is a perfect combination.
16 Sep 2008 15:47
Builds up a notoriously heavy high tar smoke cloud. A swift drink & your eyes are watering & your jacket unwearable the next day. It's local, so we visit occasionaly to see if they have it sorted, but it's always the same. Shame, it's a good looking pub. Strangly they have a bar area that would make a fine non-smoking area but instead of using it, on quiet nights they shut the area. It gets harder to fill a smokers pub, so quiet nights are quiet often
15 Apr 2005 15:47
The Globe Inn, Littlehampton
Seriously unpleasant breakfast. Chain produced great freshly cooked food. But this kitchen seems to have precooked everything at 8am, so by 11am, solid precooked egg with dark orange yoke, completely dried out and cold bacon, split crispy sausage, grim old hash browns saturated with fat, destroyed tomatoe. The toast arrived freshly cooked, but their machine was producing uneatable charcoal on one side. Kitchen solves this problem by serving it black side down. To try and finish on a positive note, they prepacked butter was the equal to many other other wetherspoons
8 Mar 2015 12:07