BITE user comments - hungry_biller
Comments by hungry_biller
Badger Box, Kirkby in Ashfield
Nice that sometimes you get exactly what you expect from a pub. The Badger box makes no pretense and likewise offers no surprises- they just do everything quite well: Good and well kept ales - Greene King IPA / Old Speckled Hen, Hardys & Hansons Olde Trip + 1 Guest ale. [source = pub-explorer.com]. And commercial p*ss also available.
Good quality and value pub food food - just as you want it. They take their time serving it mind, but only when very busy, and you won't be disappointed. You can eat anywhere. Sweet bar staff and sociable atmosphere make for a good night. This is a sports bar style of pub jobbie - two tv screens doing setanta and skysports. (good atmosphere midweek when the champions league games are on). but also has a pub-restaurant section for quieter meetings.
11 Nov 2008 21:57
Has the average age here increased up to 15? Sounds like not much has changed at Molokos, since we used to go in 2004/5 as it was the only place to get a drink after 11pm in Winchester, even if that drink did indeed look like a stale milkshake and cost about �8.
Not really fair I admit.. to review a pub that I haven't been to in 3 years. Evening was not complete without a fight and a cry afterwards.
I guess with the advent of id checks, the teens will be back snogging in their bus shelters, only to make way for more blokes working in IT standing out like sore pri**s.
Ahhh must go back to Winchester some time :-)
14 Jun 2008 00:08
This pub serves a purpose. It has a great choice of ales - including their own Oakham ales, (The JSB has a good "hoppy" taste, and feels stronger than 3.8% claimed) and the usual branded bevs. It's vast interior dotted with comfy area leather sofas, and benchseats, galleried tables/seating make it good for large gatherings.
This place is open plan, and me being there with a booked work function could explain why it was video screen and noise-free. However, reading some other posts, I can imagine this being annoying in a large open plan tall space.
The Thai food came as a buffet for our evening, and was of very good standard (and I'm not one for oversalted MSG dishes). Genuine flavours/herbs and spices and a good variety.
Mon-Friday, it appears this is a stop over pub, whereby people move on to other nightspots, leaving it emptied out by 10:00. Not sure about Saturday,as I believe they have a resident DJ, and sometimes Bands.
9 Jun 2008 13:59
The Woolpack is a treat. Although not eye-catching from the outside, it�s a lively good pub restaurant for most of the week, it�s quite possibly the best eatery in the area. Eat in the comfortable recent purpose-built restaurant, (need to book at the weekend), or in the bar/lounge where they�ll usually find you a table somewhere. Outside, a roomy beer garden is there for warmer times. There�s a good choice of traditional and more inventive nicely cooked menu items, specials and famously good deserts [my tip � the Lemon meringue pie], and a decently kept pint of Greenking IPA too. Other ales are usually on offer, as well as all the normal branded stuff.
The Woolpack also has a melting pot of client�le (unusual for the area) due in part I'm sure to the fantastic Aussie landlady, Lucille. If you happen to let on that it's your birthday, you'll be subjected to the full �Lucille� treatment - a ritual of standing under hats that ought to have been owned by Lord Sutch, held above you by your nearest & dearest, while Lucille rallies the venue to make noise on your behalf followed by a rendition of happy birthday. All not as frightening as it sounds, - you�ll revel in the attention for a while and she�ll capture the whole thing on photo �for her own amusement I think (and yours).
The Woolpack, apart from being everyone's favorite local, is also ideal for a stopover en route perhaps to/from Midlands to Norfolk. Located just off the main A47.
3 Jun 2008 22:33
Contempary meets "Spit and Sawdust". Tubular, glass -multi-level and reflective, with a busy bar area! I like my ales and my food, and this scored for both - and some atmosphere thrown in for free. The Micro brewery is gaining popularity again, and these ales are interesting and alternative. Can't rememeber the individual brands, but the reddish colour pint was rather sweet....that's not really the point though as the varied and fine selection ensures there's something to keep all real ale fans amused for at leat an evening; if however you prefer the global high St brands, they're there too. We had Pizzas which were averagely priced, home made and delicious. The arrived promptly too on a busy Thursday night.
We got some seats out on the patio, which on a summer's eve is quite nice (if you like pubs by the road). There's a busy more formal restaurant section indoors. Mixed clientelle , weighting on the late 20's and 30's crowd. However there's a more lively buzzing bar next door with noise pollution escaping out to street - and some eye candy to boot.
2 Jun 2008 16:33
The Pitcher and Piano, Reading
Posh and sterile bar, with no suprises - The usual poor selection of tap beers and standard pricy piss on offer with all the bottled offerings too. But what about the bad points ?
However, it does offer easy access to the station, and the staff are great. Fine for a kick-start after work. Greasy things on sticks avaiable as food, however this was bought for me so I didn't see the rest of the menu. The basement toilets are clean and have a hotel feel about them. (Disabled loo at street level)
21 May 2007 20:00
The Ancient Mariner, Hunstanton
the Ancient Mariner has (as described in Pete's review) some decent real ales, newspapers, coffee, warm friendly, relaxed ambience and decent pub food. It makes an excellent place to chill out - expecially on a Sunday afternoon, when food is served all the way through from noon to 9pm. If you are eating there, you probably won't be disappointed. It has several eat area, and although for non-smokers like me, the only official non-smoking area is the [rather sterile] family room in one of the annexes, however you'll normally find somewhere smoke free. You can book the restaurant section (which has a nice conservatory which gets booked up at weekends), or just find a quiet spot in front of the fire, the downstairs table area or the fairly cosy upstairs family room in the roof space, which has a nice view out to sea. The food is the same wherever you sit. A good choice of reasonably priced dishes, and an extended and improved Children's menu make this a good choice for taking family or friends. Usually several home cooked choices and even some home made deserts.
The Ancient Mariner ticks many boxes, and is a refreshing change from some of the rather stuffy and somewhat more expensive "hotel" eateries nearby and further round the north Norfolk coast. I take my family there every so often, as we're fairly local give or take 20 miles ! Enjoy
25 Jan 2007 11:32
I was immediately impressed by the ambience, lighting and "cosy" factor of this pub/restaurant. Some real ales to boot also, make it good for a cosy drink. However the food is not to be recommended by me. When it eventually came (on a Monday night with only a handful of clientele, and even fewer eating, 20 minutes is just too long), it was lacking. The roast vegetable pasta was missing anything resembling roast vegetables, and the promised parmesan wasn't there. I think i saw a pine nut too. I'm generally not fussy if dishes arrive not exactly as described, but at around �7.95 I felt that a dish of just pasta was pushing the boundries too far. I sent it back and had it replaced (another 20 odd minutes later) with a mushroom risotto [in a timbale]. This time the promised parmesan was replaced with a lump of melted cheddar. ...Oh for some honesty from the kitchen ....The desert took it's time too. I wonder how long the wait is on a weekend ?
I noticed the only other eaters had steak which from a distance looked Ok. Hence this pub would probably suite diners who want steak and a pint, with the mantra 'Quantity over quality', so the management probably know their market. A continuous flow of clientele from the premier travel inn next door, means - like the 70's fragrance - they probably don't have to try too hard. Eat before arriving.
24 Jan 2007 19:21
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The Spinnaker, Docklands
The experience is something between an airport lounge and a school refectory. OK if you limit yourself to a about an hour and a frame or 2 of pool.... and you don't mind predictable packaged food and rather dull ales. I'd say stick to the Guiness unless you're Irish in which case ...just dont.
22 Nov 2010 19:06