BITE user comments - thaymouse
Comments by thaymouse
Sinclairs Oyster Bar, Manchester
The other posts pretty much sum it up. Used to be really good, is now terrible. The reason for going to a Sam Smiths pub is either OBB or AL but they've now been removed. The beer is also served in plastic glasses and the staff are awful. Shame as I started my stag do here when it was a good proper pub, but wont be going back. Avoid at all costs there are plenty of good pubs in Manchester.
17 Sep 2010 19:38
Awful pub. Nothing on cask, the gassy 'beer' which I was served (cant remember exactly what it was) tasted foul and made me feel very sick the next day even though I only had a pint. Noone else in except me yet the big screen television was on showing eastenders with the volume on full blast, which didn't make for a nice atmosphere at all. Decor tired, floors sticky etc etc. Very friendly welcome but really not worth a trip out.
17 Sep 2010 18:55
Was open early April 2010. Really good pub, friendly staff and excellent beer. Was strangely quite on a weekday lunchtime. Probably the best value food you can get in the centre of Cambridge, and very big portions too!
3 Apr 2010 19:50
Really good pub, good place to go for lunch as the food is excellent and sensibly priced. It's GK but they always have at least one guest ale. Like this place.
3 Apr 2010 19:47
This place makes me shudder! mega busy, mega expensive for crap beer and populated by the worst type of Cambridge resident - the upper-middle-class obnoxious types from the nearby DeFreville estate. Steer clear!
3 Apr 2010 19:43
Looks like a dive from the outside, but go on in and it's a fantastic pub. Friendly locals and staff (something you dont often get in Cambridge), and very good beer reasonably priced. A good 20 minute walk out of the city but worth it for the beer and friendly atmosphere.
3 Apr 2010 19:38
Went in at lunchtime. Was pretty awful. Overheard someone saying they had been waiting an hour for food so we decided not to get any and just have a drink. Waited ages at the bar as only two staff, one of whom was a trainee. Pathetic when you consider it was very busy. The other member of staff on the bar seemed content to constantly talk to a friend on the phone about how busy it was rather than helping her inexperienced friend. When the (decentish) pint arrived my glass was smeared in lipstick. Wont be going back.
3 Apr 2010 19:34
Got here exhausted after walking from Ingleby Cross. First impressions were that it was very expensive for food, although when the food came it was plentious and very tasty. A good range of ales on and not in my experience limited to Theakstons.
What really made this place great though was its hospitality to walkers. When we got flooded out of our tent they let us come into the pub early on a Saturday morning and brought us coffee, let us use the phone and store some of our wet things until the end of our trek. Mega friendly staff and a nice place to dry off in!
12 Dec 2009 19:16
Very much a place for tourists, and therefore quite expensive. A few ales on offer and food of good sized portions and tasty but generally this place felt unfriendly and unloved.
12 Dec 2009 19:06
Agree with other posts, its a friendly local with a decent pint and a warm welcome. Like pipsby we called in on the first day of Coast to Coast and it was very welcome!
12 Dec 2009 19:04
Best pub in Cambridge, possibly my favourite pub of all time. Great beer, great atmosphere and reasonbly priced tasty food. Don't think I need to say anymore, just go and visit if you're in Cambridge it's well worth it!
3 Dec 2009 14:34
An interesting place indeed. Whenever I go to this pub (sober) I'm not exactly keen on it, I'm not sure why but it just doesn't do it for me. However the next day, without fail, I have an absolutely stinking hangover, so they must be doing something right!
3 Dec 2009 14:31
Poor food, overpriced and badly cooked. Also a poor choice beer. However staff are charming and helpful, and it's quite nice inside.
5 Nov 2009 00:03
It's a typical chainy Lloyds No. 1 which gets very busy and rowdy on a weekend when the lads and lasses from the surrounding villages come out to play. Not my cup of tea, but does what it does very well.
4 Nov 2009 23:58
I actually preferred this place before its refurbishment! Although some of the decor was a bit dated it did feel warm and welcoming. Now it's all clean and light and there doesnt feel anywhere to hide in the corner with a nice pint! Also it was one of the few places which did regularly Strongarm which is my favourite beer of all time! Alas, it doesnt appear to any more (at least not when I've visited which to be fair is only twice in the past year!)
4 Nov 2009 23:51
It's a great pub, my favourite in Durham. Lots of choices of top notch beer with Wylam, Durham, Hexamshire, Big Lamp and Hambleton Stud on in my last visit (I really miss living in the North, the beer in the south east is just so poor in comparison to proper Northern ale.) Friendly barmaid, decent mix of friendly locals and the type of student who appreciate good beer and how to behave in a public house.
4 Nov 2009 23:48
The Swan and Three Cygnets, Durham
This was my afternoon session pub when I was a student so I have slightly rose tinted specks on this place. First of all the beer is superb and very very cheap. As is mentioned it's a Sam Smith's pub so one would expect this. The interior is quite traditional and there is a comfy room at the back which used to be the no smoking area, two rooms at the front and the bar area which is probably the worst part of the pub. Also great place to sit outside as it's right on Elvet Bridge in the centre of Durham.
On the downside, this place can get busy with the worst kind of Durham student, the noisey, snobbish oxbridge reject type. Also the bar staff are not effecient and some are pretty darn rude!
4 Nov 2009 23:36
The Walmer Bridge Inn, Walmer Bridge
A very good pub. Yes it's very much a local, but not in an intidating way and I've found people here (both behind the bar and in the lounge) very friendly. I think the vault on the other side would be a locals only area though! Good range of real ale which is always very very well kept, Robinsons Unicorn seemingly always on when I visit, which is no bad thing! Reasonably priced and good snacks on offer too.
4 Nov 2009 23:18
This place closed down once again shortly after the last poster's comment. However it has recently re-opened so I thought I'd give it a try tonight. To be honest little has changed (although thankfully there is no longer sawdust on the floor) and many of the earlier posts seem to sum this place up.
Five ales on tap (with Youngs and LP reasonably priced at �2) however they were quite predictable, with Black Sheep being the most "exotic" available. I had an okish pint of Black Sheep followed by a truly awful Hobgoblin. Also available for those with other tastes are the usual array of naff lagers and ciders, plus a limited supply of spirits and wines. Bloke behind the bar was very friendly, as the staff here have generally always been. Atmosphere was okay, piped music but not noticable, and customers mainly younger students though so I felt quite old! Decor was strange, wooden panelling did not really disguise the fact that this is a naff 1970s building, and what is a crisp dispensor doing in the middle of a seating area?!
Although this place isn't bad, I think its problem (and probably the reason it's never really succeeded) is that it doesn't really know what it is. It isn't a real ale pub, or a 'local', or a party type bar. It's the same with the drinks on offer, nothing to catch the eye just very predictable tipples. The Bun Shop tries to be all things to all people and therefore misses the mark on many importan things.
21 Oct 2009 23:40
I like this place. A lot. First of all the range of ale is fantastic, having something like 10 handpumps with a different (and usually very good) beer on. One thing to note however is that I know about three people who've had a dodgy pint here and been quite ill so be careful. Best to give it a good sniff and if you think it's funny take it back to the bar, where the friendly (and very, very knowledgable) barstaff will help you out. There is also an excellent range of belgian beers so there's a lot of choice. I've been to this pub rather a lot and I think I've probably had something different every time which speaks volumes for the choice on offer.
Atmosphere is good, quite traditional lay out and no annoying piped music. There are also books and bored games on offer. Customers tend to be a mix of locals and the kind of students who know what a good drinking establishment is all about. It's perhaps a little "clique-y", more so in my opinion than the Cambridge Blue, a place which often has this label attached to it. However this is not enough to put me off such a fine establishment!
21 Oct 2009 21:15
Very good beer, and a good selection of wine for the missus. The atmosphere is pleasant enough but like a lot of places in Cambridge it can get very busy and when this happens it can be unbearably loud.
On the downside, the staff are never exactly friendly when I've been in, seemingly more happy to chat with one another than serve the customer, and they never say thankyou or anything. It's also very expensive at over �3 a pint for Landlord.
21 Oct 2009 21:05
Best pub in Preston by some way (imo the only rival for this title is the Black Horse). As it's a Sam Smith's pub the beer is excellent and very very well priced (�1.42 I think). Although this is a 'local' pub it also feels welcoming enough, and isn't full of young squawking yobs like a lot of city centre drinking holes are in Preston.
21 Oct 2009 20:59
It's a generally pleasant place to go for a relaxed drink with a few friends. When I lived in Durham it was our regular for this fact, however considering we were regular the staff were never overly friendly (with the exception of the bloke who does the Wedensday night quiz, which is fantastic by the way!) Usually around 4 good ales on, including Black Sheep and TT Landlord which are always in very good condition. Food not great, but quite cheap.
To the person complaining about not wanting to be "excluded from civilised society" no one is forcing you to do such a thing, however when you have children you have to give up certain things, and going to some pubs is one of them. I'm not saying that your particular child is noisey etc, but there has to be some places where people can go away to get away from kids, and pubs are one of those places.
21 Oct 2009 20:54
Duke of Wellington, Durham
Oh dear oh dear. This Pub has had the dreaded "refit." It has also had it's name changed, the old sign has been removed and it now simply says: "Ember Inns Dining and Pub" in huge letters, and then "At the Duke of Welligton" in little letters. Quite clear where Ember Inns wants the focus to lie then.
In my last post about this pub I wrote: "It's a generally pleasant place to go for a relaxed drink with a few friends." Well. sadly it's not anymore, half of the pub has been turned into a restuarant with the other half crammed full of tables and it's much darker and noisier. The clientelle was described by a friend as "up-market chav" - the kind of person who thinks that gastropubs are a cool, new idea. I also wrote "Food not great, but quite cheap." Well it's still not great, but it's not quite cheap anymore. Ditto the beer - to be fair they've kept the usual good choice of ale but the prices have gone up considerably - I now pay more for a pint of Landlord than I did in Cambridge!
A real shame, as this was a really nice place to go for a quiet drink and some quick food, it was just the right sort of business and felt quiet and relaxing. I'm afraid to say that we've now started to look for another place to drink, as I doubt we'll be going back.
15 Apr 2011 16:15