BITE user comments - thewildrover
Comments by thewildrover
Beware! Drug dealers operate in the toilets and in the car park. I tried to find the Manager who didn't want to know and appeared to be in denial.
Apart from that, usual selecting of Greene King beers, microwaved food, disinterested staff and yes, the Neanderthals do sit and block the door way and Bar. Speak to them in grunts and they might understand.
I'm very worried that this Landlord tolerates drugs.
21 Dec 2016 23:03
I popped in there today. Wow! Nine real ales, seven real ciders and perries and about thirty Belgian bottled beers with their glasses. The gents loo has the latest edition of Private Eye above the urinals!
A fantastic pub. Does accommodation. Not to be missed!
5 May 2014 02:08
Lovely comfortable rooms and a great breakfast. The Manager really loved his beer and it showed with all the CAMRA awards. However, it's changed. The Manager disappeared overnight (last rumoured to be in Eastbourne) and it seems to have lost its appeal. The beer is still good, but this has gone from being a good value bar to just about the highest prices in the area. A shame really as it has so much going for it.
18 Apr 2014 03:31
I've been to this place a few times. I much preferred it to what it is now, another bloody gastro pub. However, drinkers are welcomed and the staff and customers are friendly enough. I can never quite understand why places like this make great play of their food and wine but can't look after their beer. Beer quality can be hit or miss here.
18 Apr 2014 03:18
Ye Olde White Harte Hotel, Burnham on Crouch
I stayed here one night. I think I was the only guest! I couldn't find my room after imbibing a few too many Adnams and went in virtually every room in the hotel until I found my room right at the top. Nice enough pub with decent beer, friendly staff and locals. Rooms are comfortable. They even have a residents lounge. Musty smelling and I think an old black and white TV. I don't think any guests have used it in years! The place has charm in the sense not a lot has changed over the years. I was too late for breakfast but they still did me some sausages.
18 Apr 2014 03:09
No real choice in their real ales, very much a youngsters pub in love with fizzy lager and track suits. Was once a reasonable pub. I was introduced to 'real' ale here with Watneys London and Stag bitter. Yes, I know, CAMRA sorts but it did get me interested in the better stuff.
Basic pub food cooked by experienced chefs who know how to switch a microwave on.
At least they let dogs in the public bar and my Lurcher was probably the best behaved customer they've had in there for a long time!
25 Oct 2013 22:20
Now closed! A long long time ago it was a modern pub with a bit of character and a good beer range for the area. Then somewhere it all went wrong. The place turned into a tip and it was tatty.
A few years later i went back and lo and behold, nothing had changed. The toilet seats were still broken and absolutely nothing had been done to it since my last visit, same carpets, never cleaned, same broken furniture. The only difference were the addition of a few sour faced youths and single mums feeding their 'baybees' Greggs pasties, but hey, that's Essex for you.
25 Oct 2013 22:15
This used to be a good community local, now full of Essex sorts in their shell suits and bling, waving £50 notes shouting out 'Lager pleaze mate!'.
Sometimes it's a real struggle getting to the bar, and when you do you are confronted by a decent selection of real ales, but ask for any of them and they are 'not on'. They could simply turn the pub clip around if the beer is not on, but apparently it's not company policy.
There is a comfortable restaurant area, but the noise from all the 'ladz' makes it an uncomfirtable experience. Saying that, if you can get served, the beers are of reasonable quality and not too pricey.
25 Oct 2013 22:10
Queens Head, Burnham On Crouch
I used to visit this pub regularly. The landlord has done a marvellous job in restoring it into a proper back street boozer, with simple food including 'Essex Huffers'. The beer range was fantastic.
However, his son has taken to running it and we now have to put up with loud music and an unfriendly attitude from him. This used to be a pub where conversation and good beer ruled. Maybe it's changed since my last visit but it certainly was not the pub it was. Beer still top notch though.
25 Oct 2013 22:03
The Anchor Hotel, Burnham on Crouch
Nothing special as a Pub, however I've mostly been in there in the evening when the place is full of youngsters, at lunchtimes it does attract a different clientele. It has about five or six letting rooms upstairs, make sure you get the big one facing the river. The rooms are comfortable enough and the breakfast in the morning keeps you going.
Friendly enough staff.
25 Oct 2013 21:59
The Prince of Wales, Stow Maries
Fantastic! I used to go there when the old girls ran it, the roof had fallen in in the outside gents loos and the pub sign hang by one chain and the beer was a tin of Watneys Seven on the stairs behind the door!
Lovingly restored by owner, Rob Walster this is a MUST visit place. He has kept it as a traditional ale house. There are about six real ales on offer at any one time plus Belgian beers. Imaginative but hearty food, with the odd little twist. The food is to complement the beer. The huge fish and chips on a Friday night are to die for. Frequent beer festivals and a massive firework display are highlights of the year.
Stow Maries is the gateway to the Dengie peninsular and pubs don't get any better than this. On your trip also pay the nearby WWI airfield a visit.
25 Oct 2013 21:53
Interesting. It's a slighty posher Beefeater. I've eaten there loads of times and the food has been consistently good. Not Michelin starred or anything but above the above average pub grub. Always a good selection of real ales, mostly from the Adnams stable. The usual creepy floarboards and old books on shelves, but the place more than does the job.
25 Oct 2013 21:45
The first time I went there the food was excellent, expensive but worthwhile as a treat. We went back there a couple of weeks later and the same food was exetremly ordinary, but still expensive. Won't be going back again in a hurry.
25 Oct 2013 21:42
The George On The Green, Holyport
Some of the former locals from the Belgian Arms have now move over to the George. It's clean, the beer is okay, staff are friendly. It seems it's populsr with diners. I haven't eaten there so can't comment on the food. On the face it seems a pleasant enough hostelry.
25 Oct 2013 20:50
Very much a local's pub in a town not noted for community pubs. At lunch times it's frequented by pensioners drawn to the excellent, extensive and very reasonably price menu. In the evenings it's very much a ladz football pub when it's being shown on the three TV's. Don't let this put you off. This is a great community boozer opposite Tesco.
Beer is reasonably priced for the area and always in good nick.
Landlord is a real east end character when he's around, otherwise his friendly staff run the show.
25 Oct 2013 20:12
This used to be a wonderful well run Pub. Now it's customer base consists of pond life. The beer range is quite good and the landlord (when you can find him) does like his real ales, but it is spoilt on the locals. I agree that on Sunday's it can be havoc in there with the drunks and kids running around
There's no food.
This place could have a future if it was well run and the low life was kicked out.
25 Oct 2013 18:55
It's just been done up so someone thinks it's worth spending money on, The Forresters was one of the few two bar pubs in the area but has now been knocked into one. A new bar man took pride in his beer, but has since left, now this place has gone back into being a run down local.
The staff are miserable and don't acknowledge you. They are lazy and bone idle. Go in and see it for yourself. And it's patronised by the local low life.
25 Oct 2013 18:49
Oh dear! I went in there. Had to wait over ten minutes to be served by the grumpy and surly Landlord who was only interested in serving diners rather than drinkers.
This was once a great community local, the sort where airline pilots and dustmen all rubbed shoulders and all the customers and staff looked after each other. Now it is a bistro style restaurant with wicker furniture and scatter cushions in the former public bar. The locals have left in droves and won't return until the current licence leaves.
The Rebellion beer is perfectly drinkable but the place is soulless and a shadow of it's former self.
25 Oct 2013 18:42
Despite it's outward appearance, this is a very expensive celebrity hangout Michelin starred restaurant. Don't go in for a quiet drink during peak times.
However, drinkers are if not warmly welcomed, tolerated. It's open all day although does not advertise this, so go in very late afternoon or early evening before 7.00 pm or after 9.00 pm when it's not heaving with diners. The London Pride is nearly always in tip top condition, which is a surprise for an upmarket restaurant. The staff are excellent and when not dealing with diners are chatty and friendly. The one or two locals who still venture in for a drink are always good company.
We have eaten there, very very expensive and the food although good is not worth the money, however saying that the usual clientiele of TV personalities, Hollywood film stars and Russian oligarchs with their body guards outside don't worry about the cost.
25 Oct 2013 18:36
This was once a great little pub and If you catch this place on the right day it still is
.
However, it's been become cliquey. A previous landlord turned it back into a proper pub and the the Range Rover and G&T brigade left, but they're now back. The beer is still top notch and the food good if a little pretentious and over priced. But the main problem is trying to get to the bar. We asked a couple of customers who were blocking the bar and obstructing the hand pumps to move so we could get served and one looked at us as though we were from outer space.
It is a real struggle to get served at times and this can even happen when the place is empty.
The staff are young and enthusiastic though. However, when it does work and the proper locals venture out you can have a pleasant time.
In short a good pub, but spoilt by the lots of money and no manners brigade who clearly don't want proper locals or visitors in THEIR pub.
25 Oct 2013 18:08
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The Sun and Stars, Holyport
Forget it. It's been knocked down to make way for a private home. All that remains is a pile of bricks and a pub sign.
21 Dec 2016 23:08