BITE user comments - twobladders
Comments by twobladders
A really decent relaxing boozer this. Well situated for central Croydon (which isn't necessarily a bad thing despite what you may have heard. ) Beautiful decor, including an imposing marble top bar. The beer's good as are the staff, who are very pleasant.
Thoroughly recommended.
17 Nov 2011 12:10
Now a community centre, charred on one side by the Reeves Corner fire.
7 Sep 2011 16:01
I preferred this place when the Irish chap ran it. (Can't remember his name, but then I can't remember my own name at the moment, so no worries then)
Can't say I'm smitten with it now.
Visited this place as a pitstop just before last Christmas for an 'intermediary' pint (you know, the ones that don't officially count) . Weekday afternoon, not particulary busy. I'm the only bod at the bar, waiting for the barmaid to drag herself from the other side, and a couple walk in, turns out they're mates of the her's and she blatantly ignores me and serves them. Well, I buggered off sharpish and not been back since.
Previous Christmas, won third prize in their raffle. What do I win? A pair flip-flops. In the middle of winter. FFS.
22 Apr 2010 16:54
I asked the barmaid for "extras" (see entry below) and got a slap for my troubles. Still, I like that kind thing, so mustn't grumble.
This is a pub with the kind of bar that could do with a 45-deg mirror on the corner, so the barman can keep an eye on people rolling up to the jump at the front of the pub. Or a hotel reception bell would do the trick.
This used to be the Melbourne, which I remember as a kid. I first drank here soon after it became O'Neils in 1996. I presume the Melbourne would have been divided into the snug and the public bar. Unfortunately, the open-plan design of the present pub doesn't benefit the original layout of the bar. Hence, the three-sided jobbie you've got now with a no-man's land at the front of the pub. It's not that the bar staff are lazy -- not at all -- but sometimes it can get lonely stranded there like a poor shivering waif dumped on the workhouse steps ... I digress.
If you're new to this place, then, head straight for the main bar facing the rear of the building, or use the side entrance on Melbourne Road, or shout at the top of your voice, "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND ALL THAT IS SACRED, FEED ME BEER!"
A shame really, because this dead-zone is the only thing that mars an otherwise well-run, friendly boozer. Any pub with a picture of James Joyce on the wall must be good.
It's a clean place. The barstaff are efficient, and they too are clean (I think). One of the barmen one afternoon suggested the Guinness Cold because the regular stuff was off. I value good service like that. The pretty dark-haired lass over the jump could smile a bit more, though.
The locals are a decent friendly bunch.
There are four tellies, well positioned so they're not intrusive. Not even during sports events.
The Guiness is pucker, but I'd expect that in an "Irish" pub.
No mirrors in the men's bogs for some strange reason I can't fathom. I'll have to ask but I'm afraid it's got something to do with vampires. A pity too that they put up the toilet signs in English. Always a bubble watching newcomers stopped in their tracks with a full baldder.
Good atmosphere in this place when it gets busy. Small area out the front for drinking on a summer afternoon and getting heady off the scent of car fumes.
22 Apr 2010 16:23
Full of old codgers ... some of them still breathing.
Not a bad gaff for a quiet drink in comfort -- especially if you can grab one of the booths.
Guiness not great but drinkable.
Ideal place to hold a wake.
22 Apr 2010 15:16
The Folly, South Croydon
Boarded up and suffering from an infestation of squatters.
17 May 2012 15:35