please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Beautiful, traditional looking pub a stone's throw from Waterloo.
Central bar, surrounded by traditional tables - discreetly setup for dining with flowers, condiments but at least no wine glasses.
4-5 real ales on - I went for Black Sheep Holy Grail which was both average and a round fiver. Meant no hassles with coin change.
Parts are better than the sum.
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Cracking good pub which is deservedly busy yet the staff can get through everyone pretty efficiently. Good real ales on tap but I like the selection of craft beers/lagers available even more. Not cheap but I can think of plenty of inferior places nearby that charge the same or even more!
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I really like this place. Haven't eaten here; but it's a great place to go for a few beers. Good atmosphere, nice decor, good choice of beers. Pricey I guess... but welcome to London!
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Prefer the Kings Arms or the Hole in the Wall: it feels like the refurbishments of this place have taken away some of its character. Still, a good choice of beers
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Some of the adverse comments about this pub are very old and it deserves a much higher rating than it has. It's a well-run, unassuming back street place with a good selection of beers, well worth a visit.
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Another pub I have used a few times but I haven’t visited in probably the last 3 or so years.
Came in on Saturday evening, it was pretty busy and started to fill up for the Holland vs Costa Rica World Cup game.
4 or 5 ales on the hand pumps…I cant actually remember all of the beers but the 3 pints of Daniel Twaites 13 Guns @ 5.5% I had were very good.
I stayed for the first half of the football then moved onto another pub.
Decent enough pub for a few beers, the food looked okay.
Service is quick and good.
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My usual meeting place of choice around Waterloo. Good range of ales and lagers, plus the wine selection is pretty decent. Nice decor, reasonable food, does the simple things well. Always surprised it has such a low rating on here as I would consider it one of the best pubs in the area...
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Pretty decent, modest sized pub not far from Waterloo Station. Busy on a Friday evening, but where isn't round these parts? Friendly service, small space outside on the pavement. Could only stay for one (Doom Bar, fine), but would certainly come back. The current rating of 4.2 must relate to different management in the past, because it's much better than that. 7/10
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Characterful backstreet pub with a superb range of ales and lagers and proper food at reasonable prices. Is understandably popular and so can get a little crowded and loud as the suits get drunker.
It is, nonetheless, first rate.
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Lovely pub with a great food and a fantastic range of beers. The only down side is that it's pretty small and so it's hard to find a table at peak times.
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Busy with post-work drinkers, good atmosphere and good beers. Deserves a higher score than 4.1.
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Visited lunchtime on a Thursday - 3 real ales (I had London Porter from some brewery in Herts). Good selection of craft ales and lagers. Fish Finger sandwich I had was good quality.
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Very dark and dirty; hygiene standards of a second class University student bar. And silly prices. Shame as it's a lovely building in a good situation. Thank goodness for the King's Arms around the corner.
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Great pub with a good range of ales. Manages to have the feeling of a lively local, despite being 5 mins walk from Waterloo. Having never managed to get to the Kings Arms when open, so far this would be my favourite pub in the area.
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Assume this is part of the M&B chain that has a few similar looking pubs around town. On 13 June they had Brewdog Alice Porter (very nice), Doom Bar, Pride and a turned around Purity Pure Ubu. Usual foreign beers and box of Old Rosie in the fridge. OK.
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Reading some of the previous reviews I can only assume this place has been taken over. The fact that the negative ones seem to be mainly from 2009 only goes to reinforce my belief.
Went in on Saturday night and found the place to be a great find. The beers were well kept and there was a huge range of ales and lagers. The staff were very friendly and couldn't do enough. I didn't eat but some of my friends did and they all said it was good.
The only problem I had with the place is that it's a bit small and can get busy very quickly. But then there is not an awful lot you can do about that.
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Very buzzy atmosphere; well kept beer...also .offered a taster of an unfamiliar beer too! Good pub in a central location for The Old Vic and local attractions.
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What appears to be a nice refurbished local boozer turns out to be a poorly run, unfriendly and dreary place. The refurbishment appears to have been a botched job with shockingly uncomfortable and cheaply sourced furniture. The landlord, or whoever he was, was exceptionally unfriendly and accused us at one point of sneaking in our own alcohol, which seemed a little random and then spent the rest of the time we were in the place giving us evil glares. The ale was poorly kept leaving a nasty aftertaste with every sip. After one round we'd had enough and went to the far superior King's Arms round the corner. AVOID AT ALL COST.
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Good food and good beer, both promptly served - important, as we were going on to the Railway Children at Waterloo after.
We were served by a young woman (short, brunette) whose friendly service was little short of excellent. Indeed it was so good that we came back the next day for Sunday lunch.
When we came back she recognised us and told us that my father had left his A to Z behind. Foolishly, I then forgot to collect it!
So a full week later I came into the pub and the excellent staff found it for me.
It was important to my father as he'd slipped his souvenir tickets into the pages but the staff weren't to know that this was anything other than just an old A to Z I was fussing over - nevertheless they were extremely helpful and kind.
I was very happy indeed about the service we received at the pub and we'll definitely be back!
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Filthy and sad on a Sunday evening. One lonely staff member left to do everything. Tables stuffed full of uncleared meals and dirty glasses. Menu looked great but we were put off ordering by the barman. When he eventually served us he shook his head and shrugged at our choice, warning us it'd take ages to prepare and suggesting nachos instead. So, we ate elsewhere.
The pub was busy-ish but not crowded - there's no excuse for dumping all the work on one poor guy. I think they know there's a problem as they've left out cards for their "customer satisfaction survey", but it's a woefully designed website. Kind of like the pub - good idea done badly.
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Concur with TiaMariaJim, this is the correct picture.
mrse1 - 26 Jan 2010 12:35 |
EH? Last comment is totally wrong, this IS a picture of this White Hart by Waterloo, the Great Suffolk Street one is very different, [Disbelievers should click on the Google map for the latter and look at 'Street View']
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It is worth pointing out that the image above is that of another White Hart at nearby Great Suffolk Street (SE1 0UG). This can, and has, led to some confusion...
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Kept dark to hide the dirt;avoid.
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Dirty, badly run hovel.
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Visited the pub Saturday late afternoon. Nice to see it is not so dark in there, now its had another lick of paint. Shame about the service and the staff. I could hear a story from the staff about the bad temped and unwilling chef of upstairs. I was not there for food, just a mere expresso coffee (well I was driving that day). I was abrutly told by a rude hispanic member of staff that there was not coffee. She did not say why, or sorry or make any suggestion of an alternative. I did see the manager there buzzing about, (she was doing all the work). This pub has got better since my less visit, but still needs alot more improvement.
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After my mistaken review of this pub back in 2008 I managed actually to visit it on a recent weekday evening. I'm glad I hadn't read the reviews below, as although I thought it was mediocre I didn't think it appalling. It's clearly part of the unbranded gastropub-by-numbers chain which includes places like the Albany at Great Portland Street, the King's Head at Crouch End, and the King of Diamonds on Leather Lane (they all have identical food menus). For my money it was less impressive than any of those: some of those pubs do a reasonable range of ale, where here all we had was either Pride or a honey beer, which has never been to my taste. I had a Pride and it was poorly served. The service seemed unremarkable, but it was about quarter past ten in the evening.
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such a shame to read what's happened to this pub. used to frequent this place regularly in 96/97 when it was much more of a proper local. many eventful lunchtimes/evenings were had here, maybe most memorable playing paul 'oasis 'discoverer' mathur in the final of the pub's pool competition (back when it had a table). i lost fair and square but he generously donated his prize of a bottle of jack daniels which more than made up. classic example of old pub done up to meet modern standards whilst simultaneously losing all charm whatsoever...?
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Have been here a few times, great location and the interior is pretty nice, but incredibly rude staff and service. Much friendlier boozers also serving food, nearby. Get some new bar staff please.
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I have just had the worst experience at this pub tonight which has made me sign up to this site to post my review. I visted this pub with 4 other friends and ordered food. They only brought out 4 dishes and the waitress disappeared for 15 minutes before she informed my friend that they forgotten to cook it but they couldn't do anyting about it as the kitchen was now closed and the chef had gone home and they had run out of the dish he ordered. They didn't apologise or offer any sort of compensation. After a couple of mouthfuls I realised that my dish was not the veggie burger i ordered but beef which i do not eat. Mistakes can happen but the reaction I got and attitude I got from the staff has really upset me and I hope someone speaks to the staff about customer service standards.
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great pub.
this place has a huge amount of beers/lagers on offer. about 7 or 8 lagers on tap, and probably 3 times as many more in the fridges.
nice comptempory decorations, but fortunatly not too 'wine bar' like.
i had great service, and the bar lady was kind enough to suggest other good pubs in the area.
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I don�t come in here that often, maybe 5 times over the past three months including last night. I haven�t had a problem with the staff, but I�ve tended to come at quite times, nor did I notice it being dirty (I left here and went to the �Hole in the Wall� - now that is dirty and smelly). Not sure about the ale, I tend to have draft Leffe or cider here. On the whole I would say it�s a better than average pub.
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Location : Great
Service : Consistently dreadful
Company: Mitchells & Butlers plc
Division: Castle
Address: 27 Fleet Street, Birmingham B3 1JP
Telephone : 0870 609 3000 & 0121 233 2246
On my frequent visits to the pub the staff have always been so rude and the establishment is always dirty. The only reason why I have used the pub is because of the free park on Whittley Street after 1pm on a saturday (ssshhhh).
I hope this contact information will force serious management action.
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Service dreadful in here. The Kings arms in roupell street is a better bet. Its just around the corner.
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Without question the worst service I have seen in London for years. Customers waiting over 10 minutes while the jaw droppingly rude bar staff actively ignored them. You practically have to beg to be allowed to buy a drink. It's a shame as I think the pub has promise, but with so many excellent alternatives to go to I will not be bothering with this place again - strongly advise you don't either.
The ladies toilet is also disgusting.
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One of the better options near Waterloo. Service isn't a strong point but it's not as bad as some others suggest. There's usually a good selection of beer. Ate here recently and the food was fine. Gets very busy in the evenings and finding a table can be a struggle.
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i have to agree with the other people on this pub - on my last visit the staff were awful. service took ages.
then they served up a really dry pitta bread dish - like eating solidified sawdust. we stayed good humoured about the issue. we asked for a bit of hummus or something to make it potentially consumable. the women in charge refused us - we explained that it was too dry and she said that it was suppossed to be like that - in the end they made us pay �1.50 for a tiny bit of hummus. awful miserly service. i will not be returning. pity as before its makeover it was an ok pub.
as for the make over itself- very tacky.
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The staff don't seem great in here it has to be said.. It's still an ok pub and the beers are good but it could be so much better. It does, however. look much nicer than the picture on this website which must be very old!
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This could be such a nice pub, but for the second time running I've had breathtakingly bad service in there. It beggars belief - staff hanging around chatting, refusing to believe my brother when he pointed out the lemonade had run out and he was actually drinking soda water, and yes, the sticky surfaces and empty condiments show they can't be bothered to keep the place clean either. Above all the rude unfriendly way we were treated has put me off going back.
bethm - 24 Oct 2008 16:48 |
I visited there one saturday afternoon.
There were only a few customers and there staff.
It took ages to get served.
The pub was very dirty, not very clean.
The staff were really not interested in their work.
AVOID AVOID AVOID
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Could be a lot better; being a badly lit pub is a good clue to poor cleaning practices; sticky bar surfaces, dust on shelves. Comes from employing students. Has great promise drink wise, but lets itselfs down on my comments. Best to go to the Kings Arms or Windmill.
anonymous - 25 Sep 2008 12:08 |
I ended up being quite disappointed with this pub, which looked really good from the outside and had a very impressive range of lagers. The staff were really uninterested, to the point of not looking at you at all when you were ordering, and managing the whole ordering process without saying a single word except for the price. I ordered some potato wedges, by far the worst I've had for a long time, microwaved (with cold bits) and soggy. A friend asked if he could get a burger with a different topping from the one on the menu (the topping he wanted was on another burger they do). The barman's reply? 'No' (full stop). Unimpressed.
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Having vowed not to go again after my last visit a few months ago, when I had to virtually plead to be served 10 minutes before they closed, I thought I'd give it another try 2 nights ago. I needn't have bothered. The staff are disinterested, and behave as if they'd really rather you weren't there. It's a shame because it could be a decent pub. At the moment though, I'd prefer Wetherspoons - which is where I went instead the other night.
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been going in here a while,good beer,and food
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Actually, I think I got the wrong pub - I'm thinking of a different White Hart, on Great Suffolk Street the other side of Blackfriars Road. I'll get my coat.
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I agree that the below reviews are overly negative. It's not the most exciting pub in the world and I only spotted GK IPA on tap although may have missed others. The food smelt nice although I didn't try it.
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Notwithstanding some of the previous 'reviews' of this place which were (justifiably) removed from BITE, I just can't understand the low rating this place gets. I may prefer real ale, but if it difficult to understand why another reviewer complains about a pub having 9 lagers on tap. The atmosphere seemed OK to me, and the bar staff reasonably attentive. The Everards Sunchaser, served in an old-fashioned pint 'jug', was fine (and everything is somewhat cheaper than the nearby Kigs Arms). Whatever may (or may not) have happened in the past, I suggest that this place is well worth a try.
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3 real ales with a changing range. Seemed tidy enough to me.
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Been a few times and it could be so much better. Simply no need for SO many lagers on sale. I counted 9 on draught ! Bar staff were comically useless and dumb to boot. If you expect me to pay nearly �4 for a gin and tonic don't you dare then argue the to$$ when I object to the RED HOT glass you served it in!!!! BTW the pub looks nowt like the picture above. It now has much more modern signage etc and actually better for it.
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Gave me the impression of a decent pub trying to get out from beneath the trendiness, that has been slapped about the place. Could have done with a wider beer selection, only Pride being on offer. That said, it was a good pint and 20p cheaper than down the road at the Kings Arms.
Certainly qualifies IMHO as the third best pub in the area, after the Rose and Crown and the aforementioned Kings Arms, but I would make myself a regular.
mrse1 - 24 Mar 2008 18:23 |
Monday evening 29th Oct, Arrived at White Hart with a dozen mates. All ex ( or current ) Rugby players. All quite large. All quite thirsty. 6.30 PM Greene King IPA ran out. 7.00 PM Fullers London Pride ran out. Apart from a cuppla the younger guys on various Euro Fizz taps rest of us kept on the Young's Ordinary - no problems - fine. Kept us going until 10.30 or so.
Two guys behind bar working their socks off. Cheerful friendly attentive and alert and observant.
Good Lads. Even if they had been trained to change barrels I'm not sure if they would have had time. Pub very busy all night - not bad for a Monday. Service still pretty quick. No complaints. Cheers to the Bar lads ( and lass )
Earlier derogatory obsos posted about the pub must have been heeded by management, unless they were posted by sacked incompetent disgruntled staff.
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What have they done to this pub.
Atomsphere is dead, where is Kasia the Tablefootball Queen.
I think that the table football Queen has been replaced by other Queens, if you get my drift.
There is no long table foodball.
The old watering hole is now really scuffy and dirty, but worst of all the beer is warm and the glasses have a funny taste.
The staff are combination of gone wrong skake-boarders and boring 'no it all bar people' who wear keys on there trousers belts because they think they are jailers.
Advice - hit the road to the back streets of Covent garden for a real pub.
anonymous - 25 Aug 2007 17:52 |
After a couple of years since refurbishment, the pub is more scruffy than ever.
Toilets just have never been cleaned, what must the kitchen and cellar be like? The staff have no ideal about the drinks, the beer fridge is actually an oven. Make sure you have had your medical injections to protect your health before eating in this establishment.
The best thing, is there are four parking spaces free from charge after 1pm on saturday.
anonymous - 30 Jun 2007 06:46 |
Pleasant enough place, but nothing to make it stand out. Not really a beer drinkers pub, but they did have London Pride and Deuchars IPA on, but at a price. Has a lot of foreign lagers on and tends to attract a slightly younger crowd than the nearby Kings Arms.
I dont have any adverse comments to make on the staff, unlike some other posters here - perhaps I visited on a good day
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Shame, this place has a lot of potential, but is let down by uninterested, rude staff, who actually appear to make an effort to ignore you. 45 minutes stood at the bar without being is unacceptable anywhere, had it not been for the rest of our group we would have walked.
Avoid, it's overpriced, understaffed and not how a chilled beerintheevening should be!
anonymous - 5 Feb 2007 21:07 |
Went there Saturday afternoon, waited over ten minutes to get served. I was not ever ackownledged, so walked out. What has happend to this pub? It truely rocked back in 2004. So they gave it a Make over and forgot all about the customer service and strange beers of 2004
anonymous - 5 Oct 2006 19:03 |
They now have less of a selection of beer compared to the golden years of this pub, of 2004.
The staff have no idea about which glasses are for which drinks, that's even if they remember to give you a glass.
And that's if they serve you having finished a 3 hour conversation with their friends.
The Beer fridge is really an oven, most of the bottle beers are warm, and your paying over �3.00 a bottle.
GO TO THE AUBERGE for the bottled beer (Belgium fruit beers yummy). For THE CRACK go to THE MULBERRY BUSH near LWT for the CROWD (LWT Stage crew - Quilty,Lennie,Jamie,JJ,Trevor,Dinky etc).
THE WHITE HART has totally lost it's way, no character and a clear lack of TLC regarding it's drinks
anonymous - 23 Jul 2006 11:14 |
Odd location. Usually a choice of real ales. Had some very pleasant Summer Lightning there recently. Also recall an attractive barmaid working there! Good pub for a swift one at lunch-time.
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This is place is the pots and unfortunately because of its location its constantly full so the manager obviously doesnt have to think about running a good pub. Full of office groups, particularly IBM who cram in their despite its obvious short fallings.
I only went there once before Richard left and we had a great night. He put on some food for us but because a delivery hadnt been made he went down to Tescos and bought endless boxes of frozen party food. And charged us cost price! We had so much we ended up handing it round the pub. Be great to find out where hes gone.
This place is just miserable now. Staff are rude and obviously hate theire job. Its possibly one of the worst designed pubs in London. It was bad before its refurb. The new owner then decided to make the bar area even bigger by adding a bit at the back. But they dont serve from there. Whys it there then! Plus you are constantly told not to stand anywhere near the wrong side of it. Despite it being an empty space.
This place has gone to the dogs. Plenty if better boozers nearby that are less crowded, the staff arent sullen and they have some idea how to treat their customers.
Avoid!
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Went up there on a saturday afternoon,
The pub opened at 12 noon,
Toilets were mega dirty.
The barmaid was more interested in talking to her friends, I waited along time to be served.
I had a Belguim bottled fruit beer, but I had too ask for the glass.
The selection and knowledge of the drinks was very poor.
Bring Back Richard, The Old Manager, who had great staff, loads of new interesting products, history info of the beer, beer fridges that were cold and fantastic art work on the blackboards.
Will the new manager, stop, think, and put more effort into the place, because it was a great place in 2004.
anonymous - 4 May 2006 11:19 |
I find it hard to find the appropriate words to describe visit to this poor excuse for an establishment last night. Firstly, the layout of the pub. The bar's almost the same size as the seating areas and is slap bang in the middle, reducing seating space further. The service area behind the bar is exceptionally tight, making it nigh on impossible for the bar staff to pass by one another. Now normally I wouldn't object to a large serving area (bigger bar equals more pumps and more staff) but sadly having only three bar staff it does nothing for the speed of service.
Which brings me succinctly on to my second point. The staff. The Duty Manager looked like a skater-boy crossed with a die-hard heavy metal fan gone wrong. His attitude resembled more of a sullen teenager who�d just been told he wasn�t getting any pocket money, rather than a man in charge of an entertainment establishment. Rude, discourteous; the man (boy) quite clearly had zero respect for his customers.
And so we move on to the quality of the drinks. I will admit that their draught ale wasn�t too shabby. However, the white Wine the girls were drinking was served warm. When they asked if they could have a replacement (i.e. Chilled) bottle, they were initially told no, as they�d taken said wine over to our table. After much deliberation, they kindly conceded and offered a replacement bottle of wine. Sadly, they�d run out of the Pino Grigio the girls were drinking previously, and were subsequently offered a suitable alternative. Then, they attempted to charge us for the �4 difference between the bottles. A shining example of customer service. And do they offer you wine glasses to drink out of when purchasing a bottle? Absolutely not, half pint pots all round. Class.
So to summarise, poor layout, rude staff and abysmal service. Oh, and one of the urinals in the Gents was overflowing onto the floor.
One of the barmaids had a nice rack though, every cloud�
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This pub is chilled, relaxed, bar staff are friendly, I think they've done a good job on the refurb.
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Went last night for the first time since the revamp. What a mess! Loud music, useless staff (you don't expect to have to exlain what "Stones Ginger Wine" is to a barman - worse still, when I asked what bitter they had on tap, he proceded to list the lagers) and too many tiresome young wanabees - presumably from the ITV offices nearby.
The decor looks as if they've tried really hard (far too hard) to create a 'trendy' space while retaining some 'pub' character. As a result it doesn't work well in either category. To be fair, the Bombadier was not the worst I've ever had -and it was reasonably priced - but that's not really enough to redeem the place.
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Where is Richard now? I was told the Canonbury Arms in N London. Anyone?
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.....the White Hart takeover was pure travesty. Decent ale houses are a rarity on the southbank and this one was great fun but I wouldn't waste the rubber on my shoes to trek there now. The makeover's a rank disaster and the bar staff are a piss take. Richard, the White Hart needs you!!!
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Walked into this place on monday night and turned straight around. Ugh!! Awful place.
anonymous - 2 Aug 2005 23:46 |
Problem is that it has changed hands. Richard teh previous manager has moved on and his slow trendification has been replaced by full-blown revolution. The new management have rushed to make this a bar, not a boozer. Sad for trad drinkers, but the place always seems busy. The biggest shame is teh loss of local atmosphere - this used to be a proper South London family pub ith a real mix of clientele. Now it is aimed at trendies. The TV has gone, so I'll need a new Central London meeting place for watching England crash out of major football tournaments. The changes are symbolised by the ditching of the traditional pub sign and window boxes. While it is still a nice place for a pint, the service has been apalling the last two times I've been in and I can't really imagine myself going there too often in future.
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I tend to agree with the previous comment concerning the service - it is awful,very slow. The young female staff seem almost unaware of the presence of customers and when they do notice they usually pick those who have beem waiting the least time. However I would persist here because of the beer: always a varied choice,good quality and reasonably priced ( for the area) �2.50 for bitter. I avoid The Wellington for the poor beer at high prices but agree King's Arms is a great alternative.
White Hart get your staff sorted out.
mally - 25 Jul 2005 18:14 |
I must disagree with the previous 2 comments. The only positive thing i can say about this bar is that you can drink outside. The staff are terrible they look a mess. They don't acknowledge you when your waiting to be served sorry if your lucky enough to be served. We waited almost 10 minutes, there was only 6 people at the bar and still we didn't get served in turn instead we were blatently blanked. The one good thing was that while we were waiting we could observe just how dirty the bar area actually was. I dont think i have ever been in a bar where ther are so many beer flies, the brasso could do with a polish too!!! Maybe i am just being too picky??? Best go to The Kings Arms just around the corner much better or maybe The Wellington.
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Tried after a long absence based on previous report by Microman - thanks good tip.
The beer here used to be unspeakably awful. Now however the quality is very good with an interesting line in guest ales. The refurb is a bit trendy for me (sad old git)but the atmosphere is friendly & the deep armchair makes an ideal spot for an early evening session. Keep up the good work
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Magic for a little scuttle away from the main drag. Wonderful range of unusual bottle beers & spirits.
Well kept tap beers (including the lagers!). Nice line in the better known, and some of the more obsure, guest ales for those of us that are CAMRA and proud of it!
All this in a super pub with good food, atmosphere and a manager whose taste in shirts is, fortunately, not matched by his taste in beer ;-)
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best pub in waterloo
simon - 3 Sep 2004 12:41 |
Spent riddiculous amount of time and money in here when I lived in the area. Great place off the beaten track if you are in the area and in need of a drink.
Jack Knight - 24 Aug 2004 17:33 |
Dear Richard (Croatian for all his sins) runs a tidy little pub here. The food's extremely good, affordable and served late and the bar staff are always friendly and attentive - the way all public houses should be. That apart, there's Staropramen on tap.....well, what else would you go back for?
Spudster - 22 Jun 2004 17:58 |
Very friendly Landlord. Lots of after work drinkers - and I mean proper drinkers - who go there every night. I wish they would bring back the pool table. One of the best paces to drink in Waterloo. Good beer, dear food, decent wine (apparently).
Stephen - 25 Nov 2003 17:32 |
