please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Murky pint of Purity UBU was served to me yesterday at a cost of £4.60. The pub was smartly refurbished in November 2018 but there's far too much lighting in here to make the place cosy and a general sense that they aren't at all bothered about repeat business because of the continual influx of tourists.
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Fairly close to the RSC theatre and uses this fact to rip off tourists. It had three real ales on when I visited last week. I opted for a pint of Purity UBU which at £3.60 is probably about par for the centre of Stratford, but I do expect to be served a FULL pint – not one a good half inch below the top of the glass. Equally I do not appreciate the hateful look of the barman when I asked politely if he would top it up, or having the glass slammed down on the bar afterwards. After all that, it certainly wasn't one of the best pints of UBU I have had.
The biggest rip-off is charging £4.55 for a pint of Timothy Taylor Landlord. Apart from greed, how can this be justified ???
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Rip off joint - Landlord at £4.55 a pint, which is more than you would pay in the centre of London.
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Pricey - most expensive round by far of the weekend, and that means most of pubs in central Stratford. Beer was OK, but pub as a whole does not justify its pricing, especially when compared with Red Lion across the road
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Pleasant décor, wine bar feel, ale in fair condition
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It's a nice venue with a smart interior. It's a little on the pricey side, but considering its location on Stratford's Waterside perhaps this isn't surprising.
The problem with smart establishments in the Shires is that they tend to take themselves a bit seriously. The Encore falls into this category and has a culture of cool rather than friendliness - as if it's some kind of privilege to be allowed through the doors. The organisational ethos appears to be based on the misapprehension that 'trendy' and 'friendly' are mutually exclusive domains.
We ate in a small group, and while the food was very good, the service from the youthful staff was rather aloof. For example, no endeavour was made to engage with my 9-year-old son. I recognise that the staff are not children's entertainers, but something in addition to perfunctory service would have been nice. For this reason I probably wouldn't go there again. But as I've mentioned it's a nice venue - I just prefer establishments that have a friendlier ambience.
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Great location, really close to the theatres. Ubu nothing to write home about.
Only one person behind the bar when the entire theatre emptied out whilst other members of staff roamed around apparently busy - not good.
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No longer a Beefeater as suggested by the photos on this site but a smart, fairly well-heeled establishment that sits somewhere between a pub and a bar. We visited quite late last night after dining nearby and immediately got a table surrounded by other couples and groups who looked as if they may have just come out of the theatre. Elsewhere there were plenty of respectable youngsters who looked as if they were going to be moving on to somewhere more lively. The Purity Mad Goose and Doom Bar were both perfectly satisfactory but nothing extraordinary. Service was a little dismissive but certainly not bad enough to prevent a re-visit one day.
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Nice and friendly welcome. We went there quite late in the evening so it was quite quiet. Nice clean pint of doom. The staff were very helpfull.
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Timmy Taylor Landlord was average on my last visit (Aug 2011)- and I usually guzzle it like there's no tomorrow. Trendy pub, and this shows with interior and exterior. Staff are fairly friendly, but it seems to be aiming for the food end of the market. Still, it is pleasant enough , but you pay too much for the privelage.
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Poor choice when we went in so i plumped for a Spanish lager! Nice on the outside and inside but a place we won't frequent again in a hurry. One barmaid pleasant but another one was very obnoxious. Hit and miss I guess.
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Nice location and decor. Purity Ubu and Landlord still on tap. Agree with previous comments. Ubu was dreadful (never thought I'd say that), was replaced by Landlord. Thought the first few sips were poor due to previous pint, but alas. Asked for money back, got it and promptly left. Much better options in the area, such as The Bear.
TMSE9 - 15 May 2011 20:48 |
from the outside a real improvement from the outside, there was a choice of TT Landlord or Purity UBU, asked for a landlord and was shocked to see that in betwen changing the barrels they did not flush the lines. Then presented with a pint of something that resembled ditchwater, just gos to show that the cask mark means very little
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I think this place must have had the revamp that it apparently required in 2006 as the whole of the outside of the pub is now painted blue. It�s still got a pub like bar but the rest of the place is very gastro/wine bar style and there�s a restaurant upstairs. Horseshoe shaped bar with stone flagged floors and subdued lighting with unusual zebra striped stools. Apart from that it�s got very few distinguishing features although it is all tastefully done and it doesn�t look like a cafe in IKEA as many of them do. There are 2 handpumps on the bar which is good news, serving Purity UBU and TT Landlord. The Landlord was pretty good as was the red wine according to the other half. It�s a very girlie place now and was full of the after work crowd and tourists. It�s just about OK but it is a bit of a generic modernisation.
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Beer is alright. This pub goes through phases of being popular. Food is not too bad and the prices aren't bad. Staff are generally ok. Needs a little bit of a revamp though.
anonymous - 3 Oct 2006 16:28 |
Typical Beefeater. Free from personality but gets you out of the rain. Hot chocolat is better than the beer but nowt to write home about.
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