please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Five real ales on offer at this excellent local in the heart of St Albans. My pint of Mojo from the Robinsons Brewery was superb. A rather mixed clientele - the mid-afternoon bonhomie was only slight spolit by the rather sour barmaid.
But I liked this pub nevertheless.
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Folk night on a Tuesday. Popped in out of curiosity and was greeted to a fella with his organ, a lady and a sax and a young lad on guitar. Vocally, a touch of Robery Wyatt about the singer.
Stayed for a pint and enjoyed the music. I do like a pub with live music.
Also rather enjoyed the update from the lady at the bar who was currently having the best sex of her life.
The folkies were good, but I wouldnt go that mad.
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If you like real ale then this ain't the place to be. The beer was sour and undrinkable.
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Passed this place last night and was surprised to see a riotous party spilling out onto the street at 19:45 at night! Guess the drinkers had started early! Have visited a couple of times over the last year and always found the place to be pretty much deserted even at supposedly 'busy' times of the day / week.
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Back to being a good honest town centre pub with good food and a good range of drinks! Some regulars are a bit rough round the edges but they don't bite and are sometimes quite amusing.
Oscars indeed!
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I'm pleased it's the Mucky Duck again and not the frankly daft Oscar's, but I've got to agree with donaldking, the place now has the feel of a nasty incident that hasn't happened yet. Maybe I'm a touch over-sensitive, but one's fellow drinkers all seem to have popped in for a gallon or two of refreshment in-between stripping lead from church roofs or tearing up copper telephone cables.
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A pub for heavy drinkers. Whatever they try to do to it, it's always faintly depressing somehow. Admittedly, it's a bit lighter than it used to be, but one always expects something awful to happen... Its time as Oscar's was short and unimpressive (the pictures of Oscar Wilde gave the wrong impression to some of the more rigidly heterosexual men of St. Albans, who deserted it...), and now at least it's back to the White Swan again. Albanians of a certain vintage still call it the Mucky Duck. The peeling sign outside hardly inspires confidence, but if you want to drown your sorrows, this is the place for you.
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Glad to see this place has changed back to being the White Swan from it's previous incarnation which was frankly p*sspoor. Good luck to all concerned. Will try it out next time I'm passing!
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We were in here yesterday as one of the last pubs on our pub Crawl so My memory of which Ales were on are a bit vague I Had a few pints the Hobgoblin which was in good condition so good I had two Pints and there were a few others on tap. It appears too have gone back to the original name of The White Swan from the signage on the outside sign. As already said its a bit bare inside but its OK for a few pints and we found the other customers and Staff friendly and welcoming enough. I would pop in if I'm passing again
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Welcome back to The White Swan
The White Swan is making a comeback
I would like to wish John McGuiness and his team the best of luck
its nice to see Live music every Friday night from 9pm until 11pm.
I'm also very happy to see 4 Real Ales on offer with a wide selection coming in on rotation.
I can also confirm that the Home cooked food is back every day from 12am until 3pm and is of a good quality standard.
Good Luck to the Mucky Duck for the future
Steve a Happy local
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Went in and back out in no time.
4 handpumps, but only one on was GKIPA. Asked for a Flying Scotsman but once the barmaid eventually came to serve me, she tried pouring one off for 2 minutes, before declaring it gone!
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Oscar's started well but is suddenly looking a bit iffy on the beers front. Only GKIPA and Courage Director's are available at the moment. What happened to those great Red Squirrel ales?
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Oscar's is OK, actually. It's cleaner than the White Swan, the beers aren't too bad, and it's open on Sunday evenings, which the WS never was. My main gripe is that they've removed the (excellent) jukebox.
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No more Mucky Duck! Oscars indeed! Well you will not be seeing me in there again.
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No longer The White Swan now called Oscars. Cannot give a fair review as yet. Believe there is a link to Mokoko's.
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Was a sign outside (Mon 2nd august) saying it was turning into a bar!
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Much livelier now, and a good alternative if the Boot gets too busy. There are still 3 real ales and the service is much friendlier than previously.
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The new managers have definitely got a grip on the place, and it's more fun now and positive.
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New owners/tennants....not been in since they took over.
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I think a good pub, always a good atmosphere when I've visited, good beer, ticks the boxes for a place to visit when on a city centre crawl
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I can't find a reason to go into this pub any more. The guest beers haven't changed for 9 months (and they are the very boring Spitfire and Bombardier). Also the pub seems to be shut at random times (like Tuesday evenings??). The landlord seems to spend more of his time propping up the bar at the Boot!
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This pub is in desperate need of some TLC. It can't be right that at 7 o'clock on Friday evening there were only 2 customers here, whilst the nearby pubs were all buzzing. Worse, there's a faint smell of dirt and grime coming from some of the furniture. The beer remains fine, but overall the people running this joint really must get a grip or else it will go out of business.
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My second visit to this pub this evening - its local nick name is the Dirty Duck. I'm a keen pub goer & I have walked past it twice every weekday for the last 15 years. This probably gives an indication how attractive it looks, though it is undoubtedly a very old pub. Bombadier (�3.20 per pint) was by far the most expensive beer offered this evening, tho it was in good condition. Unfortunately there is little in the way of original internal features inside, though there are a few interesting photos on the walls & the football quotes are amusing, Colemanballs style. It remains an underwhelming experience
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I must say that despite this place ticking some positive boxes, I am somewhat surprised that it has so far garnered such a healthy overall score of 7.7! It is an appealing pub from the outside and the interior, although perhaps a little faux, does have a traditional feel that seems to match. The beers I found on the bar last weekend were in good shape, and service was both friendly and efficient, despite the throng of customers all vying for attention. It is also very conveniently situated for a sopt of refreshment having scaled the heights of Upper Dagnall Street, and before one launches oneself upon the town centre proper.
But it didn't make any lasting impression on me in the character stakes, and I can completely understand the dilemma of the previous commentator who also seems to have found it a somewhat anodyne experience. Yet, the Swan attracts a mixture of clientele - plenty of vodka and shots being downed when I was there as well as beer - so perhaps that's its secret. Being a jack of several trades but master of none. Chalk up as a worthy stop-off on a crawl but be prepared for it to pall after a while if you stay all evening.
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I like dropping in here occasionally. Objectively it has everything a pub-lover could want. So why do I always end up feeling that it is so lacking in atmosphere?
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I like this pub, great tunes on jukebox played loud, good beer and friendly landlord, will be going back soon.
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That would indeed explain why the regular beer is GK IPA. But not why there is no Abott Ale!
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I'm not 100% about this, but another reason for the GKIPA's presence might be because the owners of the pub are ... Greene King. But if that's the case they are sensibly keeping their heads down and letting the current managers carry on in their excellent way. If the White Swan was anywhere but St Albans we'd all be raving about it, but given the presence of so many other great pubs in the city it's a bit overshadowed. Never mind.
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Trainman - the GK IPA is (I presume) for people who want a pint of something they recognise. It is kept well here, and if memory serves was a recent champion beer at the GBBF. I agree it is boring for the beer sampler, but can be a boon when the guest ales are not to your taste.
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Castle Eden Ale & Everards Sunchaser in very good nick, also GKipa (why?). Tiled floor at entrance, carpetted dining area beyond & to rt of L-shaped bar, wood floor to left where a plasma quietly shows sky sports & the opposite corner houses a bar billiards table. Decent tunes playing on jukebox. Glad it was �on map�, although ridding itself of greedyK beer would improve matters further.
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One of the few pubs that says 'home cooked' food and means it; had a really good pie for lunch here. Place has a lot of locals but also seams to attract younger students too.
Beer well kept and they have a bar billiards table.
Only minus is in winter the heating is set to about 1000C!
Wish it opened later - shuts at 11 even on weekend. 12 or 1 would be much better.
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one of may fave pubs in st albans town. good beer, friendly staff.
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Called in for lunch but unable to stay as no vacant tables. Must say something. Clean , smart interior. Would return and try again......
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Pleasant pub the White Swan. It's always been relatively quiet when I've gone in but with a pleasant atmosphere, nice staff and a gentle clientelle. Beer is decent enough and with twiglets and mini cheddars it scores high on bagged snacks. I've not eaten but by all accounts the food is solid and reasonably priced, traditional pub grub rather than anything drizzled in "jus" on a bed of "mixed leaves". If you want to kill an hour in a comfortable, quiet pub without schlepping out of the town centre you could do a lot worse.
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This is a spacious but comfortable pub, with good beers and a tasty lunchtime menu. I trundled in yesterday and was pleasantly surprised. It�s also very civilised: customers leave their money on the bar when they pop outside for a smoke, and it�s still there when they come back! The loos are a bit out of the way, but now we know that daleks can climb stairs I didn�t have any trouble.
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If you�re looking for a quiet drink in the city centre, where the service is welcoming and efficient, the prices are reasonable, the locals are friendly and there�s a good jukebox: you�ve found it in the White Swan. 8/10
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Good back street boozer with occassional interesting guest beers. Has a bar billiards table too. Much improved since the smoking ban.
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Rather a good pub, actually. I had a hearty lunch here, and 2 pints of extremely good beer. Also the jukebox deserves a mention: it's not of those dreadful modern things containing 3 million tracks which no one's ever heard of, but has a very good selection of top tunes from the past 30 years or so. Exit Bluebottle, singing.
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Called in on our way out to dinner friday evening. friendly staff and customers and EXCELLENT BEER.
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Very Excellent. Ringwood IPA was one of two guest ales.
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It's easy to overlook this pub, but only coz the competition in St Albans is so fierce. We had a very good lunch, and a couple of pints of quite decent stuff. At the front of the pub there's an amusing mix of OAPs on one side and SkySports watchers on the other. They seem to get along alright! 7/10
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OK pub. Couple of reasonable and unreasonable guest beers alongside GK IPA. Bar billiards table. Good jukebox. Nice atmosphere.
Ignore the dull entry below about widescreen tv. That fella is truly dull.
anonymous - 30 Sep 2006 23:57 |
Good beers, good food and - hourrah!- a good jukebox. But this is a pub in the grip of its regular drinkers, and the atmosphere isn't welcoming. Pity. The White Swan is a good port in a storm, but I for one cannot warm to it.
anonymous - 21 Apr 2006 09:52 |
I agree - quite a nice pub! Good beers, tasty food, service is OK. I get the feeling that this pub is a bit underrated in the boozy whirlpool that is St Albans. Worth a visit by anyone who cares about these things.
anonymous - 30 Jan 2006 20:18 |
Very central location just behind the main shops. Inside it has a fairly warm, homely feel, although functional rather than friendly. Has an interesting selection of real ales (currently Frolic and Hydes bitters) which are well looked after. Good wholesome food is also available.
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