please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I don't usually get down this way, but on Sunday stopped by for a bit of lunch and a pint. A very decent, friendly place, with reasonable, but undistinguished, beers. It IS more of a "restaurant" now, but still caters to the drinking trade. 7/10
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A while since the last review and pleasing to note that this is a pretty decent rabbit warren of a gastropub with good service. A crab and prawn spaghetti dish was exemplary even if is now more of a restaurant. Good to also note that Good Old Boy is on tap as it should be given the nearness of the West Berkshire brewery.
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This place's reputation has plummeted recently. We're local-ish and heard on the grapevine that it was dreadful, so in the interests of research we had to go in to see! The strange thing is that we didn't find it too bad. The beer was good and well-kept. The landlord was very friendly. We're not regulars or similar, but we've been back a couple of times since and really have had nothing to complain about at all. Maybe others need to give it a 2nd chance?
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Used to be a fun friendly pub with an excellent Timothy Taylor and really tasty food, not over-priced. Then the landlord left (along with his whisky bottle collection) and things went down hill. Food now rubbish and service bordering on rude and disinterested. Sad as the place had so much potential.
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We called in for lunch and were very hungry. We will certainly not make the mistake of calling again. It was very dirty, including the toilets, and the window sills, in particular, were filthy. After ordering, we waited forty five minutes for our food to arrive and it was poor in both quality and quantity. All thoughts of asking for dessert were immediately abandoned.
On the plus side, the staff were pleasant; we had a good glass of wine; and the chips were good. At least the prices were not too high. The rest was a bad experience. When asked how our meal was, I said �OK� because I saw little point in saying anything else as we will never return to see if any improvements have been made.
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We visit this pub 5 or 6 times a year as its a good meeting point for the family travelling from north and south. Unfortunately we wont be visiting again, its changed managers/owners since March along with staff. Service was bad, beer was off, generally very dirty (including toilets) , and the food has taken more of a 'weatherspoons' approach, extremely disapointing.
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Oh, and having only drank Brakespear at a local London pub, and thinking it was awful, it was most fine here. Hadn't had a decent pint of Brakespears since they shut the brewery.
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Just as I remember it from over twenty years ago, dark, a little cramped, excellent. Beer fine and food good enough. Shame that it is now part of a chain, but perhaps having accommodation will stop it being turned into a house. Surprised over the low score, so I've overmarked
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Great pub friendly staff all day and night, the beer excellent especially the Timothy Taylor. Would recommend to all.
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The Eagles (Hook) had just been entertaining at the East Illsley sheep fair when unfortunately the beer tent somehow managed to run out of beer (they had john smiths on offer but no way can i liken that to beer as i know it!). So the boys retired to the Crown and Thorns. An excellent choice, friendly atmospheric and above all good beer. We will be back! (for those who were somewhat bemused when we arrived we don't usually 'black up' to go for a beer)
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Visited this pub for lunch with my wife and our dog whilst cycling The Ridgeway in April 2008. Its a nice looking pub, inside and out. We were greeted by very friendly staff and the landlady who made us all feel welcome. The Brakspear draught was great and the food was excellent. Cant fault this place so if you are in the area pop in. I will do again! PS - the guy that wrote negative comments about this place should get a life. We should encourage pubs like this, not knock them!
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I visited this pub last year and again this year on my spring walk.
Last year it was being managed by a guy who I was told was sacked in November - and the owner took over directly again.
It was certainly much nicer this year than last, with friendly atmosphere, lovely pint of TT Landlord.
Well worth a visit to check on progress as this is one of only a few original pubs unspoilt by brewery renovation in the area.
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Reading the previous comments I didn't think the place was dirty but it was early when I went in there. Decent pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord and friendly service.
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I can see why "anonymous" does'nt want people to know they've been drinking in there - it really is dirty, dull and nothing special at all. Completely boring atmosphere, i suppose i can understand why you like standing in the toilet corridor watching your food being cooked. Granted, there is a hugh range of empty whisky bottles - mostly left by the previous landlord (who was much better). To be honest you'd be better off going to Tesco's express in didcot (the staff there are really friendly too!), buying a four-can pack of tesco value bitter and drinking it at home in front of recorded episodes of bargin hunt.
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We have just read the comment below and have never read so much rubbish in our lives. We're not surprised the author wishes to remain anonymous. This is a truly great pub selling great beer and superb food. You can view your food being cooked through a window. There is a huge range of Scotch Whisky. The staff are always friendly and are continually cleaning and tidying up. We really can't fault this pub.
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I used to visit this pub regularly until I went to work abroad a few years ago. It was very popular and you could rely on meeting some interesting people and having an enjoyable night out. Called in recently and oh dear. The place was practically deserted and had an uncared-for look � tables covered with dirty glasses and debris, dust and grime evident, overflowing bin in the gents which stank (my wife said the ladies wasn�t much better). Had planned to have a meal but was put off by the general squalor. Chatted to a couple of locals who said the place had gone downhill over the last year or so and lost much of its popularity. Shame. Very disappointed.
anonymous - 3 Jul 2007 13:24 |
Well, I'm completely bemused by the only other comment. Is it really that bad? We went there for a birthday dinner in a group of eight, and we were happy with it. The beer that night was Tim Taylor's Landlord (which I'm told was well-kept), the wine I was drinking was a very decent sauvignon blanc. Service was reasonable (good but not great), the food was good and came in the most enormous portions - I had crab cakes as a starter, and then couldn't finish the home-made burger and the Everest of chips for main. No problem with the locals either, they seemed friendly enough and certainly not hostile. Nope, I suspect the (anonymous) poster must have been talking about a different pub...
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