please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
After not being back for a year I was in the commercial on 15th October. Can't comment on the real ale because all they had was tetleys cask and I'd rather not bother with that. At least it wasnt too busy and you could get a seat. I just don't get why people like this pub.
|
Yup, ECLKWRIG, the recent Guest Cains was just undrinkable. (I thought that was just Cains as I am not a fan and confuse it with Jeyes) Yup, the Guests do taste a blander version of their full selves. Yup, supercat, it did look a bit pre-smoking ban, schabby chic over done, but it just had new decor and new flooring. Fair criticism. I like the "proletariat character", me and it still has that.
|
Cracking wee pub right by the railway station in Rainhill run by two of the nicest licensees you are likely to meet.
Friendly, easy going atmosphere at any time of day or night where you can go on your own or with friends. Relax, have a reasonably priced drink and a chat with a complete stranger who just become your friend. Big screen sport, juke box etcetera but the "Comm" is also quiet enough for talking, especially daytime and weekday evenings. Really popular at weekends when it is standing room only. Quiz night from 9.30pm on Tuesdays. Functions catered for really well. Various great theme nights: St George's Day is a hoot and the World Cup Barbeques were great. This is the spirit of the Commercial. (I'd say something about "community" but the papers and the politicians have taken all the real meaning out of that word. This pub has plenty of the real meaning, I reckon.) Superb and friendly bar staff who obviously enjoy working there. Lounge and bar.
If you are a lager drinker then its �1.99 for a pint of Fosters.
There is some lovely real ale but if what makes your eyes sparkle is a plentiful rack of hand pumps all along the bar with all kinds of independent ales on then this is not that kind of pub. But you will always get at least one good, clean pint of Guest ale from a good range of breweries and in a good range of styles. This is addition to the Regular ales. Hopefully this will keep you going all night. My only gripe is that its only got limited real ale, but to my mind, this is a small price to pay for such a pleasant, welcoming and well run local pub. The bar prices are the best in the village, I believe, and people flock in.
The very decent chippy closes at 9pm, so plan your evening accordingly. There is also a good Chinese takeaway and two nice restaurants: Galleria and Kozi's within about a minutes stumble. If its day time then the village butchers is worth a look for Orkney Black Beef steaks to soak up the beer. And then there is the train or bus home if you are not fortunate enough to live here.
Cracking local with a lot of spirit. Just talked myself into rating it a notch higher than I did before. Enjoy!
|
Grand building, both inside and out, opposite the railway station. The beer selection consisted of Caledonian Autumn Red, Cains Bitter and Tetley Dark. Tetley Mild and Greene King IPA were both off. There are a few separate drinking areas, which lend the place plenty of character. Multiple TVs were showing live football and most people were in to watch it. Tokens from behind the bar are needed to exit the car park. A pleasant building. But it may have seen better days.
|
I was in here last weekend, and I'm with alanhealey. The place was busy, because of the Rugby League grand final, but service was as quick as could be expected, staff and clientele friendly and the Cains bitter enjoyably drinkable all evening. I haven't been in before, and don't come from the area, so I don't know whether it's better or worse than it was, but it seemed fine to me.
|
Went to the comic on a Saturday night for the first time in ages. I used to live in Rainhill so remember how it used to be years ago. It was very busy (as it always has been) but the crowd huddled round the bar were frankly rude and generally refused to get out of your way if you had the audacity to want to buy a drink. Unlike the old days when the comm always served nice beer , when I eventually managed to buy a drink it was the most mediocre pint of Caines that I've ever had and the guest beer was terrible.
Maybe my expectations of what a good pub should be like have risen over the last few years but I think I'm probably being generous giving this a 2 out of 10. I wouldn't recommend that a stranger in search of a decent pint in a pleasant atmosphere should visit this pub.
|
Alan Healey, No, no mistake - I've also been a user of 'The Com' for over 20 years; I have no gripe with the decor or the customers, but...........the real ale is now always undrinkable. Do you drink real ale or that chemical stuff ? Quite how this place ever got a 'Cask Marque' is beyond me.
|
I dont recognise The Commercial in these reviews. I have used the pub for 20 years and it has always been a friendly community local with a good atmosphrere and nice beer. I think the other reviewers must be mistaking the place for somewhere else
|
what a shame!! what used to be a nice friendly pub has morphed into the starwars bar!!! the decoration is outdated and dirty. have they not washed anything since the smoking ban?? the real ale is substandard ive drank tastier dishwater. try the rocket up the road for a tasty pint of cask. the landlord should take lessons from the rockets landlord on how to clean his lines
|
The com is a well run pub, friendly staff & the fosters is only �1.85 a pint
best pub in the area
|
Oh dear again ! Out of necessity alone, I re-visited The Com again, last night, after a lapse of some 7 months. Regretfully, things have got even worse. There was no 'guest' ale available, the Cains was undrinkable (as ever !) and the Tetley's Dark Mild ?.............................this was singularly the worst pint of cask ale I have ever paid for...............far too warm and genuinely tasted like a swilled out ash-tray; .absolutely disgusting ! Needless to say, after attempting to drink 2 pints (unsuccessfully) I left, completely depressed. What has happened to what used to be a great pub, with quaffable ale ? Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that that the licensee spends all his time drinking chemical lager on the wrong side of the bar. Maybe if he tasted the cask le he'd realise what stomach-churning pig-swill he was offering.
|
Oh dear ! Its some months since my last visit, but..............................I didn't think it was possible, but The Com have actually made the Cains bitter taste even worse ! Actually, taste is perhaps the wrong choice of word since the drink served in The Com now has no taste whatsoever. I really don't know what they do to transform what leaves the Liverpool brewery as one of the tastiest pints around into a brown, taste-free liquid. Anyone any ideas ? Oh, and the much-lauded jukebox is far too loud as well !
|
Not being an afficionado of 'real ale', I can't really sympathise with ECLWRIG's criticisms of the Commercial- although I agree that budweiser is swill unfit for animal consumption. All that being said, ECLWRIG omits to mention one crucial thing: the Commercial boasts a tip-top-notch new-fangled jukebox. The pub itself is small but 'cosy', whilst the somewhat old-fashioned decor gives it a nostalgically proletarian character that is not altogether unpleasing.
|
This used to be a great pub' sadly, the last 5/6 years have not been kind to The Com. The real ale is undrinkable, although I have to say, the staff have perfected the art of making every pint of real ale taste exactly the same, whether it be 'Bombardier'/'Pedigree'/'Landlord' et.c....it mystifies me how they have been able to achieve this. The Cains bitter is absolutely undrinkable, a great shame for what is normally a dependable pint. It is clear that the preferred clientele are the youths who steadfastly refuse to drink from a glass and would rather enhance their street cred by wandering round The Com swigging out of the disgusting bottles of Bud (brewed in the UK by the way !). My friends and I used to visit The Com every Saturday night and had been doing so for nearly 20 years; sadly, we are now compelled to use the train to find decent real ale further afield. A great shame
|
I first went to this pub over 20 years ago and I think its still got the same customers. Gets very busy on a Friday night, but other than that is well worth dropping in for a couple of pints.
|
Great local pub. Good beer, prices right and service first class! A tribute to the licensee and an example of how to run a good pub!
|
Excellent cask beer. Busy Locals pub.Smoky but good beer and service. Pedigree, Cains and guest beer. Low prices �1.99 fo Pedigree
Julian D - 11 Oct 2005 16:57 |
