please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Small pub with 3 real ales on in reasonable codition. Was not impressed that the barman used a glass that was already sitting under the tap with some beer in. Very loud and intrusive music playing continuously - very annoying. I won't be coming here again.
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Popped in The Wellington for first time yesterday. Nice enough pub, bright and airy! Good vantage point to watch London go by! Staff were helpful & attentive. A bottle of NZ wine was 19 quid... but it was extraordinarily good! (and I was assisted with payment..!) :o) Nicholson's ale hit the spot, according to "Laid-back-Ron"! Rosie enjoyed the camaraderie...!! :o) me2
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Pleasant Nicholsons pub - lots of ales and the full range of food. I think they do a good job in central London and think that you get value for money in all their pubs. Tourist trap? It's central London!
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Have visited this pub many times over the years and it really is a tourist trap! I suppose with it's position I shouldn't be surprised but Central London still does that to me.
Always a good and varied selection of ales on draught and apart from the price and lack of decent bar staff it's actually not a bad pub.
I did eat here once and the beef and ale pie I had was very good, I think the price was quite high but there was no doubting the quality of the food.
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First time I have been to this pub - It's not actually that bad and i was pleasantly surprised by the fixtures and fittings. I had a Guinness which was average but overall I would go back there. Nothing too great about it, nothing too bad - 6/10
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OK. This is a Nicholsons pub (M&B) located in West End theatre land, serving a great range of well kept real ales (6 when I visited).
Whilst I can accept �3.50/�4.00 a pint because of where it is situated I object to paying �12 for Pie, Mash and Veg, and fairly average portions and quality at that.
Whether that's down to local management or M & B this reeks of rip off Britain and is inexuseable.
Stop exploiting tourists because of your privileged plot and alienating any unsuspecting mug who dared to be hungry in the Strand.
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With seven well-kept ales usually on, the Wellington often features in our London crawls. Indeed on more than one occasion we've stayed all evening and worked our way along the pumps. Never actually eaten here so can't comment although the menu doesn't look that spectacular. Well above average.
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Have always liked this pub; the hot mulled cider is particularly good, especially considering the winter we've had !
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Traditional Nicholsons pub located right next to the Lyceum (Hint, avoid pre/post show times because it gets manic) in the Strand/Aldwych area. Had an excellent Sharps Cornish Stout out of the 7 real ales on offer. Has a seperate dining area upstairs, a large partly covered outdoor drinking area and a long thin bar which is deceptively bigger than it looks.
A bit if a tourist magnet but well worth popping in for a pint or more. (Also serves lager)
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Deceptively small from The Strand, stretches right back. Interesting place for a view out to see people walking by.
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popped in early september and i love this pub , intended to have 2 pints , before meeting the lady wife who had been shopping , ended up having quite a few pints of Doombar ....well kept beer
the staff were friendly , except the little spanish/italian waiter bloke who was running around taking care of the tourists but turned a blind eye to me and the wife sitting there
good pub and good beer , what more dya want ?
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This is a good pub. One has to hope that thumpingly big pubs like this which sit in prime locations and are proper pubs serving beer, i.e. AREN'T ghastly Slug & Lettuces etcetera, stay open, so I always like to support them. Good beer and reasonable, swiftly served food.
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Had an excellent meal in the Wellington last night (10/09/2010) with a friend, the steak was superb and cooked just as it was ordered !!!
With extremely good service and a lovely pint it is a very rare thing to find in a pub these days !!!!!
Rob
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Have been meeting friends here sometimes for a few years now and although the selection of beers remains very good, and the pub is pleasant, traditional and friendly enough, I would say the food is going downhill. Still ok quality but I remember having pies a couple of years ago with big portions of veg etc with them and now those portions seem rather sad and definitely reduced...
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Called in on a pub crawl and was surprised to be paying nearly �12 for three bottles of Sol. How is that justified wether its near the theatre or not. We had been around Temple, Covent Garden, St Pauls, Mansion House and nowhere came to that obscene price.
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Occupying a prominent street corner position on The Strand and next door to the Lyceum Theatre is The Wellington, a large Nicholson's pub.
Outside, we learn that the pub dates back to 1903. Note the fine corbels high up on the external walls.
Inside, as we might expect, it's a fairly standard typical Nicholson's interior with much polished woodwork and a fine ornate bar back. It's quite a narrow interior in places, which makes it seem more crowded than it actually is, but seating on the pavement outside relieves the crush and imbues something of a continental caf� feel to the place. There's the obligatory Wellington memorabilia. An upstairs dining room, called imaginatively The Dukes Bar, caters for the hordes of tourists who overrun the area, particularly in summer.
I've had decent pints of Leeds Best and other beers from the wide Nicholson's portfolio list in here recently.
This pub is worth including in any crawl of the immediate area.
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It seems to be open again popped in here the other day great pub with character and service was good to amazing choic of real ales which were avakilable to try before you buy i was amazed and the ales were really kept well was amazed for a pub that had been closed for refurb according ot htis site looked so great and had not been spoilt as they usually are by chain run brands. check it out yourself.
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Seems to be closed for a refurb at the moment - have always found this a good spot for a quiet pint. Usually full of theatre goers.
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i usually use this pub if im in the area , popped in the other sunday on my travels and it was still the same , decent beer , not overly silly prices considering where it is and good staff , the outside area was quite busy as was a nice warm day the pub itself had about 10 people inside
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You miss the point... it wasn't the mistake it was the attitude that went with it. We all make genuine mistakes but it's part of life in a customer service environment that you don't take out your frustrations on the customers because they don't come back. It was THEIR mistake yet they were huffy toward me - doing the job properly means you take things like that in your stride. Maybe you like being treated like crap when you go to the pub or are even willing to pay more for that kind of service but I think that poor service should be highlighted. Check a few more previous comments and you'll see a recurring theme about this place and poor service.
anonymous - 21 Mar 2010 20:40 |
Wow to the comment below, I guess to say ' I have ordered DOOM BAR not 1664' is a huge problem. But perhaps thats all about the old fashioned Soviet style East European mentality, which is doing it on purpose, because its such fun. Little advice Snarling_Mallard, chill out and dont be afraid to ask staff for the right pint, everybody can make a mistake.
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Had the unfortunate experience of old fashioned Soviet style East European mentality regarding service here. I ordered a pint of Doom Bar Bitter and was served up a pint of Kronenbourg 1664. Now in any language DOOM BAR and KRONENBOURG not only sound different but even lip readers can see the difference. The surly response from someone obviously not cut out to be in a customer service role wouldn't endear me to returning to this place. The beer (what there was of it as it was a fairly short measure and I didn't fancy any further confrontation over what was THEIR MISTAKE) was quite drinkable. Nearly all the customers in the place were trying to converse yet the music was unduly loud (seemingly for the benefit of the staff). If they turned it down they might just understand what people are asking for and not make mistakes and then blame the customer for them. The beer was good but this kind of reverse of 'customer is always right' service only ever gets a zero in my book.
anonymous - 11 Mar 2010 20:41 |
Not too busy and a good selection of real ales.
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A pub which is both narrow (if viewed from the Strand) and wide (when seen from the Aldwych side) which gives a long, thin bar that can get very busy in the early evening as the offices close and visitors gather for a night out at one of the many nearby theatres. Once inside, you'll find - provided that you can see through the throng - a fairly traditional London pub, albeit less ornate than some others in the Nicholson's chain. You will also need to get towards the northern end to find all the handpumps (about 8 or 9 in total). As well as staples such as TT Landlord, you should find a few seasonal beers from smaller breweries (e.g. Britannia Ale from the Cropton Brewery at a reasonable �2.80 when I visited recently).
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I visited london on friday and saturday with some friends we went on a little pub crawl we stopped by this pub been here befor and was very nice however this time i just found the service to be bad none friendly staff, was happy to return to oxford for a friendly pint,
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Small but bright pub with many original features. Ales kept very well. With a mass of pubs in the area could do a lot worse and I'd visit again.
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In my experience, this pub is always busy due to its location in the heart of theatreland as well as being close to Somerset House (I've been here a couple of times before the outdoor gigs there). As its a Nicholsons you won't find a vast array of guests but the ales they do stock are extremely well kept. I'm not one to usually rave about pub food but the fish and chips here are amongst the best I've had. Not one to neccesarily go out of your way for but you could do a lot worse.
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London Pride, Deuchars IPA and Cairngorm Autumn Nuts on � the latter at �2.90 a pint, and it was in excellent nick as well. This is a longish, narrow corner pub at the Aldwych end of The Strand. It is bare-boarded now, but does have an attractive plaster decorated ceiling that looks as if it might be original, as well as a rather nice red marble fireplace at the back of the ground floor bar and some marble facing on the walls.
It didn�t seem very welcoming when I was in there at noon the other day. The service was OK, but the door was being kept open (expecting deliveries?) making it fairly cold inside, plus there were some cleaning materials still on the bar making me feel a little like I had arrived before anyone was expected. A couple of girls in there for the breakfast kept their thick coats on the whole time. I suppose if I came at another time it would be warm and welcoming. This used to be one of my locals in the 70s � when they did Bass and Charrington�s IPA. At least the beer has improved. I remember one of our group saying that he would give up beer when it reached �1 a pint � he never did! It�s still OK as a pub, but I don�t think that I would go out of my way to visit though.
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In last night. Batemans XXXB, Pride, Pedigree, Landlord and Cairngorm Autumn Nuts which was good. Basically your bog standard Nicholsons.
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I visited this pub with my family on Sunday 19th October 2008 we had spent the day visiting various locations in the area and were looking forward to having a traditional sunday pub lunch and we chose the Wellington because we had visited it earlier in the year and enjoyed the atmosphere and the service. May I say on this occasion we were very dissapointed with the standard of customer service we received, when we arrived we waited about 10mins to be seated which we didn't mind because having been before we new it would be worth the wait when we was seated it became obvious to us that although the upstairs was not full there didn't seem to be enough staff to clear the tables it was 2.35pm when we were seated and after about 10mins we had our order taken we asked for coffee, tea, and a couple of pints only to be told they wasn't serving hot drinks that day, not a problem we said so we ordered soft drinks we ordered 2 steak and ale pies and 2 sunday roasts and began our wait during this time we noticed some customers get up to go and refuse to pay for their meal because it had not arrived at the same time as their company and when it did it was cold we continued to wait still not too worried thinking it was probably a one off, then as more people arrived in couples and got served before us we thought perhaps there was a problem this was by now over 1hr later when a family of 4 who had been seated at the same time as us mentioned to the waitress that they were still waiting for one of their meals, the waitress just told them not to worry and it shouldn't be too much longer another customer seated next to this family said to the waitress this was unacceptable service as the rest of the family had already eaten their meal the waitress dismissed this comment, I did manage to catch the waitresses eye with a wave to ask if our meal was going to be much longer, I asked her very politley and she raised her voice to me and told me quite abrubtly that I had not been waiting very long and dismissed me, by this time we had been in the place 1hr 20mins another waitress came over to me to show me our order receipt with the time we placed the order to try to reasure us and it was not even our receipt I counted that 12 people had been served after we arrived but was told by the waitress that orders for 2 always came before larger orders my family and I decided to leave and as we did the waitress in question aproached me and asked me rather rudely in a very high tone that she did not shout at me in front of other customers, I have worked as a waitress and still work with the public and always remain curtious, I will not be visiting this establishment again and would not reccommend it to anyone else I come across I feel that I took the brunt of the way this waitress was feeling and I believe they were under staffed even the cheff came upstairs while all this was going on a very dissapointed customer.
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Visited this pub yesterday Afternoon as part of "THE THEATRELAND" Dick Whittington Beer Trail. Three cask Conditioned Ales on offer London Pride, Marstons Pedigree, But I went for Landlord. Nice area outside on the pavement to sit and People watch. Very busy place with Tourists but good qick service. Worth a return visit.
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Have been in the Wellington several times, always been OK. Decent pints of Pride and Hook Norton offerings. Reasoanble food too for the area and not too many tourists (maybe we were lucky)
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Bearing in mind it really is a touristy type pub, being Nicholsons at least you know they will have soom Real Ale on draft. Limited choice but the beer was OK. Mobbed by tourist but service was excellent.
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I use to work at The Wellington from Dec2006 - Sept2007. I have to say that some of the comments made about the pub appaul me.
The Wellington is a very hard pub to work in. The location, the many thousands of tourists that past each day, the pre and post theatre groups, the regulars, business people and anyone else.
The staff have a lot to deal with. Not only do they have to run the main bar downstairs, but also look after the large outside area (largest in the company and area), and also the large restaurant upstairs (also one of the largest in the company and area).
9/10 the service is spot on with no complaints. But they aren't perfect (who is.....). Some days everything goes wrong and i have to say being in those situations when everything is going wrong, the staff general handle the situations extremly well.
Most of the team i worked with are still there and are working their butts off the maintain the wellingtons name. They have done so well this year with all the menu changes, referbs, smoking bans, loosing sky sports, changing staff members.
I commend the team at The Wellington, they are all beautiful people, but their not perfect (they know that), and maybe some people should cut them some slack on those days when everything is going wrong.
How would you like it if it was you serving yourself in those situations.........
Good Luck team and i'm sure i'll see you all next year still going strong as ever.
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Beer good [Fullers]....food always fine...as are most of the Nicholsons pubs.....only grouse the toilets serving the ground floor were out of order...so we had to climb three flights of stairs....not recomended for the old or the desperate....
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Well kept reasonbly priced ( for area) Real Ales
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I�ve been in the Wellington a couple of times and by the sound of it I have been lucky as I�ve not had any trouble with the service, although it doesn�t take that many people in the pub for it to be busy and difficult to get to the bar.
It is nice sitting on the benches out front in the summer, but due to the location you have to be lucky to get a seat in the early evening.
The lager is good and my ale drinking pals think that the beer is excellent.
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I have never come across such awful service in a pub! The wine was undrinkable, the pub itself was dingy and the staff were incredibly rude. What a shame for a pub in such an enviable location. Dreadful, dreadful, dreadful.
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I couldn't tell you if the beer or the food was nice here...the staff were so rude I didn't bother to buy anything! Depressing to find a pub in such a central location, no doubt frequented by many tourists which wastes it's potential on staff who don't give a toss about the customers. Avoid.
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I didn't eat here but I thought the beer was good although it was slightly gloomy downstairs. The Australian barmaid was a bit surly but apart from that I will probably pop in again when I'm in the area.
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Beer was fine, I had good pints of Timothy Taylor and Marstons. I would concur with some of the more negative comments about the food service. The pub has a slightly tired feel, and suffers from being downtrodden by tourists and passing trade. My overall rating of 6 is redeemed by the good beer quality experienced.
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I ate here on the Thursday before Christmas. We were a little dubious given the fact that it was empty and should have realised our mistake then!
The service was awful. A friendly barmaid took our food order at 9. 20 minutes later she came and told 2 of the guys within our party that there were no more burgers left, they selected something else. Another 20 minutes later another of our party got told that they were all out of Lasagne also. To make up for this we got given a round of free drinks but the first person to order the same juice drink as before got told they'd run out of that..... An absolutely ridiculous place!
To cut a long story short, we left at 11.45!!! Don't eat here, it's awful!!
anonymous - 22 Dec 2006 23:34 |
Nice in my experience. I have read some mixed reviews, and will take them into account, but I only went here once and was pleased. I hear the fish and chips aren't all they're cracked up to be, but I had the Toad in the Hole and it was excellent. I large, square pudding with bangers, mash, and carrots, brocolli and leeks, all covered in gravy. Brilliant.
The ale selection was limited but very good. The atmosphere was nice but small and cramped, this is central London after all. I would recommend this for the Toad in the Hole, but I haven't tried the other stuff. As for the ale, well, its very good, but if you're wanting to try 10 different beers, go to the Knights Templar on Chandery.
6/10
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Had the fish and chips it claimed to be famous for. Generous portion of fish but then I chose "large" and it was a tenner. I don't think the fish was cod or haddock, it was bland and tasteless.
Not a nice example of one of our national dishes to give to a tourist.
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Four casks, including Pride of Pendle, served in good condition. Victorian Grand Hotel feel about the long narrow bars, especially upstairs, which has a pleasant view over Waterloo Bridge. The corner window seat with views along The Strand is the best place to sit. The original Art Nouveau stained glass windows are attractive. A nice place, though there is nothing especially unique or special to lift it above the average.
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i visited the wellington for the 5th time in 3 years and everytime it gets better .the food we had in the beutifull upstairs bar was fantastic ,the service was great,and yes they were foreign staff but how many english staff want to work as hard as they do ,every visit i bring more of my freinds with me because it is like a local pub in central london ,the beer is good ,also good choice of wine ,the manager is also helpfull and all the staff are freindly and i would highly recomend this pub ,i just love it
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no ales running - had to insist on a new glass after first one was filled up slightly with foam from the bottom of an ale keg! food terrible - vegetarian food even worse ( full price for a vege roast consisting of frozen vegetables + some roast potatoes without gravy ). staff unhelpful and rude. couldn't eat and watch sport. really nothing to offer whatsoever - i give it 2 for taking the trouble of encasing the tv sets with leather.
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Perhaps the staff were all recovering from a big one the night before, but on a recent Sunday visit the service was appalling. Staff seemed to have no idea what they were doing, all the ales were off, and the staff were rude, to the point where one shouted at our table after she made a mistake with our lunchtime order. A waste of a beautifully-decorated pub.
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Beer ok Food ok service quick and polite whenever we went in there ...if you`ve got a `wobble` on it could be a bit of a problem to get about as the place is very narrow and space between chair and tables always changing as people come and go
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Convenient for Covent Garden and Theatreland, and selling good cool beer. A nice pub.
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Quite nice. Good fittings. Beer good but not peak! Bar Staff's English was acceptable on my visit, mine was decaying slightly -end of the night!
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Spent part of boxing day there (the only pub we could find open prior to midday). Good service, good beer, were happy to change the channel over to show some sport. We ended up the dar end near to the open fire which was magnificent on a cold day.
Woudl highly recommend
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Nice pub with some original features, but shame that the bar staff seem to have such a poor command of the English language. Manuel and a certain hotel in Torquay spring to mind !
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A late Victorian corner pub opposite Waterloo Bridge in the heart of theatre land, the Wellington is popular with Theatregoers, office workers and the odd tourist (being fairly close to Covent Garden). Part of the Nicholson�s chain which generally means decent beer (3 real ales) and food and reasonable prices. The pub layout is a bit awkward. Originally two rooms knocked into one, the pub is long and narrow and the bar is positioned along a wall in such a way that it can get a bit cramped in the middle of the pub. There is more space at either end of the bar and there is a large seated area outside that is ideal for the tourists on a nice day. There are 2 well paced plasma screens which are usually used for sport (it was very popular during the recent Ashes series). Despite having undergone various refurbishments, the pub does not lack its original character with lots of original features retained, dark wood, a few etched windows and a few gargoyles protecting the entrance. There is an upstairs bar but I genearally only stick to the downstairs in pubs so I have not been up there. One major gripe I have is that the (mostly foreign) bar staff have a nasty habit of pouring short measures. They will always top up if you ask them to but it shouldn�t be necessary. It happens so often that I am beginning to wonder whether this is a sinister ploy to boost profits. I hope not because this is one of my favourite pubs in the area. 7/10 18/11/05
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Sky Sports has returned to the Wellington (saw Germany 1 England 5 at this venue!) and so I returned to watch the ManU/Chelsea match. Beers I tried, Pride and Youngs were both excellent and the service, despite a coachload of about 60 Dutch blokes arriving 5 minutes before kickoff, was fast and courteous.
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Can get crowded at the expected times. The upstairs bar serves till 12 but its usually packed, and service was slow and odd. Barmaid told me smoking was only allowed on 2 tables but these were randomly placed throughout the bar........eh?
anonymous - 30 Aug 2005 12:19 |
Pretty average central London boozer to be honest. There's far better to be found if one can make the effort.
anonymous - 27 Jun 2005 15:55 |
Good beer as Nicholson usually do well. Staff are always quick and friendly. Food is good pub food.
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It is probably the one of my best pubs in London. I've worked there for one day in September as a relief and I got very good memories about that day. SKY SPORTS is always on,so You can always waych Your favourite game.Manager(Rose)and staff are very nice to customers and they are doing their best behind the bar.My best wishes to all of the staff!
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Had the misfortune of having a Sunday roast here. Cost �10 and was appalling bad. Pretty rubbish place.
Jack Knight - 24 Aug 2004 12:11 |
I've got to say that this pub is currently being run by a fantastic manager and supported by a brilliant team of staff. The prices are great value for money and the service is excellent and the bitchiness of other employees and management is just childish and perthetic. Grow up and give the current team and management the chance they deserve. Good Luck everyone and you've got a brilliant pub with a great atmostphere.
anonymous - 21 Feb 2004 21:08 |
I used to work in Wellington pub for half a year from december 01 till june 02. All this talk about bad staff, Gipsy's and tramps are bulshit. I finished my work when the renovation started so i'm sure the pub looks great. It was always good atmosphere there and I had a good time working there. The staff was always very kind and pub was every day very busy. But you could't find empty pints and ashtrays on the tables. Sometimes there was lack of staff but that is the way pubs cut the costs everywhere. Maybe the prices are not cheap, but they don't differ much from other pubs. This is central London people !!! The pub is crowded during lunch time, one hour before performance in the theatre which is next door and on the weekends. Mondays are quiet. There are some regulars, usually well educated young people who work in the offices. When I worked in the pub people could watch football or rugby or any other sports available on public channels. There was not big screen and sky sport unfortunately but it changed probably. Besides there is always good music. Food is very good. Tuna melt, fish and chips or lasagne were my favourites. I never heard any complaints about food. I don't know who is the manager now and how pub looks like. Place was always clean (the beer lines as well). I can assure you that I will come back to this place. I worked there very hard with fantastic people from all over the world. We always did our best and I will never forget this days. I wanna say thanks to the managers Haydn and Joao and the rest of our team: Ula, Monika, Stina, Mia, Kate, Patricia, Carol, Elna, Pernille, Stine, Tomek, Bjorn, and Domenico.
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To "Anita + Adrian" of previous post:
If that IS you, you forgot to tell people that you were the management for several years... Things have moved on since you ran it into the ground.
Pub is now a very busy, friendly place with regulars who don't bum drinks off drunken staff and sponge after hours.
Plasma screens for the sport, decent food - and beer lines that are actually cleaned more than once a year..... Worth a visit folks - make up your own mind!
John - 19 Oct 2003 00:14 |
Watched the tennis here yesterday and thought it was fantastic - very laid back with a bunch of foxy staff upstairs in the restaurant area.
Matt Le Ross - 4 Jul 2003 10:15 |
wellington under new management so no more scruffy Hayden. Give new manager chance may bring back big screen.
Shorty McSpadden - 9 May 2003 08:55 |
just re-opened after refurb, beautiful place, nice menu and great staff!
jane - 8 May 2003 18:13 |
landlord only hires foreign babes usually blondes usually very dumb almost always can't speak english. Service very poor usually get overcharged but you can enjoy the view
christine young - 25 Mar 2003 15:41 |
Dump told it had best and biggest fish and chips in Cental London charged the earth for the most disgusting muck i've ever tasted. Everything overcocked couldn't even cut into fish it was so hard. Sat outside and was bothered by tramps 5 times and gypsies Twice. (One gypsy begs while her kid is under table trying to steal bags - watch out!)
Staff couldn't care less and no sign of any management.
greg katanic - 24 Mar 2003 11:44 |
landlord unenthusiastic and unkempt, customer complaints greated with shrug and grunt. staff look like extras from a low budget swedish horror movie. Beer when they have any is warm and flat. Watch out for bag snatchers seem to use pub as base camp, seem welcome to use toilets freely.
arturo_morales - 18 Mar 2003 15:35 |
The Wellington is possibly the most rank and overpriced pub in the area - do not waste your time going there - especially when next door is the Lyceum
eric - 21 Feb 2003 17:00 |
Nice pub. Good place to kill time before going to the theatre, Covent Garden or Charing Cross station.
Alistair - 29 Nov 2002 14:13 |
i rate the sexy bar staff ten out of ten
Sexy Si - 5 Sep 2002 23:37 |
Average downstairs, upstairs bar far preferable - gives you views across Waterloo Bridge. Nice in a quiet, restrained, tea room kind of way. But with more beer and less scones.
Paul - 9 Jul 2002 15:34 |
