please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Been a few times with lover. Really nice ambience, good attentive staff, drinks expensive for a country boy, food good value, and decent choice.
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I agree wholeheartedly with the reviews here. Normally, I'm reluctant to generalise about the serving staff as some will be great whilst some will be jack asses. Here, the serving staff were horrible. I waited ages to be served whilst w*nky regulars were picked in front of me.
I have no idea why my group decided to go here but I hope that I never go here again.
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The Lansdowne treated me to a righteous case of food poisoning this week.
I ordered the "lamburger" and found it tasty if oily, and then spent the entire next day rejecting it from my system.
I've had disappointing meals here in the past-- limp doughy pizzas, a pricey cheese plate with a couple of sad crackers and some sub-par cheeses-- but this really takes the cake.
I don't mind the atmosphere for a drink but I wouldn't advise eating here.
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Brilliant comments.
I used to live opposite this place, yes, I mean literally 20 yards away through the door the other side of the cul-de-sac/car-parky type thing.
I hated this boozer then - absolutely filled to the gunnels with *ahem* CNUTS - and I hate this boozer now.
Sounds like it hasn't changed one bit.
I used to prefer the Pembroke Castle at the top of the road - not sure that's even there now - gonna check.
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The bar man is an utter utter CNUT. SACK him and youd increase your custom overnight.
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AVOID!!!!
The Landsdowne always had a good reputation for serving fresh, well prepared food with seasonal ingredients but I am sadly to report these days are gone. I went there with a friend for Sunday lunch and we were both hugely disappointed with the food, customer service and general aspect of the place (they had two jars of bloodmary behind the stick ybar ready to be served after the many flies had helped themselves first).
I ordered spinach fritters with spicy lentils and my friend ordered the lamb steak with mash potatoes. The presentation of my fritters was quite shocking and it didn't taste good either. Two uncooked oily pancakes with tinned lentils on top of it and some greek salad (!!!) on the side.
My friend's lamb seemed much more presentable on top of the mash and a beautiful looking gravy. Sadly, the meat was really tough, over cooked and the gravy was full of vinegar which made the whole thing taste rather sour.
I sent my dish back to the kitchen after 2 bites, was offered something else by the waiter but couldn't risk having another badly executed meal and asked for a refund instead just to be told by the manager that it wasn't part of the company policy to offer refunds if the client is not satisfied with the standard of the meal. Great policy!!! I was expecting much more for �9.50.
If you are after a decent meal in a pub with good atmosphere, don't bother going there. An insider told me their head chef is leaving looking for "fresh challenges" and the kitchen has been left to under paid trainees. Enough said, the area is full of good options, so look elsewhere but don't waste your time and money there.
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One of those pubs that if you are w*nkey then you will walk in with relish , however if w*nkey doesnt work for you then I suggest you head elsewhere. Drinks fine, staff harrassed but ok, clientele rather w*nkey.
Oh you'd like a definition of w*nkey? Affluent, posturing, hearty, over-groomed, over-dressed and over-30. London's full of 'em.
BTW I'm middle-class and affluent-carribean(-holiday) so I'm allowed to say such things.
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I phoned the Lansdowne on Friday to book a table for lunch for me and a group of work colleagues. I asked if I could book a table for ten for 1pm (it was 11:30am at the time) and the person on the other end of the phone told me it was very short notice and I assumed he was going to say that they were all booked up. I was ready to replace the receiver when he said he would take the booking just this once but in future could I make sure I made the booking further in advance. I found myself apologising for the inconvenience, expecting that the pub must be full on a Friday lunchtime, so was particularly surprised when we arrived at 1pm to find an empty dining area apart from a couple eating at a table in the corner. I was the first of our party to go to the bar to order food and stood there ignored by the barman for a few minutes who seemed busy not doing very much as there was no one else at the bar. He eventually summoned the will to take my order whilst managing to be surly and quite unpleasant for the 30 seconds it took. Afterwards I found from speaking to my colleagues that he had been similarly curt whilst serving them. I ordered the mussels which when they arrived were chewy, tasteless and were covered in barnacles which was a bit off-putting. Some at our table already had their food when the surly barman returned to tell us that they didn�t have enough chips for everyone who had ordered (and already paid for) them. Before we had time to register any sort of disappointment he had shrugged his shoulders and walked off. The general view from our party was that the food was at best average and substandard at worst. So unless you are a fan of service where you are treated like an inconvenience and overpriced food you would do well to avoid the Lansdowne and visit any one of the other better pubs in Primrose Hill.
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Very good for food. You wouldn't really go in just for a drink. It is classic Primrose Hill in terms of clientele, atmosphere, decor, everything. That won't be to everyone's taste, but what it does it does well.
mps77 - 11 Dec 2009 11:22 |
I popped in here on Saturday to be confronted by two ale hand pumps that were off and a selection of premium lagers. I surveyed the bare wooden scene and noted the menus scribbled in chalk all over the dark walls, but after standing at the bar for two minutes with no service I decided to leave the inane ramblings of the Primrose Hill set and wander off to a more prepossessing venue.
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I had not been here for a few months until the weekend and i must say how much it has improved. Always love this place even though in the sun, it can be very busy. It now has a better and new food menu and we got our food quickly and it was delicious!
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Right , first of all I want to say that I want to say nice things about this place as in summer its a great place to sit outside on the pavement and lap up the rays whilst enjoying a drink but it does have major faults. The biggest being that the staff never bother to clear the tables, every time I have gone in I have to clear plates of olives, bread and pizza rinds to place my glass down. They aren't exctly the speedest staff when it comes to getting served, they never seem to get the queing order right. I once went in asked for a pint of Golden (Half Bitter/Half Lager). The response I got was "Your looking at me as if I should know what that is". Well yeah! Your the barman....right? This place place could be so much better if they iron out these tiny faults
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Best pub in the whole world. The food is the best you will find anywhere and the bar staff are the most beautiful and talented to ever grace a London drinking establishment. There's a rumour they collectively turned down a lucrative mass modelling contract for the love of serving people. Go go go!
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Exactly what you'd expect from a pub in this area in terms of clientele and decor. The churlish bar staff also leave a lot to be desired, although you can get an occasional friendly one. Two well kept ales on offer here that are usually Wells Bombardier and Jaipur from the Thornbridge Brewery. There are however, occasional guests that replace one or both of the regulars, so worth checking out for that reason alone. Like most places in this area, worth visiting if you're nearby, but don't go out of your way to get here.
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Often overcrowded with surly bar staff, the atmosphere is hardly convivial and its beer selection is mediocre at best. Nevertheless a splendid restaurant upstairs and its pizzas are reasonably priced given the area. A little too trendy for my tastes (the "Princess of Wales" round the corner has a much more relaxed feel) but still worth a pint if you can get the time - or manage to snatch one of the four outside tables in the summer.
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A mate recomended this place because of the food. We had the seafood rissotto and the rib eye steak. The rissotto was stacked with tiger prawns and mussels. The steak was big and juicy served with chunky homemade chips. Had to wait a while to get a seat but well woth the wait.
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It's my local, and it's true what these reviews say. The staff are rude (or beautifully vague) and the pub's not all that. But it can be a laugh on a summer evening. What cracks me up most is how much the very well-heeled locals tread on egg-shells around the manager - it's social valitdation if he knows your name, it would seem.
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I had a good sunday afternoon session here yesterday but that was more to do with who I was with. This is a poncey, pretentious bar full of like minded people. But it did still have a bit of character. Food is pricey and nothing special. Dont know if I would go back.
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Very pretty bar maids, not bad beer selection, prices not too bad - �3ish a pint. OK
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Last time I was there we ordered food and the posh totty behind the bar 'forgot to give the order to the chef'. She asked us if we could wait (another 20 mins in addition to the half hour we'd already waited). I said no - some of us actually have real jobs to go back to, rather than rely on daddy's money...
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I went a few months back. There is a rundown feel to the place and the service was terrible. Carry on walking and goto the Pembroke or if you have the time go into the West End.
anonymous - 25 Feb 2006 16:54 |
Awful place to be avoided at all costs unless you like expensive flat lager, loud boys with daddy`s money, and many many silly `meeja` haircuts.
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Pretty unimpressed...full of silly girls and boys who think that they are 'it' but clearly are not. Nothing special. Things i like about it are the nuts with the oil on them and sitting outside(then i dont need to be inside).
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Dreadful place - can't agree more about the clientele being off putting - to say the least. Rubbish selection of beers. Didn't eat as decided to move on.
anonymous - 28 Dec 2005 16:18 |
i have to say great decor but I have never been in to a pub where the staff actually think they are more important than the customers. Is it a policy when they are hired that they have to pass an arrogant bast*ard rating.
anonymous - 22 Dec 2005 17:01 |
Not quite as bad as the engineer for Hooray Henries but don't go if you don't like the smell of food, particularly fishy food, whilst you enjoy your pint or wine. Can get very noisy.
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Not great. Don't go if you hate the sound of the Primrose Hill brigade talking loudly about their jobs.
That being said, if you're lucky enough to get a table and get nicely settled, it's OK. But worth walking up the road for some proper pubs. There aren't even any old men in there! You've got to have at least one.
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Whar a differance, I was a regular to this pub in the 70"s. The nightly intertainment was one or two ageing strippers and a DJ who was at least 60, but it was also very popular because you could always get a bent M.O.T. from "Beesa" Bill on the pool table.
Where have all the real pubs gone ?
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The kind of place featured in Sunday supplement magazines that we're all supposed to love now. Frequented by guffawing media types to spend the whole time trying to outcool everyone else, or young affluent families with screaming kids, 3 wheeled buggies and more money than class.
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pay by card and the bar staff will assume you're going to tip even if your just getting drinks in (and come over all offended when you don't). call me old fashioned frankly tips are for above average service and at this place it's way way short. which is a shame cos in many respects it could be a nice bar.
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Aweful....bar staff rude and uninviting...worst customer service ive seen for a long time. Lager was as flat as a pancake. Highly unrecommended
anonymous - 16 Jan 2005 17:17 |
Great pub, great food, friendly staff. The clientel are the only off put. I'm sure the staff are only surely from puting up with the likes of 'prim hill' wannabes whinning and whinging about this and that, the only reason being that they like to be waited on hand and foot. You pay for the food at the lansdowne not the service, if you want service you go up to the restraunt, where the service is near perfect.
barry - 20 Oct 2004 17:30 |
went here because it was listed in Time Out's Eating & Drinking Guide for London and wanted an interesting pub supper. Atmosphere of the place is good, and it was nicely busy for a sat night, plus one of the bar guys was amusing and v. competent, but DO NOT GO HERE TO EAT! The food had arrived at our table even before I got back from ordering and paying (decent money) at the bar (i.e. definitely not prepared to order), yet it was still cold, rubbery and pretty tasteless (despite my hotpot having cheese and mustard in it). good for a beerintheevening, I'm sure, but not for it's food.
jill - 6 Oct 2004 16:41 |
Surly, posey, obnoxious & incompetent barstaff who have no clue what the word service means, probably all failed actors.
debbie - 6 Sep 2004 11:00 |
I know it's easy to just sit back and criticise, but it's too easy for the place. Full of people with too much money who think it's trendy to dress like a tramp with idiot trucker caps and nonsense canvas slip-on shoes. I got so annoyed by this place that I started pissing up and down the walls of the toilet. This is something I should be ashamed of, but I don't.
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My fav pub in Primrose Hill
d - 2 Jul 2004 12:38 |
What's with all the tosser comments? I think this pub is great, from the london pride to the bread and olives (makes a change from the real macoys). There's no pleasing some folk.
Duncan - 22 Mar 2004 20:42 |
Full of posers and prats �4.50 for soup most probably a tin of heinz. Walk past this place and got to princess of wales instead.
goonerob - 15 Nov 2003 05:23 |
ate here on a sunday with my sisters and my two young kids. we were all made to feel welcome and the food was good (tad expensive)we ate in the restaurant upstairs which was full of other young families. my probelm was the stairs and toilets. dirty, sticky and smelly. i like rustic charm but dirt and crap toilets are just not on. ps all the tossers sit down stairs. ns
nick - 3 Nov 2003 22:10 |
gastro pub full of gastro people.
duck - 17 Aug 2003 13:29 |
Simply annoying. This is a pub that pretends to be something it is not; Local, friendly, rustic, good value. Unless you're a pack of thirtysomething wannabes who can save a fiver on the splitting of the bill between 15 people. 'orrible 'orrible 'orrible!!!!!
Pintoften - 11 Aug 2003 17:54 |
Food is ok, but yes, it does attract more than it's fare share of t*ssers - mind you, so do most Primrose Hill pubs....
Paul - 11 Aug 2003 16:55 |
food is indeed expensive for a pub but very lovely and totally worth it. And yes, it can be full of tossers, but most of them are very nice to look at, so what are you gonna do?
Angela - 29 Jul 2003 11:35 |
I get as caught up in the loveliness of Primrose Hill as much as the next person, but sometimes something happens that makes me realise just how horrible and sterile and like a 'good living' ad the place really is. The Lansdowne did that to me last.
Horrible place, packed to the rafters with posers wearing sunglasses, indoors (please!) I'm sure the food is lovely. It'd better be at that price! I wasn't about to find out...
Many of you may love this place. But all it did for me is remind me how plastic the whole thing can be sometimes. Sorry.
G - 16 Jun 2003 16:35 |
Excellent pub, great food, good selection of beers and seats outside.
Mark - 9 Jun 2003 18:17 |
