Live and Let Live, Bromyardback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Somehow it looked different from my last visit. Have they moved the servery? Wye Valley Butty Bach and HPA on handpull last Saturday but, in 30+° heat, it was a Birra Moretti for me in the beer garden.
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We were back here yesterday for Sunday lunch, which was very nice. The Live & Let Live is still a lovely pub in a nice location. Wye Valley Butty Bach & Otter Bitter were still on. But, the third ale was Ledbury Gold. In the absence of any real cider (I certainly couldn't see any), I opted for the Gold. Sunday lunch was tasty. The portion size was good and the value was not too bad. Tables are spread over 2 levels and you can also dine in the pretty garden.
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Super pub dating back to the 17th century with plenty of timber framing, nogging and flagstones. Good steak and kidney pie (shortcrust not puff pastry fortunately!) washed down by decent Butty Bach. Otter Bright and Twisted Spire also available - I personally prefer darker ales but you can't have everything! We definitely plan to re-visit.
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This old pub (apparently only recently re-opened) is approached down a badly rutted track across a common. However, it's a very atmospheric place, both inside and out. We walked in to find all tables taken with diners and the bar area also packed. An upstairs dining area was equally crowded. 3 ales were on - Wye Valley Butty Bach, Otter Bright & Hobsons Twisted Spire. There were also 2 ciders - Olivers & Orchard Ram. Miraculously we managed to get a table and enjoyed a nice meal too. The menu is fairly standard. But the food was good quality and well cooked. Whilst a little off the beaten track, this pub is recommended for both beer and food.
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The story of this pub's resurrection is well enough known not to repeat here - 11 years of closure, and numerous attempts to convert it to residential use. It's now back in full action, and is a most impressive and delightful building in a lovely setting, some way from the road in the middle of Bringsty Common. Pity about the smokers' 'marquee', though - it does rather detract from the aesthetic appeal of the place, though I suppose it's handy if you're a smoker.
It's as attractive inside as out, and though we didn't eat there, we had a look at The Thatch restaurant upstairs, which is beautifully done.
Downstairs, the first open fire of the year for me, on a miserable day that made it very welcome, a couple of pints of good local beer (Ludlow Bitter) and pleasant friendly service.
Definitely worth finding.
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Visited this place last weekend. Lovely friendly place full of character and a cracking pint!
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As with others, I was put off by the reviews of this pub and we almost walked by. But a snoop of the beer pumps persuaded us to try it out. The beer range - 3 local micros - was very impressive and the guy behind the bar offered us a taste. He was extrememely helpful and knowledgable; we sat outsideby choice due to very muddy boots and it was no trouble to bring out the drinks for us. Food looked good. Restoration quality of the pub is stunning. Altogether a pub I would want to go back to and spend the evening
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Having read the reviews I was apprehensive but decided to go anyway to meet friends as this pub was in a good location for all of us- in the event we received a lovely welcome, ate great food and were served courteously and at all times in a friendly manner- being asked if we needed more drinks brought to the table and without a long wait between any of the courses. We had to wait for menus as there seemed to be a shortage but the waitress had a sense of humour and admittedly we were not in a hurry. Maybe the landlady was not around but we had a thoroughly pleasant evening and the pub was busy (Thursday evening) - reasonably priced and good menu. Will definitely go again.
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The service in this pub is the worst I have ever even heard of let alone received, I'm not sure how this establishment is still open and the landlady still making money!
After arriving for our pre-booked table at 8.15 we weren't seated until 8.30 and no menu arrived at the table for another 30 minutes at least. After ordering our food nothing arrived until 10.30.
I can forgive delays of this nature, I understand when people are busy and have problems but no apology or explanantion was offered. When the food actually arrived:
- 3 medium rare steaks were very well done
- the accompanying portion of chips was pathetic, I could literally count them on my hands
- what was described on the menu as chicken breast stuffed with mushroom and stilton was dry chicken kiev with smash.
Needless to say, after waiting well over 2 hrs for this we were famished and devoured our measly offerings. When we complained about the standard of the food to the landlady, again no apology was offered and were told we should have left the food.
In response we refused to pay the full bill and were generously given a 5% discount off a bill including a 10% service charge!! Unbelievable.
The landlady herself is rude, obnoxious and in clearly in the wrong business. The sooner this pub is in different hands the better.
I'm still so angry and could go on all day but I'll finish by saying that the pub is indeed beautiful but I would urge you not to waste your hard earned money in this disgraceful over-priced and unfriendly establishment.
dan14 - 14 Mar 2010 15:36 |
The pub itself is beautiful, really worth visiting just to look at. The food is good and reasonably priced. However, the service is so dreadful it rather overshadows all of that. The landlady is rude and unpleasant, and when we went there for a meal we had to wait an hour before she came for our order and then an hour and a half before she cleared away and asked us if we wanted dessert or coffee. This was unbelievable as the pub was not busy and she walked past us at least nine or ten times while I tried to catch her eye. I have since found out that we are not the only people she is rude to or ignores, and it is a real shame as it has completely spoiled our enjoyment of what would otherwise be a delightful place to drink and eat.
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Visited again. Superb restoration and lovely spot down a (rather rough) track. Good beer (Malvern Hills Black Pear plus a changing local guest), real cider, excellent home-made food, good service. Highly commended in Hereforshire Camra Pub of the Year.
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I can only assume that the name of this pub is ironic. Having visited the Live & Let Live once a couple of months ago, and been extremely disappointed by the unfriendly service and cold hostility of who I can only assume was the landlady, I decided to give it a second chance yesterday evening, and ventured along for a drink with a friend. He went to order the drinks (I had asked for a dry white wine) while I found a table in the downstairs bar area (dutifully ensuring that I selected one WITHOUT a white plastic "reserved" sign on it). When my friend came back with the drinks I was amazed to see that my wine had been poured into a tiny wine glass and filled up to the very brim so that it was virtually impossible for him to carry without some of it sloshing out. Then, within a couple of minutes, we were approached by a waitress who asked if we had ordered food. I explained that we were just having a drink. She waved a plastic reserved sign at us and said that our table was reserved. I said that there had been no sign on it when we sat down and we would like to enjoy our drinks in peace. The girl persisted that she had been told to come and tell us that the table was reserved. I was growing annoyed by this point so I said to her that maybe she should go and find out what time the table was reserved from, and that as far as I was concerned, we would be sitting here until we had finished the drinks we had paid for. Live and let live - hardly!
The girl beat a retreat, only to return a few moments later and place the reserved sign on the table next to ours - which had been unoccupied the whole time. While we were drinking our drinks, a blonde lady I can only assume was the landlady proceeded to walk down to the far end of the pub where we were sitting (which was not visible from the bar) as if to check whether we were still there or not. I would say she repeated the exercise about 6 times in the 10 minutes we were sitting there.
Seething, I gave up on the idea of a peaceful drink. I approached the bar as we were leaving the pub and represented to the landlady that I did not feel that, as paying customers, we should have been asked to move from the table we had selected. The landlady did not apologise and her manner was just as hostile as I had remembered - in fact she implied that I was making the whole thing up!
I believe that if you are going to work in a service industry, you should not have a problem serving people, and from her demeanour I can only assume she is in the wrong profession. I believe that as the economy takes a turn for the worse and eating and drinking out becomes a luxury we can less often afford, we should demand more from the experience than quaint surroundings and passable products. Customer service should be paramount. I don't know whether this landlady has ever heard the adage that the customer is king, but she would do well to bear it in mind.
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Re-opened in 2007 after eleven years, a well-crafted restoration with a plenitude of oak beams makes this an attractive spot inside, and outside you have great views of Bringsty Common and somewhere for the kids to run around. Usually Wye Valley and Malvern Hills beers and a slightly upmarket menu. Worth supporting. The only thatched pub in Herefordshire.
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