Bell Hanger, Chepstowback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
First stop in Chepstow on Saturday morning was this rather busy Wetherspoon's. It's a long, thin affair, with plenty of seating. The regular ales are Greene King Abbot, Ruddles Best & Sharp's Doom Bar. In addition, there are 4 guests. These were Boss Blaze, Three Castles Vale Ale, Great Western Alpha Centauri & Green Jack Waxwing. The real cider was Old Rosie. There were plenty of families and also plenty of people having breakfasts. Ours took quite a while to arrive and when it did, it was cold. Although, it was replaced. Typical 'spoon's.
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Fairly pleasant looking 'spoons with a busy Saturday trade when I called in last week on a mini crawl around the town.
We had a pint of the ubiquitous "DoomBar" and it was tasteless! Partly because it was cold but Lord knows what they'd done to it. We took the first pint back and it was changed without question. Bar staff said it hadn't been poured with the sprinkler on so did so. result was a pint of clod tasteless beer with a decent head on it.
We only drank about half and mentioned this as we were leaving.
"It was a new barrel last night and no one else has complained." Maybe it was us then.
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As others have said, pretty typical Spoon - good, cheap beers (including some local ones), but not a lot of atmosphere. Big contrast in the clientele, though. First time I went in, there was a big, posh family, who would have belonged quite happily in Hampstead. The second time, a big group of sixth-formers - girls on one side, boys on the other - who proved with their rendition of Don't Stop Believing that Wales isn't necessarily the Land of Song. Nevertheless, a good place to while away an hour when you've just missed a train (as I had both times).
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Food was edible, and beer was good, but typical Spoons establishment - could be any one of a hundered. No car park; but pay-to-park near by.
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One of the nicer Spoons I've been to - split into three parts, clean with pleasant staff, Beer still too cold but still a pleasant place to spend a few hours whilst avoiding going to nearby Tescos
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pleasant enough spoons usual selection & some local beers
anonymous - 3 Dec 2009 06:58 |
An archetypical Wetherspoons, large range of cheap real ales, served too cold to really bring out the taste, but good choice and supporting local breweries. This one is very anonymous and corporate place, large, could be anywhere. Food � well what do you expect for �3.99 ? There are plenty of pubs in Chepstow that are more real and Wetherspoons, the supermarket of the licensed trade, is helping to kill them off.
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All you need to know about this place is that its a Wetherspoons, so you know the beer won't be great quality, but you also know that it'll be about 99p a pint! You know the food won't be particularly appetising (I had a pretty rubbish fish and chips there the other week) but you don't go there for fine food do you, you go for the beer and burger promotion thing!
The Bell Hanger is fine as a cheap pint with your mates but you wouldn't take your missus there on a date would you? :)
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It's certainly fascinatimg to follow the discussions between 'Mister X' and 'rotter', however they may both be missing the point here somewhat. As I see it 'Mister X' is an earnest real ale and good pub fan, and, presumably, 'rotter' is not that much different, other than being on opposite sides of the bar. Problem is, they may well both be on the same side of the same bar,ie Wetherspoons, before too long, if the current rate of closures caused by undercutting of prices, prohibitive business rates, and overwhelming local government bureaucracy continues.
A drive through Chepstow and surrounding villages the other evening told a shocking story of closures and pubs sporting 'To Let' signs.
I think in truth that we have the pubs we deserve. If we dont use them, we will lose them. 'Shimple' as the Meercat in the advert says.
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Dear rotter,
Firstly thank you for your aggressive private message and even more so for your misguided interpretation of my last post. I merely questioned whether you had a vested interest in another Chepstow pub and not once did I say that you either were or were not the landlord of the Coach & Horses so PLEASE get your facts straight before posting headline raising lies and insinuations in future.
I just simply post reviews on what I see and absorb, I have *zero* affinities to any one single establishment and my views are mine only and without prejudice. If another BITE member takes offence of that then that really is quite sad and down to them at the end of the day .... nothing I can do or say that will change that sort of narrow minded viewpoint is there if we are being honest? BITE is a *great* pub guide at the end of the day so let's keep it that way by not getting silly just because one persons *personal* opinion differs from another members own personal viewpoint. Peace & Love! :-)
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We visited early evening on last Saturday and didnt feel particularly welcome. Groups of 'lads' all over the shop. It's a large pub (typical JDW), split on two levels which looks quite good. Service was very, very slow but when the beer arrived it was well-kept. We left soon after.
Popped in again yesterday (Monday) to have another go, it was quieter but again the service was slow and most the staff huddled around the coffee machine.
If you are after a little local this wont be for you, but if you dont mind the wait or the crowds you might just enjoy it....even though I didnt.
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I am not happy that MisterX has implied that I the Landlord of the Coach and Horses have written a negative review of the Bellhanger Chepstow.
I can truthfully say that I have never visited the establishment and have never ever written any review of any establishment on the beer in the evening website.
Mister X get your facts right before you accuse someone of doing something fishy and publish your real name if you have the guts to do so.
Ian Meyrick
Coach and Horses
Chepstow
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Funny though rotter, everyone who has reviewed this pub seems to like it and I am a fairly frequent visitor myself and not once have I experienced such a situation as you describe .... and as I stated in my original review I am not even a fan of JDW pubs in general.
After reading all of your other pub reviews (all Chepstow public houses) one cannot help but wonder if you are the landlord of The Coach and Horses (The only one you praise and claim to spend every single day of your like in too.), Chepstow who, as are most other pubs in the town, taking a right old battering trade wise due to a JDW pub being on their doorstep serving great range at very keen prices.
I do apologise if you are not and your complaint genuine but sorry, I smell something fishy and of the dead trout variety here. :-)
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This really is not a good pub, Wetherspoons or otherwise. After giving it the benefit of the doubt, especially after the first months many teething problems it is still a shambles. Daytime trade was brisk but completely understaffed and food being sent back in an incredible manner. The beer was fine, but nothing to write home about.
The evening was a disaster: not a single clean table, to get to the bar was nigh on impossible, again due to understaffing. The beer this time ( a different one) was poor, badly kept to say the least. After eventually getting a table and finally receiving our food we found that it wasnt at all what we asked for. A return to the bar for something else to drink resulted in another badly kept pint and my mind made up never to return again.
Where are these people drinking that they think this pub is decent? Although Chepstow is not gifted with the greatest of pubs there are decent ones to be found, try them.
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Very tastefully furnished with excellent selection of real ales.A classy pub in a classy town.
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As with Misterx I am no big fan of this chain but this was a very nice pub.
I made three visits here last week,for a morning coffee,early evening meal and a beer in the evening,(no pun intended)and have no complaints at all.Even when I had to wait a few minutes to be served due to a load of pensioners dithering at the bar I was continuosly acknowledged by the polite bar staff.Maybe this could be a training centre for wetherspoons staff.
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I am not generally a fan of Wetherspoon aircraft hangers and can usually find far better places to drink, however... I have paid 5 or 6 visits to The Bell now and must say it's one of the better branches of JDW by far. Beer quality has been spot on every single visit and the relaxing ambience enjoyable and very plush it is too. Not a single grumble either after my usual request for staff to remove the sparkler/creamer before pulling my pint either which is refreshing - Wish JDW would learn how to serve their ales properly though without the stupid piece of plastic. Though it is well known they buy "short date" draught ale so maybe this is their hidden reasoning behind that ploy?
I've not visited on an evening so can't comment on that aspect though, nice outside seating area too. I like it, I like it a lot even though it totally lacks any "olde world" charm and is all chrome, marble & wood. Well done so far JDW!
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Recently opened. only called in quickly but seemed pleasant.
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