please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Let's start with the positive - a good choice of real ale and the one I had (Fullers Seafarers) was in good condition. But I found the pub completely empty (no customers, no visible staff) at lunchtime when nearby places were busy. When a staff member eventually appeared, she appeared surprised to see a customer and perhaps more surprised that I wanted to order a sandwich from the very limited menu. After a fairly lengthy wait I found out why. The food appears to be a takeaway from the nearby 'Red Dog' American restaurant. It was put on the table squashed flat and still wrapped in foil and greaseproof paper - no plate, no cutlery. And the taste was scarcely better than the presentation. Are they deliberately trying to deter customers? Is this yet another good traditional pub that will shortly be replaced by a trendy overpriced restaurant?
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Went here towards the end of a Friday Crawl. Place was packed so cant really judge but the beer was OK.
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A great little pub with a great choice of ales. A must when in Shoreditch.
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I think it's a great little pub. What it lacks in size it makes up in character. It usually has a friendly atmposphere and it has a brilliant juke box full of old classics. Definitely worth a visit.
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Friendly little boozer for the area serving good drinks. Was pretty full although judging from the some of the clientele I got the impression it was that they were waiting for queues to die down elsewhere or were not on guestlists. Atmosphere on the whole was good with seating available later on as things quietened down. I also get the impression be a nice place for a daytime drink.
Couple of ales on and the odd drink or two I had not seen before on tap as well. Opted for Leffe blonde which is a treat. Prices were good for the area. Biggest moan and I know that this is not the fault of the pub that if you go outside of this pub like my friend did for a fag you will get hassled for spare change every 2-3 minutes which is offputting. Overall though if you find yourself in the area it is a recommend from me at least.
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Very small pub and there did seem to be more people on the pavement than inside. It also seems to be the pub of choice for cyclists as there was an ever increasing number of things pilled up next to the toilets. The barman on the night was very friendly and the choice of ales may have been small, but there was a monster amount of foreign lagers to taste. The Czech lager advertised on the window is well worth a go. A bit of a step back in time but a nice find none the less.
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Small, single-bar pub with a curious collection of ephemera (and customers). Two Fullers beers (including a nice pint of Hock) and a couple of Gales offerings too. All a bit odd-ball, but not bad at all when compared with some of the hideous bars around here.
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If you manage to have half as much fun as the staff seem to enjoy you would have had a great night in here. Unfortunately I had to drag the barmaid away from her evening to come and serve me, but she was very nice when she did arrive. Pride, ESB, HSB and Swing Low were all available along with some Czech beers and my pint of Pride was reasonable.
The pub needs a little TLC and the light switch to the gents probably needs moving as no one enjoys pissing in the dark, but apart from that this place has its charm and I would return.
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Like the Bricklayers' next door - full of asymmetric haircuts but otherwise indistinguishable from the kind of small solid backstreets boozer that keeps disappearing in less affluent areas. The Fuller's beers are superb. makes it almost possible to have a good session in Shoreditch.
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of course there were asymmetrical haircuts, ridiculous hair-pieces and unbelievably tight jeans; nonetheless the pub was friendly, served good old litovel, and played some wicked music! i'd recommend for a sane night in shoreditch.
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Not bad, very tasty pint of HSB. It has a jukebox (always a good start for me!) which will need to be investigated further, although it played Chelsea Dagger and Heart Shaped Box while I was in there, so, good start! Wobbly table made me spill my pint so Grrr for that.
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Small single room pub, which still looks like an old style boozer. The selection of foreign lagers and trendy customers sporting natty head attire tell you otherwise.
Claims to be a Free House on the outside, but had plenty of Fullers garb around and the three beers on offer were all Fullers. The Pride and ESB were well kept, although having to sup them from plastic pots was a bit of a shame. (One of our party wanted to step outside and smoke)
Not a bad place all in all.
mrse1 - 11 Aug 2008 10:50 |
This pub has actually got a LOT better in the last month.The glasses are clean and the place on a whole looks a lot cleaner,same barman which is a bonus but new much better management so you dont get abused because the manager is drinking his stock!!!
super - 17 Jun 2008 11:51 |
Nice on the outside, and an old man grittiness on the inside, but thats about as good as it got. The choice of beer was good, but the Adnams was horrible and the Pride not much better. The bar girl needs a lesson in how to poor a pint of Guinness. Two old blokes at the bar who were nice enough to tell us what they thought of us visiting "their bar". Plenty of better pubs in the area.
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A small basic single room Fullers corner pub with a good selection of beers given its size. ESB, Pride & Discovery on handpump + draught Litovel (4.2 and 5% versions), Fruili and Honey Dew. The helpful and knowledgeable barman was steering a couple of foreigners through the different beers and offering tastings when I walked in which is always good to see. The d�cor is fairly basic with bare wooden floors, settles, cream tongue and groove ceiling and large picture windows with the Fullers logo. Also noted some decent music when I was there but that�s just a matter of taste. Not sure where the Skull & Crossbones flag comes into the scheme of things but it was a jolly RogerB when I left. Ouch. Sorry about that one.
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Still a great place,no quiz last night but was on a pub crawl from Old Street to Highgate Village anyway.My poor head!!!!!!!!!
Well done to The manager and staff.
CAN WE HAVE SOME STUNNING BARMAIDS THIUGH PLEEEEEEEZE!
super - 13 Nov 2007 12:13 |
Whats happened to this place,manager seems to be constantly drunk and its got really quiet!
Get your act together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
anonymous - 7 Nov 2007 14:15 |
Had a nice drink in here last night.Manager having a great time,good atmosphere.Saw the 'scary Millwall' barman,he's not,he's a very nice aimiable chap!
Great choice of beers and super friendly service,plenty of nice looking fella's in there too,staff included.
anonymous - 12 Sep 2007 12:27 |
Great boozer.
Two really nice,scary looking Millwall blokes(one an aussie),a laid back aussie and a cute barmaid.
A proper pub with great beer and a great atmoshere and a blinding jukebox.
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Top boozer...
Top Staff...
Damo could charm the bollox off a lesbian...
Beers good.... Atmosphere better...
Will be back again and again...
Cheers!!!
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Top east end boozer and everyone knows it as its so bloody crowded :)
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Tremendous pub. I loved it. Staff were good, the scrumpy brilliant.
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Recently stumbled upon this pub with a group of friends and we were all in agreement that it was a fab find. The strawberry beer was rather tasty, few tasty men in there 2! Friendly punters and staff alike, we even got a few packets of crisps on the house at the end of the night - we are easily pleased. Will defo return, and try not to take up much space, promise.
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This place is great, the Manager is a brash and larger than life Aussie with a wicked sense of humour, the bar staff are always friendly. It has great beer and make sure you get there early on a Friday/Saturday otherwise you may have trouble getting to the bar.
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Old school, rough & ready, one room, wood floor pub whose larger than life guv & bar customers may look a little daunting to the faint-hearted but are friendly enough. Three Fullers beers on handpull but they let the side down, Pride was pretty awful, hopefully I was just unlucky on my visit.
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This is a cracking little pub. There is a beer for pretty much anyone - unless you like your lager pasteurized, tasteless and gassy. The level of decrepitude is just the right side of atmospheric, barman's one of the best in the business and the manager is Australian, loud, friendly and foul-mouthed in a *GOOD* way. Occasionally louche clientele ain't too bad either (although I may biased).
anonymous - 29 Mar 2007 17:38 |
This is a great pub. Beer is well maintained and the manager is friendly and welcoming. It's a pub, a proper pub, if you want trendy wine bar, then Shoreditch is full of them, this place is a breath of fresh air. Personally I hope you all hate this review and stay away, as the pub is just busy enough to give it atmosphere without being packed and I don't want that spoiled.
We have a new second local :-)
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Great bar. The Guinness is excellent and the staff are the best in the business.
The mix of people is sometimes the best bit with suits and funny haircuts just getting stuck into the atmosphere. No TV's adds to the ambiance with people just getting along.
The loud Australian manager is greatly entertaining.
Get down there but don't block my position at the bar
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Okay. Some of you people are ridiculous! You want to drink lager, but you don't like Czech beer. You want to go out drinking on the Curtain Road, but you complain about people with silly haircuts. This place is well jackson. Come on down and get startled.
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Who is the mug who thinks only having Czech lager is "off putting"?
anonymous - 6 Feb 2006 15:48 |
The Barley Mow? PERRLEEEAZE!!!
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Another bleedin makeover! Authentic is not sufficiently profitable clearly..
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Very quiet upstairs, drinks outside are good, council permitting, which used to make it ideal over the summer. The bar's seen better days, they had a bit of an odd refurbishment a couple of months back and it doesn't feel quite as cosy as it used to!
jim - 12 Nov 2004 14:05 |
Tiny interior so best to sit outside weather permitting. Again populated by people with haircuts we've been taking the mickey out of since 1989 (and I'm only 29). Check the weird grocers next door, they seem to have tried to make that trendy to. Lamb shank
Dan - 14 May 2004 11:06 |
While sipping my pint at the barley mow, I was hit by a missle in the form of a book, a hardback novel in fact. Although this was a negative experiance, I decided to read the book and my life has been better ever since. Oh yeah and it's a fine little place to drink.
Mike Zechbauer - 6 Feb 2004 19:33 |
Probably one of the Greatest vibes I've ever felt in a pub. Very cozy and warm feeling. Great lighting! Very small but very inviting. julian fr canada
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The lager here is excellent...Moravian variety lagered at 35C for six weeks in huge refrigerated vats.The Czechs developed lager in the 19th C at Pilsen.All big brand English beers masquerading under the name of "lager" are brewed in the UK and are merely sweet fizzy imitations of the real thing. It is the advertising that gives them their bogus cache.Eventually the rascals, by spending millions ,end up with a brand that the poor demented public , mostly under 30, consider to be drinkable.Rock on Czech lager!
J. Miller - 19 May 2003 20:09 |
wish the lager was as cheap as in prague!
dita - 15 Oct 2002 11:13 |
I think having czech lager excluisvely and no other choice is rather off putting to many,myself included.
Miles - 27 Sep 2002 13:45 |
