please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I have been a regular in this pub for over 30 years, and for the last 20 have enjoyed the company of Socks,the pub cat. So it is with sadness that I have to report that last week she passed away. She was a ripe old age for a cat, but was still fairly agile and loved company. She will be sadly missed by all the crowd in the Horse.
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Best pub in harborne, good ale choice, good punters, good staff. Buff said.
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Very much like the wellington in brum city centre with the list of beers on a screen. Absolute massive choice of ales. Quite small with country feel to it.
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The White Horse is a pub which has a lot going for it. Most importantly, real ale drinkers would go quite some way to find a better selection of beers and in my experience they are always very well-kept. It is a cozy kind of place with traditional bar and lounge and back room which is used for music evenings. The locals are a good mix and and I’ve never had a problem with them. It also has a lovely cat who is fond of sitting on the bar or will crawl up and make herself comfortable besides you, especially if you have left your jacket down for her to lie on!
What a shame then that the staff let down what otherwise would be a really top pub. On a recent visit I stood at the bar a little bedraggled after quite a heavy rainstorm. I was certainly looking forward to a drink. The place was barely a quarter full and the barmaid was currently serving someone and there was one other customer ahead of me. It took a good five minutes before my turn came round but I wasn’t complaining. Then , to my complete amazement, instead of serving me she dashed over to the corner of the bar to serve one of the regulars (I’m guessing) who had only been waiting a couple of minutes and was probably as dumbstruck as I was that he had got served before me.
I am a big chap and I was standing directly in front of the barmaid while she was serving. I was not waving my arms or making a fuss but I had my hand outstretched with a £20 note in it patiently waiting my turn. The barmaid, up until that point, appeared to be quite competent, having dealt with a large round of drinks in a courteous and efficient manner. You would have to be unbelievably incompetent not to notice it was my turn to be served next so I can only conclude she didn’t like the colour of my eyes or that maybe my nose is too big. I do look a bit odd but is that really a reason not to serve me?
Joking aside (?), the barmaid in question (about twenty-five, slim, shoulder-length brown hair and wearing glasses) clearly favours regulars above occasional visitors who don’t cluster limpet-like around the bar as many of them do in here. To me, that is an absolute cardinal sin in a pub. I’m not normally one to complain but I said, “Excuse me, it was my turn to be served next”. She looked at me with a smirk on her face and just said “sorry”. I pointed out that I had been standing in front of her for a good five minutes. She said “Sorry, I just didn’t notice you” and carried on serving her regular. At this point I was told to “calm down” by someone, presumably the landlady, who suddenly appeared from nowhere to put this stroppy customer in his place. What a shame she couldn’t have been so efficient in coming to help out at the bar when it was needed. I turned on my heels and headed for the door, feeling truly humiliated and with a still unquenched thirst.
I sent the pub an email complaining about the service. I received no response. No surprise. On another night with another bartender, this would not have happened but I am not the first on here to comment on the standard of service at this pub. The fact that I did not get a response to my email says it all really. They don’t give a you-know-what.
Cheers to the White Horse, what wonderful customer service.
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The White Horse was our favourite Birmingham pub on our Saturday visit. Similar to the Wellington in the city centre, it has a computer screen displaying the ale range - Greene King St Edmunds & Abbot, Sadlers Cheeky Elf, Winter Spice & Hop Bomb, Wye Valley Xmas Cracker, Ostlers Mr Hoppy, Byatts XXXmas & Morland Old Golden Hen. There were also 2 ciders - Gwynt y Ddraig Farmhouse Cider & Thistly Cross Ginger and a perry - Two Trees - also from Gwynt y Ddraig. The pub was fairly traditional with a small snug and a larger bar area, as well as an outdoor area at the rear. It was very busy on Saturday evening and live football was being shown on the TVs. Well worth the short detour off the High Street.
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Unfortunately, I have to vote this down compared to my review a couple of years ago. I really want to like this pub, and the recent extension was much-needed, but it's fell down on beer quality too many times lately. While its efforts to sell a wider range are laudable, if it's not able to keep that many beers well, a slight reduction may be in order...
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All the right elements for a good pub appear to be in place: a traditional feel, a wide range of interesting and well kept beers and an obviously popular haunt with a solid consistent reputation. Where it stumbles for me however, is that I never find it especially friendly. The welcome from the bar staff is lukewarm and reserved at best, or accompanied with a particularly stinging line of banter which even some of the regulars don't seem to appreciate. I'm not a regular and often made to feel it, an impression shared by several others in our group. Granted mine is a minority view when compared to previous comments but I have to conclude by saying I'll only be here for the beer.
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Always have a great night here. Excellent ale.
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Great choice of ale - all well kept.
Really friendly bar staff - everyone made us feel welcome.
Will be returning soon.
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much, much, much improved. Great selection of ales with a "wellington" style digital display board. Friendly bar staff, well kept beer, even a pub cat. By far the most enjoyable pub to have a few pints in around Harborne.
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Echo the comments below. therer also seems to be more emphasis on food. can't comment on quality as haven't had it
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A pretty decent pub has just got even better now the pubco has been given the boot. Now a proper freehouse, with a better beer range as a result.
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Following its escape from the clutches of Spirit or Punch or whatever pubco it was that had been trying to ruin this wonderful pub,it can now lay a justifiable claim to be on a par with The Welly in terms of choice and consistent quality of cask ales. Easily the best boozer in the village, but then it always was as far as I'm concerned!
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Friendly and charming little pub tucked just off the high road. Decor is basic but comfortable and reassuringly classical. Has a very good range of ales on draught and a decent range of other drinks to satisfy other tates too. The music was of the classic pop variety and set at the right level to give you something to tap your feet along to without meaning that you had to shout when talking to your freinds.
Friendly staff and locals make this a very welcoming place to visit.
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A very friendly pub which shows all sorts of sports, sells draft and real ale, very friendly and is a must visit. It has a wooden floor so spillages are easily wiped away (not that I have any). Very good socialising pub, but if there is a big sporting event on be prepared to be standing and get there early to get a good view.
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best pub in Harborne, no doubts crowded for sports but good atmos
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Excellent traditional back street boozer. The Wadwoth's 6X was superb.
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Nice pub, shame about the beer. Maybe it was because we were the first customers in there, but the beer was terrible. One of us was on the lager and it had that eggy smell that bad lager has, when my mate told the barman about this he said "that's how lager smells" The ale was cloudy, you could tell it was the first poured, but the chap just kept saying "it's how it's supposed to be" errr, no, no it isn't.
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Used to be a good pub. spolied by rude unhelpful staff and too many rowdy drunk people. Watch your wallet as well.
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Not bad but not great. Cosy pub just off the main drag, dis-interested bar staff let the place down. Quite a few real ales on for drinkers of that ilk.
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me and my friends have travelled from ireland for the last three years to the pubs in harborne and this is the one we love the most top class fun never seen any trouble we spend whole weekend there
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Not the biggest, but the closest you'll find to a traditional pub in Harborne now, and usually a few decent guest ales on.
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This used to be the best pub i nHarborne but a couple of yeass ago they put in that huge great bar which takes up far too much room. It was a small place anyway but now the staff have more room than the punters so dont bother with here unless you to stand shoulder to shoulder. It's also become another "sporty" venue full of rubbish pseudos getting loud and pissed whenever the footy/rugby/cricket is on. The beer selections are good though but dont make up for it being claustrophic.
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I cannot fault the beer and enjoyed a couple here. Also good value lunchtime food. Was not overcrowded and atmosphere friendly. Worried about being shortchanged by �5 about 15 minutes after seeing another customer short changed by the same amount.
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a very good pub with bags of 'proper pub' atmosphere.
beer is varied and well kept. especialy the real ales.
best avoided when a game is on as it gets incredibly crowded.
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Best pub in Harborne by a mile. Good selection of real ale (although sometimes a bit samey), can be hard to get a place to sit especially if there's any kind of sporting event. The back room, as someone said, is certainly the place to be.
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Is this the one just off the high street. If so i think i was in here for the opening match of World Cup 2002. Could not believe our luck as we stumbled across a large group of french supporters - and of course Senegal did the business and beat France, happy memories
James - 8 Apr 2004 11:45 |
It's certainly having a good run at the moment on the real ales.
Ben - 30 Sep 2003 16:50 |
One of my locals. The beer range and quality tends to be a little variable, it goes in runs. After a bad run, the White Horse has recently hit form again, with better variety and taste of its Real Ales.
Its a great pub for a session, and good to 'fester' in whilst watching footy on the telly.
Richard - 30 Sep 2003 12:10 |
Festivle Pub so you kind of know what your getting before you go in. Kind of close in side, especially when there are any rugby / football matches on. Good range of beer, including a varying number of guests. The backroom is always interesting, and normally devoid of any form of natural light (but in a good way). Interesting use of beer barrels as outdoor patio funiture, but don't knock them over - they roll straight down towards the main road!
Ticey - 14 Aug 2003 15:18 |
