please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Friends and I went here before going to the Medieval Banquet nearby. I hadn't been in here since the Queen's Silver Jubilee (1977). Even then I remember thinking that the place was an overpriced tourist trap and things haven't changed. My pint of Souhwold Bitter - which was well kept - nudged a fiver a pint. Lager cost even more. The service was abysmal and I had to almost grab hold of a member of the bar staff. I am sure that tourists are enchanted by the pub's Olde Worlde charm, but this cynical real ale enthusiast was not impressed. Can't see myself rushing back here.
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This pub serves tourists. The main thing wrong with this pub is its management. They choose to mislead their customers by not providing up front visibly accessible price lists for their drinks., namely beers and spirits . There's an accessible price list for coffee and hot chocolate and all kinds of meals. Why not the principal drinks which a pub sells? What are they trying to hide?
They're trying to hide the outrageously huge prices charged for regular beers. BAH!
When asked where the so-called price list was I was directed to an almost invisible notice at the far end of the bar. with drinks prices printed in the smallest possible print, in a darkened corner of the pub. BAH!
Hold out a £50 note if you want drinks here. You might end up with some small change afterwards. BAH!
Two pints of beer. Half of Hoegaarden, a hot chocolate plus one packet of crisps and a small pack of salted peanuts = over £16. BAH!
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Tourist trap. Better pubs on both the Wapping & Tower bridge sides that don't charge a 30% tourist tax.
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Target audience is tourists, pick the wrong the time of year and you need a seriously good bar presence to be served.
Having said that, go on a sunny spring day and stand outside with the great view of St Katherine's Dock visible from the balcony.
A bonus is that there is a decent curry house called Mala right next door!
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Really big pub with outside area facing St Katherine's Dock. The building is old and interesting, but there's a real lack of charm about the place. It wasn't entirely touristy, but I think that must be their main market.
But Greene King IPA at £4.25 and Heineken at £4.75 is just too expensive for somewhere like this. It just looks like a random 50p tourist tax being slapped on.
I suppose it's suitable for groups both inside and outside, but I wouldn't fancy being the first one to buy a round at those prices. But to be fair, if I was a tourist having wandered around the Tower of London and all that, it would be quite a attractice place to sit down and relax whilst looking at the boats. But as I'm not, it's 5/10 from me.
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Redeveloped former dock warehouse that has been turned into a smart pub a stones throw away from a lot of London's main tourist attractions. The building is split on 3 levels - ground floor Tavern bar, 1st floor pizzeria and 2nd is a grill. The pub has outdoor and balcony seating and the interior retains a traditional feel with a lot of the wooden beams left exposed.
4 real ales on tap so tried the Doombar at £4.25 (YIKES!) a pint. Had the Hunters Chicken which was £9.95 that was very nice too. Staff were mainly Eastern Europeans but were friendly and efficient and the toilets looked on the whole well maintained.
Great pub, great location but some how I doubt if I'll return mainly because of it being quite pricey though that's not to say I wouldn't put anyone off from visiting a unique London pub.
8/10.
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WHAT A RIP OFF !!! CHEAPEST ALE IS 4.25 A PINT !!! Won't catch me in here again !
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Very large food orientated pub right in the St Katherine's dock area.
Came in on a Friday night and the place was semi-full. Being very cold outside i was not able to take advantage of the large outside area that has a lovely outlook
A couple of ales on draught but nothing too exciting.
Obviously a very good pub for touriests but not somewhere that I will return to in a hurry
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And in second place . . . . . . George278 !
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Absolutely priceless George. Is your "wife" anna123456 by any chance?
Oh, almost forgot to ask ... how are your shares in The Dickens Inn doing?
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Me and my wife went for a quick drink to the tavern - Dickens Inn. Because it was very busy downstairs we decided to go upstairs to Pizza restaurant and have something to eat. I ordered lasagne and my wife pizza - Dickens Inn Meat Fiest. Very good food. Staff working there were very friendly. Maybe the prices were a little bit hight but considering the location and good food it was worth every penny we spent. We will come back again soon.
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And the award for the "most-obvious-first-time-post-in-defence-of-a-pizza-restaurant-that-everyone-else-is-criticising"
goes to ... anna123456
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I have to say I had the best Pizza ever! and I love Pizzas and tried loads of restaurants in London!
We were a group of 6 people and had a Beast Pizza with 2 Pizza types on one :) it was amazing and we had a lovely time also the staff was really nice and helpful throughout the evening! Definitely coming back !
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The location is a draw for the tourists but the pub is a letdown, especially the pizza restaurant.
We visited yesterday and had a risotto and a cannelloni which can only be described as bland and utterly tasteless. Waiter was pretty useless, no parmesan or niceties offered and took 15 minutes to get two coffees once we'd finished our meal.
As per previous comments the pizza's seem very overpriced which is whey we opted for the non pizza dishes. When we spoke with the manager and suggested the pasta dishes could do with more seasoning his excuse was 'well we are a pizza restaurant' - if that's the case then don't offer pasta dishes!!!
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large pub in a great location, beer was terrible,didn't try food as it looked too expensive for what I saw on peoples plates. Such a shame a pub can have a location like this but be so poor, just to finalise its utter crapdom it had one of the guys selling stuff and wanting you to give him a quid in the loos. St Katherines dock always worth a visit on a sunny day though.
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After a 20 mile cycle ride was really looking forward to lunch.
Can you beleive the burgers we ordered arrived before the person ordering had returned from the bar. Chips were cold burger that we paid extra to have cheese in had no cheese. server spoke no English.
Too tired after bike ride to complain.
Caters for tourists.
Saw a Wetherspoon on way to Aldgate will def go there next time.
Such a shame that a great looking pub is so bad.
No problem with the drinks but you cant go wrong with a bottle of Bulmers!
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Been visiting this pub for over 20 years..... the pizza on the second floor was always good but visited Monday and the prices were hiked....... a medium pizza for 2 was �25, add a couple of starters and a bottle of wine and you are up to �50, when I visited a month or so ago the pizza was �18 so I do not see any justification In this rise In price..... will pop in for a drink but will not eat..... maybe the tourists are happy to pay But I am not....
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�7 for two of the worst pints of Pride my wife and I have ever had. The fact we left beer unfinished on the table and retreated to a Wetherspoon is a fairly damning indictment of the place.
Given the location, always likely to be busy, but get the impression the ale drinker isn't this place's priority.
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Been in the Grill on the second floor last week, it was my second time there. The first time I tought it was all a bit overpriced, but they have changed the menu and now it is definetly good value for money. The staff was very friendly, even went down and up a lot of stairs a few times whenever someone wants a real ale. Pint of Pride was �3.40, very good value for the area. Overall a good experience, would definitely go back.
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It's nothing short of a travesty that a pub with such an amzing location is run so poorly. The staff are at best incompotent and at worst offensive. The food on the ground floor is microwaved filth at its worst and the manager couldn't seem to care about either food or service standards.
The only reason we frequent it at all is due to the proximity to our place of work and lack of other pubs in the area, an unfortunate convergance of circumstance that accounts for their entire clientelle off season.
The one saving grace is a Pizza restaurant on the 2nd floor which is excellent but under different management so cannot legitimately form part of this review.
Today was a good example of the service one can expect: we were there for 15 minutes before getting served by one surly barman who was unable to work the till, pour a pint or understand a food order. When asked by an irate patron how long she could expect to wait she was told to F off because the guys manager wasn't there and therefore it wasn't his effing fault. True perhaps but that is still no excuse for rudness and a speed of purpose that would be surpassed by my ailing 90 year old grandmother. When we were finally served the idea that we all wanted different lagers was met with obvious disdain and took a further 10 minutes to produce. The lines have not been cleaned this side of the last great war and I suspect some of the frozen food pre-dates even that. If forced to frequent this sad excuse for an establishment goto the second floor and have a wonderful pizza but by no means ever attempt the ground floor. The extortionate prices only serve to garnish this truly horrific experience.
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Possibly the worst service I've ever had in a pub. I went to a work party at the venue and the bar staff were totally incompetent, the manager was rude and the security staff were openly aggressive. Oh, and the food was awful too. It's a shame there's not more competition in the area to make them buck up their ideas or put them out of business. A sorry excuse for a pub. Avoid at all costs.
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I took my husband here in September for a birthday treat. We have lived in London for 15years and I really wanted to surprise him with the location, he'd never even heard of St Katherine's Dock. Yes, the location is amazing it's like being on holiday, however, do not eat in the Grill restaurant if you appreciate decent quality food. My husband had the fish selection to start, which was just palatable but the smoked salmon was cut too thick and quite unappetising. Not worth the �10 we paid. He then had the sirloin steak which had to be sent back twice, first it was overcooked and second time it was too tough to eat. The head waiter was very obliging and allowed my husband to change his order to yellow fin tuna, which was edible but not great. I had goats cheese tart with chorizo to start, this was OK but it was a cheap cheese and the chorizo had a big hard piece of gristle in which ended up in my mouth - yuk. I then had the barbary duck with dauphinoise potatoes, I left half the duck breast as it was too tough to eat and the potatoes were dry and unappetising. The cherries for the sauce had come out of a jar. I didn't send any of my food back as I didn't want to add to the already rather tense atmosphere. We were so disappointed that we didn't order desserts, we just wanted to leave. We love our food and have been to many great restaurants of different prices per head in London. Please by all means go here for a quick drink but my advice would be don't waste �70+ on poor quality food. To be fair the ingredients were so cheap and such poor quality that the chefs would have had a battle on their hands to send out anything decent. There are better places to eat very close by, the Indian restaurant Mala next door is very nice. Infact I would rather go to one of the chains in the dock than return here. I give a rating of 1 for our view of Tower Bridge and for the helpful staff.
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Was in here during a three day pub crawl of London on two occasions. Will echo the fact that the drinks are expensive but its in a great location and would recommend the homemade pizza's up on the second floor. Sit out on the veranda and wonder how many millions of pounds are floating in St Katherines dock.
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The Dickens is in a great location...definately doesnt feel like your in central london!
Bit expensive, but not much difference compared to most places in the area,
Fantastic outside area. Pizza menu is definately worth a look. will return if in the area
Phlex - 21 Jul 2010 02:35 |
I would usually avoid pubs such as this but despite the high prices, which are predictable in this area, I had a very enjoyable time here. The day was sunny, which probably helped, and the location was beautiful. I didn't try the food but it looked and smelt very tempting. I hope to return in future. Maybe it is best to only visit in the summer.
OhMyE - 29 May 2010 15:53 |
I have been Going to this pub since 1987, and until recently have had very mixed thoughts about it, now its improved a lot staff are friendly, the ground floor cafe has closed and generally its a good place to have a drink..... a pint of grolsch is �3.30 and thats no different to any town in britain cost wise..... one warning its popular with tourists if you see anyone going to the bar with a note pad or piece of paper run and get there first.... had one person i just beat order 60 drinks for his group another ordered over 40. all in all a good experience....
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Went there last night for a quick drink and will not be returning! Reason? The prices were daft: �3.24 for a pint of Bombadier, small glass of Coke for �1.55, Jack Daniels for �2.60 per shot and 85p for the dash of Coke (�6.05 for a large JD and Coke!!).
I don't know how these prices can be justified.
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A tourist rap with over priced poor beer. We ordered food that took 40 minutes to arrive and was certainly not worth the wait. To be fair when I complained about the delay they did give us a free round. On the plus side it is in a great location.
tanky - 25 Aug 2009 13:08 |
It's my local, so I often use it. I think it's a brilliant location and the flower display is second to none. The beer is good and they are doing an unusual quiz called Twist with Dickens on September 1st. If enough people turn up they will do it on a regular basis.
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I was invited to this pub because of a friends birthday, having never been before I had a look at some of the reviews on here and consequently went along with trepidation, I expected rubbish service and all the things that people complain of. Im not about to say that everyone was wrong but I was surprised, it wasn't as bad as I expected. The pub is in an amazing setting, and you obviously pay the prices for being in the dock, it was lovely enjoying a couple of cold ones sitting outside surrounded by the boats. I didn't eat here and in honesty I wouldn't come back because in spite of the views it is a tourist trap, my overall feeling of the place would be that it is what a visitor might expect a British pub to look like.
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Tourist trap! Such a lovely looking place, that clearly survives on tourists. No-one with any sense would ever go back! We tried the pizza restaurant on level 1 and were very disspointed. The staff were rude and lazy, the place wasn't busy and there were 4 or 5 waiters but they moped around so slowly and left food sitting waiting to be served for so long that our pizza was cold. Would not return or recommend.
BernH - 17 Mar 2009 15:07 |
Looks like a tourist trap restaurant to me, but they did have some of the usual suspects on � Pride, Bombardier, Adnam�s bitter. Tourist prices as well I�m afraid. Nevertheless it does have a rather splendid setting in St Katherine�s dock though. Not really my sort of place � I prefer somewhere a little more �pub-like�, but it serves its purpose in a fairly attractive part of London.
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visited a few days ago the grolsch was warm in the downstairs pub, decided to have a pizza in the restaurant upstairs, the place was very busy so why employ so few staff, the service was a joke, ordered drinks and a pizza and got the pizza before the drinks, the problem is that its a tourist haven one visit never to return if it was a not a tourist pub the locals would never use it more than once. 2 waiting staff to cover a packed restaurant.
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Very touristy though the Bombardier was passable. Early Friday evening but unlike John Bonser's experience there were no 'heavies' on duty. Perhaps the previous review took place during a football tournament.
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A beautiful location in St Katherine's Dock and most people can't believe this place exists when they first go there. A really nice pub when it's not too busy. The beer is expensive but not too bad - Expect �3.50+ for a Guinness. Alas the outside closes at 9pm I believe and that's what the bouncers are for. People live round there and the marina is peaceful so you can't really complain.
The bar service has improved no end over the last few years and the toilets always smell of pilchards...
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Another pub visited on Sunday lunch. Went up to the restraurant and ordered the steak while my missus had some pasta. The waiter service really was excellent, the lager very palatable and the bottle of red wine went down too quickly. The food was faultless. Personally, I thought it was good value for money when you consider location and it's really hard to find something to fault on this particular visit.
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This place is busy, has always been with the office crowd after work - but we had a great fish & chip supper (aboou 7 quid each) last week, great service. Oh and a pint of carling was only �2.95!!
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Interesting looking from the outside, but inside it's the usual overpriced London tourist trap. Bombardier on draught was at least drinkable, which gets it an extra point.
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Large pub / restaurant spread over 3 floors close by St Katharines dock. Looks inviting from the outside, but inside was a major disappointment last Friday evening - oppressively loud music and Fullers London Pride a whopping � 3.10p per pint ( they even give you a receipt just to rub it in )
On the evening of my visit, the pub was packed with what seemed to be a mixture of the post work office crowd and foreign tourists presumably staying in one of the nearby hotels or either visiting Tower Bridge.
Even allowing for the fact that it was early Friday evening, quite why the pub management felt it necessary to have a couple of typical hard -looking black-coated heavies on the door defeats me.
I won't be rushing back to this one
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Nice enough place
big enough place
but this is why it gets a 4 rating
THE BLOOMIN PRICES !!!!!!
MAGNERS �4.85 A BOTTLE !!!
THATS TAKING THE P
WHATS THE MARKUP ON THAT I WONDER
BRING YA CREDIT CARD !!!!!
anonymous - 19 Mar 2007 14:49 |
A seemingly pleasant enough and interesting pub situated in St Katherine�s Dock, The Dickens Inn dates back to the 18th century when it was in fact a spice warehouse. I paid an afternoon visit with my girlfriend last Saturday (10th Feb) and having being impressed after visiting here a few years back, was excited to be returning. Interior wise, the place is fine. It�s woody and has the traditionalist feel that I find appealing, yet it suffers elsewhere. It is indeed a tourist trap and this was most evident on my visit. That isn�t a problem of course, but the prices were. A pint averages just over �3.00 here and heaven knows how much s bottle of wine will set you back! The food smelt good though and in all honestly, if you are looking for a place to just have a short wind down, then here will do fine. Don�t have a session though. My wallet most certainly wouldn�t appreciate it!
HTM69 - 14 Feb 2007 18:39 |
Very large pub set in a lovely location. when the weater is sunny there is nothing better than sitting outside people watching. However it is a tourist trap so it gets very busy and often has bouncers outside during the day. Inside is dark and misirable and the Bogs are a camels ride away down flights of stairs and endless corridors. OK for an afternoon drink if you are feeling flush or someone else is picking up the tab. As can be seen by the photograph they take a pride in the appearance and water the hanging baskets regulary. Give this place a once over, after visiting an ATM.
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Over �8 for two drinks?! Tourists may not know they are being ripped off but Londoners do... won't be going there again...
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This place is very badly arranged. Massive bar with 2 staff who never keep tabs on anyone pushing in. Then on a hot summers day it gets very very clammy inside with no air con so its ouside for the punters. Problem with this is the beer garden closes at 9 and the nazi security guard is very prompt at kicking you out back into the furnace of fire. Nice surrondings tho
anonymous - 24 Jul 2006 20:40 |
firm favourite when on a daytrip to London. tourists? yes, but then i guess i am one just for the day! interior looks knacked through dirt and poor care rather than age. but its all about the frontage onto the dock, which is picture perfect. always on bottled beer here so can comment really. not that many pubs in the area so always seems to be packed solid.
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Not bad at all, slighty odd interior, but the beers are fine. Didn't try the food, but it looked pretty good to me. Not a bad outdoor section either.
anonymous - 27 May 2006 18:08 |
Wedged full of tourists and people who should know better. Obscenely expensive. Close to �3.50 a pint regardless of what you are drinking.
Despite the presence of hordes of young ladies, I have never got my Dickens Inn here.......i'll get my coat.
anonymous - 10 Apr 2006 15:01 |
Have to disagree. The pizzas were rubbish. typical crap served up to tourists. The building is good as is location but inside it's like a harvester and the beer I had was in bad nick. don't bother.
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Should be superb but the service ruins it. You've never seen it so bad, a 20min+ wait for service is not unusual, and don't expect the staff to make it any easier by serving people in order or (God forbid) rushing! A pleasant place to drink off peak though (ie, weekday afternoons), and the pizzas served upstairs are admittedly excellent.
anonymous - 28 Mar 2006 22:45 |
Mock villagey style pub in a tourist trap environment. Expensive drinks but pleasant atmosphere. Sunday's would be nice though it's always understandably rammed. Okay if you can get seats, the view over the wharf is nice on a sunny day. A walk around St.Katherine's dock is recommended to find a cheaper establishment. Minories is up the road for cheaper drinks though the words frying pan and fire come to mind.
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Nice building in nice setting. Service is a bit can't-be-arsed. Bog standard beers. Rammed on summers sundays. Worth a visit. Just.
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This was another one of those pubs just of the curcuit in the eighties, Always good to chat a tourist up, and have a laugh before moving off to the circuit, Was quite expensive back then even by a locals standard, Good fun though.
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Reasonable place, fair value if fairly standard Sunday lunch on ground floor. Comfy seating and not bad for range of beers but no cocktails being served while I was there!
maleo - 21 Nov 2005 12:46 |
Pleasantly surprised. Had lunch on a friday at 1 pm and it was not overly crowded. Enjoyed the pub grub on the first floor as well as the view of the Dock. It obviously caters to tourists and is set up to get you in and out.
Better experience than anticipated.
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A lovely pub to go to on a warm sunny evening and sit outside with the masses of tourists and city professionals. Not a huge choice of wines but a good selection of beers. Ate upstairs in the pizza restaurant and had to ask the same waitress 5 times if she would take our order before we finally collared another waiter. Had to wait ages for the food to arrive.
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Been there twice on weekday lunchtimes. Excellent bar food and decent grolsch on tap. Appears to have a good selection of bottles and also cocktails. Pizza place above it and a grill above that. Plenty of seats both inside and out. Very pleasant location. Not bad at all!
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Very touristy.
The pizza place above is the only reason to go. Cheapish pizzas that go from large to bigger than dustbin-lid size. Largest one available has its own table to hold it.
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Nice setting by the docks beer was ok and the Pizzas are huge. Typical London prices and will get very busy in the summer. Good stop for a pint when walking the Thames path.
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Expensive and overrated
anonymous - 7 Jan 2005 14:21 |
magic place. yes, its touristy. so what! its a unique place, and there's nothing like it in london.
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It's big, it's by the water, it has lots of floral stuff outside, but it's not so much a pub, more a machine for extracting money from tourists and brokers from the nearby commodities markets. Very expensive, very busy, and the customer-facing liquid distribution operatives behind the bar radiate as much conviviality and charm as a border guard at Checkpoint Charlie. Outside is nicer, but the benches aren't comfortable and the pub employs a particularly Stazian brand of bouncer to tell you off for any misdemeanour. You will be tolerated as long as you have enough lines of credit to pay for the booze.
A shame: it could be a splendid place with a bit of imagination and humanity. I imagine it makes a fortune as it is, though, so don't expect anything to change.
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One for the tourists! Overpriced beer (over �3 for a pint of Guinness last time I went), gets packed so can take ages to get served espically during the summer, if you do get a spot outside you'll be herded back into the pub at around 9.30 so as to not upset the posh neighbours. Go for a walk into Wapping or over Tower Bridge and find a decent boozer next to the river.
Michael - 14 Jan 2004 10:43 |
nice location, no sky sports, but they show terrestial matches
oliver - 17 Nov 2003 13:14 |
Good, reasonably priced food and Pizza place upstairs. Do watch your purse/bag in the evening though.
justvisiting - 17 Oct 2003 13:33 |
Wauw, this one only added a week ago - and it's one of my favourites(!) However, being very pictoresquely located in St. Katarine's Dock I only know it as a very nice place to have lunch (in a foreigner's opinion:-)
And again: this site *is* called
'beerintheevening'; so there...:-)
Flemming - 21 Aug 2003 21:20 |
Beautiful location for a pint on a summers day with a good beer garden with some shade.
3 real ales available and very spacious inside.
Darren in the City - 14 Aug 2003 16:55 |
