O'Neill's, Wallingtonback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A late Saturday night visit while in the area to tick both the Wallington Arms and The Whispering Moon.
It wasn’t on my list but one of my travelling party insisted on visiting so we did. Very bright, loud and busy when we got here at about 9.30pm.
3 ales on with all of them priced at £1.99 per pint, pints of Hobgoblin were enjoyed but not by me as I decided I’d had enough ale for the day and went onto the bottled cider.
Lots of blokes posturing and standing around the pool table, music played loudly, people chatted loudly and their was boxing on the large tv screens.
Stayed for a couple of drinks and watched the boxing on Sky, not a bad pub but could be a bit dodgy I guess judging by the clientele, not on my visit though, but unsure I’ll return as the Wallington Arms and The Whispering Moon are more my type of pub and both appear in the GBG.
6/10
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Great pub been drinking there for years just a shame bout certain bar staff are v rude
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Watched England game here.Good beer and food.Did get busy.
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If you're a local at The Melbourne, which we weren't, then you'll be served before everyone else regardless of the order you were at the bar, Walked out and won't be back!!
0/10.
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If you're a local at The Melbourne, which we weren't, then you'll be served before everyone else regardless of the order you were at the bar, Walked out and won't be back!!
0/10.
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Went there the other day. The first time since it has become The Melbourne. Seemed okay, had a much needed lick of paint. The beer wasn't too expensive for South London prices, and the barmaid was attractive.
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Made my one and only visit to this pub last Friday whilst on the quaff with a couple of mates who probably should've known better, but then as the previous reviewer rightly points out, one is hardly spoiled for choice for high-quality ale houses for the more discedrning drinker in this area.
In its defence, the Melbourne (as it should be re-titled on BITE), presents itself witha little more distinction and character than the by-numbers formula of the woefully-average O'Neill's brand. It was bright, lively - being a Friday evening - and not altogether unpalatable as a backdrop for a quick drink.
Saying that I personally didn't feel it was a place one would wish to remain for any great length of time, and I believe my antipathy was shared by my co-drinkers, who like me were comfortbale enough to stay put for a pint, but the increasingly youthful, pre-club and frankly chavvy atmosphere wasn't a draw.
Ale-wise, I ended up consuming a whopping 12 pints or so during the combined lunchtime/evening sessions, so I am unfortuantely not best-placed to comment on the quality! I don't recall exactly what we had, and neither does anyone else. But I can confidently state it was perfectly acceptable and no drinks were returned.
I seem to recall service was also reasonable enough, though how representative any of this is of how the pub usually operates I can only guess.
Ultimately, this was, well, passable. But not a 'destination' pub to my mind.
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It has to be said that off the six and a half pubs in Wallington this is the best one.
The Windmill requires at least eleven toes per customer , the Whispering moon although cheap , has no soul what so ever and is staffed by unfriendly and incompetent MacDonald�s rejects , the John Jackson is okay but still feels like drinking in a retail unit , the Dukes head has prices that will soon overtake the hourly rate they pay their staff , the Rose and Crown is patronised by drinkers who think abandoning their children in the beer garden whilst they spend the whole day in the pub drinking Stella is good parenting , the bar at the Grange doesn�t really count as a pub and the Red Lion ( no matter what the Royal Mail might think ) is in Hackbridge not Wallington .
O�Neill�s or the Melbourne as it has now been renamed , has reasonable prices , a good selection of drinks and food , a friendly atmosphere and live music nearly every Friday and Saturday night . Most if not all major sporting events are televised and when there is nothing on the background music that is played is actually reasonable, not the offensive noise you might find in many pubs in Sutton or Croydon. The staff are friendly and well trained keep the place running as smoothly as could ever be expected.
However there is room for improvement. When this pub was taken over by a new parent company they decided to give it an interior make over with frankly nauseating results. The front end of the pub now looks like a cross between a front room on an Essex council estate and collective vulgarity of every Blackpool BnB landlady who has ever lived. To say that the designer had an appalling lack of taste would be like describing the UK�s immigration policy over the last forty years as a mere oversight. A large part of the back of the pub has now been carpeted, which would be fine had they not filled the area with so much furniture that when there are any real amount of customers no one can move around the pub and the women�s toilet is isolated in the corner, it�s a good job they can hold it longer than us. Furniture is the one thing that does let this pub down, there is simply too much of it. If we lived in a world where most people were intelligent and considerate enough to move their chairs out of they way when they had finished using them, it would be fine but we don�t. We live in a world where frankly the general public are neither particularly intelligent or considerate. Chairs being strewn all around the pub is not just irritating but frankly dangerous on busy nights.
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Now changed back to The Melbourne, some Real Ale.
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I asked the barmaid for "extras" (see entry below) and got a slap for my troubles. Still, I like that kind thing, so mustn't grumble.
This is a pub with the kind of bar that could do with a 45-deg mirror on the corner, so the barman can keep an eye on people rolling up to the jump at the front of the pub. Or a hotel reception bell would do the trick.
This used to be the Melbourne, which I remember as a kid. I first drank here soon after it became O'Neils in 1996. I presume the Melbourne would have been divided into the snug and the public bar. Unfortunately, the open-plan design of the present pub doesn't benefit the original layout of the bar. Hence, the three-sided jobbie you've got now with a no-man's land at the front of the pub. It's not that the bar staff are lazy -- not at all -- but sometimes it can get lonely stranded there like a poor shivering waif dumped on the workhouse steps ... I digress.
If you're new to this place, then, head straight for the main bar facing the rear of the building, or use the side entrance on Melbourne Road, or shout at the top of your voice, "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND ALL THAT IS SACRED, FEED ME BEER!"
A shame really, because this dead-zone is the only thing that mars an otherwise well-run, friendly boozer. Any pub with a picture of James Joyce on the wall must be good.
It's a clean place. The barstaff are efficient, and they too are clean (I think). One of the barmen one afternoon suggested the Guinness Cold because the regular stuff was off. I value good service like that. The pretty dark-haired lass over the jump could smile a bit more, though.
The locals are a decent friendly bunch.
There are four tellies, well positioned so they're not intrusive. Not even during sports events.
The Guiness is pucker, but I'd expect that in an "Irish" pub.
No mirrors in the men's bogs for some strange reason I can't fathom. I'll have to ask but I'm afraid it's got something to do with vampires. A pity too that they put up the toilet signs in English. Always a bubble watching newcomers stopped in their tracks with a full baldder.
Good atmosphere in this place when it gets busy. Small area out the front for drinking on a summer afternoon and getting heady off the scent of car fumes.
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the manager don't run this pub the staff do,
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The bar staff have bad attitudes and dont notice customers in order as they arrive at the bar. Dont expect a please or thank you either.
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Best pub in Wallington, barmaids offer "extras" and the beer garden has improved... what more could you want?
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Do a good guiness red, normally pretty quiet and can be a bit intimidating if you are on your own, but on the whole the best of the 4 pretty poor pubs in wallington, walk down the road to carshalton village for a better night out
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Nice pint of Heineken can be got here. Has everything you expect from this chain. Sometimes has a musician in. Has been known to have bouncers on the doors even when there arent any customers.
Rather lame attempt of a beer garden at back (couple of benches in a carpark with a view of a fence) but at least it has one. Also couple of benches at the front for those who like to enjoy watching the traffic in Wallington.
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dead quiet most of the time. hardly any beers on offer and when they are the bar staff can't seemed to be bothered to change the barrels so your left with carling, carling or carling. bogs are well below standard even after a heavy night drinking. may as well take the extra 30 second walk to the john jakson up the road.
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Went in here 3 weeks ago and had the best Guinness I'd had for a long time. Choose your moment when to go into this pub because it attracts - through no fault of its own - the usual Wallington W.....s, but otherwise it's ok.
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now and then i have a session with my mate, its ok - scary barmaid with long black hair!
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Unpleasant experience...... as the ratings suggest - O�Neills range of beers, so very limited. Freequent hassle - it�s now got doormen at the weekend (even lunchtime!) & one of the exits stays locked (wether to keep you in or stop Wallington�s finest entering is unclear). Toilets - foul, loads of attitude. Apparently there�s a garden........must be nice in the Summer.
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It's ok but that's about it, I'm not overrawed with the faux-Irish theme pub scene - it's a bit dated now and would be nice to see it return to being a more-mainstream pub (given its location I'm sure Youngs could really do something with this place). Quite an eye-opener when you see a doorman working the Sunday lunchtime shift but maybe that's a sign of the times?
Would be nice for the staff to be a bit friendlier/more hospitable, particularly when I've walked in and there's not a soul there. You'd think they'd be grateful for the custom?
As for cleanliness? Can't fault them on that. Always clean, always tidy.
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If you really can't be bothered to walk into Carshalton then O'Neills is ok. The food is not good but the pub itself is ok for a quick pint on the way home from work.
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There used to be a little Kiwi guy who ran this place and it was alot better than it is now. A miserable red head seems to be running the place now, if that's what you can call it, she seems to permanently have a pint of carling attached to her hand!
anonymous - 7 Jun 2005 14:47 |
I concur. Okay if you are in area. They have recently redone it, putting in new sofas and giving it a more modern feel which has drastically improved the amount of people in. There used to be a time where you'd go in on a Friday night and there'd only be half a dozen people in, now can get quite busy. This can work for and against, because though the place used to be dead a doornail at times, its not the place you'd reccomend for a quiet drink anymore, except for maybe Sunday afternoons.
Like most pubs I wouldn't say it was worth coming a long way for, but if you live up the road or happen to be in Wallington wanting a drink there are worse ones.
I don't know if they still do but they used to do a Jenga kit to play, which is kind of an annoyance to others as it made a loud noise as it fell down but at the same time the people playing it seemed to be enjoying it.
If you are passing- pop in for a quick 'un.
I like pubs - 13 Jul 2004 09:43 |
Typical O'Neils. Nothing to write home about but ok if you're in the area.
anonymous - 7 Jan 2004 17:16 |
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