please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Tried to get in at around 6.30 on a Thursday evening - but all tables were reserved except for two - and people were sitting, eating at those two. More of a restaurant which happens to serve (apparently) good beer than a pub. We went next door, to the Portsmouth Hoy instead.
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No change inside except for the beers.
I had not seen Flack Manor (a local brewery) beers before, so it was good to see their Hedge Hop and Flacks Double Drop.
Dorset's Jurassic and Proper Job made up the choice.
Enjoyed a cheddar ploughman's with crusty bread.
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A real gem of a pub. The only real one on the quay.
Good beers on these days (Proper Job and Double Drop plus Ringwood) and the food is fantastic. Friendly and efficient staff.
There's the usual Dorset arrangements with toilets (see previous review) - one for ladies and one for gents (it's outside accessed from the alley). A definite step back in time.
Overall a 8/10.
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Interesting pub from the outside and I remember the inside from years ago with the light coloured wood. V quiet on Weds and Thursday evening... Had a Ringwood beer, just the one as the couple of locals seemed a bit odd as they sat at the end of the bar on their perch. Only 1 toilet?
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The same three beers that 'Blackthorn' saw were present again.
Quite busy in there one Tuesday lunchtime.
Food looked good but we settled for sandwiches (also good).
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An unusual looking pub covered in green tiling on Poole’s popular quay front, it makes the most of it’s position with outside seating to enjoy the views. It has a somewhat more traditional feel than many of the brasher bars nearby, and was quite quiet when we visited on a recent Sunday evening, with only half a dozen other punters in. The downside of this was that the two young barmaids were so bored they appeared almost comatosed, and it took them some time to notice that a punter did want serving on occasions. A similarly lackadaisical attitude was displayed when wiping down the tables – I can’t believe she actually wiped around the beer mats rather than bothering to move them! Together with the very quiet background music, you almost felt as though you had to talk in a whisper to avoid disturbing anyone. An unusual situation for a pub.
The interior is mostly wood panelled and has a slightly nautical feel reminiscent of a ship’s cabin with white wood panelling on the ceiling and an old ship’s wheel on the wall. The theme is continued with a number of old black and white photos of ships on the walls as well as a few of old Poole. The floor is old flagstones and there were flower pots on the window sills. Behind the wood panelled bar an old brick fire-place, although this has been blocked in and is now using as shelving for the bottles of spirits.
Beers on tap were Fortyniner and Best from Ringwood along with Wickwar’s BOB. The solitary cider was Stowford Press.
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If you like fresh fish (rarely anything else on the menu) and don't want to spend a fortune (which you can in Poole) this is always an excellent place to eat.
We have always been well fed, well watered and politely treated.
A good honest pub in a world of plastic clones.
Well done.
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The bar staff are very well mannered, polite and good at their job. The food is standard. The pub needs updating, horrible posters which have been written on. �1.50 charge to use your card if its under �10. No children, even though the owner has his grandchildren running around the place and asked my husband and 1 plus our 4month old baby to leave as it states no children outside. The beer is extortionate. Went in again without the baby and heard the fat scottish owner calling a blonde haired barmaid 'f**king stupid', so we turned around and left. The place was dead and its no surprise really. How anyone would want to spend their time or money in that hell hole is beyond me.
DON'T GO THERE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE RIPPED OFF AND SHOUTED AT BY A FAT SCOTTISH MAN.
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Lovely old pub in a fantastic position on the quay and nice barmaid, but that's about it.We had lunch here last week and I definitely wouldn't recommend it unless you're just going in for a drink out of season.The beer's okay,Ringwood Best and Fortyniner, but the food was a big letdown.I had pan fried haddock,which turned out to be a small fillet which the cook hadn't even bothered to crisp up the skin on,one boiled (old) potato cut into 4 pieces and some frozen peas - �8.95.The whole meal was dry and tasteless, no seasoning on anything, no tartare sauce offered,nothing.My wife's fish pie was okay,but came without any vegetables and just a supermarket bake in the oven bread roll - �8.95. Very poor value.Wouldn't go here again.
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Nautical pub with great tiled exterior. My seafood casserole was great and a huge portion, just how I like it. The Ringwoods is OK by itself, but not the best accompaniment for fish IMO. I was surprised there was no wine list, but the standard stuff was OK and pretty cheap. The food being so good, they could do with improving their game on the drink front.
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Love the building and ales but that's about it. Ordered a fish pie which on closer inspection only had one type of fish and nothing else, a little disappointing for the price. Partner's meal was great though. Good service from a younger member of staff on this occasion, but upon visiting one week later, we were disappointed to have the landlord being snotty with us for daring to sit at a table to have a drink! We had been deciding whether to eat, but his unpleasant attitude put us off, so decided against it. Such a shame, when we would have liked to have been regular customers. You will know him because he is the one sat at the bar whilst his other staff sweat around him...perhaps he could clean the men's toilets if he has nothing else to do?
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Visited on a Friday afternoon and there was a good little buzz going on in here, Ringwood beers but never mind, the Bitter was fine. Lots of wood and a certain nautical charm, the menu looks great but we had already eaten in the disappointing Angel unfortunately. I liked the feel of this place despite it's touristy area, although the Japanese couple giving a boat owner a hard time was a bit off putting, nothing to do with the pub though, just the Japanese not having any manners. The mens toilets are a treat ;-))
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Great pub with a fine selection of seafood, and serving Ringwood Brewery ales.
I was made most welcome and the service was smooth and efficient.
However I had to ask three time for an "espresso coffee", after my meal, as the landlord did not seem to understand me the first two times!
It is nice to find a traditional pub (un 'improved') in a predominately tourist area.
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Great fish dishes on the special boards, smallish menu washed down with a well kept pint of Ringwood Best. Worth a return visit any time!
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walked in with my wife and daughter [14yrs] got to the bar ready to order ..no kids in ere now i thought a kid was a goat so i told the landlord this time to leave me thinks
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the best pub on the quay by a long way...well kept Ringwood beer and excellent fish...the best around...all reasonably priced too...the blokes toilets have as certian "charm" about them too...
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ok beer nice pub once i got past the garish green tiles! i agree with beer badger on the gents though. dont let this really put you off though as i hear the food is something spectacular although having not eaten myself am only speaking on review.
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nice pub nice beer vile gents 7/10
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I've been to this pub a few times with a couple of friends and found it a really nice place. Being only 19 we always seem to be at the younger end of the clientele, but the staff have always made us feel welcome when it's established we are old enough and not yobs! I've never come across any rude behaviour from staff - in fact i've only encountered the total opposite.
An all round good place for a pint!
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A great pub - excellent real ale and the fish dishes are the best in the area.
Cosy and attractive.
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A nice traditional pub, which i've only visited twice.
The 'Pub' experience is a big part of going for a drink in my opinion. There are few pre-requisits to a good evening, but they are essential......
1.Glasses made from Glass
2.A friendly atmosphere
3.and being made to feel welcome.
Sadly my expectations were not met, while regular customers were offered glasses, my party and I were offered the plastic equivalent. The land lord appeared to glare as though we were intruding when we took the large table in the window, as if we had sat at a table designated for someone else. He then proceeded to collect near empty plastic glasses from the table before we had finished.
Sadly the poole arms will only be rated a 4 out of 10 from me, and most of that is contributed by this beautiful and historic building.
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Great beer, a good honest real traditional pub
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The John Bonser roadshow - and a work colleague - visited this pub on Wednesday evening 25 July 2007, although, had we read the review below beforehand, we probably wouldn't have done.
We both enjoyed the albeit brief visit - nice pints of Ringwood Best incidentally - and would be happy to return if we ever happen to be in Poole again.
From John Bonser ( one of the most frequent contributors to this site )
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Dear Bob
Thank you for your response, but you have misquoted me entirely. We visited the Poole Arms (and as I said before it's quite nice inside, unspoilt etc. - I have no gripe with that) and whilst my friend stood at the bar and looked to see what he wanted to drink I decided to use the Ladies - quite normal behaviour I suspect. When I returned I found my friend had decided he didn't want the beer that was on offer. Now that's not to say that what was on offer wasn't good, not at all; he simply fancied something else instead, so we left. This is, I'm sure, something that many people can identify with occasionally doing, but you decided to accost me on the way out with, "This isn't a public toilet you know!". I explained that we'd had every intention of buying a drink from you... until my friend decided he wanted a different brand, but you shouted at me, "Oh, no you didn't, you had no intention of buying anything!" Quite unecessary rudeness on your part I'd say. Have you never visited anywhwere only for someone in your party to subsequently decide they want to eat/drink somewhere else instead?
I mentioned to you that over the years I'd drunk in the Poole Arms quite a number of times, but that you might be of the opinion that I was some holidaymaker you felt you could be rude to because you'd never see me again. I also said that as a local (I've lived in and around Poole for over forty years), I would be telling any visiting friends to avoid your pub. As for your quote of what I said, "I'm a local, I'm entitled!" - sorry but that's blatantly untrue.
I agree with you: I don't believe that anyone is entitled to walk in off the street and use pub facilities as they please and that's certainly not what our intention was. Yes, I took offence to the way you verbally attacked me and accused me of lying, hence the reason I would advise others to avoid your pub in the future.
Your words, "...a couple of spoiled fools who like to get their own way,..." and "...I have come across many people like you..." I rest my case as to your rudeness. 30 years in the trade clearly hasn't brought customer liaison skills has it, Bob?
Lindsey & family, aka Local Resident
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Had a lovely lunch in here on a Sunday afternoon.
The fresh fish was great - the chalk board is updated daily, unlike the permanent specials boards which are the preserve of many a sea front based pub.
Ringwood was good and the bar staff were very welcoming.
I highly recommend the home made deserts...
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Well said Mr Kerr - I like the Poole Arms and have never had any hostility in there, about the only time I saw the staff look less than amused was when the Siemens Pub Crawl descended in there without warning one November night, about 30 people all tried to squeeze in at the same time. Good beer, good food and a nice atmosphere, what more can a guy want when out for a pint or two
Nurke - 18 Sep 2006 10:32 |
I am of the opinion that LOCALRESIDENT 23Jan 20.58 and LONDONPRIDEFOREVER 24 Jan 00.18 are the same person or a couple of spoiled fools who like to get their own way, well I am sorry if I have upset you but I think you would be more than upset if I walked through your front door and used your toilet with the cry of I�m not a holiday maker I�m a local and I am entitled!
You may live in Poole but you are definitely not a local or at least not a normal one. North of the border I may be but having lived in Poole and been in the Pub business for thirty years I have come across many people like you, maybe you don�t understand that a Public House is not a Public place and we are not a Public Toilet that you seem to think.
We pride ourselves in running one of the safest pubs in Poole without television or loud music, we think we have the right mix of all age groups who enjoy good beer (Ringwood Best & Forty-niner) and good food (Fresh Fish) and most of all good old pub atmosphere with sensible mature adults and sorry but no children, Pubs are for grown ups.
Bob Kerr and family The Poole Arms, The Quay.
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I enjoyed this pub, didn't meet any angry landlord, the woman behind the bar seemed friendly so I'm not complaining!
Attractive green outside as well - Like a giant toilet but in a good way
TheGP - 16 Jul 2006 18:19 |
Excellent traditional boozer. Still serving mixers in bottles and the beer's well kept.
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i liked this pub inside & out although packed on sat night with folk enjoying the seafood so packed you risk knocking their meals all over the floor as you make your way to the bar!
havent met the charming landlord...cant wait!
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The Emperor Hadrian had a good idea - sadly this sour landlord must have had a tall ladder, or did his friendly countrymen help him escape ? Their gain, our loss. Went in to check out the brand of beer he serves and my friend went into the ladies. Not a fan of Ringwood, so decided to see what else was on offer down the quayside, but not before the landlord had bored a hole in me with his staring. When I stared back he became abusive. Suggest you give this pub a miss, but have a pee on his doorstep if he won't let you do it in the proper place.
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Luckily this has missed out on the usual brewery makeover that ruins many a good pub and makes it bland and featureless. That said, it's certainly not lacking in atmosphere either, as if you're after rudeness from the staff I cannot recommend the Poole Arms highly enough!
During my visit - just one of many over the years - someone who should know better had clearly consumed a large bowl of lemons, leaving him so bitter and twisted that I thought he was going to pop! I'm local, but won't ever visit this pub again and certainly won't recommend it to anyone. A course in customer relations needs to be implemented - FAST. AVOID.
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Was in Poole looking for somewhere to eat on a Saturday night. Everywhere was fully booked, but we stumbled on this pub, which serves excellent seafood at reasonable prices. The only pub in town not offering the usual fish and chips in batter fayre.
The landlord really looked after us, looking for ages in the cellar for just the right white wine. Will definitely go back. A nice mix of locals and tourists just enjoying being in a pub.
anonymous - 30 Aug 2005 16:49 |
Got to be a miserable Jock to run this place. Got rid of one and another came along. Comic costumes not appreciated.
anonymous - 6 Oct 2004 00:31 |
yep he has and its excellent..excellent kept beers..ringwood,whitbread,scrumpy jack and stella
whitevan 2004 - 23 Aug 2004 21:22 |
I here that a new landlord is taking over on Wed 4/2/04
Deborah - 28 Jan 2004 13:02 |
