please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Visited May bank holiday Monday afternoon. As previously noted it's somewhere closer to a restaurant than a pub but without any worrying poncy affectations. Decent ale selection on tap (£2.49 on Mondays but not today due to BH). I had a pint of Proper Job. Unspectacular but enjoyable.
Chose to eat. My wife was impressed by the vegetarian options and enjoyed the battered mushrooms. I had the beef and Doombar ale pie with mash and it was fantastic.
Mixed clientele, mostly locals, some families. Ample seating outside.
Impressed. Nice pub. I'd visit again.
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You probably sat in the restaurant section, BS.
Place is ok, clean and comfortable. Service fine. Beer very dull though - the usual Young's/Doom Bar/Sambrooks dishwater most of the time.
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As part of the Ember Inns chain, this place is more of a restaurant serving real ales, than a real ale pub serving food. It had a few more features than other Ember Inns pubs I have been in. But it was still nothing special. The ale range was good - Okells Olaf, Sambrooks Junction, Sharps Doom Bar, Loch Ness Wilder Ness, Great Western Edwin's Ruby Porter & Youngs Bitter. But unless you're eating, you can feel uncomfortable drinking here. All tables are set out for diners and I was asked if I was eating with them by a couple of members of staff. I get irritated by the presumptioness of this. If I want food, I would surely ask for it. I must be getting grumpy as I age!
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Popped in at tea time on New Years Day. Pub was very busy with most people eating.
At least 5 ales on and the one I had was good.
Not a great deal to say about this place as it acutally feels more like a resturant that has a bar than a pub that does food.
Atmosphere was pleasant and my expierence was good in general
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The staff are friendly and nice and the real ale seems to be very good.
I found the food rather indifferent. The cod was not completely cooked, but the waitress was very nice about it and rushed off and got another cooked up quickly. That's good but I find pubs like this a bit depressing; they're not quite a comfortable, nice pub, because of the eating, and yet they're not a restaurant either. Opinions differ though, and as a pub, I thought this place was very nice and welcoming, and I'll certainly have a pint there again.
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Ember Inn looks a bit different from their usual carbon copy, but all the usual standards. Decent beer range, but at �1 a half the Pedigree was unmissable and pretty good too.
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Been a few times, usually on the way somewhere else - bland and boring BUT so unbelievably cheap that you can get shitfaced to the point where you won't notice on a relatively meagre outlay. The food is surprisingly good (and it's got better since their May 2011 refit) and also good value. The beer garden is quite big and good in the summer. Frankly it looks like the sort of place I'd take my grandad if he wasn't dead and if it were a colour it would be beige, without a doubt. However worth going to if you are in the area and are cash-strapped.
Also - FACT - it was a postwar replacement for the original Alleyn's Head which used to be opposite (where Majestic wine is now sited) but was destroyed in 1944 by a flying bomb.
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Large post-war building on a prominent corner on the edge of a residential area. The bar is directly ahead as you enter, with five handpumps offering London Pride, Youngs, Adnams, Harvey's and one other I can't recall, all priced @ �2.50-�2.70; all draught beers have their prices clearly displayed on the pump clip/font. My pint of Harvey's was fresh and well-kept. Ample seating areas sprawl away to both sides, and on a Thursday lunchtime most tables were occupied.
If I was looking for words to describbe the overall feel of the place I'd probably use "bland", "corporate", "contemporary"; although if that sounds a bit uncomplimentary I have to say the place looked clean and smart and fairly tastefully decorated - on the whole a bit like an upmarket Wetherspoon's, without the accompanying 'Spoons underclass. worth stopping off if you're passing, but not really worth going out of your way to visit.
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Smashing food at a good price.
Decor is really nice, log fire's on the burn.
Had a few pints of Worthington White Shield and it done the job.
Good service and nice atmosphere. Defo going back
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very obliging friendly staff.Nice decor,clean pub,log fire.
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Went there for the first time since the revamp. Very competitive prices for the beer and a great selection. Not the greatest "atmosphere" in the world but for that price and that selection you can't go far wrong...
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Don't eat in here full stop, unless you like boil in the bag curry and microwaved food. Service is slow.
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The Alleyns Head is a very quiet but endearing pub...yes it is full of retirees/OAPS but its a great place to go to on a Sunday night or during the week if you fancy a really quiet drink HOWEVER do not attempt their curry night on a Thursday - I went there a couple of weeks ago and got what my doctor believes to be food poisoning....I was sick as a dog for 3 days and however much I praise the pub because in all honesty the regular food is delicious, the majority of the bar staff are lovely and the pub itself is immaculate, but I will never eat a curry in there again - but you pay for what you get so �5.99 incl. a beer - why did i do it?!?!?!
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As others have noted its rather like a hotel foyer and devoid of atmosphere. The food is decent here though and they don't rip you off on soft drinks (about 50p for a pint of lime and soda). They also make an effort with the ales - it was south western week of the festival when I was in and the guests were Doom, Pigswill and Otter ale.
All in all though somewhere to take you retirment age parents for lunch rather than a night out with 10 of your mates
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Drank here quiet sometime ago. It is OK. An Ember Inn, so ember inn prices. The pub is huge!! Very Spacious and relaxed. Quiz nights are pretty cool
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seen a lot worse, drink there regularly enough (little cheaper than the dog...) has real ales, staff aer friendly enough (see the david brent quizmaster) what can i say? - its not bad...
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The Place is okay... If you've ever been to an ember inns then you've been here.
Food is unexciting, expensive but at the same time is served promptly and there's never actually anything wrong with it, it just doesn't excel.
Good selection of real ales, coming in at moderate prices (below 2.50), just look out for buying bottles. A Smirnoff Ice pops in at about �3.80 which is just ridiculous! (not that I would drink such a abomination)
Quizzes on sunday and thursday are always fun and are certainly worth checking out, but this pub is certainly not worth travelling for.
Considering the place is never dirty, staff are generally friendly and service is prompt, I don't think it's fair for this pub to get a rating of 3.6 just becuase of the horrible decor. There's got to be worse places out there, places that perhaps need a lick of paint. Just because the head is the most unoriginal plastic place under the sun doesn't place it that low.
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Have to agree that this place has a "plastic" feel to it. There's a beer festival on at the moment - so lots of good real ales to choose from - although there was nothing that unusual in there today. Over all they could do better especially given the relative lack of decent pubs in this affluent area.
I'll stick to the Crown & Greyhound going forwards - or even the Woodman.
Chris - 21 Oct 2004 15:04 |
Place is falling to parts. Different managers every week, and had no real ale for four days last week.
old_empire - 20 Sep 2004 12:32 |
Decent bar staff, beer and food. No character whatsoever.
The only time I go in is when my parents come to stay and I take them out for Sunday lunch. Shame as it could be so much better. Just removing the carpet would be a start! The owners should wander down to the Dog to see how it's done. Given how busy the Dog is, Dulwich is crying out for more pubs of that ilk.
Ziggy - 14 Sep 2004 17:37 |
compared to the rosendale or the dog this place is lacking!!Felt like a Wetherspoons without the good value for money!
Alice - 21 Jul 2004 09:32 |
pretty awful plastic place
jon - 29 May 2004 22:39 |
Closing for a refurb on 9th may. beer is not bad, same range always though.
anonymous - 6 May 2004 12:54 |
You must try Auntie Ethel's Old Bruiser at 9.6% or is it Auntie Mary
pilot - 23 Apr 2004 00:11 |
What a lovely modern pub for the 21st century.i think a moving walkway would be a good idea so that people could just glide around the place. Why don't they do the same thing with the greyhound and perhaps connect the two pubs with a cable car.
dave's mate - 5 Apr 2004 08:08 |
A nice clean pub whose prices aren't to steep.
Friendly bar staff with a good selection of beer.
Good for a mid-week or Sunday drink.
Maureen - 1 Mar 2004 15:27 |
What a shocker !! Looks like the bar in the foyer of the hotel Alan Partridge lives in .
cameron - 28 Feb 2004 19:45 |
If you're under 65 you might feel out of place. Other than that it's ok I suppose...
anonymous - 25 Feb 2004 16:53 |
Good range of beers on tap, but its like drinking in an airport bar, and has the same atmosphere.
thomas - 13 Feb 2004 13:25 |
Another Amber Inns Pub.
Great Beer, continuously being changed for ones of different taste and type.
Food is good, and reasonably priced too? However the Sunday Roast has gone down hill lately.
Have got a new management team in there to run the place since Xmas time. They seem fine; have not heard any stories to suggest any thing else.
The only down side is the pub, has got no life or character in. Not the places to go for a quick beer on your own, unless you like Brewery Music pumped down a telephone line to you.
David - 12 Feb 2004 17:42 |
