please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Have always managed to miss this place but finally went in there last Saturday - very, very quiet - strange as all the surrounding bars were rammed. Good for one I suppose if you really need to sit down for a bit and need some peace and quiet - not my usual Saturday night.
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One word : Avoid! This bar is sterile. Hops! pretends to be a sports bar by putting a few sports pictures on the wall and having a couple of well positioned TV screens. However, do not be fooled as we were. They do SHOW the football, as advertised outside, but not with any commentary. The football is accompanied by loud and cheesy R&B songs! Very distracting. When we asked for the sound on TV to be put on, we were told by an very arrogant goatee'd manager that the TV sound was only for international matches. What? How bizarre. At least the bar staff looked embarassed about it. The bar was almost empty and emptied further as we promptly left.
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The venue itself isn't the best as it's bland. Having said that, the staff are usually very pleasant and happy hour is worth a visit for a very cheap drink. However, don't ask for a plaster unless you want to see a barmaid shrug and then run away in distress. It was a very small cut...
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There is still no real ale here, but Tetleys Extra Cold, Carlsberg, Carlsberg Extra Cold, Tuborg, Guinness and Dry Blackthorn Cider are all available. After asking for a Carlsberg I was confronted with the ultimate trendy bar question �would you like regular or extra cold�. After some soul searching I opted for the regular which came out of the tap a little lively so the manager proceeded to top it up with extra cold. I�m still none the wiser to the point of having the same lager behind the bar coming out at different temperatures. Maybe if these bars would concentrate a little more on giving a full pint I wouldn�t be moaning so much.
I think that the manager has either been on one of those corporate customer service courses or he has worked in menswear, but to give him his dues he is very efficient.
There are a couple of large plasma screens and a smaller one for showing the sports and there is also a pool table. There is also some outside seating around the sides of the building on the pavements.
To be honest this isn�t that bad a place for a trendy younger drinkers bar and if I was up town with a group of mates it would be an ideal starting point, but I wouldn�t wish to end the night here.
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Reasonably busy and noisy, but much less so than many other bars in and around Covent Garden. Polish Okocim on tap, but no real ale.
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if you want a QUIET drink in the surrounding mayhem of covent garden the this is THE place always get served quickly plenty of seating available....last time I was in there in june there was no REAL ale
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Nicely tucked away and not too busy ... boasts a pool table that needs renovating and two large screens for sports. 4 pint Jug of Carling for 8 quid!!! Has the essentials - menu is limited but food is good, cheap and the service is quick. Interesting mix of drinkers from theater goers to the big issue salesman.
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Chanced across this bar with my girlfriend before going to see the Woman in black. I stood at the bar for about five minutes while a barmaid cleaned glasses, I was the only person at the bar waiting, she glanced at me but never made no attempt to acknowledge my prescence, I started to get a little pissed off ,I gave the money to my girlfriend while I went to the toilet when I came back she said a barman rudely beckoned her over and then served her.I know serving people in busy pubs is hard work, I know ,I`ve done it but there has to be some sort of customer service training, too many barstaff in London haven`t got a clue, if serving people in busy pubs pisses you off, get another job
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I found this pub by chance as it started raining so I ventured inside to dry off. Not bad wee pub. Its a funny layout. Reasonable prices for the West end. Ok for a few beers on a saturday afternoon when your watching the football results and checking to see if your football bet is up. My bets are never up so I had myself a few more pints. Would go back here again.
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Close to Covent Garden and all the pros and cons that go with it, Hops finds itself tucked far enough down the side streets not to attract a passing crowd. I have passed this place several times and it is rarely busy anmd even today (Friday lunchtime) I only counted 6 people including staff. My only previous visit was about 6 months ago when it was a rather dingy and tatty bar that was more often closed than open. The bar has since undergone a refurbishment, looks much the better for it and now has more accomodating opening hours. It is difficult to make anything aesthetically pleasing out of a place resembling a storeroom that would not look out of place in the basement of an office block but to their credit, I find the basic and simple d�cor unfussy, not too overbearing and even the maze of air conditioning pipes in the ceiling doesn�t look too out of place. The floors are stripped pine and they make good use of pictures on the plain walls. The main bar is separated by a screen with seating at a ledge. Behind the screen is a raised area with some lounge type seating mixed in with more basic furnishings. There is a big screen used mainly for sport and contrary to the previous (now out of date) posting, the pool table is alive and well. The big downside of this place is the rather bland beer / lager selection. Any pub or bar advertising Carling, Blackthorn and Worthington (amongst others) as Specials needs to have a good look at their marketing strategy, and apart from the Carling (�2.20), the other �special� beers are not exactly Wetherspoon�s prices. They do pitchers if you are in a group or fancy a quick 4 pints on your own. The food menu is again, very limited and unimaginative but fairly cheap (Burgers and fish and chips both �4.95 + sandwiches). Overall they are heading in the right direction but still have a lot of work to if they want to attract a few more punters. Getting in some proper Ales and a more imaginative menu would be the next step before I (and hopefully a few more people) would make more use of it.
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Went there last weekend to watch the England game, very good atmosphere. You can't say no to �6 for a 4 pint pitcher! Been there a couple of times and the service has always been good. It's nicely tucked away so it doesn't get too busy in there. Comfy sofas are toop notch!
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A haven for those who want a relaxing venue to drink and chat after work. Comfy sofas, gentle lighting, good ventilation, atmospheric music (without interrupting conversation), pleasant staff, enjoyable bar snacks and reasonable wine list.
Gone is the above-referenced pool table and not a gimmick in sight.
Not the busiest place in town, but for me, that is part of its charm.
Michelle - 23 Jun 2004 16:09 |
beer tasted watered down but don't blame them, place was not livley and I imagion costs lots to rent. Art was silly didn't personily think much of it or the service.
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Nice location, but better places than hops! it's a place tourists go to and get ripped off.
Raulph - 18 May 2003 20:58 |
It was terrible, the organisers of the event nights were, well - un-organised. They were 'want to be' Yuppies, which is worse than Yuppies!!!.
susi - 12 May 2003 17:01 |
Yer I think ur find it is not art, the service was rude too, Hogs Head is much nicer.
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I went there on a 'Un-exhibited' night on the first friday of every month apparemtly. Having seen better art at my daughters playschool I decided it was pretencious with boring peops. Sorry!! dont waste ur weekend mate.
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bloody awfull but only pub with pool table anywhere around covent garden. Sky TV always has MTV on full blast. Expensive service very bad especially if more than 5 people in, staff always seem disinterested
arturo_morales - 20 Mar 2003 09:01 |
This pub has monthly exhibitions by modern artists!
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