New Fairlop Oak, Barkingside - pub details
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Address: Fencepiece Road, Barkingside, Essex, IG6 2JP [map] [gmap]
Tel: 0871 951 1000 (ref 10009) - calls cost 10p per minute plus network extras
Fairlop (0.3 miles), Barkingside (0.6 miles), Hainault (0.8 miles)
Seven Kings (2.3 miles), Goodmayes (2.4 miles), Ilford (2.7 miles)
Chain: Wetherspoons
Pub facilities/features:
- Fruit machines, Quiz machines
- Food served, Real ale
- Wireless internet access (provided by The Cloud)
> Current user rating: 4.6/10 (rated by 17 users)
other pubs nearby:
Chequers, Barkingside (0.4 miles), Old Maypole, Ilford (0.5 miles), Doctor Johnson, Clayhall (0.8 miles), Unicorn, Ilford (0.9 miles), County, Ilford (1.1 miles) - see more nearby pubs
user reviews of New Fairlop Oak, Barkingside
please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
5 most recent reviews of 21 shown - see all reviews
| I visited this pub for the first time in a few years, last month. A friend told me that he had been intimidated out of there one cold, dark evening in 2001 by a table of local 18-21-year old thugs, whom he'd thought had wanted to beat him up in the hope of impressing the girls he was with. My friend said that there were a high number of underage drinkers - much like the George at Wanstead. He didn't go back, and suggested I shouldn't go in the first place. I ignored his advice and visited this pub around 2002. And I found the clientele to be just as threatening, young and prematurely drunk as he had suggested; swathes of men - sometimes three generations-per family standing around fruit machines; degrees of miserableness and hostility etched into each face at the bar; regardless of age, impatience was their only apparent motivation; slack in posture, slack in friendliness; bedecked in designer labels; carrier bags in hand; fists loaded. Certainly no pub in the area - that I knew of - was so unwelcoming, and I confess to not feeling very secure. However, in 2008 I returned with colleagues one summer's afternoon, staying until it closed - and the atmosphere was SIGNIFICANTLY more hospitable. It appeared that the thugs had all died, been incarcerated or had gone to the Chequers down the road. The average age of drinker had jumped from about 18 to 50. Still present however, and perhaps the pub's worst feature, were the extremely impatient regulars. These - still a presence in 2014 - take great exception to a new face placing an order for a drink before them, even if that outsider has been waiting some five-ten minutes longer. These men, creased £20 betwixt fingers, arms folded in frustration, stare at other patrons, before mumbling a one-drink order to an unappreciated, but utterly likeable bar maid/barman. More than this, it seemed that my use of a 'thank you' when receiving my change had really annoyed the regulars. So 2014. Well, it's better yet. The atmosphere has been tamed further still, and it seems that there are many professionals dining and drinking with colleagues in place of the Violence frequenting a decade earlier. The range of ales they now have - bottled and canned - is pretty 'hipster-beard' for a Weatherspoons, and this pretty cultured range is all the more impressive when you consider that you can buy these ales CHEAPER in a pub than in a supermarket. I could have a range of very drinkable bottle/keg ales all for under a tenner. Compare that to the wonderful Walthamstow pubs whom charge DOUBLE or the same selection and Weatherspoons suddenly looks very impressive. Another sight - and I am sure this IS good parenting - is the frequency of married couples whom bring their children in for a cheap dinner. I tend to think that even though this is perhaps the least child-suitable environment in Barkingside, the dads whom bring their kids for dinner, do care more than the majority of Oak dads whom neglect their offspring, and opt to waste Friday evenings in a sodden mess, whilst their children sleep at home, storyless. A mark? In 2002, I'd have said '1', in 2008, I'd have said '3', today; '6' - and six of those marks are for the range of ales. morrissey - 25 Oct 2014 15:05 |
| Ok it's Wetherspoon's but the staff are helpful and the range of beers is the best in the area. Lunchtimes tend to bring mums and kids out to play but for less than �3 you can't complain. theeducator - 24 Jun 2012 15:21 |
| Ok it's Wetherspoon's but the staff are helpful and the range of beers is the best in the area. Lunchtimes tend to bring mums and kids out to play but for less than �3 you can't complain. theeducator - 24 Jun 2012 15:21 |
| Ok it's Wetherspoon's but the staff are helpful and the range of beers is the best in the area. Lunchtimes tend to bring mums and kids out to play but for less than �3 you can't complain. theeducator - 24 Jun 2012 15:21 |
| Decent, comfortable, spacious Wetherspoon's with the usual good ale selection. Weltons' Deep & Crisp & Even was found by my companion to be a little sour but staff were happy to replace with an alternative. beermann - 16 Jan 2012 14:02 |
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