BITE user comments - 5555
Comments by 5555
So much for the "encouraging change". Paid a visit to the Dolphin last night and sat in the front. The usual corpulent crew were there .... effing and blinding. They actually seemed to be making a point of it. Then slipped off to the newly named "Toby Room" for some peace. There sat the landlord having a drink, oblivious to it all.
Some things never change. The rude, ill-bred peasants still own the place.
Off to the Red Lion.
28 Dec 2010 13:56
Well...... have to say the pub looks seriously good after the refurb. Delighted that almost all the old features have been retained and the new extension is pretty classy. I can't believe that after all this investment Youngs will be contented to let a bunch of low-lifes continue their "dragged up by parents and must swear every other word" type of behaviour.
Maybe I'm a sucker for punishment but I just have to give it one last try.
14 Dec 2010 21:06
I love coming to this pub. Always a superb range of real ales . . . rather fond of a porter myself. Beer festivals are excellent, if only there could be more than 2 per year. Yes I know the service can be a little slow at times, but it is worth the wait. I just hope Ken stays in the pub for many, many years to come.
31 Oct 2010 09:48
Popped into the pub a couple of weeks ago, the first time in nearly a year. New people have recently taken over and I have to say the atmosphere was great. Some of the pub goers were dressed in school uniforms, playing conkers. I bet it was a hoot when everyone had downed a couple of beers. I noticed that the bookings for the next two Malaysian nights were sold out, so I'm guessing the food must be good. Keep it up....... we'll be back soon.
31 Oct 2010 09:27
"Selling alcohol to anyone already intoxicated is also against the law, and staff are trained to look for signs, in order to prevent the drunken person from endangering themselves or others. Loud or slurred speech, staggered movements and uneasy swaying will all be noted by watchful staff members, and your purchase will not be allowed".
Yeah. Right.
17 Apr 2010 15:57
Of concern is that some "locals" at the Dolphin regularly get extremely drunk. The staff continue to serve them. Then they drive home. Be careful driving around there.
17 Apr 2010 15:03
Dropped in again last Friday evening, having invited a man whose company I am beginning to do business with. (mistake!) The usual loud, foul mouths who hang around the front of the bar were there ... led by the resident, diminutive, elderly, "professional irishman" .... who proceeded to "eff and blind" his way through his usual crude jokes. You could hear his language (and even use of the "c" word) all the way around the corner in the side bar where we were. Unbelievable.
At one point a middle aged couple fled the main bar area to the side bar to get away from them.
When the land lady arrived downstairs for the evening, they began curtailing their language.
Someone suggested earlier that if you don't like it don't go to the Dolphin. Regretfully, I now think that they are right.
17 Mar 2010 15:40
I've been back to the Dolphin a number of times since my posting in December, but then I would do as I'm a local. The pub has improved a little, in that bar staff appear more attentive and the speed of service is better. Generally the beer is not cloudy, which is how it used to be, but falls a little short of being classed as a good pint. That rather offensive group of locals continue to appear from time to time and I can�t say that their language is much improved. I also witnessed yet another spat at the bar recently with one drunken man and one not so drunken man having a pop at each other.
I would suggest Dolphpub that it is not those people who write bad reviews that should �grow-up� but those who persist with their foul language and bad behaviour. It is the mark of maturity when you can restrain from such behaviour in public, even when you really feel like punching someone�s lights out, or, you�d like to tell them what you really think. I do know a number of people who have complained directly to bar staff and management alike as regards standards in the Dolphin and indeed several who have contacted Youngs directly. So don�t assume that this website is the only place that people vent their feelings. As for wasting money, I know many who feel that spending it in the Dolphin is the waste and hence they go elsewhere. Check out the comments for the Seven Stars or the Surrey Oak (apart from the odd comment) and you will see well run pubs with happy punters.
I remain optimistic that this pub will turn around and indeed the present management seem decent people who are making incremental improvements. I wish them luck and wait to see what happens over the coming months.
10 Feb 2010 19:18
A few weeks ago now my husband, two friends and I had Sunday lunch in the Stars. We all went for beef. Unbelievble...... not the usual sniffy little portion of super thin slices that you get from many "chain" type pubs, instead beautiful thick slices of sirloin. Yorkshire puds, gravy and vegetables with a little bit of bite - just how I like it. Top notch!
We come here often living close as we do, but usually just for a drink as the pub has such a good atmosphere. From the landlord and landlady to the locals/regulars, pretty much everyone comes acoss as frindly and genuine.
If only Youngs would take a look at this pub and use it as a model for how it should be done and then perhaps the Dolphin would be somewhere decent to drink. But then again maybe not.... maybe it is best that the riff raff have somewhere to hang out so that the Stars can remain a little jewel in the area.
Keep it up guys.
1 Jan 2010 12:21
There may have been a series of managers in recent years, but the fact is any half trained manager should be able to run a half decent pub. New managers seem to start out promising but fail to keep it up. It seems that life is much easier for them if they just allow people to behave as they choose and unfortunately that's what some do. From the comments I've read I don't think anyone wants yet another gastro-pub in the area, they want to preserve what appears to be a dying institution a "good old fashioned pub" with character.
Character does not mean a rather large group (of mostly men) swearing their fool heads off for seemingly hours on end. Or bar-flies who refuse to move to let anyone except for their own group of cronies get to the bar. Not character at all . . . . just people who simply weren't raised with any manners.
Diversity of thoughts, beliefs, ideas and all manner of witty conversation is wonderful in a pub. But rudeness and foul language is not.
I've frequented this pub for some 25 years and in recent times all too often the food, the beer and the locals are unpalatable. Youngs you are ultimately responsible for what this pub has become.
16 Dec 2009 19:23
A rare find. Aside from the tipple, this pub is known for serving fabulous local spring water and the best chips in the land. Be sure and start off by ordering both!
1 May 2008 12:12
The Dolphin, Betchworth
Note that PudgyPartidge's 7 Feb comment was the first comment they ever posted on Beer in the Evening. Also there never was any such thing as a "famous salt beef sandwich" in the past 25 years at the Dolphin. Hmm?
9 Feb 2011 11:42