BITE user comments - AlanAttack
Comments by AlanAttack
I could write three hundred words on this place and 70 of them would be positive, the rest would be heading downhill very fast. But still I quite like the S&D - so bear that in mind as you read this...
1. No beer. They notionally have three ales - in reasonable condition too. Except all three have run out on the two times I've visited. They also ran out of most of the lagers and both ciders too, both times.
2. The staff don't have a clue. Or most of them don't seem too, and they change constantly. They don't know which menu is on, if the restaurant is open, which beer is on, which table is which or how the till works. And they can't add.
And that is the ones who care. Some of them don't seem to care either...
3. The food is good. Confused but good. There are so many menus and nights that it seems all over the shop but it is all pretty nicely done.
4. The retro furniture and gastro-dressings are nice enough and the atmosphere is pleasant and relaxed. That might be because it is also mostly half empty.
Basically it is a basket case. It really doesn't know what it wants to be. Or, it did know but that business model didn't work. It is exactly the place that you see on Hell's Kitchen - it could be good - when someone sorts it out but at the moment it is pretty poor. Sorry.
19 Nov 2008 15:45
It's been re-opened again under new management. I can't comment as I haven't been there yet.
4 Jul 2008 11:55
It has changed hands again and re-opened. Can't comment as I haven't been there yet.
4 Jul 2008 11:50
Things have improved at the Garricks since my original post below. Well, that was quite a while ago now...
They've divided the two rooms between eating and drinking - so no more confusion booting you off tables just because you are 'only' drinking and no more of certain members of staff looking down on you.
The beer prices haven't really gone up since then, when everwhere else in the city has, and the choice of beer has become more adventurous, but remain well looked after.
Still more of a nice place for a Sunday dinner than an evening of drinking but its a good place. If only they turn the theatre announcements down slightly...
21 Feb 2008 15:51
It is a decent enough pub but it is also very, very expensive - even for Bath. And the beer isn't very varied or really that well looked after.
12 Mar 2007 17:04
The beer pump count now goes all the way up to 11. That is 11 ever-changing brews from micros across these isles. Every visit is like a beer festival but without the tricky tokens.
How did the bland, predictable Raven beat this place to new Bath pub of the year?
12 Oct 2006 15:07
Um... yeah it's gone a little gaaasstro. As they book tables so you can't just turn up for a drink, they over-charge for beer (albeit well enough looked after) and they gouge �8.50 our of braying middle class ninnys for cauliflower cheese. There are numerous better places to go nearby. Except for the new one that has just opening in what used to be Broadley - that is even worse.
12 Oct 2006 14:57
Lemkes Spezialit�tenbrauerei, Berlin
Right under the line to Hackischer Markt line,this spacious but busy place has everything you could want in a brew pub. The food is very good, the beer is excellent and the staff are really friendly and helpful even if your German is as terrible as mine. As for the beer, the porter was excellent but the wheat was probably my favourite.
Despite being in Berlin for just a few days we found ourselves coming back more than once.
12 Oct 2006 14:17
Exactly as EdgarBriggsMI5 below says. Good beer, hefty food and friendly service(for Prague).
12 Oct 2006 14:13
The berr is pretty good but you might have a tough time tasing it through the clouds of smoke which billow freely across the bar. And it is probably that fact which will decide how you feel about the place.
14 Mar 2006 11:37
Specialising in real ale from micros across the UK, this is a pub that is more than just a lovely local.
So what if the location is a little out of town, it is well worth stumbling along the Lower Bristol Road for. With ten ales on a at time, plus a cider, there are few pubs to match The Royal Oak in quality or quantity of beer.
There is even a lager, just one mind. And it's organic.
The staff are friendly and knowledgeable and there is a second, non-smoking bar.
They even do a roast on a Sunday and stew on a Wednesday to fit in with the popular Irish music night.
At the moment, it is a little unpolished with very cold toilets - but then at least that has kept out many of the chinless fools who spoil The Raven or The Green Tree in town.
28 Feb 2006 16:16
Easily one of the finest pubs in Bath - only The Star provides real competition for atmosphere and The Royal Oak for variety of beer. But The Tree wins out for the restaurant quality food. Tim, the manager, has to be one of the nicest and most helpful around.
It does seem to be in so many books as to attract tourists by the dozen but if you can get a seat - or go in the non-smoking back bar - it is a great place to spend a day.
28 Feb 2006 15:25
The beer is excellently looked after and changes regularly. It is also all priced at �2.50 which makes life easier when you've lost the ability to count. Which does happen after a few pints of their own Raven ale - which I think is a Blindman's.
It does get packed though, especially if the rugby is in town so watch out for a high percentage of braying fools with overbites.
Imagine The Green Tree but designed by committee.
28 Feb 2006 15:17
It is also shut and has been shut for some time. Signs in the window promise that this is due to refurbishment but they've been saying that for two years.
24 Feb 2006 12:05
The Oxford Inn, Totterdown
Very, very shut. Some To Let signs though.
14 May 2009 17:18