BITE user comments - Firedrake
Comments by Firedrake
The Hope and Anchor, Blacktoft
Cambridge Spies? Ah - that would be the Alan Plater play "The Blacktoft Diaries" I suppose. Is there some memorabilia on show now?
30 Jan 2014 10:55
I haven't been in yet, but I'm pleased to report that it's still open as of December 2013!
2 Jan 2014 13:54
Black Horse Inn, Castle Rising
Sadly, Ditchcrawler, your landlord must be long gone ... but they still don't do ploughman's lunches ...or should it be ploughmEn's lunches? A confusing plural!
However, that which they do do is excellent and RogerB has summed the place up very well.
23 Jul 2013 10:28
Now something of a victim of its own success: absolutely rammed in good weather, which isn't surprising given its location!
Chicken curry on Sunday - curry fine but chicken dry and fibrous.( This is a criticism of all pubs really ... if only they'd use the leg meat! Breast is almost always dry ... and please leave the skin on: that's where the flavour is!)
However, it's a lovely pub all in all.
22 Jul 2013 16:27
The Ancient Mariner, Hunstanton
Second visit of the year (staying next door at the le Strange Arms).
Much as I like the ambience of the Ancient Mariner, the bar menu is becoming increasingly pedestrian ... basically a mundane "chips- with-everything-fill-your-face-type-deal." It used to be so much more imaginative! Enjoyed a reasonable pasta dish on Friday night, but resorted to the Oak Bar in the hotel proper on Saturday, which was a bit better. Until very recently, the great thing about this place was that it could hold its own with the gastropubs of Thornham and all points east at a fraction of the cost.
Booze fine: location second to none; but there's more to seafood than fish and chips!!!
22 Jul 2013 16:04
Called in on Friday - having intended walking to Cley along the coast path, but the sea fret made such an excursion fairly pointless! I had dim memories of this pub from c 1980 but had mentally located it at Morston. Thus I was delighted to find it here - especially the gardens and fig tree etc.
A most enjoyable lunch in a superb setting!
(The collection of "primitive" pier-head paintings is wonderful ... even if they do only date from the 1950s!
22 Jul 2013 13:16
The Ancient Mariner, Hunstanton
Ate in the restaurant, rather than the bar, on Saturday. Very clean and less frenetic. Delicious Lemon Sole from the specials board. Staffing chaotic, however. Several staff around - all charming and polite - but I was never quite sure who was supposed to be looking after me and lost count of the number of times I had to chase up forgotten details such as wine amnd condiments. This was odd because the restaurant was virtually empty and seemed to have its own serving team.
Nonetheless, it was still good value for money and - as always - I enjoyed the view as well as the food.
10 Jun 2013 15:38
Definitely still the "Ship". Called in for a glass of wine and a couple of oysters. Oddly, though, when I asked for an accommodation brochure they couldn't lay their hands on one. Seems a bit remiss!
21 Feb 2013 10:04
Now firmly in the hands of a group called "Wheeler's" seemingly under the auspices of Marco Pierre White. Despite the big name, I'm pleased to report that food prices are still quite reasonable and the menu is more interesting than last time I called in! Some refurbishmnent - but all the essentials (such as the parafin lamps!) are still there. Enjoyed a wonderful avocado stuffed with crab, and two pints of Wherry.
21 Feb 2013 09:59
I haven't actually been inside yet, but I've been aware of its existance since the mid sixties. However, a change in domestic circumstances might make it a convenient Staging Post when I'm in the area. I've always thought it looked great from the outside; I hope the internal realities aren't quite as bad as some of these posts appear to suggest!
I recall that it once had doughty reputation for staying open even when cut off by floodwater - cutomers arriving by boat etc.
4 Dec 2012 13:53
Went by on the Coasthopper on Saturday - it's still most emphatically called the "Ship" - both on the gable end and the hanging sign. Isn't "Flying Kiwis" the name of the company which owns it now?
24 Sep 2012 09:51
Well - I called in on Saturday for the first time. Muddy boots, rucksack and scruffy old camo jacket and sodden rain hat. Not a flicker of disapproval. Perhaps they thought I was the gamekeeper responsible for the menu or something!
Yes: very expensive - evenfor gamekeepers - but by having a starter and a salad I managed to keep it within my modest budget. Just about!
24 Sep 2012 09:45
The Hero, Burnham Overy Staithe
"Pan fried" - it still amuses me - roe back on. Delicious as ever.
30 Jul 2012 10:17
Called in again during Maiden Erlegh's 50th anniversary celebrations. Definitvie improvement - but some discrepency between the food service times as advertized on notices and those printed on the menues. Nice pint of Pride, but was hoping for food.
11 Jul 2012 14:34
Edging towards the "gastro" end of the market - but none the worse for that. Very good by Reading standards, I'd say.
16 May 2012 15:04
But whatever happend to the caryatid porch - very much a local landmark when I was growing up round the corner!
16 May 2012 15:01
Definitely improved since my last visit. Good range of ales and comfortable-looking furntiture. Didn't have time to look at the menu but hope to explore further. Breakfast is a nioce idea!
16 May 2012 14:51
Well at least it's an interesting building! I remember it as an isolated ruin deep in the dense and overgrown thickets of rhodedendron and bamboo which completely surrounded Southlake before the new houses were built. Classic territory for my somewhat Enid Blytonesque childhood: rafts on the lake ... piched battles with other kids etc etc.
It all seems rather tame now!
24 Apr 2012 16:29
I remember when this was the "Shop of the Bridge" (c1960) which specialized in old electrical goods ... including pre-war "candlestick" telephones at 30 shillings each! Actually, it's a good spot for a pub, overlooking the confluence of two branches of the Kennet. Despite three incarnations in the last ten years, it's kept its atmosphere and still does a good lunch. I'm not in Reading often these days, but I usually call in when I am.
6 Jan 2012 15:09
Had lunch here again last week. Prices still quite reasonable, so perhaps the take-over scare story is precisely that! Atmosphere/ambience wonderful as usual - especially by the fire on a bitterly cold day. Menu still a touch unimaginative though. Not much in the way of seafood (no crab, lobster or oysters!) but perhaps it can't compete with the Orange Tree.
20 Dec 2011 11:02
The Dawnay Arms, Newton on Ouse
I'm amazed nobody else has commented on this excellent establishment since I made my initial post over a year ago!
22 Nov 2011 15:29
Blacksmiths Arms, Newton on Ouse
Although not nearly as upmarket as the nearby Dawnay Arms, this is nonetheless a perfectly decent village pub which has had quite a reputation for (at least traditional) food for a couple of decades and more. In the recent past it specialized in Italian cuisine, which seemed a little odd surrounded such an overtly English ambience (no Italianate decor!) but the quality was fine. Now it's reverted to a more typical "pub grub" menu. It's cosy and friendly: still a local as well as somewhere people drive to for meals.
22 Nov 2011 15:26
It is neither old nor a mill. Once it was called the "Trading Post" and had a Western theme ... equally strange.
15 Sep 2011 11:56
I've visited sporadically over about 35 years and seen many changes. Sometimes it was as dead as the proverbial doornail: sometimes you had to fight your way to the bar! Sometime's there's real ale; sometimes there isn't. It has had some very good quizzez from time to time, and can be quite cosy in a kind of 1970s "red plush" way. When it's good it's very good, but it does seem to have its mediocre intervals. That said, it's always a comfortable shelter on a wild, wet night!
15 Sep 2011 11:48
Revisited last week for the first time in several years. Still very good, but seemingly bigger! (Pip123's post accounts for this, I suppose.) Only drank J20 thanks to heat and general tiredness so can't comment on the current sate of the beer. Menu still looked good.
On the downside - the road through the pavementless road through the village is still virtually unusable for pedestrians: something MUST be done - either a bypass - or at least a light-controlled, alternating ,single-lane system (as on a narrow bridge) so that a decent pavement can be built over hal;f the carriageway. As things stand, the Red Lion has to be just about the only pub in UK which is safer to to drive to than walk to! Not a good thing in a pub!
5 Sep 2011 15:13
Had a meal here last week whilst staying at the Old Coach House. High season so VERY busy, which always makes it hard to relax. Excellent food of couse, and surprisingly quick service given the rush! Absurdly expensive, but I felt like trating myself and I can't resist Lobster Thermidor. I was tempted and I fell ... so I can't really complain.
5 Sep 2011 14:08
The Lifeboat appears to be in transition: some of its stationary (such as the fire-drill instructions) still carries the Maypole Group logo but the menues don't. I stayed at the Old Coach House annexe at the end of last week and enjoyed a couple meals in the 'boat itself. Rather to my surprise - in view of the previous comment - the menu was still quite reasonably priced, though less imaginative than it has been ... with fewer "specials". That said, I enjoyed two excellent evening meals. The atmosphere is still great, what with the real oil lamps still burning, but I was sad to note that the photographs of celebrated local characters (including the immortal "Bill and Ben" have disappeared: also the delightfully "primitive" oil of a steam drifter which used to hang between the fireplace and the Gents' door. I hope this important material has been properly archived somewhere and is not lost to posterity.
5 Sep 2011 13:59
The Jolly Sailors, Brancaster Staithe
I almost called in for lunch on Saturday as I really like the building, beer and atmosphere, but was put off by the emphasis on pizza, which is one of my least favourite foods. So I'm glad to read they other things as well!
26 Jul 2011 12:06
The White Horse, Brancaster Staithe
Very good lunch on Saturday - came on from the Ship. More realistic prices here.
25 Jul 2011 16:34
Excellent pint of Adnam's here on Saturday. Tempted to eat, but couldn't quite justfy the cost. I was pleased, however, to note that some of the B&B prices had dropped a fraction since my last visit and post!
25 Jul 2011 16:17
It's still as attractive and atmospheric as ever, but when I called in with a friend for lunch on Saturday the menu was just about the least imaginative I've seen in any pub since the mid Seventies! Even the "Specials Board " wasn't particularly special. There was one item on this board which appealed to me, with a note saying that included in the price was a starter from the menu - but there were no starters on the menu! We had a quick drink and moved on the excellent Castle Inn.
Such a shame: potentially, this is a brilliant pub ... one of the few in the area which still has a multiplicity of small rooms. There was a note to the effect that a new menu was "coming soon". Not soon enough!
20 Jun 2011 15:05
The Ancient Mariner, Hunstanton
Another decent lunch ... on Holy Saturday; bang in the middle of the hottest Easter break in living memory! Once again, the food was delivered astonishingly quickly despite the crowds. (Actually, the "Spicey Platter" wasn't quite up to the duck I had last time, but was perfectly acceptable nnetheless.)
The glorious weather meant most customers sat out in the garden and on the various terraces, so the bar itself was comfortably quiet. Sauvignon Blanc okay too.
I am increasingly impressed by the efficiency of this establishment, and still think it's the only pub in Hunstanton which actually looks and feels like a pub ... even if it has been "created" out of something else.
27 Apr 2011 11:32
Didn't this used to be The Maltings? If so, I first put in an appearence here - suitably costumed and armoured - along with my crew from the Golden Hinde II replica, which we'd just tied up on the quay. There was a jazz feastival inprogress as I recall, and the louche, hep-cat clientele were somewhat alarmed to be descended on by a maurauding band of Elizabethan buccaneers: especially when we started firing cannons across the dock! (Spring '85.)
It was, as I recall, a very good pub where we enjoyed many a convivial evening.
Later it became "Cobbolds on the Quay" I think.
7 Apr 2011 13:06
Delightful! Even better than I remember it from the Seventies! (This despite some evidence of "knocking through" - a process I generally deplore.) I only called in briefly and should have come back for a meal when I discovered that the Zetland no longer serves food in the evening. Went the JDW as it was nearer: okay - but lacking the atmosphere of either the Roebuck or the Zet.
23 Mar 2011 15:58
The Zetland Arms Hotel, Warwick
First the Good News: the interior and the atmoshpere have hardly changed at all since I was a "visiting regular" in the mid/late Seventies, and the beer is still good. The staff I encountered this week were all extremely friendly. The garden is delightful - through, strangely, I don't remember it from former times.
Now the bad: no accommodation anymore, and food is only served at lunchtime. Therefore on Tuesday night I had to repair the nearby JDW for a meal ... okay, but distinctly lacking in atmosphere by comparison. (I'd been really looking forward to trad. pub-grub in a trad. pub.)
Time was when the Morning Service over the road at St Mary's used to finish just as the Zetlasnd was opening: priest and people would decamp into the latter and discuss the sermon. I'd love to think that was still the case!
23 Mar 2011 15:52
The Ancient Mariner, Hunstanton
Enjoyed a splendid lunch here yesterday, but was astonished at how quickly it was delivered (roast duck breast, no less!) within ten/fifteen minutes of ordering. It was tender, tasty and succulent; so unlikely to have been merely microwaved or re-heated. Remarkable!
1 Feb 2011 16:07
Well, I kept my word and came back, having been somewhat out-priced at Brancaster's beautifully refurbished Ship (qv) only to find that the OT is now pretty much as expensive! No complaints about the food or service though: still excellent. Had a pint at the lifeboat first and noticed that their prices are still just about within the range of a mere mortal! However - I don't regret lunch at the Tree ... I just mustn't make a habit of it!
9 Nov 2010 13:33
The Hero, Burnham Overy Staithe
Lunch here on Bank Holiday Monday - not as busy as I'd anticipated. Two excellent pints of Wherry, but menu a little disappointing this time. No "pan fried" roe! (Baked Camembert okay though.)
2 Sep 2010 09:58
Having just had lunch at the excellent but expensive (newly re-opened) Ship at Brancaster, Lifeboat prices now seem quite modest! No disrespect to the Ship - I enjoyed it - but we are supposed to be in a recession. I think it'll be the Lifeboat again, next time I'm walking the Coast Path.
20 Aug 2010 09:48
Well and truly open now and worth a visit. It is, as I feared, horrendously expensive (�6.00 + for a glass of not particularly special wine and the cheapest room, even in low season, at over �100.00) but the ambience of the building and the quality of the food are now superb. I had the biggest, juciest and most flavoursome oysters I've ever encountered, followed by some belly pork which (proverbially) melted in the mouth.
The service was friendly and remarkably quick for a high-season lunchtime.
The high cost will certainly deter relatively low earners such as myself from too frequent use, but I'm glad I called in and - hopefully - this establishment will now flourish despite the bad press it's had on this site in recent years.
The prices puzzle me, though. I know similar establishments in Yorkshire which offer equally exalted ambience and cuisine, at about two thirds the cost. I can't believe the overheads are any higher in Norfolk - particularly as so much of the produce claims to be locally sourced (and catering wages are notoriously low everywhere!) so I can only conclude that there's an assumption on the part of management that all the customers belong tho the Chelsea Tractor brigade, up at their second homes for the summer.
All this aside, it was a most enjoyable visit and I will return ... when my bank balance has recovered. Meanwhile - back to the Lifeboat, Orange Tree and Hero; which seem almost modestly priced by comparison!
19 Aug 2010 15:25
The Dawnay Arms, Newton on Ouse
I have kept a boat at nearby Linton Lock for many years and so use this place regularly. Until fairly recently, it had a reputation for rapid and repeated change of ownership: no-one seemed to be able to "make a go of it" and I could never understand why. It's in one of the prettiest villages in the Vale of York, with gardens sweeping down to the river and always provided good beer and excellent food. The view from the garden terrace is stunning, especially at sunset. Eventually it closed down completely for over a year.
Now it has been totally overhauled and re-invented as a "proper" gastropub - but don't let that put you off! It's actually very good indeed. Expensive? Yes. But the quality and service are second to none. It somehow manages to achieve this without pretension and is still just about recognizable as a pub. Its closest cousins, I think, are pobably the Orange Tree at Thornham and the Hero at Burnham Overey Staithe - both in North Norfolk. Which is appropriate enough; I'vealways felt that the Vale of York has a distinctly East Anglian "feel"!
The Blacksmith's Arms in the same village is more typical of the region; more pub-like and certyainly suits a more restricted budget!
6 Aug 2010 14:18
Visited for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The pub itself is absolutely typical of the Vale of York - pleasant enough but not particularly imaginitive in its decor and lay-out. You could say "traditional" - but not outstandingly atmospheric like the nearby Ferry. We were faced with a choice between a slightly down-at-heel bar and a somewhat "twee but anodyne" restaurant area with the inevitable plastic conservatory. The food, however, was excellent and the service friendly and prompt.
I believe this place was only brought back into service as a pub in the 80s, after decades as a private house, and I was hoping that some conservational sensitivity had been employed in the restoration of what must have been a multiplicity of separate rooms: instead, it does rather feel like 70s knock-through.
Even so, we enjoyed our lunch and will probably go back.
29 Jul 2010 14:22
This is at least the second refurb since I first came here: okay - certainly an improvement on the twee pink and gilt it used to be at one time, but stilll a bit bland. Good for a quick early evening meal before catching a train, just as the other waterfront establishments are starting to fill up. Nice exterior and setting.
22 Mar 2010 14:51
Clearly a very recent refurb - smart enough - in a "1960s Posh" sort of way, ie lots of gilt against dark pink and plum red: rather like a set from the "Avengers". Perfectly acceptable pint of Spitfire but an uninspired (and expensive) cheese baguette. (No choice when it came to type of cheese.) As others have commented, the real strength of this place its fantastic location, but they don't seem to build on this. It's a boaters and walkers pub but feels like something you used to drive ou to for "Chicken-in-a-Basket". when that was considered the hight of sophistication!
And what became of the stuffed albatross which used to sit behind the bar?
22 Mar 2010 14:44
Very obviously closed in Feb. 2010. Hardly surprizing if the other comments are anything to go by!
4 Mar 2010 16:32
The Hero, Burnham Overy Staithe
The "pan fried" (how else can you fry something?) roe on toast was delicious last Tuesday lunctime. Nor was it desperately expensive. Good pint of Wherry, too.
22 Feb 2010 13:23
Glad to hear it really is dong food now. Ironically, though, when I called in last Wednesday I didn't have time to eat before catching a bus. However, it was a plesent enough spot to while away half an hour over a drink or two. Almost empty - but was mid-afternoon on a week day.
22 Feb 2010 13:17
The White Horse, Brancaster Staithe
Made it last, earlier this week. Yes - very good: fantastic collection of local photographs and, of course, breathtaking views. Curious looking guest-rooms at the back - like Hobitholes under a kind of roof garden. I hope they don't flood at high tide!
22 Feb 2010 13:10
Believe it or not, this was is the only pub (or anything else) where I've eaten swordfish! But it was a very long time ago. It it's also the first pub where I ever saw a video-jukebox c 1984. A few years before, when I was teaching in Selby, this was where all the kids went so I avoided it. Better now, I'm sure!
12 Jan 2010 15:59
Seems a bit run down since my last visit, about five years ago, when I thought it was definitely on the up. A bit dingey now, and the only area light enough to read as I was having my lunch was draughty because the beer garden doors were propped wide open - in December! Of course the garden itself now suffers from the hoarding and shrouding around what's left of the Cutty Sark (not the pub's fault, of course) but that, all being well, will be remedied eventually. Food; drink; and service were all fine. well - I was almost the first in so it should have been!
4 Jan 2010 16:22
The Spanish Galleon, Greenwich
This is the ONLY pub where I've been given a printed receipt fot a pint of beer (albeit about five years ago). Is it a London thing?
4 Jan 2010 16:14
Broads Haven Tavern, Potter Heigham
There's a delightful "real" pub a short distance up the lane to the north - possibly in the next village or the older part of Potter. Can't remember the name, unfortunately. Probably no more than ten minutes' walk from the Broads Haven.
18 Dec 2009 16:22
Certainly a great location and good beer - very disappointing menu last week though! The steak sandwich was tasty enough, but I was hoping for sopmething a bit more imaginative. Always pleasant to sit outside.
29 Sep 2009 16:30
The White Horse, Brancaster Staithe
I've not been in yet, but I'm glad to see it made the "coastal" section of the Guardian's good pub supplement this year!
7 Jul 2009 10:46
A personal mystery solved at last. As Big Walrus rightly says - it ISN'T the old Sam Smith's place ... moreover, it's an entirely different building - which is why, during my more recent visits, I've had an uneasy feeling that everything was the "wrong way round"! Visiting Lincoln last week, I suddenly realised that the original building - two doors down Steep Hill - has re-opened as a pub (now called Widdow Cullen's Well) and, on entering same, I was delighted to discover that everything was the "right way round!" (Smarter than it used to be, but it was good to see those beams and fireplaces again.)
My dillemma: nostalgia demands I use the "original" site when in Lincoln, but in the mean time I've come to like the food at the new one. Oh well ... I'll just have to visit both I suppose! Life throws up some pretty difficult choices sometimes!
8 May 2009 10:53
Nice building - far less bland an interior than a Spoons usual. If I stay at the Globe I eat here!
23 Mar 2009 15:30
This was the nearest pub to my student digs in Nunthorpe Avenue in '76. Used to call in regularly with about half a dozen housemates. I remember it as scruffy but cheerful enough: obviously 50s/60s build and decor. Looks like it hasn't changed much! (Somewhere I've got a sketch I did, showing "Our Corner" - complete with gargantuan flares and "jumbo" collared shirts. Frightening!)
13 Mar 2009 15:21
I remember when this one was a derelict, near-ruin c 1974. (I was living opposite!) I'm not sure if it was originally a pub, though. However, it was very sympathetically restored c 1980 and has a local reputation for good (if trad) food in generous portions. Never seems particularly busy - which is a GOOD thing in York! Has had a pretty reasonable quiz from time to time.
13 Mar 2009 15:11
The Hero, Burnham Overy Staithe
Agree with anon234 - perhaps not "traditional" now, but pleasant enough. First came during a sailing holiday in 77 ... if I remember correctly it had lots of nooks and crannies in dark wood, open fires and polished brasses and nauticalia; very cosy, especially after a day's thrashing about in a dinghy off Scolt Head! Came again in '99 and was very disappointed to find it opened up and with very little nauticalia on show ... it's named after Nelson, after all! However the Irish landlord was very friendly and the food was good.
Yes, it has gone trendy and is essentially a restaurant now, but at least it's still open!
4 Mar 2009 15:47
Since my last post, this place has moved (somewhat controversially!) across the road into the same building as the Biltmore. Nice enough, but not as big and rambling.
20 Feb 2009 16:35
Great pub with an interesting food policy - at least when I was last in a couple of years ago. The menu is only a guide: you make your choice and the chef disappears into the adjoining covered market to see if they've got the ingedients, and reports back. Sometimes several trips have to be made before the contents are agreed. This means the resulting meal is as fresh as it could possibly be ... but may bear little resemblence to your original choice!
20 Feb 2009 16:21
Made famous in Robert Edrich's noirish Hull trilogy of crime novels. Always looks rough and seedy but is actually quite friendly. They used to have a coiled rope in a glass case, said to have been used in the last hanging in Hull Prison: it clearly wasn't thick enough for that grim purpose, but it added quirky local touch!) Oddly it was rigged as if for a disco last night, although it's so narrow there isn't any romm for a dance floor!
20 Feb 2009 16:12
Yes - this is an imaginative "change of use", but it's a shame about the ridiculously OTT brick fireplaces which don't fit in at all! Good food, though, and the Old Mill bitter was fine when I last tried it.
20 Feb 2009 16:06
I don't believe it! Another of my "Golden Hinde II" refit regulars gone. Our chippy used to play a mean jazz piano in here after a long day re-building the fighting tops.This and the Minerva were favourites with the "Galleon Squad" as we were known. (Spring '85.)
20 Feb 2009 16:02
I visited yesterday and was devestated to find it closed and boarded up - delighted, though, to read dapis' remark about the Council wanting to preserve and reopen it. I joined the crew of Golden Hinde II in Hull in '85, and this was very much our regular during a major refit that spring ... back in the glory days of "Pilot's Pride". It's been my custom ever since, when in Hull, to call in and raise a glass to the memory of my old shipmates now scattered across the globe. I can still smell the tallow and the Stockholme tar!
20 Feb 2009 15:56
I'm utterly amazed that no-one's posted about this one yet! It's an absolute gem ... at least it was when I last visited a couple-or-three years ago. Small, cosy, tucked away, real ale and (I thought!) a world-famous "Living Sign" - the real, occupied beehive in the tree outside. I remember my grandmother telling me she'd spotted this c 1900: delighted it's strill there!
4 Feb 2009 16:28
Undoubtedly one of the better village eateries round her ... in a typically Yorkshire "chips with everything" sort of way. But they are good chips! Good beer too.
27 Jan 2009 14:41
The Laurel Inn, Robin Hood's Bay
For many years, I should say from the mid-seventies until the late eighties at least - there was a notice on the door saying: "No Hikers". So even when not actually hiking, I made a point of NOT visiting on principle. However, I am delighted to see that this is no longer the case (change of ownership I suppose) and when I called in last year I enjoyed a very good lunch before walking back to Whitby along the cliff path.
(Apologies if I've got the wrong pub here ... I'm talking about the white one halfway down the steep slope on the left as you approach the sea. Pretty sure it's the Laurel!)
27 Jan 2009 13:39
I've not been in for a while, but it always had a good local reputation for food. It's an attractive, rambling building in an interesting village on the edge of the rather spooky Skipwith Common - well worth a tramp on a misty autumn day!
27 Jan 2009 13:14
Never Turn Back, Caister on Sea
Last time I looked (c 2005) it was shut and virtually derelict.
23 Jan 2009 16:45
When I asked what the "Soup of the Day" was, I was told "Campbell's" ... which was honest, I suppose! Actually, the soup was fine - albeit from a tin - and I have been back since. Nice place.
23 Jan 2009 16:33
Great pub - both before and after the recent refurb. Expensive? Yes ... but I don't mind paying a bit over the odds for quality and atmosphere. (I might if I were a "local" though!)
23 Jan 2009 16:27
The best bit is the garden - huge, and sweeping down to the river. Very nice on a summer evening. (Didn't it used to be called the "French Horn"?)
22 Jan 2009 14:19
I hadn't realized, when I came here a few years ago, that it was part of a small "chain" - all called "Bel and the Dragon" and I wondered why a pub should be named after a book in the Apocrypha. Come to think of it, I'm not sure why a pub-chain should adopt such strangely Biblical nomenclature either!
However, it doesn't "feel" like a chain pub, and I was hugely impressed, enjoying a sumptuous (if expensive!) lunch and some very fine wine. The building and location are superb. At the time of my visit, the staff were all perfectly polite and welcoming. I can't comment on the beer, alas, because I really can't mix beer and wine (in any order!).
22 Jan 2009 14:13
Called in about 7 years ago. Very good then. Atmospheric - good Mordue's "Works Ticket" beer as I recall.
21 Jan 2009 16:55
Best crab and whisky soup I've ever had: actually the only crab and whisky soup I've ever had!
21 Jan 2009 16:52
The Schooner Hotel and Restaurant, Alnmouth
Sounds like it's really gone downhill. I had an excellent meal here about seven years ago! It was a bit shabby, and there were some very dubious claims made about the ephemera ... but that was at least entertaining!
21 Jan 2009 16:48
I ate here a few times in '01 when staying on a boat in the Creek. Nice building; excellent location but dull (if adequate) food. It also seemed very hot and noisy at times. The beer was fine, as I recall.
21 Jan 2009 12:05
I've always liked Oscars - except that the music gets steadily louder as the night progresses, to the point where conversation is impossible. Surely this is precisely he kind of cosy, intimate place where you would WANT to have a conversation?
20 Jan 2009 14:17
I was a regular here in the late '80s. I'm glad to hear it's still up to scratch - do they still do their "house" Scotch as a double for the price of a single?
20 Jan 2009 14:05
Interesting. I've known this pub almost as long as I've known the Lifeboat. On a visit to Thornham in '99 I was told that the locals had begun to favour the KH over the latter on the grounds that the latter had lost its "local" character. Well - I still loved the Lifeboat, but I could see their point. Anyway, the King's Head did indeed have pleanty of character at that time and certainly wasn't "underused"! Now ... it is certainly tastefull, sophisticated and impressive in many ways, but that local feel has sadly gone (changing the name didn't help - but at least they've kept the old sign) and I rather think the Lifeboat is back in the running ... at least it still "feels" like a pub!
Incidentally, I think it was in the KH where I first encountered a "Space Invaders" game: c1980 ... or was it the now-defunct Chequers?
20 Jan 2009 13:52
I'm not quite certain when I called in, but I assume it was since '05 because I think I can say - with total conviction - that it is the best pub on the South Coast ... at least of those I've visited so far. Beer, food, atmosphere and welcome all splendid. (Almost up to the Standard of North Norfolk's "Lifeboat" at Thornham!
20 Jan 2009 12:05
Ate there several times in the mid-late '90s - always very good.
20 Jan 2009 11:53
The Shoulder of Mutton, Heworth
I should have pointed out that my first visit was in 1971!
20 Jan 2009 11:49
The Shoulder of Mutton, Heworth
I agree with MountainMan. This was the first York pub I ever visited - stayed at, even - and it was great. There was a highly eccentric, almost Basil Fawlteyesque landlord with a disarming habit of answering all his own questions before you could get a word in edgeways! It's still a most attractive building, both inside and out ... with a huge garden, but it just doesn't have tyhe same atmosphere, somehow. Enormous potential.
20 Jan 2009 11:44
Interesting - I thought Staithes pubs had a policy of NOT providing food. Certainly this one didn't when I last called in ... but that would have been at least 20 years ago! (Still liked it, though.)
19 Jan 2009 14:35
Generally speaking, my impressions of this place have always been favourable, and I've certainly never experienced the rudeness refered to below. It's a shame, though, that the car park is between the pub and the river - which is difficult to see, even from the beer garden. I've always found the food adequate, if a little unimaginative.
19 Jan 2009 13:43
Sorry - that should have been "don't think"! Seriously ... it could be a real draw for the boating fraternity, given some imagination.
16 Jan 2009 13:55
Notable for its unique location on a narrow spit of land between the Aire and Calder Navigation and the Dutch River, this has the potential to be a very interesting waterside pub: a potential, however, which I think has ever been realized!
16 Jan 2009 13:54
The Hope and Anchor, Blacktoft
A very useful landmark when sailing on the Humber - especially in foul weather when the white paintwork stands out in the murk! (Quite a nice pub, too.)
16 Jan 2009 13:50
I haven't been for a while, but I always felt this was the best pub in town. I don't remember an absence of Real Ale, and they did do some of the best onion rings I've had - ie real slices of onion batteed and fried!
16 Jan 2009 13:42
An excellent pub, brought back into service relatively recently after years as a private house/shop I believe. I first discovered Woodforde Wherry here and have never looked back! The only problem with this place is the horrendous road you have to cross to get to it! In fact, walking through Stiffkey is almost an ompossibility in itself.
13 Jan 2009 17:04
The Plume of Feathers, Hungerford
Visited sporadically over the last 25 years or so and always found it a bit disappointing - especially the food. Summer 2008, however, and I was hugely impressed; beautifully done up and a great menu. Unfortunately, I went down with severe indigestion shortly after my visit - but - to be fair - I don't really think it raeally had anything to do with my pub lunch!
13 Jan 2009 15:27
Big Walrus and Anonymous both confirm - in their own ways - my own feelings about this place. I probably first used it c 1980 and absolutely loved it, with its dark corners, roaring fires and slightly florid theology students arguing hermeneutics very loudly in the upstairs bar. I still love it, even though it HAS changed. I suppose the food is a bit on the expensive side but it is good: worth climbing Steep Hill for, anyway.
9 Jan 2009 14:45
There's something distinctly odd about this place and I can't quite put my finger on it. It's a great building which SHOULD make for a great pub. Before the recent refurb it was just plain naff (plastic tablecloths for goodness' sake!) - much more attractive now, with good beer and food etc but ... well ... odd; and I don't know why.
9 Jan 2009 14:27
This pub was built just a year or two before I started attending Maiden Erlegh School next door. There was some controversy at the time, because it was thought by some that older pupils would nip in at lunctime. Given that we all had to wear uniform - even in the sixth form - this never really going to happen ... at least I didn't. (One of our teachers, however, used to stink of beer in the afternoon so we were pretty certain we knew where he'd been!)
I did visit a few times after I left school, and remember it as being absolutely classic 1960s (even in the '70s) - red leatherette benches, copper-topped tables, dimpled and reeded glass and pine-plank pannelling. Ugh!!! However - nearly forty years on it might seem rather quaint, so I hope the new people have preserved some of it!
9 Jan 2009 14:11
My only criticism of this generally very nice pub is that - on more than one occasion - I've turned up at lunctime, ordered food and been told there wasn't any ... despite large signs to the contrary outside. To be fair, this was a couple of years ago so perhaps it doesn't happen now.
9 Jan 2009 13:53
The Black Swan did indeed close towards the end of 2008, but managed to reopen in time for Christmas. I was there last night and have no complaints. Whatever one may say about the beer or the staff, it's the building itself which really stars. Despite its charm as an ancient city about half way between London and Edinburgh, York doesn't really have the kind of big, trad. "coaching inn" you'd expect in the centre (there used to be several, but they all went in the 19th / early 20th centuries) and this is the next best thing. It is rightly beloved of the folk / jazz set , and the various clubs and societies which use it as a venue for meetings. The York Shakespeare Project has regarde it as a kind of unofficial "home" for some years now. Come to think of it, there used to be live lunchtime theatre in the front bar from time to time back in the mid seventies.
8 Jan 2009 15:03
The Jolly Sailors, Brancaster Staithe
I like the way the sand bows in and crunches on the flags and tiles underfoot. Good mix of native tradition and a slightly bleached-out Baltic (or even New England!) influence. Fantastic beer. Laid back and definitely coastal.
8 Jan 2009 14:40
The Crown and Mitre, Kings Lynn
Had an odd experience here when I first discovered it a couple of years ago. There was a beer festival (great) in the gallery overlooking the river, but very few customers. The landlord disappeared after drawing my first pint and was nowhere to be found when I wanted a refill. A cheerful regular in the bar advised me to help myself (since it in was spigotted kegs racked up on a shelf) and leave a couple of quid on the counter ... which I did. I was just about to leave when the landlord reappeared, so I gave him the cash directly and said what I'd done. He started to erupt like a volcano until I politely pointed out that I was giving him money he wouldn't otherwise have, and could have left without paying at all. He caled down at this point and I have beenn back. Yes, it's a great pbb!
8 Jan 2009 14:17
Agreed - though oddly, I did't use it when I lived here some years ago; but in those days even the Londesborough was okay!
8 Jan 2009 09:37
I've been eating/drinking here sporadically since 1977. It is one of the very few pubs I know which has hardly changed at all in that time - apart from the conservatory and accommodation in adjoining blocks etc. I think it is almost certainly still my favourite pub anywhere - but I do tend to visit in the quieter times of the year. I agree that the food is expensive, but I've never been disappointed. It is without question the best pub (or even hotel) I've ever stayed in (and that's out three continents!). I am aware that some villagers feel that it's fame has caused it to lose its "local" authenticity and this may well be true, but I still don't think it's been "spoilt" - at least not physically. In any case, since the old King's Head (Orange Tree) is now an equally famous "gastropub" and the Chequers has become an "out-station" of the Lifeboat, so to speak, thisd is hardly an issue now. The siuation could be a lot worse ... ie NO pub in the village at all.
7 Jan 2009 16:51
The Berney Arms Inn, Berney Arms
It's often claimed that you can only get to this one by boat: nice idea but sadly not quite true. I've made it on foot twice (once at night!) by trecking across the marshes, braving bulls, ditches barbed wire and rickety plank bridges. Well worth the effort on both occasions - to mind very atmospheric in both '85 and '05. Don't remember what the beer was, but it was very good. Must visit by boat one day.
7 Jan 2009 16:35
The Ancient Mariner, Hunstanton
I've eaten here a number of times during just about every season of the year. I've always enjoyed it and found the food to be better than average at least. What I really like, though, is the fact it really gives the impression of of being an authentic pub, even though it has been created (relatively recently, I think) from a range ouf stables/outbuildings etc. "Change of Use" like this rarely works well: you can create a "trendy bar" easily enough, but a trad. pub is much harder to bring off. This is the exception to prove the rule. Excellent choice of beer; stunning views (in good weather!); intriguing nauticalia and - I've always found-friendly staff.
7 Jan 2009 16:25
The Jolly Sailors, Brancaster Staithe
Had a very good evening meal here in July, and was glad to discover that Pizza, while certainly still available, it is no longer the "selling point" as it had become a few years ago. Plenty of choice, and remarkably quick service despite being VERY busy!
29 Jul 2014 12:07