BITE user comments - Jacquot
Comments by Jacquot
Lovely location for a pub, although the interior resembles a wide corridor and isn't very attractive. The food was good pub food, but the beer could have been in better condition. The new-ish owners are hard-working and pleasant, although there is a limit to the number of times my conversation can be interrupted to be asked "Is everything all right?" by the same or different members of staff at various different points during our meal. Happily, I've maintained my sang froid so far because I know they mean well. Well worth a visit. Or two.
7 Jul 2011 18:20
The Abinger Hatch, Abinger Common
It's difficult to describe this lovely building as a pub any more. Yesterday evening, we were intercepted on entry and escorted to a table by a smart and courteous young woman. She then presented us with a menu filled with uninteresting and expensive meals, and there were no specials on offer. Then it became apparent that every beer I wanted was off, so we decamped to The Volunteer, where we had not only an excellent meal but also a pint. In The Hatch, as we left, we overheard the couple sitting next to us discussing the direness of the menu. Last time we were in, at Easter when they'd just reopened, the owner asked us if we had any suggestions for the menu, so we gave him a detailed list of what we and the dozen or so people we were with, all of us locals, wanted to find on a pub menu. Pub food, basically. It hasn't filtered through. Sad to say, we won't be returning until we hear that things have improved.
7 Jul 2011 18:08
The William Bray , Shere Guildford Surrey
Gasping for a pint last night, took my wife to this pub, not having tried it since its redesign and rebranding. There was a strong smell of fish in the bar, not an attractive smell at the best of times. One pint of a weak local beer and one small glass of wine came to �8.50. �8.50! We sat outside in the light drizzle and cold of a typical August evening to escape the fish smell. Came away feeling raped, pillaged and disappointed. This used to be a pleasant Young's pub. No wonder people increasingly prefer to drink at home if this is what pubs are being turned into. My first visit was my last visit.
27 Aug 2010 11:09
The Stag on the River, Eashing
Visited today in a small party. The food was good, the beer quite acceptable, and the service polite and friendly. Funnily enough, we discussed how many people from overseas work in this kind of business and why as we sat in the lovely garden in the sunshine, then when we asked the English waitress for some more beer, she told us we had to go to the bar for drinks and walked away. We carried on talking for a few minutes whereupon the Kiwi waitress showed up because she'd spotted our empty glasses and asked us if we'd like some more beers. Not that the English girl was unfriendly, she was quite cheerful, it's just that she didn't 'get' her job. But it was a very pleasant all the same and we shall go back again.
30 May 2010 23:26
Found this lovely old-fashioned pub after a long walk, and the girl who served me was very polite. Having ordered, my wife asked for her to confirm that a pint of bitter, half of lime and lemonade and a plate of chips came to �10.50. This can be analysed as, I think, the pint at 3.50, the half pint 3.50 (lime and lemonade costs �7 a pint, you see), and �3.50 for the chips. The chips were fine, but nowhere near as good as Heston Blumenthal's Tripe Cooked Chips (�4.50 a portion, and probably worth it), the beer was fine, and the lime and lemonade as good as lime and lemonade ever is, but I don't like being ripped off, so we won't ever go back. It seems a bit daft to me for a landlord to overcharge like this and discourage further visits, when by providing good food and drink (which he does) at moderate prices (which he most certainly does not) he would probably make more profit in the long term by getting more custom.
1 Sep 2009 14:11
We live a couple of miles away and sometimes walk to Coldharbour then go on to Leith Hill and return home. If there was another pub in Coldharbour, I'd never use the Plough, having received sometimes downright rude but mostly offhand service. The witch who runs the place either fixes you with a stare or looks at you and cocks her head when it's your turn to be served, and never smiles. She never actually says 'I hate you' but you can see that that's what's going through her mind. I've been going there for 20 years - never a flicker of recognition from her, and when I've tried to be friendly she's made no attempt to reciprocate - just said 'What do you want?' or something equally charmless. I don't bother any more. Often, we get to Coldharbour but can't bring ourselves to use the pub because of the bad atmosphere that always exists there. Yesterday, the owners weren't in evidence, which was a good thing, and we ordered drinks and some food, but the mozzarella in my tomato and mozzarella salad had been covered in French dressing, an example of the utter cluelessness with which this pub is operated. With over 30 pubs closing every week at the moment, I wonder why this one survives - it really doesn't deserve to. This pub could be a gem under different ownership.
13 Jul 2009 14:51
If you want rudeness and short measures, this is the place to go. Although I live within quarter of a mile of this pub, I rarely go there, preferring to go to other pubs in the area. This is because three years ago, I was addressed so rudely as I stepped over the pub's threshold that I left without buying a drink. Yesterday evening, I made the mistake of popping in for a swift pint and was served by a humourless and surly individual who glared at me when I made an inoffensive remark, and I'm sure knows how to pour a pint of Guinness but poured it straight out without waiting, point blank refused to top it up when it has settled, even though it was obviously short by the time it had done so. Nobody needs to receive this kind of treatment because there a plenty of good pubs in not far away, in the Westcott, Abingers Hammer, Abinger Common, Gomshall, and Friday Street. Go to one of those instead. Unless, of course, you fancy having a stand-up row as part of your evening's entertainment programme.
28 May 2005 14:10
Crown Inn, Westcott
Sadly, it's now closed its doors and is a boarded-up eyesore in the otherwise pretty village. Paul's retired, I'm told, after reaching a settlement with the building's owners.
2 Sep 2011 14:32