BITE user comments - MrScott
Comments by MrScott
Visited the re-opened Amersham on Saturday night, full of Goldsmiths-beautiful kids now. Had a scruffy charm but one of the things I like about New Cross is the mix of people: students mix with old rude-boys, local scruffs and red faced old irish blokes. That's gone, it still feels like a sarf london place but more Brixton than New Cross, so far, my feelings are mixed.
I am pretty excited about some of the gigs they're putting on, though, I must say.
5 Nov 2007 16:28
Nice location, quite good food, friendly staff. Let down by the grumpy landlord barking instructions to his staff from the front of the bar but the world ain't perfect is it?
26 Sep 2007 09:49
Poncey pub with friendly but dreadfully scatty service. It was redeemed by it being a sunny Sunday evening and the pub having a grass beer garden: very rare in London.
26 Sep 2007 09:44
I noticed, on my trip last Saturday, lots of oily boys playing their portable nintendo thingies in the pub. Freaks.
Good pub though.
26 Sep 2007 09:42
Found it pretty unfriendly when we unwittingly wandered in. Took the hint, drunk up quick and got out.
21 May 2007 17:37
Went for a couple last night: it's all still as it was (which is a good thing).
(Didn't get smiled at but maybe I'm just funny looking).
21 May 2007 17:33
Nice enough, enjoyed the decor and the barmaid-girl was impossibly friendly. Nice place for a Sunday chill-out.
21 May 2007 17:31
Trying to be trendy but it's not coming together when I was there - wasn't packed like, say, The Albert or New Cross Inn.
21 May 2007 17:29
St Christopher's Inn, Greenwich
Only been here to go to the theatre upstairs: poor pub with typical Australian-style service: that is, you'll get served if the bar-person isn't chatting to their mates or distracted in some other way.
21 Feb 2007 13:42
This one may last on this site; it's got the local trendiness down but it's not too snooty with it. I've been for a few Friday lunch times and it's ok for this area.
19 Feb 2007 15:46
The usual sort of Young's interior and Young's dtandard of attitude from the staff. Most of the punters in the pub looked like they drove a 4X4's and voted tory.
Was alright though I didn't find it relaxing.
23 Jan 2007 16:26
Fair range of beers and a fine, old interior. The landlord is the world's friendliest too, we were a bit knocked back by that. Good place.
23 Jan 2007 16:23
It's good, tatty furniture, real ale served in pint mugs, taxidermy on the walls. It's all very welcome (though I do still miss the Paradise Bar).
8 Jan 2007 10:43
The New Cross Inn / Bar Alchemy, New Cross
I've warmed to the place greatly - it's filling the hole left behind by the old Goldsmith's Tavern.
3 Jan 2007 11:11
Nice place, the kindly expalined to this visiting Londoner was '40' is and gave me a bit in an old school glass mug.
As the other enteries say: it's got a great, old fashined pub decor which I do like. Even the formica tables that are bolted to the ground.
Enjoyed it alot.
6 Nov 2006 14:58
The decor's a bit new, bright and shiney for it to have a proper 'pub' feel to it but it was friendly and fun.
6 Nov 2006 14:55
The Albany, Great Portland Street
Plenty of fancy / pricey beers and interesting bar snacks (wasabi peas?).
We went on a Sunday afternoon when it was chilled out and comfy and it's well worth a visit then. I hear it's packed-out during the week.
Thumbs up for the bloke behind the bar yesterday who stayed cheerful despite all the pumps going on his trenty beers yesterday.
6 Nov 2006 14:47
The Spanish Galleon, Greenwich
The landlord's gotten even more prickley. I think what ever atmos this place had is being sucked out by his attitude.
17 Oct 2006 11:39
Reminds me of the sort of pubs I went to as a lad: scruffs, indie and rock music, gigs in the evening and a general, lazy vibe to it. It also has veggie food and a proper music venue next door which makes it more of a 'youth pub of my dreams' than anything like where I did drink in the early nineties.
Didn't try the food, despite being a veggie, as the ale had run out on Saturday night (at 7.30pm, minus a couple of marks for that!) and it was waaaay too smokey to eat (which is probably me showing my age) but the next time I'm Bath I'd come back here for beer.
25 Sep 2006 12:19
Brilliant ale pub with four real ales on the go and budvar on tap for the discerning lager drinker.
The interior is all wood and I felt like this is the sort of place a lot of Sam Smith's pubs are trying to be. The posters and bits of objet on the wall actually add to the atmos too; they don't look random and slapped up.
We came in here about 6pm last Saturday and all the locals at the bar were smashed! They were all dead friendly too so that was fine, it was good to drink with friendly, drunk locals.
Very, very good.
25 Sep 2006 12:13
The Inn at Freshford, Freshford
The location is stunning but I was a bit disappointed with this place after walking here from Avoncliff.
The pub is full of tat and is really geared toward being a foodie place, when one buys a beer the land-lady asks if she can put it on your tab like in a resturant.
Leave it a bit pubby!
I must declare my bias though, I'm a veggie and the menu was geared right up to newly trapped and hunted gastro-pub grub and stakes so I didn't realy fancy the one veggie option so I would reccomend, if in the area and iof you're hungry for food and beer, popping in here to see it for yourself.
25 Sep 2006 12:09
Got to the pub after a walk along the canal after a rain storm so it was just us. The beer garden goes all the way down to the river Avon with a view of the aquaduct making it one of the prettiest places to drink in that I've ever been to.
Didn't try the food but the beer was good, the staff had left little tasting glasses by each pump for those who wanted a taster.
Certainly worth the walk.
25 Sep 2006 12:04
Full to the brim with diners last Friday and me and the other half got the last two cheese & onion pies. They came HEAPED with chips, it was good value stodge like something out of The Beano.
Beer was good too and the lay-out of the pub made it a relaxing place to be in. It's worth the walk out of Bradford to go there.
25 Sep 2006 12:00
Bit poncey but ok. Staff were nice enough and the deep red interior suggests that they're making an effort.
Funny arrangement with food, you can't be fed downstairs, you have to be whisked upstairs.
Locals were nice though and I enjoyed my couple of jars there.
25 Sep 2006 11:54
The Three Horseshoes, Bradford on Avon
The pub has a patio-garden that looks out over the exit from the train station which must be handy for the commuters.
We didn't encounter any narky people behind the bar; in fact the bloke there was very friendly and let me sample one of the beers.
It wasn't brillaint but I thought it had a nice vibe for a 'station pub'.
25 Sep 2006 11:53
On favorite. Tried the food the other night and that was really good too.
14 Sep 2006 12:18
Rabbits and budgies and weird, multi-coloured birds all iving together in cages? Can't be right.
Pub's ok, it's nice to have grass under your feet when in a beer garden (pretty rare in London) but I wasn't blown away.
14 Sep 2006 12:12
Not a bad re-ferb, the furniture and menu look a lot like the the furniture and menu in the, nearby, Earl Percy, but the Carnarvon Castle is starked and more open then the carpeted old man's loo that is the Percy.
Functional but pricey and unsure whether it wants to be a trendy bar or a pub. I can't see it lasting, to be honest, this spot is a bit of a killer for boozers. I've seen three come and go in the four years I've worked around her.
6 Sep 2006 12:11
Sandhurst seems to be having a tiny, pub revival. Rose & Crown is good, honest, real ale fun, the Wellie had a good atmos in it on Monday lunchtime and the New, sorry, Village Inn is trying hard to be something halfway decent.
Upset the local old gits but they can go elsewhere...
30 Aug 2006 15:51
Was in there last night. It's steady decaying and there was one section (between the corner of the bar to the back section, past the foot of the stairs) that had the distinctive scent of an old folks home: over-cooked food, dusty carpet and piss.
Desperate.
7 Aug 2006 15:14
Nice decor and layout and friendly bar-staff, liked the cute, larege-headed dark eyed girl there and it was odd being served by an American bloke, not an aussie bloke or Polish girl.
No cask ales on because "they won't keep over Christmas" (!) and no food as it was "busy" but then we were slung out at 11pm on Christmas Eve 'cos the pub wasn't busy enough (though we were being pretty loud).
This place could be great but I get the feeling from my encounter and other reports here that the manager either has a bit of an attitude problem when it comes to putting themselves out for food and other less profitable things offered or that they're a bit skint and desperete. I think it's the former.
Shame but as pubs go in Reading, this is still better than most.
3 Jan 2006 11:49
Very much improved. Went in with my dad the day after Boxing Day and there were 4 cask ales on, a real log fire and a friendly welcome.
We drank lots of beer and played shove half-penny. At 35 I'm pretty sure I was way the youngest there but it was lunch-time, classic old man drinking time, and the music must draw a few more in.
Long may it last, Sandhurst could do with a decent place to drink.
3 Jan 2006 11:42
The Earl of Lonsdale, Notting Hill
Had a couple of pre-Christmas ones there : I like a Sam Smith's pub but this one has recently been refurbished so hasn't got the scruffy charm of, say, The Angel or Chandos. Not yet anyway.
THe bar is divided up into snugs with little four-foot high doors between each section, which got a bit condusing. Good for a pint or two though the Portobello Star is the good, scary locals pub.
3 Jan 2006 11:36
What a strange pub it is too, the Market Porter up the road has claimed a lot of the passing suits, all of the tourists and plenty of beardy CAMRA beer spotters, the Wheatsheaf may actually have all the local market porters and traders drinking in the place.
It�s a Youngs pub that is mostly a corridor making a U shape around a bar. The wood panelling and strange hair of the regulars (it is a right regulars pub) give it a strange feeling that you�re looking into the past, which is interesting.
Drank Youngs Christmas Ale. It was pretty rich and tasted of currants.
Bit crowded for us.
21 Dec 2005 12:46
Good Sam Smith's pub with loads of wood and stained glass, which is the standard for this fine chain. Enjoyed my time there despite the occasional toss-pot drinking in the pub.
9 Dec 2005 15:30
Cheeky little pubby pub we dropped into before going to a gig at Kings College SU. Good range of beer and nice atmos. They do 'English Tapas' which we didn't try but looks funny, like 'mini fry up' and 'mini plouighmans'.
29 Nov 2005 12:30
Went for the pickle festival on Saturday. I have a deep love for this place.
29 Nov 2005 12:25
often busy with local media types. It looks like a pub, the beer's good, the staff are efficent and there's great music upstairs.
29 Nov 2005 12:24
The Spanish Galleon, Greenwich
You've already been sussed, Freeman. See you at the Galleon on Monday?
4 Oct 2005 09:01
Not a bad little pub off of the auld man drag between Brighton station and the beach.
Had a pint there with the intended on Saturday and the staff and regulars were friendly and the beer was nice. We meant to go to the Evening Star up the road but it was rammed so it was good to find a decent place with a place to rest our weary frames.
There's nachoes, veggie and beef, all evening, a pool table, which some would care about, and some weird, sunken garden out the bakc for warmer days. Nice wee place.
3 Oct 2005 16:28
I tried to go here about three Saturday's back and found the place closed at 4pm on a Saturday. It'd be a right shame if this place is totally gone...
30 Sep 2005 10:48
The Rosemary Branch, New Cross
Not really bothered by it being a [i]'gay'[/i] pub, why the hell not, but the cack-handed service we got the last time we popped in (an hourse wait for a bloody cheese and tomato toasted sarnie?) but us off for ages.
The front beer patio in right on the Lewisham Way too, I've no idea while people would want to sit there and breathe in carbon monoxide while drinking but each to their own.
16 Sep 2005 10:37
Sat in the vaguely Gaudi-esque outside bit and watched the goth and punk teens of Sheff go about their business. Trendy but ok. Good to have a bit of air when one drinks thought some of the clientele were a bit fat and loud.
9 Sep 2005 15:48
Bloody good, lots of veggie food, lots of real ale, a quiet room where me and the girl chilled out with the battered copies of the 'Pan Book of Horror' numbers 7 and 11.
It's right out of the way down some pretty depressing, derelict streets but, heck, it's worth the trip. Another one of those find, old fashioned boozers and I didn't find the staff rude at all, though I am a brusque Londoner so maybe I didn't notice.
9 Sep 2005 15:42
The Prince of Wales, Bishopston
Good selection of ales and lagers and the like, went there for a Sunday roast and there were veggie and meaty options that were quite organic.
I think they do music of a week-day evening and it has quite a laid back, trendy buzz. Sawa member of Massive Attack having lunch there.
There's a bit of graffiti in the blokes loos asking "what have you done to my local?". Made it into quite a cool pub, I think.
4 Jul 2005 13:30
Ok, had to shelter from the rain before catching the steam train back to Swanage so had one in the Greyhound, it being the only pub that was open, it seemed.
A good range of ales, like most pubs I went to on Purbeck, but the atmos was a bit odd, maybe it was the customers they had in, or something.
4 Jul 2005 13:20
Bankes Arms Hotel and Country Inn, Studland
Good pub, I thought, plenty beer, plenty food on offer and a beer garden that gave a view over a little bit of Studland Bay.
If you're on holiday, it's what you want.
4 Jul 2005 13:18
I'm getting dead fons of backstreet boozers, this is a find locals pub hidden in Borough. It's like popping back in to the early eighties world of pubs, a bit rough but well worth it.
4 Jul 2005 13:11
Finally made it here; an old fashoined old boozer with plenty Harvey's ales. Jolly good.
4 Jul 2005 13:09
Had to stop in here one afternoon after encountering eight (EIGHT!) snakes whilst walking the banks of the river Frome.
It was a quiet, rainy Wednesday afternoon sdo it was quiet quiet but the staff and locals were friendly and the beer was nice. I'd go back ,for sure.
4 Jul 2005 12:57
The Duke Of Wellington, Wareham
Good for food and ale, it was pissing with rain when we were there so I didn't check out the beer-garden but it looked good as I skipped out to the outside loo.
The food is good and it attracts local council office bods and old gits a-like. Four ales on the good, a fish tank in the resturant, handy for a pint or two, I thought.
4 Jul 2005 12:55
The Square and Compass, Worth Matravers
A near perfect pub, one of the best. All the comments are bang-on, I enjoyed the Doreset Gold and Firsty Ferret ales, the girlf tucked into someo f the many and varied ciders.
I can only add that the tables in the garden are stone from the local quarry so you feel like a king whilst quaffing and there's a museum at one end of the pub full of strange local gubbins and stuffed animals.
Fantastic.
4 Jul 2005 12:52
The Saracens Head Inn, Symonds Yat East
I had a couple of pints of good local real ale and this pub is very well located by the river and the walks along Symond's Yat.
Worth popping in for a couple in you've just been up to the top of the Yat.
21 Apr 2005 15:59
The Horseshoe Inn, London Bridge
Popped in for a quick bit one Friday Evening before disappearing off to Bristol. Pub was crowded and smokey but there was plenty of staff on. It's got a nice exterior while the interior, when we were there, has an odd mixture of rough local and post-work pub.
S'alright, I'd say.
21 Apr 2005 15:53
Nipped in for a couple before meeting a mate in January. Good ales, really good ales, but it's a bit cold and bleak inside when we were there. Most of the locals seemed to be not entirely the full ticket.
28 Feb 2005 17:44
The Pyrotechnics Arms, Nunhead
Scuzzy, typical south-east London pub with a few Irish regulars. We nipped in for a natter and a warm up yesterday and it was rammed for he footie (Liverpool vs Chelsea).
Ok, the shaven-headed regualrs are friendly enough and I got acosted by the local, 40 year old lady-lush are the bar (which always happens when I got out sans-girlfriend) but there's no cask ale or anything like that. The place in an uncomfortable scruffy, not a comfy scruffy, if you know what I mean.
28 Feb 2005 17:41
Agreed, we got there at around 11 last Saturday, all got seats and there glugged our over-priced cocktails and watched the place fill up.
Fairly good atmos, slightly let down by dippy barstaff. One girl made us six cocktails while her two work-mates either watched or faffed around. It too ages to get all of our drinks.
Later on I drunkenly aksed for absinthe too and I got pernod instead, I'm sure of it. Not that I would have noticed, really.
28 Feb 2005 17:36
The Rosemary Branch, New Cross
It was good enough, we got a seat and the bar staff were chatty enough but the regulars are all pretty young, oily faced and shouty.
Everything was going ok until 10.45 when the bar staff decided it was time to close and booted us out. We went over to the Marquis of Granby (a much better pub full of interesting New Cross 'sorts') for another drink.
14 Feb 2005 12:23
Woodins Shades, Liverpool Street
We went in becuase the Cannon and 10 Bell's where really busy. We got a seat here, upstairs, but it's more a 'screen footie, two pool tables, really bloody smokey' chav pub than a place you'd go for a natter. 4 cask-ales, mind.
14 Feb 2005 12:20
Great big Wetherspoons frequented by the walking wounded of Brockley. Knowing some of the nut-cases who drink here helps one relax but I wouldn't go here unless I was meeting them.
24 Jan 2005 11:08
Rough at frig with ignorant barstaff. I would have liked the bloke behind the bar to have taken my order before sorting the telly out. Apparently it used to be a great pub but it was as edgey as heck last Saturday night.
24 Jan 2005 11:06
What a sensible bunch you al are. Last went to the 10 Bells last Thursday before A gig at the Spitz and, yes, it was full of trendy dick-wits with asemetrical hairstyles and a few rubber-neckers trying to find that elusive Shoreditch vibe.
The DJ played 80's tunes in the corner, which is about as challenging as listening to Heart FM.
The old style flock-wallpaper is good and the space and location is fantastic but this is a pub that is tangled up in dopey, faux trendiness.
13 Dec 2004 12:42
Good Youngs pub (i.e. good beer and rubbish wallpaper) hidden down a street in Brixton. If you're in the area and you don't fancy getting crushed and deafened in a trendy place or sitting little a pleb in a wetherspoons or Goose, then go here.
The vibe was quite gentle when I was there and this is certainly where the richer end of Brixtonians.
13 Dec 2004 12:34
s'alright. Y'get the dippy Camden types in (see below)but it is a good little rest-stop.
13 Dec 2004 12:30
The Northumberland Arms, Fitzrovia
Popped in, had a small bite to eat of Saturday and a couple of pints. T'was ok butthis place has a bit of a reputation for being unfriendly (or worse).
Some mates of mine booked the place for a private do a few weeks back, paid plenty of money for drinks, food and keeping the place exclusive and when they turned up and the landlord denied all knowledge of it.
After plenty of arguing the landlord admitted, yes, he DID have the cheque and, yes, he WILL provide food and drink but but he would only let them use half the pub, resulting in everyone being crammed into one corner.
A nice looking pub, this bit of London needs decent boozer, but it need new managment.
22 Nov 2004 09:07
The Prince of Wales Feathers, Warren Street
Didn't stop for a drink, it was rammed with rugger-buggers watching the big-screen sport and has one very, very busy girl behind the bar.
Not complaining, just saying it wasn't my sort of place.
22 Nov 2004 09:01
Spent a good evening down in the basement of this place last Friday. The beer was good, food was alright and the staff were kind enough to reserve an area for me and my mates.
It's a Sam Smith�s pub, you can normally rely on them to be good and the architecture of this one is fantastic.
Well worth a visit.
3 Nov 2004 15:53
Seems alright, lots of beers but I was a bit knackered and it was a sunday evening.
3 Nov 2004 15:47
Ah-ha, t'was me that organised the Undrink there, as the pub is just around the corner from Friend's Meeting House, having four ales and being haunted by Mabel herself, a cat owning local who works the non-existent dumb-waiter.
The staff are nice enough and the beer was good, it�s an honest, serviceable boozer that does food until 8.30pm.
Didn't make it down on Sunday night but never mind. On to UnCon 2005!
3 Nov 2004 15:40
After a blustery but beautiful walk up to Thor's Cave, a group of us popped in to Ye Old Royal Oak Inn for lunch.
It�s a great old pub with stone floors and tiny windows as well as an outside area for warmer times.
They have plenty food on (although those wanting roast were told the beef had just sold out though, to be fair, it had gone 2pm) and I had a regional dish of stilton wrapped up in an oatcake (more like a heavy pancake) washed down with a couple of pints of Cumberland Ale and a glass of a 3.5% ale called �Drivers Friend� (although I�d have thought it must depend on how much you have of it). It is light and hoppy like a really refreshing Spring or Summer ale.
The staff are friendly and joshed us a bit, which was fine. They also have the cutest pub cat I�ve seen for many a-time. A long-faired tabby boy which looks part wild-cat, he spends his time playing with twigs in the road outside the pub until a group of hikers pass and give him the adoration he knows he deserves.
25 Oct 2004 10:36
"Closing down" you saY? Good. I look forward to dancing on the ruins. One of the worse pubs ever.
21 Oct 2004 16:48
Ben Crouch's Tavern, Fitzrovia
Nipped in the meeting the vampired. Gothed up to the nines, bless it.
18 Oct 2004 15:06
Sat and had a natter here in the afternoon, seemed pretty good considering the location.
18 Oct 2004 13:08
Went back last Saturday for an old friends birthday - the air-con was on full whack and the measly four pint of Krnie I drank gave me a thumping head-ache the next day. Bad lager, badly stored. Horrible. Flee
18 Oct 2004 09:18
Swift one last night, the vibe wasn't quite there even though the Denmark Street regulars were.
Still a great pub though.
14 Oct 2004 12:08
The Salisbury, Leicester Square
Looks good, beers alright but as t'others say, it gets its money from tourists. Couple of Young�s beers on when I was there last night, staff were alright but I remember the sarnies being pretty expensive when I ate there a few years ago.
If you walk to the end of the bar, turn right and through a door, there's a little, hidden snug where couples in the know go to canoodle. Try and have a quiet pint (or loud snog) there.
14 Oct 2004 12:05
Sort of a theme pub, I suppose, a tower in Covent Garden market made to look like a Cornish tin-mine.
They do have some good Cornish beers, though, and having oily pastry products on sale down-stairs seems a bit unfair. The Knocker is good but they do serve it a bit cold.
The customers are a fair mix of tourists and back-bakers and the bouncers can get a bit heavy at closing time but the barmaids are curvaceous and dark-haired and gorgeous.
Worth popping in if you�re in the area or fancy checking out the beers.
14 Oct 2004 12:01
Go for the football, big screens at either end but I found the Weiss beer pretty insipid, which you don't want at �3.40 a pint.
Ok bar but let down by the media-scum clientele who, despite have career's that essentially make them the dung-beetles working on the spoor of society, they think they are the canine's centre-piece. Were you there last night, guffawing, sneering and caning the money you are over-paid? Then I mean you, you filth.
14 Oct 2004 11:49
The Porterhouse, Covent Garden
Big, busy, good beer although the weis was off. There was football and a covers band and lots of beer and loads of punters and the place is a labyrinth. I got a bit disorientated.
14 Oct 2004 11:43
The Dolphin Tavern, Bloomsbury
Nice enough pub, handy for a couple after events at Conway Hall.
It has an slightly uneasy, "locals boozer" air to it which is suprising considering the location. Outside the pub, you're in Holborn, inside your in Rotherhithe. Very odd but not totally unpleasent.
7 Oct 2004 10:46
The Spanish Galleon, Greenwich
It's been done up and has friendly staff, fud until 9pm, three Shepherd Neame ales on tap and a good vibe.
And a cute goth-babe behind the bar.
22 Sep 2004 09:59
Belgian bars, and Belgian beer, are expensive, just take a look at Lowlander or where ever, or any pub that sells a decent beer from the Low countires. Dammit, there's a poxy Slug & Lettuce on the riverfront in Richmond that charged me �3.20 for a pint of wife-beater a couple of years back which is worth moaning about.
I enjoyed my trip, had a few 'Strong Henry's' and chilled out. The staff seemed alright to me and Iiked the look of the room at the far-end with the flock-wallpaper. That looked like Trad Belgian to me.
20 Sep 2004 11:08
Typical Youngs pub which means stripped wallpaper, back-packer bar staff and good beer.
Despite that the indenti-kit feel this does have a good London pub feel to it. The backpacker's aren't too surly and wil admit it when a pint is off and the tatty wooden furniture, wooden floors, big windows and care-worn Camden drinkers give this place a good vibe.
20 Sep 2004 10:58
The Jerusalem Tavern, Clerkenwell
Great beer from Peter's brewery, had the bitter, the ale and a great pint of Lemon and Ginger Ale. My mate went for the 'spiced apple' which was a bit of a mistake, it was dark as ditchwater and a bit caustic.
Other than that, the interior is a fine wood and tile affair that doesn't look like it has been changed for years. This place really has a feel of old London about it. (Despite the barstaff being two hard-core Russian New Romantic girls).
The crowd inside are usually good, honest beer drinking folk but you do get the odd well-feb alpha-male talking loudly about his boat. The pub is good enough to risk encountering them, though.
20 Sep 2004 10:45
Fret Not. The Monty is only open Friday night, Saturday nights and Sunday lunch time.
Live music on Friday, crazy organ player Saturday, lunch-frenzy on Sunday. Go then!
6 Sep 2004 10:50
It's a bit attitude-al but then it's on the seafront between loads of other B-right-on bars and clubs. It can get away with it.
You take your beer out on to the beach. Go there for that.
6 Sep 2004 10:43
The Battle of Trafalgar, Brighton
Slightly scuffed on the outside with a tumble-down beer garden but it's well worth popping in. The bar staff are friendly up to the point of cheeky but that's part of the charm (the barmen wouldn't pollute the Harvey's bitter with lemonade to make a shandy for her and quite right too.)
A good place to go.
6 Sep 2004 10:41
I think it was only me and my mates here on Saturday night. There were all the Sam Smith's faves, although they didn't seem to have any of the super-dooper new organic ale.
Nice floral exterior, trad pub interior. Great for a quiet drink just a few steps away from the madness of Oxford Street.
31 Aug 2004 17:28
The Churchill Arms, Kensington
London's best area? pffft
Got collared by some mad old 80 year old bugger who told me he spent him time picking up Scandinavian teenagers the last time I was there. A hollow and sad exsperiance.
19 Aug 2004 15:06
The Duke of York, Kings Cross station
About 4pm, Sunday afternoon. Full of arrogent Euro-tossers and Northerners limping home. The girl that served me was a bit dim too.
They had the footie on, which struck me as odd for a station pub.
Pretty grotty, all in all.
9 Aug 2004 09:28
A joy of a pub, one of the best in London. The downstairs is eccentricly decorated and you can also spill out on to the green.
There's also a fantastic upstairs which hardly anyone seems to know about. So "sssshhhhhhhh".
9 Aug 2004 09:25
Alright. Empty on a friday night and the Old Brewery tasted of ear-wax but I'd been on the beer a bit before hand so maybe it was me.
Suprising free of atmosphere considering the location and doesn't compare to other Sam Smith's pubs in London.
9 Aug 2004 09:21
Quite good, Master Brew was pleasant. They could do with a few more tables downstair. Went in with a couple of olds who couldn't manage the stairs.
9 Aug 2004 09:18
Had a few in here Sunday afternoon. Staff were friendly, the Old Brewery bitter was good and me and pals passed a few hours pleasently while London swealtered.
The upstairs bar was plush and not busy at all. Very nice. Yay for Sam Smith.
2 Aug 2004 17:03
It's all things to all people. Sad old buggers in some corners, the bright young things / pretenous students oF Glodsmith's in others. Had a nice couple of pints there last night with the rain coming in through the conservatory roof and stereolab playing on some speakers.
Slight run-down, edge-of-town, sod it, let's have a laugh feel to the place.
23 Jul 2004 09:47
Ah, the Crapinters. Many an edgy and empty Saturday night spent here in my hollow youth.
Last few times I've popped in, when I've been back in Camberley, it's been empty with a bit of a damp smell. I take it the place has lost out ot the newer boozers.
7 Jul 2004 10:35
Hidden dwon an alley Hatton Garden lives the pub that time forgot. It's still divided up into different sections and looks like it's not been down up since the '70's.
I love a wood-panelled pub that sells pickled eggs.
6 Jul 2004 12:47
I'll have to admit, the morning did not start well.
There we were, my girlfriend and I, walking through Sandown and trying to find her some sandles and trying to dodge the dead eyed, lumbering scum that were clogging the streets like poisoned rats blocking a sewer.
I was just suggesting that wolves should be released to savage the population, only the quick or clever would servive when the girlf said "Look, a pub sign. Let's invesitigate."
So we arrived at the Old Comical and had a drink. Chilled out atmos, good beer and plenty of wood and stone and little 'theme pub seaside' bollocks. Locals propped up the bar, chattering, with life in their eyes and speed in their limbs.
An oasis of decency and sanity. Thank you.
5 Jul 2004 13:34
Pleasent old pub with food on the main road above Sidmouth. Good for a pitstop, there's plenty good food and beer but it is a bit of a travellers rest stop that can look like God's waiting room.
Filled a gap though.
28 Jun 2004 09:19
Meet some suburban mates here Saturday for a couple before a drink-up (Namco Station - the shame!).
"Who's waiting?" asked one bod behind the bar.
"Me" says I
"Come you come over here please?" he asks.
"I have to come to you?" I ask a bit stroppily.
And I'm sure all those fish can't be happy stuck in a station boozer.
14 Jun 2004 10:42
Possibly the greatest pub in the world. They have great, themed music nights most Fridays. Been to Electic Electric and Funk My Monkey recently. Dying to give The Lost CLub and Fear of Music a go.
German or Cheeser coach parties in Saturday nights to be insulted by the blind organ player. Hammond-organ version of Jerusalem? Oh yes!
7 Jun 2004 13:56
The Portobello Star, Portobello Road
Been done up but it's still a pub, by crikey. Weather-beaten locals stand at the bar or slur at each other (and others) at the tables.
Has an ok selection of beer but it really wins on atmosphere, it's a proper London boozer.
Must really confuse the tourists.
7 Jun 2004 13:51
The Cat And Canary, Canary Wharf
Bog standard chain pub with the good fortune of being in Docklands so the outside tables look across a quay to the Docklands Museum building.
The bars on the other side of the water are better but this is a useful place for a pint and a burger before hand.
7 Jun 2004 13:45
Nice, sort of chilled out way to spend a cloudy Saturday evening and it's in a fantastic location, right by the Docklands Museum.
Plenty beers, including a very nice Strawberry beer but it is pretty pricey. �12 for three pints?
7 Jun 2004 13:30
Popped in for, we hoped, aswift bite to eat before going on to a party. Took an hour for us to get our food, which sat behindthe bar for ages and was wrong each time.
"It's a problem when an australian tried to talk to an Kenyan"
Like that was going to win us over. Neither did the fre drinks.
Why are pubs run by people who've not got the first idea? Surely the starvation wages these chain-brewery's pay could, at least, go to someone who know how to organise food?
Avoid
1 Jun 2004 10:50
The North Pole, North Kensington
A strange, trying-to-be-trendy place in a really grim part of London.
Over-priced and following all the dull sections of the gastro-pub template. The staf look permantly dazzled, too.
Ok but not great.
14 May 2004 12:00
Nice, good Youngs pub with, when I was there, a bit of an eccentric vibe. Great on hot days when one can site out by Borough Market and mingle with all the other drinkers.
14 May 2004 11:32
Cool pub, comfy and cosy, instead of grubby and scruffy. Big garden. Pint of waggle dance went down a treat.
14 May 2004 11:11
The Ashburnham Arms, Greenwich
Yay for back-street Greenwich pubs. Nice beer and a nice vide but the decor is a *little* bit B&B-ish
14 May 2004 11:10
The Plume of Feathers, Greenwich
Nipped in as part of a May Day pub crawl, quite nice. Tucked away from the tourists too.
I once spent an evening inthe beer garden after a free festival in Greenwich Park in 2002 but I can't remember a single tihng about it.
14 May 2004 11:08
The Jolly Farmers (ex jordan), Lewisham
Pretty rough around the edges and the cusotmers look a bit dodgy but this is Lewisham but they all seem harmless enough. S'alright, you can get some beer, it looks and smells like a pub and they've got three ales on tap as well as Lefe in bottles.
7 Apr 2004 10:37
The Marquis of Granby, New Cross
Nipped in after a few in the old New X Inn / Bar Alchemy (which was dead nasty).
The Marquis was full of students, lads, lesbians and raddled old irishman. Had a friendly vibe and interesting people, with a bit of an edge. Bit like New Cross in general.
30 Mar 2004 11:45
The New Cross Inn / Bar Alchemy, New Cross
Utter, utter, utter Kentish cattle market on Saturday night with swarthy, half-pint bouncers who feel everyone up on the way in and thin kit's a good idea to get people to move tables so some sad, half-cut suburban types can bend thier knees to some gormless garage nonsense. Dispicable.
30 Mar 2004 11:41
I had a pint here on Saturday and I liked it. The band were alright, didn't try the Thai fud, but y'know every pub has to have a Thai fud stage in its existance, and it seemed like a decent local. So there.
22 Mar 2004 10:42
We got there at 8.30 and it was the most impossibly chill out scene you could imagine in an English pub. Young and old alike were sitting around, chatting and playing chess, backgammon or, in our case, Connect-4. Had a few pints of the guest ale, which was jolly nice and the pub is right on the right side of snug.
We went to see the folk group play and they gathered in one corner and started playing about 9.30. The pub got crowded but everyone was friendly and free cheese and biccies came out on to the bar. Not seen that in many a year.
Good night, will be back.
17 Mar 2004 09:16
I run a little group woh meet every 2nd Monday of the month in the conservatory and the bar staff and fine and friendly (the tall, eastern girl, Thai? Vietnamese? often seems to be from Mars). The beer's nothing amamzing and I wish they did food at night but it's nice enough.
16 Mar 2004 10:25
Went in on Saturday night, it was quiet, which was fine by me and the beer was delicious. A fine, fine place to have a chill and a natter with mates.
The girl behind the bar was dead friendly and helpful, too, despite appearing to be French.
15 Mar 2004 10:59
Nipped in t oget out of the rain on Sunday - I was expecting them to have a few ales on, what with it being a Firking pub, but they had nothing but nitro-kegs stuff.
Still, it's got a little bit of scruffy charm, sort of place to go for a bit of a sesh
15 Mar 2004 10:55
Poppd in for a couple, comfy leather sofa, well groomed olds were enjoying the grub and there's an open fire. Had a couple of glasses of a wheat beer which was kinda tasty - a pleasent stop off. Almost too clean to be a pub.
24 Feb 2004 09:50
The Hole In The Wall, Waterloo
Didn't like it the first time I went, which was a while back, but had a couple here after seeing Ivor Cutler and sat in the back. It's big, dark, scruffy and undeground. I liked it.
23 Feb 2004 12:51
Locals pub who love their kareoke on a Friday and Sunday night. A god laugh and it is an actual, proper old boozer.
23 Feb 2004 11:59
The decor and regulars make it feel like going back in time to the 1950's and the beer, milds, biter and pale ale, helped the feeling.
Bit of a regulars gaff but there's nothing wrong with that, everyone was friendly enough and it's out in the middle of nowhere but most of the beers were good (the Orange wheat beer was a bit dodgy).
23 Feb 2004 11:49
Many, many beers and mad folkies on a Sunday. Like it lots
10 Feb 2004 13:13
I love this pub and have been gere a few times recently. Alright food, cheap (for the middle of London) and nice beer and lots of little snugs and stuff. Don't tell the tourists.
10 Feb 2004 13:00
Oh, yes, I was there then. The live music was a couple with a casio doing "the hits".
I'm mostly sworn off drinking in Sandhurst, souless and hazardous hole that it is, but I saw some old mates, saw my family and had a good natter. The ready-meals fill as gap after four or five pints of wife-beater, too.
22 Jan 2004 11:42
They do food until quite late and we popped in to have a sarnie each. Meat eating mates rate the sausages and other food, the few veggie options are tasty, the chips are good and the beer and staff are all pretty nice.
Most of the customers are lawyers and rich kids but London scruff-bag wizards have found the place and hold meetings in the cool upstairs room most Wednesdays.
Beer good, always a couple of real ales on, if you like that sort of thing. What is quite rare for a London pub is that most of the back-packer staff appear to be in a good mood most of the time.
22 Jan 2004 11:32
Not bad, actually, I popped in last night for a couple and considering the location (right opposite the Law Courts on Fleet Street) it's a bit of a scruffy place. It even has a pool table. Maybe this is where the poor people go when they've won a case? Beer went down pretty well, though.
22 Jan 2004 11:26
A chilled out, friendly place on the right side of scruffy. Looks like they has a disco in the back but I've not made that yet....
20 Jan 2004 12:59
The front bar is full of hard-core Irish locals but the back bar (with a big 'Catapult Club' sign above it) does ace musical events. I was walking past on Sunday, saw some blokes playing, had a pint, listened t osome free blues, headed home. Nice
20 Jan 2004 12:55
The Earl Percy, Ladbroke Grove
They had a go at doing the place up and doing food but they've back-side into being a dirty local with supercilious bar-staff. The decor's alright but it's �2.90 for a dodgy pint of wife-beater.
20 Jan 2004 12:46
The Greenwich Union, Greenwich
I really like it, it is full of trendies who look like they've come over from Richmond or Wimbledon and the staff are the clumsiest bunch of so and so's I've ever seen working in a pub but they're friendly enough and the beer is bloody great. Yay for Micro-breweries.
20 Jan 2004 12:40
The Deptford Arms, Deptford
Reminds me of the Windmill in Brixton: nice, scruffy, music focused place.
5 Nov 2007 16:29