BITE user comments - RedRed
Comments by RedRed
I have to say, I really like the revamped Kings Head.
In the interests of fairness I should note that I�d mainly entirely stopped drinking in the Kings by the end of its last incarnation, and thought that, while it was still a fine old pub, with some nice regulars and a good atmosphere, it had slightly gone to seed and was on its last legs by that point.
This iteration of the Kings Head has come out swinging. It�s still a pub pub. A real pub. Victorian and distinguished, but it�s also paired back, laid back, comfortable and welcoming like all good pubs should be. I especially like the way that it�s broken up into distinct areas. I was in last Saturday to watch the England/S.Africa game � and watched it round the back in the small little slightly raised room, with a group of like minded random rugby people, while everyone in the front bar watched the football. Equally, there�s the entire back room (where the boat is � which I think it totally brilliant by the way), which has a huge T.V on the wall and had the football on during the ruby, but then showed the Wales/All Blacks game afterwards (where one Welsh woman in particular was going completely bloody mental).
Which I think illustrates how there�s a space for everyone in there (even mental Welsh women).
There was a pretty decent crowd in. Normal decent people taking a break from shopping or watching or the game and meeting for a chat (as opposed to the George crowd).
It�s still early days, but a lot of energy seems to have brought to bear here. It looks good and feels right. I think they�ll do well, but we�ll see.
30 Nov 2010 16:33
The Lord Aberconway, Liverpool Street
Quite exceptionally for a Railway pub, the staff in the Aberconway are cheerful, friendly, knowledgeable and hardworking in the same way that you would hope to find in any good local pub.
There�s also quite a wide reasonably priced selection on draught.
It can certainly get very busy on Friday nights and the nights before public holidays and the like, but generally, for a pub on Liverpool St station�s doorstep it�s not too bad and come half seven or so has a pleasant level of passing trade.
The interior is quite fetching with an upstairs balcony section and leather seating and small enclosed booths downstairs.
I�ve spent many hours in there with few complaints, and genuinely feel as though the staff and management are doing their best given their location and the nature of the business that brings with it.
30 Apr 2010 10:56
The Enfield Arms, Enfield Town
I was thinking about the Arms recently and I realised that walking in the door of the Arms for the first time was probably one of the worst mistakes of my life.
Before the Arms I was an irregular pug goer. A couple of Friday nights a month, someone�s birthday, the odd big football game and so on. I was young and fit. I used to play football and run. I was doing things and going places. But now I�m older and am what I am.
And it�s the Arm�s fault.
Within a couple of weeks of first going to the Arms I was in there every Friday and Saturday night. Within a couple of months I was just in there.
Almost every day after work. Every Friday night. Most of all day Saturday and wonderful Sunday afternoons.
Literally within a couple of months.
That�s more addictive than crack.
The Arms was the kind of pub that everyone � and especially new drinkers � should have at least once in their life. A Pub which was a genuine community. Where people of every sort and age and class mixed happily. Where everyone got along, and if you didn�t get along then you learned to come to an accommodation so that you could co-exist. Pubs where you established genuine friendships which would last long after the pub had gone. Pubs where the regulars had a sense of responsibility not only to the pub but also to one another.
Not a Gastropub or a Wine Bar or a Sports Bar or a Wetherspoons or a City Bar. But a pub.
The kind of place that is becoming increasingly rare these days.
I still see lots of Arms people around � a few of whom drink in my new local, everyone having gone their separate ways � and no matter how long it�s been since I�ve seen them, and irrespective of whether or not we were even particularly friendly - we still have a connection to a very special place.
It�s easy to over sentimentalise as the years pass, but the Enfield Arms was special.
Some mistakes you should make.
21 Apr 2010 16:09
The bar in the back function room is worth a visit just in itself as it really is quite stunning. It's a shame that it's not always open because I'd love to spend a lazy afternoon sitting at it.
Equally, the beer garden is large and well kept and great for the summer.
As has been said before the building is lovely, but frankly the front bar is just , well, depressing.
It's a room with chairs and tables and a small bar with not particulaly much to choose from. Also, the last time I was in all the TVs - and they are large screens - were showing the National Geographic channel. Which is all very fine and worthy, but seriously, if I'm having a beer I really don't want to be surrounded by four screens showing a documentary on the giant snakes of the amazon.
As pubs go it meets my basic requirements, but I just can't for the life of me understand why more isn't being done with the place.
4 Mar 2010 12:15
I was in fairly recently on a wintery Monday night and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
The fire was on, there were a handful of regulars at and around the bar, the staff were friendly and helpful and the prices were more than fair.
Everything a decent pub should be.
It's always been a lovely building but the interior is starting to look ever so slightly threadbare.
A cold Monday night probably isn't the best gauge of a pub, but I liked what I saw.
4 Mar 2010 12:01
This place is awful.
Just uncompromisingly and unendingly bloody awful.
4 Mar 2010 11:37
The Biddle Bros, Lower Clapton
I was in quite recently and yes the jazz in the early evening is a bit naff, but the DJ who came on after was pretty good and wasn't too loud or intrusive.
Yes, it's a local's bar but you could just as easily find yourself a nice place at the bar or in one of the many corners out of the way and not be bothered, as join in for a chat with some exceptionally friendly regulars.
There really isn't that much choice on draught - but the prices are pretty reasonable and I found the staff to be perfectly pleasant and attentive - if in their own quirky ways.
Certainly, it's definitely trying to be cool almost as hard as some of the locals, but it's not trying too hard and has a sense of humour about itself.
That said, It's not really my kind of place, but an independent and idiosyncratic genuine local's bar is a rare thing these days and I can see why people like it.
Give it a go, you might surprise yourself.
16 Feb 2010 17:00
Well, as a card carrying moronic knuckle dragger, I�ll admit that there probably is an element of truth to a couple of the more recent comments, and the fact is that in any pub you�re going to get a couple of objectionable people.
Several even.
But they�re such the rarity as to be mainly negligible.
The Taps is really two pubs. A regulars� pub Monday to Friday afternoon and then a bar Friday and Saturday night, returning to normal again on Sunday.
And Monday to Friday it genuinely is an entirely pleasant place to be. Quiet, friendly and welcoming. I suppose you can take that to mean slightly dull and maybe that�s true, but for drinkers that�s just fine.
5 Feb 2010 16:20
You know, as Wetherspoons go I don�t think that it�s actually all that bad.
I should point out though that I�ve never been in at night, nor would I want to, but fairly recently I did have occasion to spend quite a lot of time in there over a two or three month period during the day.
I know that most of us wouldn�t really consider Wetherspoons to be real pubs, and absolutely I�d agree that they�re not, but sometimes they do make a fair approximation.
Pop in after work for a drink or for a cheap lunch on your day off or at the weekend; just make sure you leave before the sun goes down.
5 Feb 2010 13:45
Bar Form, Enfield Town
"...[A]part from the george pub which closes at 11:30 there is nowhere else in enfield town even half decent."
Tells you all you really need to know about the value of the last review, doesn't it?
20 Dec 2010 13:28