BITE user comments - algis100
Comments by algis100
The Pitcher and Piano, Richmond
Update on burgers in here - they're shite. They've gone so far downhill it's not amusing. Don't bother, you end up with this burger-fat-soup on your plate when attempting a bite.
Still maintain that this place is the best around here for atmos, lively adult fun and location.
Never had too much hassle with service despite the bar being constantly jam-packed.
18 Jul 2006 11:12
An addendum: had the food in here recently and was superb, the best steak this side of Texas. Don't be put off by the poncy descriptions on the menu, it's worth a go.
TV's are a bit crap though, perhaps need a quick tune-up, tried to watch the World Cup final in here but had to leave due to poor visual quality.
Strange bloke behind bar still there and still going strong.
Definitely the best boozer in Kew.
18 Jul 2006 11:07
Wandered in here again one Saturday early afternoon for a quick one to see if anything had improved.
The only punter was a trembling old fart and his collie, picking his nails into his warm pint.
The bar area still smelt like a pensioners iron-lung depite the small population of pensioners in there.
I still do not really understand what anyone can see of interest in here, it's morbidly crap.
18 Jul 2006 10:54
Had the misfortune of popping in here Friday for a quick one, give it another chance.
At the risk of incurring the wrath of the the territorial smelly-pub lovers who seem to have nothing better to do than defensively prowl this website...
Came to the conclusion it is still dank, smelly, sticky and full of beer-soaked depresionados on the inside.
The outside is like a chav's garden party.
It's good that places like this exist, removes the people you don't want to see in your favourite local.
Am very glad I don't like this place.
"Witty retorts" please...
18 Jul 2006 10:31
Not a bad quaint little place by the river serving beer in glasses the size of your wishful thinking. But ridiculous (no doubt council-enforced) rules about having to buy a main course before being served beer. Fortunately the food is excellent, well I suppose it depends on whether you like German fare (and don't mind violently breaking wind for hours after sampling the sauerkraut).
I agree though that it takes forever to get served, two separate queues for food and booze add to the agony.
The waitresses are bl**dy grumpy too and the guy that served me beer was about 14, strange for a place that seems hooked on council regulations.
18 Jul 2006 10:09
The Royal Children, Nottingham
A bit grotty and smells of the previous evenings' bodily fluids but OK bordering on to average for this type of pub.
Popular with pierced nose and Celtic tattoo types.
Bar staff very friendly.
31 May 2006 16:22
Crikey, what a bum-hole in the arse-crack of this great and lively city centre.
Full of free bus-pass wielding depressionados dribbling into their halves of mild.
The decor is in the "knackered old pub" stylie and so is everything else.
Save it by knocking it down and building a multiplex cinema somebody please.
31 May 2006 16:10
The Fat Cat Cafe Bar, Nottingham
Uber-trendy kind of place with comfortable furnishings, ambient lighting/decor and premier league cocktails. Chav-free.
Lacking in soul though. Restaurant upstairs looks nice on the other hand.
31 May 2006 16:06
Very very lively joint - the beer's crap, the place is incredibly smokey and the floor is adhesive but the atmos is electric - in a very male orientated, stag-do, pissed hooligan sort of way.
Come here to party with the boys but definitely leave "her indoors" indoors.
31 May 2006 16:04
Wierd place. Think the inside of a strip joint but no girls or punters. There's even a stage.
This place is very dark, seems like everything in sight is painted black.
Therefore, decor: Dodgy
Atmosphere: None
Service: Poor to middling - grumpy Eastern Europeans
Food: Very boring
Says something like "a good place to chill" outside, more like "a wierd place to avoid".
30 May 2006 16:40
As All Bar One's go this one is, basically, the usual boring tripe. Uninteresting decor, atmosphere and everything.
For some reason I would suggest maybe a lunchtime visit if you work in the area but nothing more adventurous.
30 May 2006 16:14
Not bad for an O'Niells but the customary sticky floor is till in evidence. What do they mop the floor with in O'Niells pubs? Liquorice?
Not overrun with antipodeans, so a bonus.
26 May 2006 11:48
The best pub on Goldhawk Road, well, that's not saying much. Basically: it's not covered in peeling paint and grotty Irish flags; the likelihood of getting mugged for your small change outside is lower; every fifth person is an alcoholic as opposed to every single person. So therefore it's the best pub on Goldhawk.
If you live in the area go here, if not then what the hell are you doing even reading reviews for pubs around here?
26 May 2006 11:40
The Shepherd and Flock, Shepherds Bush
Oh my God, what a shithole. The people in here look like they've been whacked over the head with something at birth.
No point describing the decor as there isn't any.
Apparently people who are barred from the prickly O'Donoghues up the road come here. So therefore, you shouldn't.
Stay away.
26 May 2006 11:34
I used to live next door and therefore frequent this place more often than I should've really.
It has a certain something about it despite the decor being crap, the clientele being mainly alcoholics/pissed builders/ageing crims and just downright nutters. So I'm not sure why but I quite liked it.
The John Prescott look-a-like landlord was pretty moody and his wife more than abrasive but I guess that's what happens after years of dealing with the aforementioned clientele. Have seen some really cracking fights outside too.
What this place is is a genuine Irish bar though. Not a mock-Orish place like O'Neills, etc. The atmos at the weekends is electric and the bands, although they all play the same songs (Dirty Old Town, The Fields of Athenry) tend to raise the roof. Mainly old duffers dancing though.
Worth a visit but try and keep yourself to yourself. And don't bet on the games of pool, everyone's bl**dy good and most will swindle you.
26 May 2006 11:31
Yes, I agree with you all, it's a nice place. Hidden away from all the overcrowded Richmond bars/pubs and a nice local atmosphere about the place but maintaining a good decor which local pubs don't usually bother with.
Come here to relax, not party.
26 May 2006 11:21
Horrible, horrible, horrible - dank, smelly, smokey and no atmosphere.
If you must come here, because you don't like the other riverside choices, get a drink and stand outside as the threat of lung and psychological damage is high inside this place.
26 May 2006 10:49
The Slug and Lettuce, Richmond
Now, now, now, everyone, it's not that bad, come on. The one thing really going for this place is that it's by the river. Yes OK, so it's a Slug & Lettuce boring chain pub, so therefore the decor is uninspiring, the menu positively tedious (no idea about the real ale or whatever it's called but if you say it's bad, I believe you) and the punters a mixed bag. But on a sunny day, you can have a pint (in a local-council-approved plastic cup) by the river, outside. A luxury not to be sniffed at.
The toilets deserve a mention though as they are truly abhorrent and date back to medieval times.
Go on a summery afternoon, if you don't like the pub, stand outside.
26 May 2006 10:45
Yes it's cheesy, yes it's full of p*ssed teenagers and sexual predators, yes the music is of a very dubious quality and the dancefloor can get sticky. But it's an Edwards so what do you expect...
The doorstaff have to be commended as the politest on the planet however and the fact that it's opposite O'Niells raises it several notches in desirability when it would normally be languishing where all the other Edwards in the world languish, i.e. crappy pick-up joints.
Regardless of your personal success in the world of business, you could have a good time here, you could have a bad time here. The closer you are to 16 though, the higher the probability of the former.
In general, average.
26 May 2006 10:28
Yes, quite, a restaurant, not a pub. So don't go heading off for here with your newspaper/labrador/pipe and handful of change for the fruitie.
The food here is nice though, especially the majority of the tapas dishes. Cocktails are strong. Waiters/kitchen staff are sleazy.
So a good place.
26 May 2006 09:55
Quite nice for an All Bar One, not sure why it gives me that impression as they all look the same, but it does.
However, again just like all All Bar One's. It's stonkingly jaw-droppingly boring.
I have now restricted my visits to just using the toilet when out shopping in Richmond. That's not bad though.
26 May 2006 09:52
The Pitcher and Piano, Richmond
Despite the extensive "bad burger" story below - I've had a bit of burger here onec or twice, if you pardon the expression, and found it very appetising in deed.
This place is actually great, why?
Nice location - by the river...Good size outdoor area...Outdoor BBQ when it finally stops raining...Attractive women in plentiful supply...Something for the ladies too...Not sure about poofs, don't really keep tabs on that sort of thing...Anyway...DJ on the weekends...Great cocktails...Nice burgers (apart from the instance below)...Good atmos...
Go. You'll enjoy. Wear your pulling pants.
25 May 2006 16:48
Lets face it guys, it's a dump. Richmond has got it's fair smattering of watering holes so why waste your time/hard-earned in a shabby, knackered, dank joint with the atmosphere of a very under-populated library.
It's very smoky and the clientele ranges from pensionable age to spending-your-last-years-before-pensionable-age-soaking-in-the-bottom-of-a-barrel types.
Do not go here, go to the river perhaps, if the crowd at the Pitcher & Piano or Slug & Lettuce are not your cup of tea, you'll have that cr*ppy White Cross (or whatever it's called) place to wallow in.
Besides you'll be by the river, it's nice to be by the river. Loosen up will you.
25 May 2006 16:42
This place is Pikie-ville, Dumpstown - don't know what the hell that means, just trying to think of something vaguely clever to say that conveys this place is a dump.
Floor is sticky...Full of p*ssed Ozzie idiots...Lots of bordeline 16-year-olds...Queue for service for ages...Queue outside for some unknown reason...Full of p*ssed rugby idiots...Toilets are an open sewer...The place smells like me the day I followed through spectacularly whilst walking down the street (not to this bar)...
The live music can be quite good though.
25 May 2006 16:28
This pub is sh*te, in a nutshell - achingly tired lounge decor/furniture from decades gone by, it's frequented by pensioners or unfortunate businessmen who are staying here (alone) as they're on a business trip to Chiswick Park but there's no hotel in the area, the place is extremely smokey and there is absolutely no atmosphere.
Please don't go here, don't do it to yourself.
Haven't stayed in the rooms (although have heard tales of woe from one or two of the aforementioned solitary businessmen), haven't tried the food but why the hell I tried the dreary quiz is beyond me.
Avoid, similarly to the plague.
25 May 2006 16:11
Now come on, this pub is nice. In fact the nicest (of the vast selection) in Kew.
The decor is good, there's atmosphere at the weekends - posh middle-agers, public schoolkids, rugger buggers make for above all else an interesting mix. It's pikie/chav-free which is always a bonus.
Prices are no more shocking than any other "this side of London" boozer and the mezzanine level is a nice unique touch and it's comfortable up there.
Having to walk past a bunch of people eating their gastro-thing when going for a slash and/or sh*te is a bit odd though. But the bogs are in good nick for a comfortable release.
The hotel rooms upstairs are very well decorated and of utmost quality for a "pub wih rooms" setup.
There is one thing though: There's a bl**dy strange bloke behind the bar - skinny chap with dark hair, possibly Irish - pulls the wierdest expressions during the whole ordering/serving process. Not bad, quite amusing in fact but above all, odd.
Nice place. Go.
25 May 2006 15:57
No, no, not very good at all - grotty, smelly and therefore unwelcome.
At the risk of offending the regulars below (you guys have probably been sitting next to each other at this place for years) - the bar seems to be the permanent residence of p*ssed and raucously opinionated locals.
For a more comfortable drink go for a brief stroll to the The Inn.
Can't find anything too exciting/innovative about seeing the SilverLink trundle by and off-load a bunch of commuters looking office-weary whilst sipping badly kept beer.
Oh, and the floor is often sticky and the kitchen is by the bog - went in there once by mistake with my John Thomas half-out.
25 May 2006 15:43
Average bordering on sh*te. Typical Edwards territory.
The pub's not bad, the service OK, the prices normal for this part of town.
But just too unspectacular to have anything to draw you to it...
25 May 2006 15:24
Oh yes, it's an odd place sure enough - the front is a scruffy and smelly old pub that serves average quality Thai food and shows football on the big TV, the back is some kind of Jazz hall (which I've never been to so can't really comment on).
Used to go here purely for the football and wouldn't bother otherwise - too shabby and nothing special enough about it to go for other reasons. Always seems a level smokier than any other pub in the world.
The punters are also an odd bunch, which is not a bad thing for a pub (inc. a near-permanently-p*ssed Geordie old dear who harps on about Newcastle United at you if you're in the vicinity).
Definitely a Chelsea pub, don't come here supporting another team (especially if they're playing Chelsea on the box).
Actually, just don't come here...
25 May 2006 15:09
I must agree with those directly below me - used to live on Rocks Lane and the handful of times I've been here it's been soulless and therefore dreadfully boring, I would always trek the extra five minutes to the controversial (please read the reviews on this site) Sun Inn.
This place is so boring I'm not sure why I'm spending time writing a review on it, so I think now is a good time to stop...
25 May 2006 15:02
Have been going reasonably regularly here for the last three years and have not witnessed too many of the (very descriptive and some quite passionate) issues below.
Always found the place had a unique sense of ambiance - very tastefully decorated, pleasant (generally) house music playing more often than not and the crowd are the usual interesting bunch of stock-brokers, public schoolkids, Garth Crooks and some very attractive ladies. All of which you would expect of Barnes.
There's occasionally the odd thug-like idiot but it's a pub, it's gonna attract them.
The food has always been good in a gastro-pub style and I drink mass marketed commercial beer so can't really harp on about real ale quality, state of the pipes, etc.
The only thing I can really concur with the moral majority below on is that the bar staff always looked doped up and can be very slow taking/delivering your order.
But really now, it's not that bad and a great location, especially for summer. Barnes doesn't have much life or atmos about it, except for here. The other pubs around are somewhat boring by comparison.
25 May 2006 14:45
Marrakesh, Ascot
Very nice decor and impressively comy range of seats outside.
However do not, under any circumstances, eat the outdoor barbeque, it's absolutely revolting regardless of what you order.
18 Jul 2006 11:17