BITE user comments - ashmather
Comments by ashmather
It looks very good from a distance, but I suggest keeping one's distance.
The clueless, rude and cocky oaf behind the bar vehemently denied that his beer was in any way cloudy, but eventually yielded, under pressure, to visual evidence. Careless service and poor quality beer, which is a shame because Liberation Blonde was the great discovery of an enjoyable sojourn in Guernsey.
The pub is not as smart as it seems to want to appear: tabletops appeared never to have had a single ring mark from a glass erased, and the reception area was grubby and untidy, its carpet nearly worn through.
Liberation Group needs to get a grip on this establishment and acquire some courteous, competent and industrious staff.
28 Aug 2011 20:08
I can't get excited about Greene King IPA, so I opted for the pleasure of a bottled beer.
The front bar is decorated in Modern Dull but has tremendous views across Le Grand Havre.
Location is all.
28 Aug 2011 19:45
Appearances can be so deceptive.
Beers on offer were Sharp's Doom Bar and Stones Bitter (brewed by Everards). The Stones was muddy and contained numerous floating objects. The barman's response to having this pointed out was a dismissive shrug; he agreed that beer should be clear but nonetheless made no offer of replacement or refund.
The establishment's owner's response to a complaint about beer and barman was disdainful, but eventually a refund of �3.50 (that is not a typing error) was handed over and the Stones was taken off sale.
One to avoid, methinks.
28 Aug 2011 19:41
The Ship And Crown, St Peter Port
I have not had the pleasure of meeting the landlord, but found the bar staff adequate.
The pub is worth a visit for a quick drink and a view of the harbour. Real ales on offer at the time of my visit were: Greene King's Ruddles, Hall & Woodhouse's Tanglefoot, and Wells and Young's Bombardier; i.e. beers that one would not generally cross the road for in the UK. I cannot speak for ale quality, as I found the prospect of a gin and tonic less uninviting.
28 Aug 2011 19:24
One of the few pubs serving the only real ale (Patois) produced by Guernsey's Randall's brewery. Black Sheep also appears to be a permanent offering. On my visit service was good and the condition of the Patois was excellent.
28 Aug 2011 19:12
The Captains Hotel, St Peter Port
This pub is not in St Peter Port; it is in La Fosse, St Martin's.
The Captain's is a real pub, frequented by locals and tourists. Real ales on offer are Fuller's London Pride and one guest ale; I sampled the London Pride, which was in very good condition.
The pub has nine nicely furnished en-suite rooms, and offers a good selection of solid and well-prepared food in huge portions and at reasonable price.
We stayed there for five nights, and would happily stay again.
28 Aug 2011 18:53
The Cock and Bull, St Peter Port
A comfortable and well-run pub with friendly and efficient staff. Real ales are generally from the Marston's empire; there is therefore on offer a good and everchanging range of beers from the company's numerous breweries. The one real ale (Patois) produced by Guernsey's Randall's brewery is also a frequent feature. All beers sampled on several visits during a week's holiday were in good condition.
The pub does not serve food, but does serve an eclectic selection of live music. Piped music is from the quality end of the spectrum.
Recommended.
28 Aug 2011 18:41
And I'm sorry about the enthusiastic typographical error in the previous.
25 Feb 2008 10:30
Good beer and very good food was very good. I would not hesitate to visit this pub again.
25 Feb 2008 10:29
Locals' pub with probably the best choice of real ales in Epsom. Good beer and service. No food (but I'm advised that one may take one's own or have a takeaway delivered). Not palatial, but certainly real.
25 Feb 2008 10:24
Plain, friendly pub in a fine location and with good beer (Oakleaf Holehearted).
25 Feb 2008 10:16
A welcoming back-street pub with good beer (Caledonian Deuchar's) and a better than average juke box.
25 Feb 2008 09:58
The struggle to get to the bar and the dearth of vacant seats were witness to the pub's popularity. Good beer (mine was London Pride),and friendly and efficient service, but during busy periods not a place for delicate folk.
25 Feb 2008 09:54
Nice building with an unhappy interior: it's old and not irredeemably spoilt, but it feels uncared for. And the fridges were louder than the music.
25 Feb 2008 09:48
A somewhat down at heel establishment. High point of our visit was the real fire; low point was the overloud radio. Didn't this used to be a clean and comfortable Young's pub years ago?
25 Feb 2008 09:44
Good beer, nice location (pleasant walks nearby). Bar staff happy to take 'phone calls whilst customers are waiting - practising basic courtesy and introducing a little organization would much improve the experience of visiting this pub. No greeting, a 15 minute wait for a pint, and no idea of the order in which the few customers at the bar arrived suggest a careless and amateurish approach to service.
25 Feb 2008 09:39
A fine example of what happens to a good pub when a philistine with a copy of this year's style book moves in. This once welcoming, happy and comfortable place has been transformed into the sort of soulless stereotype that one might normally expect to find as a rented unit on the ground floor of a dull office block. The characterless interior is the perfect place in which to enjoy a lack of welcome from bored and uninterested staff with seemingly no understanding of how good beer should look or taste.
1 Oct 2006 11:36
Despite the excellent beer, friendly staff and comfortable environment, this pub scores a low mark because of the ghastly experience of visiting or sitting near the gents' toilet.
The air "freshener" employed is so powerful that on each of my visists to this otherwise excellent pub a visit to the toilet has left me coughing and gasping for breath. Furthermore whenever somebody enters or leaves the toilet, those persons seated nearby suffer a blast of this noxious substance.
If the pub suffers from excessive unpleasant natural odours in its toilets, might I suggest that masking them with a substance that has a far more unpleasant and lasting effect on those who inhale it (especially the asthmatic) is not the answer: visitors to the toilets are still inhaling both substances even though they might be smelling only one.
What a pity that the management of the Dandy Lion appears not to have considered effective ventilation.
23 Nov 2004 10:08
The Deerhound Inn, Forest
Despite my previous comment, I revisited this pub during a short break in Guernsey and found the experience a much happier one. The beer was very good (the best had during our stay), and the service, although hardly attentive, more friendly. It's not really my sort of place (too modern and minimalist) but, on this showing, is a good choice for a last beer before the airport. More reports are needed.
21 May 2012 11:25