BITE user comments - daveo1707
Comments by daveo1707
New Inn was busy, so popped in here - bit worrying.
Bar staff were dismissive and generally uninterested in actually serving customers. Maybe because they finished their shift half an hour later, but they were still behind the bar when we asked for a drink four times.
Having finished their shift, hey then went to sit at one of the tables and passed the next hour or so making snide and unpleasant comments about the patrons they'd been serving (most of whom were still in the pub, although safely out of earshot).
I understand that a pub can't pick it's patrons, but on a weekend evening, you'd expect some life or some atmosphere - all there was in the Hand was a group of locals, who went to some lengths to tell anyone listening that they were locals, that were generally abusive to anyone who walked in the door who they didn't recognise.
After the second round we decided somewhere a little more welcoming and with some sort of liveliness would be better, so we dove off to the Boaters instead.
1 Jun 2015 10:15
An absolute hole.
Pretty sure the short guy behind the bar is on the take. Prices seem to be made up on the spot, got told 3 different prices for the same pint in one evening.
Obnoxious, foul mouthed idiot in a denim jacket started shouting. We left.
30 Nov 2013 07:33
No.88 Bar and Grill, Kingston Upon Thames
Not my local, not very welcoming either.
Went in here about a week ago with 5 friends, ordered some food, waited for an hour and a half (35 minutes of which our food was sitting on the serving shelf at the kitchen), before food was brought out to us which was
a) cold
b) wrong
c) incomplete
2 meals were missing from the order.
We sent the one's we'd received back as they were either cold or the wrong thing, they were brought back to us 5 minutes later, still cold and still missing 1 meal.
When we pointed this out to 2 members of the bar staff, responses were
1) Sorry, I'll check on your food now (25 minutes passed before she came back to us)
2) What do you want me to do about it? (very rude young man whenever we went up to the bar in any case)
We were not offered a refund on the missing meal and when we asked for one we were told the bar staff couldn't authorise it. We left after that.
Awful.
23 May 2012 13:03
Seems to be a lovely pub, can get a bit rowdy at times.
Prices are good for Kingston and service is fast and friendly.
13 Nov 2009 11:28
Nice large pub, the food is really good, had standard fish and chips first time here, but what a fish! And the chips were amazingly well cooked!
Drinks are a bit pricey, but I think someone else has mentioned that if you're living in Esher you should kind of expect that and shouldn't really be in a position to complain.
Its 15 minute drive to get to from where I live, but its worth it every time.
Drinks are standard, nothing too different, but service is good and staff are friendly and helpful.
13 Nov 2009 11:22
Great pub, friendly, not too loud or unpleasant. Staff are helpful and considerate. Very approachable.
Locals are welcoming and chatty. Cheap drinks and this pub actually has character and atmosphere in spite of being a Scream bar!
Well done!
5 Apr 2009 16:10
The Wych Elm, Kingston Upon Thames
The Landlord is firm but fair and he and the regulars are always chatty and a good laugh.
When I went there the last time, there was a group of students swearing and cursing right next to a table with a family trying to eat. He asked the students politely to stop swearing, take it outside or leave. They apologised. He was polite they were polite and there was no arrogance or attitude.
Great pub, caring people therein!
10 Oct 2007 11:59
You can get the same attitude/atmosphere with a more genuine London feel for the sake of a 15 minute train ride to Waterloo.....
10 Oct 2007 11:52
Students ruined it (both by working there and patronising the place) and they still are today.
10 Oct 2007 11:41
The Cricketers, Kingston Upon Thames
Looked a bit dirty outside and in, but staff were nice, if a bit clueless. Standard drinks but good food.
10 Oct 2007 11:37
The Albion, Kingston Upon Thames
Great little pub, away from the new 'boom' of Kingston town centre a nice place to go for a quiet drink and a chat.
Plus a pool table!
10 Oct 2007 11:35
The Waggon and Horses, Surbiton
Sad but true - the new business model is rubbish.
Like the Thai idea, but popped in twice now and on both occasions
'There's a problem with the oven and we can't do English food'
Sounds like you need a new oven...?
Also serving pints with well over 2 inches of head on them. Asked for a top up on one and got looked at like I was an alien. I explained that the head was more than I was happy with
'That's how it came out of the tap'....
29 Sep 2015 14:20