BITE user comments - docjohn
Comments by docjohn
A nice looking pub, a welcome haven which we discovered one very hot afternoon a fortnight ago while exploring Hampstead. However with the real ale at over £4 a pint, the pub is clearly aiming at rich people!!!!
23 Jul 2014 10:01
The Crown Inn, Llanfihangel Glyn Myfyr
We were staying locally for a long weekend and were brought here on the Sunday afternoon for a drink before dinner. It's a nice cosy place in a picturesque setting. Apparently it's the only place around selling Bateman's Jewel in the Crown. I had a pint of this and found it perfect. I'm told you can camp in the pub garden by arrangement so what a great place for an evening of drinking without having to drive home afterwards!!!
18 Mar 2014 16:54
Having come to Arundel for the weekend, we discovered this little gem while strolling around on Sunday morning. On an impulse (my thirst!), we popped in and discovered a small locals' bar with half a dozen friendly customers, snacks on the bar itself and four good ales on tap. What more could one want? I wish it were my local!!!!!
21 Oct 2013 16:56
We really enjoyed ourselves at this pub!
We'd been dropped off in Ruthin for a Saturday afternoon whilst visiting family locally so after exploring the town, we popped in here for a drink. The landlord/lady were very welcoming as were the three locals at the bar. What particularly took our fancy was the landlord's special offer of three third pints for the price of a pint. He'd had wooden platters made up by a local craftsman with holes in for the 1/3 pint glasses, three per platter. There were six Robinson's beers on offer so naturally we ordered six thirds! They were Cwrwr Ddraig Aur, Unicorn, Yr Eryr Aur, Double Hop, Dizzy Blonde and Crusoe. The third one of these (which I believe means "Golden Eagle" in Welsh) was a limited edition beer, brewed especially for this pub.
The beers were excellent and I rated the "own beer" as my favourite.
Being English, we were perhaps a curiosity in this Welsh pub but even so, I wish my own local on a Saturday afternoon "down South" could be as attractive and friendly.
Sadly it was the arrival of our daughter-in-law in her car to collect us that prevented us from having another round but we will definitely be back on our next family visit!
21 Oct 2013 16:49
I discovered this pub (or is it really a bar?) yesterday afternoon during a south London daytime visit with friends. I found the bar staff helpful (one offered samples of the beers for my g/f to taste before she decided what to have) and the range of beers excellent. I really enjoyed the two pints of O'Hanlon's Port Stout that I had--a shame we had to catch the train home! The beer at the left end of the bar (I forget the name) was £9 a pint but the ones my friends had were reasonably priced for their quality. And the quality was top notch! If you like your beer, you'll enjoy The Rake.
30 Nov 2012 17:08
With beer at �5.30 a pint, this pub is definitely worth ignoring!!!!!!
17 Sep 2012 09:51
The Salt House, St John's Wood
I popped in here one lunch time this week as I was in the area and fancied a drink with a bite to eat. The pub was deserted (at about 1.30). The two bar staff were sitting at a table doing paperwork and completely ignored me for some time. I saw the 12.5% obligatory service charge on the menu and immediately walked out.
I will willingly give a tip (gratuity) for good service. I do not pay a service charge on demand. Nor should anybody!
24 Aug 2012 11:46
We went in here a week ago. We were charged �3.55 for a pint of TEA! Yet at the Windsor Castle (Little Bookham) about five minute's drive away, TEA was �3.15 a pint. Both pints were in tip-top condition but there's nothing special about the Douglas Haig so why is it so expensive? We won't be going there again!!!!
23 Apr 2011 16:53
This is a brilliant pub with a good selection of great beers at a decent price with friendly ladies serving behind the bar and a comfortable atmosphere. Cosy on a winter's evening (or afternoon!). Our favourite hostelry in the Teddington area.
31 Jan 2011 10:40
On Tuesday evening after work (so about 6.30), my girlfriend and I popped into the Queen Dowager for a drink. However the first pint and a half of Young's Special was awful. I had to return the two drinks. The girl (one of two) behind the bar went away to the cellar, returned five minutes later, pulled a couple of pints through the pump and then offered me a sampler. It was better than what I'd originally paid for so I accepted the replacement pint and a half. But once we'd sat down in the armchairs again, we realised that the beer was still pretty awful and we left after five minutes, leaving two half-full glasses on the table.
I know that some pubs tend to use up all their casks/barrels until a customer complains and only then make the change to a new source of beer but leaving the customer to be the quality monitor rather than the landlord is not what I'd expect from a Young�s pub! Clearly the customer has a say but I would have hoped that a landlord would check BEFORE the product went on sale.
As to the ambience of the pub--well, there was none. At 6.30 in the evening there is nothing more enjoyable than that well-earned drink after a day's work. One would expect a pub to be busy with people stopping off on their way home and enjoying a chat or a quick read of the paper. What I would not expect is the two bar staff watching episodes of Friends on a television screen which dominated the pub with a solitary customer at the bar on his mobile phone.
Anyway, we left this pub in disappointment and instead, enjoyed superb beer at the Masons Arms in comfort, five minutes walk away. We shall not return to the Queen Dowager.
21 Jan 2011 13:43
The Sun, Richmond
Nice pub but the beer is a surely bit overpriced (£4 for ESB, £3.77 for Chiswick)
29 Sep 2014 09:54