BITE user comments - ericonabike
Comments by ericonabike
Appreciate Sam Smiths pubs, you'll miss them when they're gone. In an age of corporate blandness, their individuality is a real treat! Excellent bitter at �1.60 a pint, and all human life thrown in as well. What more could you ask for!
14 Nov 2010 13:58
The Yorkshire Terrier Inn, York
Popped in as recommended by the Yorkshire Brewery for its food. Mistake! Microwaved pies and soggy chips were all that was on offer. I liked it, but felt that it was getting a bit down at heel and in need of some care and attention. Friendly enough though.
14 Nov 2010 13:48
Took a while to find - walking directions on street signs seemed to peter out. But once located, well worth the effort. Didn't try the bewery tour, as from past experience the best bit is the beer at the end anyway. Comfortable and friendly place with good character
14 Nov 2010 13:45
Very friendly bar staff. One of the very few occasions when I've been offered a taste of an unknown beer before buying a pint. Served in dinky miniature pint glasses - a nice touch. Not too busy, beer good, didn't try the food.
14 Nov 2010 13:42
Visited here whilst staying at Blyth View - a half hour walk across fields but well worth it. The food was some of the best I've had in any pub or restaurant - simple yet perfectly prepared, unlike a lot of the more touristy places nearby. Unusually for an Adnams tied house they had a guest beer, and their ambition is to run the place as a free house. The staff and landlady were genuinely friendly and the place was popular with locals and tourists alike.
Do try this one - they'll even let you camp there for free!
31 Jul 2010 19:23
This place is a surprise. I'd always assumed it was the same as all the other pubs on Leicester's High Street but it has some real character. Good cheap food, a lot of friendly, young bar staff [Each time I was at the bar I was asked at least three times if I was waiting, which is a pleasant change] and a good atmosphere to it. It's a younger person's place, but not exclusively so - an old git like me was still nmade to feel welcome. A few more real ales would improve the score - only had two on at time of visit.
28 Oct 2009 16:57
Feel I must have visited a different place from the last two reviewers - a good, unspoilt pub with excellent food [well, the Cullen Skink was anyway]. Now a Wetherspoons? No sign of that!
28 Oct 2009 16:41
Excellent, unspoilt bar. Welcomes a wide-ranging clientele with a wide range of real beer. Recommended.
28 Oct 2009 16:38
This has become a populat place recently. It's part of a chain [Vintage Inns] and gets a lot of trade from its adjoining motel, who are lucky to have it on the doorstep! Batemans XXXB is always on plus a guest beer, inevitably in good condition. Mainly a dining pub now, but you're not made unwelcome if not eating. Worth a visit if you're passing by on the A47
29 Apr 2009 19:16
The Belper Arms, Newton Burgoland
Came here for the first time in March and returned April for Sunday lunch. Excellent place, with original looking bar area and a decent garden. Student was at bar asking how much the chips were - on being told they were �1.80 [I think] he asked for a pound's worth! Barman smiled and took his order, which I reckon is worth a thousand 'have a nice days'! Food good value and tasty too, just a shame the Black Sheep was off the menu on the second visit.
29 Apr 2009 19:01
Despite living in Leicester for 30 odd years, the first time I'd seen or heard of this place was when I glimpsed the sign as I drove by. Intrigued, I tried it out - worth one visit at least. It's not exactly welcoming - all-male clientele sat at bar and a feeling of being sized up - but the architectire is great. What is now the pool room has a wall composed entirely of beer crates - Shipstones, which is who I assume used to own it. One real ale - Adnams - on tap, and a general air of dilapidation. Warning signs over the pool table about not using the cues as weapons weren't too reassuring either! Shame - it has the potential to be a great place I think.
3 Feb 2009 11:57
I cringe every time I go past this place now. What was once a respectable pub has been turned into a parody of one. Such a fine building - it's like putting a pig on lipstick.
3 Feb 2009 11:51
Very friendly place - a locals' pub that welcomes guests. Well-kept Everards, decent grub, proper bar and lounge, plus outside seating.
2 Feb 2009 14:35
Cannot believe this has such a low rating! A genuine gem of a bar in the somewhat kitschy atmosphere of Bruges. Unchanged and timeless, don't miss it.
27 Jan 2009 13:37
The King William IV, Market Bosworth
Local pub for local people. Not unfriendly, but nothing in it would entice me away from Red Lion
26 Jan 2009 14:35
Dixie Arms Hotel, Market Bosworth
Disappointing - dropped in on way to Red Lion from farmers' market and would not go again. Beer selection was dismal as was the atmosphere. Has great potential and was clealry an excellent pub in the past but not now.
26 Jan 2009 14:33
Ye Olde Red Lion Hotel, Market Bosworth
Good and changing selection of well-kept beer, with friendly staff and solid food menu. Welcoming atmosphere [we regulalry cycle there and aren't made to feel out of place!] makes it easily the best pub in Bosworth and surrounds.
26 Jan 2009 14:30
The Chandlers Arms, Lutterworth
Excellent little free house in quiet village. Local CAMRA's Pub of the Month recently and deservedly so. Four different beers on tap when I was there last month and what looked like a good menu. Friendly atmosphere inside and space to sit outside.
21 May 2008 19:38
Bulls Head, Leicester Forest West
Roadside Everards inn on A47. Large garden at back, reasonable rooms inside. Food ok, standard range of Everards beers.
4 May 2008 10:12
Bankes Arms Hotel and Country Inn, Studland
Visited here after staying at the Bankes Hotel, Corfe Castel - totally different! It's a family-run pub, catering for a variety of clientele. In my opinion it does it extremely well. I went off-season, and so I can imagine it being a victim of its own success in the summer, but seems harsh to fault it for that. Beer was excellent - great choice and well kept. Food looked ok but didn't sample it. High percentage of walkers [including one with a backpack and walking pole who should have had them confiscated as weapons!] but live and let live. It's current score [5.9] is way too low for a pub of this quality.
16 Apr 2008 10:01
On the square next to the Cock and Bottle, but didn't make the most of its location. Generally a tacky, off-putting feel to the place. Keg only. If you want a drink on the square, go next door.
15 Apr 2008 20:55
Best pub on the island? Agreed, from my weekend's experience. But that's not saying a lot. It was good to see some real ales, and the landlord is to be congratulated for bucking the 'keg only' trend which still seems to be all the rage in Jersey. But there were tellies in all corners of the place, and the atmosphere didn't do it for me. I rated it as 8, but on the basis that it is the best of a poor choice on the island.
15 Apr 2008 20:52
The Old Portelet Inn, St Brelade
Sorry - another critical review from me of a Jersey pub. The location was stunning, as was the exterior - old stone pub overlooking a bay at the end of a winding road - what's not to like? But it had the atmosphere of a Hungry Horse, or some other anonymous chain pub. I was expecting something like the Square and Compass at Worth Matravers, or the Bankes Arms at Studland - similar locations in England but vastly superior to this place. Tired range of keg beers. Vast 'family pub' menu which I didn't try. Such a shame - could be so much better.
15 Apr 2008 20:48
The Cock and Bottle, St Helier
Location, location, location! If this pub were anywhere else it wouldn't be worth bothering with, but being at the end of a sunny square, with tables outside, makes it worth a visit. Beer, in common with most of the pubs on the island, was just a selection of kegs. Food ok.
15 Apr 2008 20:42
The Old Smugglers Inn, St Brelade
Visited here, along with several others, on a long weekend in Jersey. Had been looking forward to this, given its description in the Beer Guide, and location. Disappointed, I'm afraid, as with all the Jersey pubs. It just seemed a bit downmarket and generally tacky. Two guest beers on, which were fine, and the food we had was good, but not a patch on what the best country pubs on the mainland are like
15 Apr 2008 20:38
The Vat and Fiddle, Nottingham
Seemed a bit of a low score for an excellent pub so thought I'd give it an 8 -from memory as not visited for 12 months. Always good beer range and atmosphere - not sure about the 'basic boozer' description earlier, that always seems like a 'wear a flak jacket' warning. It's a good, friendly pub, part of a chain (Tynemill) but still very individual.
9 Apr 2008 12:59
Old, canalside pub, formerly the White Horse until its makeover a while back. Part of a small chain, owning the Bradgate (Newtown Linford) and possibly others now. A resaonably sympathetic conversion, but as I didn't use it much beforehand, difficult to say. Choice of three or four real ales, bar food, and a reasonable restaurant attached. Good garden overlooking the canal, so gets busy on summer days. Worth a look.
8 Apr 2008 19:47
The truth lies somewhere in between 'hi_there' and 'anonymous' IMHO - it's an ok pub with ok food. Certainly not a disco...
1 Apr 2008 20:16
The Blue Cow Inn, South Witham
Visited here for the first time on Sunday, when half a dozen tandems descended on it! We'd booked, and were made especially welcome. Excellent service, tasty beer [particularly the Wobbler]and an excellent carvery - at only �7 a head. Recommended.
1 Apr 2008 19:55
Ye Olde Bulls Head, Woodhouse Eaves
I'm with insekt! [see review below]. Yet another pub that has been gutted and filled with veneered flooring and leather seats, plus an identikit dining area. Soulless.
27 Mar 2008 18:42
Pretty, unspolit village pub with good 'feel' to it. Hasn't yet been turned into a gastropub like many in the area. Food good and beer always well kept.
27 Mar 2008 18:33
This place has one of the most interesting beer ranges I've come across in the UK. They have Echt Kriekenbier on tap, and the bottled range includes some pretty exotic Belgian geuze beers as well as a smoked beer from Germany. Not to mention some useful English ales that you don't come across often - Thomas Hardy for instance.
It's not a pub, more of a tapas restaurant with bar attached. There's nothing from the outside to indicate the beer range inside, and the decor is a bit too airport lounge for me. But these are minor issues - the beers have clearly been chosen by someone who has real knowledge and appreciation of them. It's not been open long - six months or so - and I think it deserves to succed. Go try!
17 Mar 2008 20:20
Up for sale at present, but hopefully the pub [lease?] will be taken on by someone as beer-knowledeable as the present owner. Belgian-influenced to the point of having a beer menu. Welcoming and friendly
16 Mar 2008 18:15
Enthusiastic landlady, keen to promote pub and real ale - should be supported
16 Mar 2008 18:09
Well worth dropping in if you're catching a train or as meeting someone. Good atmosphere for what is essentially a cocktail bar that serves beer
16 Mar 2008 18:07
This was taken over by a new landlord about 18 months ago and has been given a new lease of life. It's been smartened up without losing any character or changing the layout. Wood-panelled bar, cosy lounge, regularly changing guest beers and a friendly, enthusiastic landlord. A village pub in the city!
16 Mar 2008 11:13
This is a bar that always lives up to its reputation. It copes brilliantly with everyone, from boorish boozers to beer virgins and never disappoints. Great place.
16 Mar 2008 11:04
The Grape and Grain, Crystal Palace
Some of the comments below seem a little churlish. This seemed a great local - all were welcome, which is the sign of a good pub for me. There were at least eight beers on offer - anyone who hesitated was offered a 'taster' which is rare, in my experience. I was asked if I was a CAMRA member and was given the 50p discount without even having to show the card. The live jazz on Sundays was good, especially the six piece band in the evening. Food was fine - my Sunday dinner was on a par with most. Service was rapid, friendly and efficient. And as for it being a 'gentleman's club' - if that's what having some comfy seats and newspapers means, then lets have more of them!
26 Nov 2012 16:58