BITE user comments - flippincrikeys
Comments by flippincrikeys
Further to my previous review in 2009, I have to update it. I was recently persuaded to go in there by a friend who had a complete disregard for my reservations.
I'm glad he did! i don't know if my previous experience was a one-off, but I've been there several times since and I've had a great time every time. No bad or odd behaviour, good quality lager (I appreciate it's a real ale pub, but their lager is very good as well), friendly people...
OK the location hasn't improved; its not the easiest to get to, but it's worth making the effort.
6 Jul 2012 13:56
Now very sadly closed. Absolutely no point going into Chatham for anything at all now.
9 Mar 2012 13:24
The Man of Kent Ale House, Rochester
I love this pub. Went in here for the first time after a trip along the soulless dumps in the High Street (Eagle and Two Brewers excepted), and had a thoroughly enjoyable wheat beer, served in its proper glass, chatted to a few of the locals, and had to leave ('cause my word, that beer had a 'poke' to it)!
They do folky / guitar music twice a week, and I'm going to be dragging as many of my friends there as possible over the coming months.
9 Jul 2009 18:59
It's been taken over, and it's not as shite as it was... certainly headed in the right direction! Will probably visit again in a few months, just to see how things are progressing.
9 Jul 2009 18:47
�3.00 for a pint of flat, warm Fosters. A local chap threw his pint over an elderly woman, informing her that he would 'see her next Tuesday' (if you get my drift), and everybody else (about ten / twelve people) just carried on as though that's entirely normal / acceptable behaviour.
Certainly won't be venturing there again (usually, if a pub's that bad, I go back just to see if was having a bad night). Horrible pub, horrible location, and strange people both sides of the bar.
2 Jun 2009 12:20
Sadly, now closed and boarded up. Another decent boozer bites the dust. I'm almost tempted to quit drinking in protest.
9 Mar 2009 12:25
Sadly, it's now closed and boarded up. Another decent boozer bites the dust. I'm almost tempted to give up drinking in protest.
9 Mar 2009 12:25
Sadly, it's now closed and boarded up. Another decent boozer bites the dust. I'm almost tempted to give up drinking in protest.
9 Mar 2009 12:24
Sadly, it's now closed and boarded up. Another decent boozer bites the dust. I'm almost tempted to give up drinking in protest.
9 Mar 2009 12:24
Seems to be an Oirish element to it that I quite like. Friendly, and you get the feeling that THERE WILL BE NO HASSLE FROM DRUNKEN PUNTERS! If Gillingham FC are at home, then probably avoid until after the kick off. Beer not bad at all, and I certainly didn't feel unwelcome unlike some of the other pubs in the area.
30 Dec 2008 12:55
The Southern Belle, Gillingham
Now, maybe it was me, but the music played yesterday was:
1) Don't leave Me This Way by The Communards
2) You Spin Me (Right Round) by Dead or Alive
3) Do You Really Want To Hurt Me by Culture Club.
Not sure if there should be a rainbow flag outside or not. Pleasant enough but uninspiring, which I seem to be saying an awful lot on here.
30 Dec 2008 12:52
Beer reasonably well kept, and it's all friendly enough, but you do get the feeling that if most of the locals walked into a farmyard the pigs would start getting nervous.
Basic (which isn't a bad thing), cheap (which is a good thing), but I dunno... something's missing. Won't be hurrying back, but if I'm in the area and am desperate for a pint, then I won't be frightened to venture in (one of the better ones of a fairly miserable bunch in the High Street area)..
30 Dec 2008 12:49
Maybe it's me, then. Went in here yesterday, and it wasn't inspiring. there was me, the barmaid, and two regulars in here and I didn't feel encouraged to stay for more than two pints.
The first pint was cloudy, and the barmaid said 'maybe he hasn't cleaned the lines'. Not exactly inspiring.
I asked about using a debit card and was told that there's a minimum spend of �10. Didn't really want to set up a tab and drink that much, so I broke into the fiver in my wallet (which they were happy enough to take).
Good jukebox, but when the best thing about a pub is the jukebox, you know you probably won't be going back.
30 Dec 2008 12:43
Ventured in yesterday, and was greeted by two of the funniest regulars I think I've ever encountered in a pub. Beer not cheap, but you don't mind when the surroundings are like this.
Usually backstreet Medway boozers scare me, but this one was good,and I will be going back.
Gets a 5 because of the prices (�2.95 for Foster's).
30 Dec 2008 12:38
Have to say I agree with HTM69. Not exactly unpleasant, but far from inspiring either. Seafood on the bar on the Sunday lunchtime I ventured in (which seemed a bit odd to me), and although it wasn't unfriendly, I don't think I'll be rushing back.
30 Dec 2008 12:35
Backstreet Medway boozers scare me for some reason, but this one...
Good well-kept beer (no matter what your preference), and the selection of Continental beers mean that I shall be visiting soon (post-payday, unfrotunately) to attack the contents of the cellar with gusto.
Didn't think that pubs like this still existed (almost forgotten what a busy pub could be like).
If you're in the area, you owe it to yourself.
8 Oct 2008 12:39
Have started using this place with a gay friend of mine, and I've never felt even slightly out of place. Entirely family friendly, and not at all 'in your face' (for want of a better phrase) about the fact that it's gay friendly.
The barstaff are friendly, very competent, and I've never had a problem with the beer.
13 Aug 2008 12:52
Apart from the fact that the music is a bit 'pseudo-light-jazz' (Michael Buble? Not only once, but twice. And in fifteen minutes!), it's improved a hell of a lot. It's no longer a warehouse with a bar; it's comfortable and you can sit with somebody and hear them without having to scream over the football and the people who watch football.
Cheerful staff, decent beer, pleasant (for Medway) surroundings.
Much improved, but I still only had two pints here and then went to the Men of Kent...
7 Aug 2008 13:00
This has recently been taken over by a new couple, and it's much better than the last time I was in here. It's clean and the two small bars have been knocked into one. There's also a restaurant section, and the food is very good, and excellent value for money (�26 for 3 Sunday roasts, 2 puddings and 3 drinks).
Very welcoming pub.
7 Jul 2008 09:16
�2.90 for a pint of Fosters. Ridiculous. I know it's gone up (what hasn't), but that is beyond the pale.
If it was a great pub, you could understand it and might not object, but its only plus point (and it's a minor one) is that it's on the High Street.
29 May 2008 09:13
If a surly man pouring beer in a dingy Medway boozer is your kind of thing, then knock yourself out.
They have a fish tank in the pub, and the glass is green with algae. Which makes you wonder: if that's how they keep their fish...?
Shame, because I always used to like Shepherd Neame pubs.
11 Mar 2008 12:45
Right. It's shut. Gets a '0' then.
Sorry, don't see (and won't have the opportunity, I suppose) what everybody else did in this place.
I guess that the loss may be mine, of course...
13 Feb 2008 12:55
Always friendly, clean and quite spacious. Bar staff are good. Far superior to anywhere else in the area (although that's not necessarily quite the compliment it might appear, given the competition!). Slightly out of the way (1/2 mile to Rainham train station), but it's situated on a bus-route.
Worth making the effort for.
13 Feb 2008 12:48
The Honourable Pilot, Gillingham
Used to like this place, but now it's getting more 'chavvy' with every passing week.
Saw a barmaid wipe a wine glass on her shirt-tail to remove lipstick before placing it on a tray to take to a customer, before switching the television over to the rugby (thought Brewers' Fayre standards didn't cater for live sport?).
Okay if you like that sort of thing, or if you're going for a meal.
13 Feb 2008 12:41
The Rifle Volunteers, Maidstone
Thoroughly depressing and for old men. If you're a young professional (ie you're under 60 and you have a job), don't bother. Woeful and unpleasant.
15 Jan 2008 12:50
The Botswain and Call, Chatham
It's a rough little boozer, but that's not always a bad thing. The atmosphere's better than most soulless pubs. I tend to find myself in here early on a Saturday afternoon, and a couple of pints does the job nicely.
It's improved since the last time I was in here though (about two years ago). It's clean, tidy and friendly enough.
21 Nov 2007 13:05
Really nice. Just how pubs should be. Always get a friendly response from the staff, the beer's always good, and the music's never too loud (and pretty good music at that!). Best pub in Medway, I think.
30 May 2006 15:05
Needs a lick of paint, but is certainly friendly, and the prices aren't too stupid. Really close to the town centre, so it's certainly possible to whicle away an hour or so while the missus is shopping.
25 May 2006 17:27
Ick. Just very, very ick. Walked in here with a newspaper and got glared at as though my 'type don't belong round here...'. Twho little chavs sat at the next table recounting their exploit in a nightclub and then a police cell the night before.
No. Very no.
25 May 2006 17:25
Used to live in here when it was an O'Neill's (and I hate chain bars). Now it's just a standard pub, with standard beer and standard staff. Certainly nothing special, and there's much better just along the road (Old House at Home/Druid's Arms?).
25 May 2006 17:22
Of the several Wetherspoons' I've been in, this is probably the most neglected. I think I'd rather pay the extra 60p a pint and drink somewhere else, and the people that do still drink there seem to reflect their priorities...
25 May 2006 17:20
Don't eat here. Just... don't. Drink if you must, but that's about it.
25 May 2006 16:42
Not bad... but I'm about fifteen years too old to be drinking there! The music is always good, but the main thing I always take away with me is a nosefull of bleach!
Chav-free zone - which is a huge plus - but would be better without some of the pseudo-intellectual, chin-stroking students doing their degrees in a subject which sounds like a euphemism for bugger-all in there, and adding a few people with a bit more intelligence...
I understand that some pubs need to be hosed down after a night of 'studentry', but whenever I've been in there, the only thing I can ever really recall about the place is the stench of disinfectant.
25 May 2006 16:41
I found this pub bewildering. The lager was a mistake, the atmosphere was entirely 'backstreet Medway' - that means 'not good' - and when I went to the loo I was faced with the eternal conundrum: which is cleaner; my bits, or their sink. In the end I washed my hands under the cold tap, because the hot one, predictably enough, wasn't working.
Having said that, why was it busy? Has everybody else in the pub been barred from all the other pubs in the area?
One of the four worst pubs I've ever been in (and two of the other three have been refurbed since then).
Gets a one, because the only ones that get nothing are shut.
25 May 2006 16:33
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The Sun, Maidstone
Recently revisited after an absence of several years. Served by a vast barmaid in leopard print leggings, who was wearing a top cut low enough to reveal the tattoo on her boob. She had a baby tucked under one arm while she was serving beer.
At a table nearby, there was what seemed to be a 'mobile manicure service' where several tattooed women (including one who had a remarkable tattoo of a black eye) were having their nails done.
It was hard to work out which customers were drunk, and which were just a bit 'challenged'.
Shame, back in the late 90s, this was a good pub. Now it's worse than anything elseI've been in in Maidstone..
21 Oct 2013 16:04