BITE user comments - getinthebackofthevan
Comments by getinthebackofthevan
Bar 98 closed a while back - which was no sad loss - and is now a Spanish restaurant.
8 Oct 2010 16:02
Bar 98 closed a while back - which was no sad loss - and is now a Spanish restaurant.
8 Oct 2010 16:02
The Southampton Arms, Gospel Oak
Visited in the summer with a mate who enjoys real ale, having read about the place on a cider website. Can only join the chorus of general approval - although, as someone who enjoys experimenting with cider, I found most of them so acidic/dry as to be barely drinkable. Which was half the fun. We washed the lot down with some excellent pork-based products, while sampling everything the bar had to offer, by halves. Friendly staff, great nosh, 'interesting' booze and a table in the sunshine. We were raving about the place when we finally emerged, not merely because of our alcohol content.
22 Sep 2010 15:39
Update for cider drinkers: the Nelson has dropped that awful Strongbow chemical reaction and now serves Thatchers Gold, which is worth the admission price alone.
22 Jul 2010 15:42
The Honeysuckle is indeed a gorgeous looking pub, hidden up a little side street. The wife and I - well, more me than the wife, though I am religious about the experience - always attend the karaoke night on Friday or Saturday when up Ramsgate way. Terry, the landlord, is easily misread: he can look more miserable than a wet weekend in Margate, but he has a very dry sense of humour and we've always found him very friendly. His wife does the smiling for the both of them.
A British pub that retains some soul and independence. To be cherished.
22 Jul 2010 15:36
Have always had a soft spot for this pub, hidden around a corner from the massed office types cradling pints while standing outside The Crown or the Three Kings. Lovely windows, airy - mind the pong on the way out into the garden, mind - great staff, and a beer garden out back that's often bewilderingly uncrammed, even on a Friday, which feels like a green oasis of calm.
Hired the place one Saturday (when the pub's usually closed) for my 40th, set up a band in there and had one of the best times. The landlord and his staff couldn't have been friendlier.
I do really like the unique Three Kings (The Crown, far less so), but you wait an eon to be served there, so I always gravitate to the perfectly unpretentious Horseshoe when out in Clerkenwell.
Just don't all hit it in your droves. I prefer a bit of space.
22 Jul 2010 15:28
Went here this evening for the quiz. Pub interior grew on us, with candles and mellow vibe. Food was very good value and tasty. It was just the staff. There were two, one male, one female. He had his trousers round the bottom of his butt, like he thought he was on death row, and I really didn't want to see his pants, and she forgot our food, failed to serve four drinks (managed three at least) and towards the end of the evening, they sat at a table on their own - not waiting behind the bar, like actual staff - while she texted and they chatted. Our glasses weren't cleared once. Then they tried to call time at 10.40 and moved faster while clearing tables than during the entire evening. It's the sort of aloofness that gives London boozers a bad name. So the pub itself, with food, actually very reasonable; the staff, see ya.
31 Mar 2009 00:49
This boozer has seen more name changes of late than Dierdre Barlow, and this must be its worst incarnation yet. No atmosphere, "gastropub" stylings (ugh), and full of people who wouldn't know a decent pub if it landed on them. Ben-Wren, you're better off out of it.
9 Jan 2008 13:53
My new favourite pub in London. The world's friendliest staff, a refurb that retains character and fairy lights on the outside. I'd rather drink some puddles than real ale, so the lack of that worries me not. Cider, innit.
9 Nov 2007 16:36
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Ship Inn, Fowey
Fowey's most atmospheric boozer - the open fire's ideal in the winter - with proper history and welcoming staff. Food always good and there's Rattler cider on draught when all else fails. Visited last night for the Wednesday pub quiz, which was most excellent fun. Plan to return (a lot).
12 Apr 2012 15:40