BITE user comments - ghostwheel
Comments by ghostwheel
The Colegrave Arms, Leytonstone
Closing permanently apparently, to be redeveloped. So I guess that the rare intact 30s interior will all be ripped out
25 Jul 2010 11:13
The Colegrave Arms, Leytonstone
No beer on tap for weeks every time I look through the window. And now it's got a To Let sign on the outside. How long can it be before this pub gets turned into flats or something?
2 Apr 2009 22:48
The Colegrave Arms, Leytonstone
Now reopened under new management. Went in tonight to give it a try.
The Colegrave could be such a good pub: the interior is on the CAMRA regional inventory as being of special historical interest as a rare complete 1930s (I think interior). It's really very nice inside.
Barman was very friendly and welcoming despite it being a quiet Monday night.
But, alas: only one real beer on tap: a rather uninspiring Greene King IPA. And it was off. It's such a shame that a pub that can serve 10 different foreign derived lagers, all identical: but not one single English beer.
I wish them well: much like the previous occupants there are lots of good ideas in the window for quiz nights, discos etc etc. It didn't do the previous occupants any good: they went bust too. I just wish that my local could serve me some beer. There isn't a single pub near me with decent beer, and I really think you're missing a trick with a pub on a CAMRA list...
1 Dec 2008 20:25
Fabulously idiosyncratic pub in Maldon: ancient, but with a huge accretion of fittings and bits from all eras, like the encrustations on a sunken ship. The highlight is the beer, much of which is delicious Farmers Ales brewed in a small microbrewery plant on the premises. Staff have a dry sense of humour, but are friendly. Food is good basic stuff: nothing special, but then the prices are reasonable too. We stayed there overnight in a decent honest room: breakfast is excellent, and the resident's lounges etc continue the eclectic theme of random stuff from all ages. It's evident from being there on a Saturday night that this pub has broad appeal. All social classes and ages were present, from middle class couples to the local trendy Essex boys all dressed like Michael Caine in the 60's. To top it all a convention of Morris dancers were exercising their clogs in the function room upstairs with thumping like a hip hop hatch with big bass bins, so we really felt we were getting a selection of all of England: from the traditional to the modern.
14 Jul 2008 13:52
Crowded, but a wonderful pub, and even more so in the middle of the West End. Very good beer - especially the Harvey's Best. Glad to hear they make the Stella taste foul: might keep away the sort of people who drink it. Another plus point!
26 Oct 2007 09:21
The Eagle and Child, Forest Gate
It's a crying shame if this building is going to be lost as a pub
25 Oct 2007 18:58
Must get round to going in here: it's only five minutes walk from the house. But why would I want to? Whatis there to drink - only the kind of lager made for Carling in a chemical factory next to the Beckton sewage outfall as far as I can see.
25 Oct 2007 18:55
The Lord Rookwood, Leytonstone
Deeply average: I can forgive any amount of sticky carpet for good beer (I love the Wenlock Arms, for instance), but all they have is a very average pint of Youngs. Not that friendly either. 4/10
25 Oct 2007 18:52
Always quiet when I go in on my own on the way back from work. A little dowdy, but nice folk behind the bar, good beer, a wonderful garden and a pool table and darts if you like that sort of thing.
Not the most scintillating of pubs, but the best thing this side of the Edward VII in Stratford - everything else around here is a bag of sh**e
25 Oct 2007 18:51
Wonderful location, right in the centre of the very picturesque village of Lodsworth. It should be a goldmine, but has suffered under various lacklustre landlords over the last 20 years.
Going in there now, it's been dolled up nicely. So have the food prices, however, and frankly the quality doesn't match the expenditure. Last weekend Roast Beef and Roast Chicken were distinctly average 7-quid-with-brown-gravy affairs. Which would have been fine if I hadn't been stiffed 14 quid for a main course.
Bar staff vary from the busineslike to the friendly: however they were very busy for Sunday lunch when I was in.
Beer is the high point. Langham's Halfway to Heaven (a reference to the Halfway Inn down on the A272?) is brewed 300 yeard down the road in a microbrewery. WJ King's is brewed by the King family, of the legendary, and now lost, King and Barnes brewery Family of Horsham. Timmy Taylor's Landlord creditably rounds out the beer for those who don't know that Sussex beer is far superior product to the Yorkshire variety ;-)
I'm going back to the area next week: but I'll be revisiting one of the Lickfold Inn, King's Arms at Fernhurst, Duke of Cumberland at Henley, Three Moles at Selham or Noah's Ark at Lurgashall before Igo back to the Hollist if I want anything more than beer. Location, decor and beer: 8 Welcome and food 4. Overall a 6 I think, cos I care more about BEER
25 Oct 2007 18:47
Of all the dreadful gay venues in the West End, this is probably one of the best. However Wendy is not the cheeriest of landladies, and it suffers from the "gay beer" syndrome: no one can explain how "gay beer" differs from "straight beer", other than the fact it costs significantly more.
No real beer of course, not even in bottles (if the Vauxhall Tavern nightclub which caters to much the same crowd can make Spitfire and London Pride work, why can't the Retro Bar?).
I'm coming to the opinion that the Halfway to Heaven is a better bet, but honestly, when you have The Harp just over the other side of the Strand (a sublime pub), how much do you need a specifically gay pub at all?
25 Oct 2007 18:36
Nice bar staff: very friendly and good attitude. Beer well kept, if a little cold. Suffers from the usual Welsh problem as far as I can see of sparklers on all the taps: but were perfectly happy to take the off if asked. Good plain food, and very handy for the excellent campsite up the road.
11 Sep 2006 23:27
Gorgeous beer, gorgeous pub, gorgeous food. All local. A must if you're in the area
18 Aug 2006 12:36
The Jerusalem Tavern, Clerkenwell
Lovely pub, let down by badly kept beer in my experience
18 Aug 2006 12:22
Nice enough boozer overlooking the flats, but the London Pride was disappointing when I went there
18 Aug 2006 12:06
The Grey Derby, Kennington
Not called the Grey Derby: called the Brown Derby, this is now a friendly idiosyncratic pub which has excellent jazz and similar evenings with a wide variety of eccentric clientele. Food is basic but cheap and wholesome. Beer range is fantastic and constantly changing: mainly from micro breweries, and that makes it by far the best pub in the area for me
10 Jun 2012 11:21