The Castle, Tooting Broadway

The Castle. Easily the best hostelry on offer in the vicinity (sorry to disagree, Surrealale). The place itself has a good traditional "pub" feel to it, the layout is welcoming with a bar that runs pretty much for the length of the pub, with a plethora of nooks and crannies to settle down in for a quiet ale. Granted, prior to the smoking ban, the pub was poorly ventilated; obviously this is now no longer the case. And to complete the homely feel of this establishment, there's a roaring fire in the corner for those cold winter nights.

So, the ale. All of a good quality, those on tap suitably chilled, and those on pump competently looked after.

The prices arguably are a smidgen on the steep side; however what this achieves is keeping the riff-raff on the right side of the door. A swift trip to other pubs in the area (Tramsheds, A bar too far, you know who you are) will see clientele of an inferior quality. The Rounded Oak is no more, closing down predominantly due to a fatal stabbing earlier in the year.

I've only eaten here once, and again, no complaints. The Sunday roast was excellent value for money at �10 for two courses, and served up promptly.

I would also recommend the quiz on a Sunday night. This has been part of our "Sunday service" in SW17 for the most part of the year, after the Collier's Tup quiz became so abstract that it was no longer enjoyable, and attendance started to dwindle. Oh, and there are three free drink rounds throughout the course of the quiz - always a bonus!

The staff are efficient and pleasant. What more can I say? An excellent boozer--certainly the best in the area. 9/10.

P.S It even has the obligatory old man sat at the bar, drinking whisky and water. I can almost hear Billy Joel singing in the distance...

26 Dec 2007 18:30

The White Hart, Waterloo

I find it hard to find the appropriate words to describe visit to this poor excuse for an establishment last night. Firstly, the layout of the pub. The bar's almost the same size as the seating areas and is slap bang in the middle, reducing seating space further. The service area behind the bar is exceptionally tight, making it nigh on impossible for the bar staff to pass by one another. Now normally I wouldn't object to a large serving area (bigger bar equals more pumps and more staff) but sadly having only three bar staff it does nothing for the speed of service.

Which brings me succinctly on to my second point. The staff. The Duty Manager looked like a skater-boy crossed with a die-hard heavy metal fan gone wrong. His attitude resembled more of a sullen teenager who�d just been told he wasn�t getting any pocket money, rather than a man in charge of an entertainment establishment. Rude, discourteous; the man (boy) quite clearly had zero respect for his customers.

And so we move on to the quality of the drinks. I will admit that their draught ale wasn�t too shabby. However, the white Wine the girls were drinking was served warm. When they asked if they could have a replacement (i.e. Chilled) bottle, they were initially told no, as they�d taken said wine over to our table. After much deliberation, they kindly conceded and offered a replacement bottle of wine. Sadly, they�d run out of the Pino Grigio the girls were drinking previously, and were subsequently offered a suitable alternative. Then, they attempted to charge us for the �4 difference between the bottles. A shining example of customer service. And do they offer you wine glasses to drink out of when purchasing a bottle? Absolutely not, half pint pots all round. Class.

So to summarise, poor layout, rude staff and abysmal service. Oh, and one of the urinals in the Gents was overflowing onto the floor.

One of the barmaids had a nice rack though, every cloud�

28 Apr 2006 13:08

The Crown, Borehamwood

'Enigma,' meaning perplexing, inexplicable and mysterious. And sure enough, all those apply to this JJB den where the Borehamwood massive come to spend their grubby cash - you'll find them all here from pre-schoolers to the elderly, from pre-natal to post-natal. Mysterious are the women whose clothes and skin are stretched ragged by the cycle of pregnancy, domestic violence and bulimic retching. Inexplicable is the abattoir d�cor and the sticky film which covers every surface. And you will certainly be perplexed at your decision to go there at all.

The bar staff are generally OK and the booze is cheap, very cheap in fact, but it's a trade-off you won't want to make, believe me...

16 Dec 2004 17:04