BITE user comments - kentgoldings
Comments by kentgoldings
Much improved since we last attended about two years ago. Is it under new management? Staff are now relaxed, friendly and polite. Pleasantly busy on a mild Friday evening at the end of May. Drinks now much cheaper. Two years ago a pint of real ale and a Bacardi and Coke cost £8.30, now only £5.75. I asked if this was correct and was assured that it was. Good to see the place relatively busy and nice not to feel exploited. Will certainly return for an evening drink in the sunshine.
31 May 2013 22:39
No longer a restaurant, just a pub now with the first floor available as a function room. The usual range of Fullers beer with a guest ale all well managed. A quaint, quiet little place with various stone flag and timber flooring and old photo prints on the walls. Comfortable seating. A good meeting place to start the evening or after work. Deserves to be busier than it is but most people think it's still a restaurant which it hasn't been since at least April 2012. Perhaps Fullers will change the signs one day?
4 Sep 2012 12:09
Lively up-market bar rather than a drinker's pub. Mostly mature mixed couples and various small groups. A welcome absence of 'lads' who appear to frequent the bar over the road (the one with the door staff).
Polite, safe, lively atmosphere and reasonable ale at the usual well heeled price of �3.50 a pint.
Probably not worth a visit just for the beer, rather for the ambience if that's your thing.
16 Jul 2011 16:24
Hardly a pub any more. Small serving bar and drinking area in which every table was occupied by diners, in addition to the separate restaurant. Unless you are dining you can either be a bar fly or stand awkwardly with your pint and get in everyone's way. In either case you feel a little out of place. You can of course sit outside, weather permitting in which case it's probably perfectly nice and possibly worth seeking out for the very good local ale and the very friendly and prompt bar staff. Would I return? Possibly on a warm summer's evening. Would I dine there? I'm not that partial to eating pigeons and deer so probably not.
13 Jun 2011 16:45
A real shame. Ancient pub that has been overrun by a big council estate. It looks like a dive, big piles of litter and flytipping in the front car park which sparsely populated by the vans of under employed building tradesmen and the scrap cars of the unemployable. No chance for this place.
11 Jun 2011 00:18
I'm surprised by last summer's comments. I have been here several times in the last few weeks and have found it to be a lively, friendly well heeled place with a reasonable range of ale, well kept and at a reasonable price (in a Marlow sort of way). The staff are very attentive and the clientele mainly couples. Plenty of space for drinking and socialising and plenty of restaurant space too. Lots of tables outside for summer evenings. Three niggles if I may. The several bar stools encourage barflies. Amazing how just three men can spread themselves out on stools to completely hog 40% of available serving area. My next niggle is the smell of cooking or hot fat from the kitchen which permeates throughout the whole bar, somewhat spoiling my beer. Finally, the scent of disinfectant from the conveniences is a bit intrusive too. So, remove the odours and the barflies and this would be a top notch bustling little pub. I'll continue to drink there, regardless.
31 May 2011 23:47
The Travellers Rest, Caversham
Bright garish lighting and largely open plan bar make for lack of atmosphere. looks and feels like a working man's drinker's pub (for those of them who actually work). Plenty of loud drinkers, male and female shouting across the full length of the pub to each other. Must have been displaced from the now closed Star pub. On the plus side though, friendly, prompt staff and well kept ale at a reasonable price. The food is quite good too and perhaps better than expected from a chain and at a very reasonable price. Worth a visit? Probably not, unless you walk up from the big council estate in which case you can drink plenty of good, cheap ale and smoke and shout your head off to your heart's content.
31 May 2011 23:19
�8.30 for a Bacardi & Coke and a pint of Wychwood. �8.30!
24 Apr 2011 10:41
The Old Boot Inn, Stanford Dingley
On entering during early Saturday evening, first impressions of a busy, old local pub which is what it is rather than a restaurant. Lots of large, loud, middle aged men hogging the bar. Only one had the courtesy to step aside so that I could see the pumps and order a drink. Very prompt and engaging bar staff doing a good job. Very good pint of Good Old Boy. Lots of food available on various menus. We ate in the conservatory which is very nicely appointed and away from the bores (or is that boars) at the bar. Disorganised service where one person shows you to the table, another brings the menu several minutes later and then...nothing. We waited for 20 minutes then had to approach a different waiter to order the food.
Once ordered everything was good. Very good quality fresh (not frozen) food, generous portions and very nicely cooked and presented. The chef (I don't know whether it's the old or new one) is doing very well. We asked one waiter for the bill, a different one brought it then after another ten minute wait, a different one took payment. The staff are very nice and are prompt once you ask them but really we wasted half an hour just waiting to order and to pay the bill. Isn't there one person in charge who allocates the staff to specific tables rather than the apparent free for all that it is now? That's my only criticism but one that the management would do well to consider as it's bound to get busier over the summer months. You'll have people walking out.
Very good beer, very nice staff, very good food and considering that it is a pub and not a restaurant, that's as much as one should expect. That's part of the joy of country pubs. You never know what you'll find there.
3 Apr 2011 11:28
The Cherry Tree Inn, Stoke Row
A really good, popular, old fashioned country pub. Very decent, mixed clientele (mostly couples) of all ages who interact in a friendly but unintrusive way. What I mean is that you'll pick up on the friendly atmosphere but nobody will bother you or intrude. The staff are very friendly and actually encourage decent drinkers to add to the ambiance so that it doesn't become too much of a restaurant. No juke box or pool etc. Good pint of Oxford Gold but unfortunately only that and the usual Brakspears Bitter. More variety would be welcome. Plenty of seating in the garden for a summer's evening. Definitely worth a visit for the ambience.
3 Jul 2010 23:10
Recently refurbished and reopened. Mainly a restaurant where the staff are friendly, the atmosphere informal, the food very good and in large portions. Well heeled clientele. The beer was well served though I thought a bit pricey, possibly to keep 'drinkers' out. Not a local's pub and not really worth visiting just for a drink but good food and a good pint make it worth a try. Might even go back there myself.
7 Jun 2010 21:15
The Perch and Pike, South Stoke
Nice old pub, full of character. Well kept ales. Relaxed atmosphere.
Worth a visit.
7 Jun 2010 21:08
Recently refurbished, retaining the character of course. Small car park. Mainly a restaurant but retains a nice, small inglenook bar/lounge. Nice staff. A handful of ales, well kept and reasonably priced. Unobtrusive music. Decent clientele and a discreet atmosphere. Didn't try the food. Worth a visit.
7 Jun 2010 20:50
Worth a drive out to sit in the garden and enjoy the view. Good car park. Decent clientele. Only two ales but straight from the cask and well kept. Grumpy landlord adds to the character of the place and a little tongue in cheek I think. Didn't try the food but plenty of people eating and it looked good. Worth a visit.
7 Jun 2010 20:41
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The Mole Inn, Toot Baldon
A restaurant for the well heeled rather than a pub but one is welcome to have just a drink if one wishes. Very nice gardens with lots of secluded places among the flower borders to enjoy a drink in the sunshine and it is worth a visit for that. Professional and efficient staff. Drinks at restaurant prices e.g. A small glass of rosé and a pint of Becks is £8.75. Not much choice of ale, nice, relaxed place though, for the discerning only.
21 Jul 2013 08:03