BITE user comments - kid_b
Comments by kid_b
The Hand In Hand, Wimbledon Common
Much improved since my last visit. The landlord is a very welcoming and affable real ale enthusiast and stocks an excellent selection of beers, including two stouts on my last visit. The treacle stout was a really nice surprise in a pub where, on my previous visit some years ago (as mentioned below), the staff didn't know what a porter was!
My worry is that it's wasted on the locals, who are of the ridiculously-rich-but-quite-conformist variety and so may not appreciate the vagaries of a traditional alehouse.
16 Jan 2015 23:00
This is a very pleasant pub with decent food and a reasonable beer/cider range although it's far from a CAMRA sort of place.
The highlight is the fact that it's a pub on a London Underground platform, to my knowledge the only such establishment in existence. This means you can enjoy watching the frenetic commuters as you sip your pint. Then when it's time to go you can stay at your table until you spot your train arriving, and still be on the platform in time to board it. (NB - this will probably only work if you're travelling East-bound.)
20 Sep 2012 01:23
The Swan Tavern, West Wimbledon
They need to lose some of the TV screens and lower the prices. I mean, charging extra for milk in your coffee - what's that all about? Sadly all too typical of SW19.
20 Sep 2012 01:15
The pub's location can't be faulted, overlooking the salt marshes and the sea. However, it can get very busy and runs out of food very quickly indeed. We ate there at 7pm on a Sunday only to discover no fewer than four dishes were off the menu because of the number of lunchtime patrons.
The staff vary in helpfulness. One, when asked for a highchair, simply replied "there's some outside and they're all in use". He was then corrected by a more helpful colleague that there was a spare highchair outside. However, neither member of staff could be bothered to go and fetch it. Such poor customer service wouldn't happen in a pub that wasn't completely secure in the knowledge that hordes of moneyed people will keep visiting because it's the only pub in this Kensington-on-Sea village.
Unfortunately the North Norfolk 'up from London' crowd leaves a lot to be desired and can be rather pushy, so watch out for that if you're queuing at the bar.
20 Sep 2012 00:59
This is a very nice pub with plenty of room and good, affable service. The food is tasty, well-priced and plentiful - my one criticism is that I never have enough room after my meal to try the scone and clotted cream cheesecake. There are also excellent views of the River Cam and Midsomer Common. The beer selection is reasonable in comparison to many Cambridge pubs.
26 Jun 2012 23:36
The basket meals are quite nice but there's not a fantastic ale selection to choose from. The Aspalls cider on tap is quite Strongbowish, disappointingly. Service is good though.
26 Apr 2011 14:52
Turning up to this pub on Good Friday proved to be a mistake. In the saloon, music videos were being screened with the volume so loud that conversation was impossible. This was despite the fact that there were no other patrons!
A lemonade and a lime & soda came to �2.80, and on attempting to drink these outside we were followed by the barmaid who started to light up a cigarette in our close proximity. Not wanting to start inhaling cancerous fumes we moved on to the 'beer garden' ...
Here, several locals were enjoying a barbeque as advertised in the pub. Despite it being a public event, nobody offered us any food or asked if we wanted to participate. We quickly finished our drinks and left.
26 Apr 2011 14:41
The saloon part of the pub is unfortunately dominated by a big-screen TV, which means that a quiet pint is dominated by a bloke cheering his chosen horse while standing right next to your table. Was he going to use his winnings to buy us all a drink? I think not - so why expect us to care??
The beer selection on tap was disappointing when I visited, with little emphasis on anything a bit different to the usual fare. The fact that this was a little corner of Suffolk that felt like Wolverhampton on a Saturday night precluded me from staying to try the food.
8 Mar 2011 23:31
The Blue Ball Inn, Grantchester
This is a lovely, unspoilt pub with owners who clearly know what they are doing and take pride in the well-kept ales they serve. The bar is like someone's living room, with a roaring fire and real sense of hospitality as well a useful selection of guidebooks to browse.
28 Oct 2010 13:00
The Champion of the Thames, Cambridge
I found this pub to be friendly and welcoming, with a good range of cask ales (Proper Job, Tribute and Bath Ales' Gem). I can't comment on the saloon bar but the snug was comfy. The staff were incredibly hospitable and polite and it had the feel of a village pub in the best sense.
26 Sep 2010 12:33
The hand of history is very much on one's shoulder as one imbibes here, although not in a laboured way. The historic associations with bishops of Ely are most interesting.
The ten beers on tap wasn't quite as impressive as I'd thought it might be, given that the vast majority were either mass-produced 'usual fare' or members of the mainstream Fullers range. However, one ruby ale and a cider guested, and they were both very nice.
The clientele was a bit pushy, all elbows at the bar - and the service was efficient or brusque, depending on your preferences.
The bar snacks are very traditional (scotch eggs, pork pies etc) and perform the useful function of ensuring that this stays a drinkers' pub.
28 Aug 2010 21:32
As the venerable getsit (below) notes, it's pretty unspectacular. My advice would be to get rid of the Chinese restaurant/takeaway, which detracts from the pub ambience, such at it is. This would allow the beer garden to flourish again. Also, a more intelligent choice of beers might assist some of the clientele in moving on to the town centre pubs for their battery-acid lager. This pub has the potential to be a nice old-fashioned hostelry perfectly suited to catering for locals and railway-people but at the moment one cannot imagine Bernard Cribbins going anywhere near it.
2 Aug 2010 18:13
Mrs Kid_b and I came here one evening after work and were not unimpressed. The selection of ales was more than adequate, including Doombar and Harvey's Sussex Bitter. There were also some continental quaffables on offer including Fruli, and a couple of ciders including at least one 'proper' scrumpy (Aspalls) as well as the obligatory apple-lager that often passes for cider nowadays.
The service lacked nothing in courteousness and food-wise we couldn't complain: nicely cooked fish & chips that was a cut above most boozer grub without being overly pretentious.
Having music in a pub sometimes spoils the atmosphere, but when it's the likes of The Smiths as was the case here, it'd be churlish to grumble.
2 Aug 2010 18:07
The beers are little on the expensive side, and the bar staff don't exactly go out of their way to serve the patrons in a 'first come, first served' order, but other than that it's not a bad place, and at least feels like less of a tourist trap than other bars and pubs in and around the South Bank.
29 Jun 2010 12:39
Time to update my earlier review.
The service has declined: the staff are certainly not as welcoming as they could be. Sometimes it can almost feel that arriving with friends and ordering drinks is just a huge inconvenience for them.
Serious work needs to be done in order to improve the quality of the place if it is to become once again a community pub rather than a place for a like-minded clique to hang around pontificating and putting off anyone who hasn't been drinking there since Mr Heath left Downing Street.
All in all its very sad that pubs like this end up closing because their few regulars put off everyone else, but one suspects that may be the case here, not to be too Cassandra-esque about it.
The beers remain very good, however.
25 Jun 2010 22:21
Trafalgar Freehouse, South Wimbledon
Mr Bonser writes below that the area around the pub is best avoided after dark. Er, why? Just because there's a council estate next-door? I've walked through that estate on many an evening to visit this pub or to attend a service at the CofE church over the road, and can attest to have never so much as been looked at funny.
One could argue that there's more anti-social behaviour from the toffs in leafy Wimbledon Village than in this salt-of-the-earth part of SW19.
25 Jun 2010 22:09
The Stepping Stones, Westhumble
The notice on the door claims that the pub welcomes walkers, yet a) it is closed between 3-5 on a Saturday, when most walkers will be in need of a refreshing pint, and b) there is a snide notice saying that muddy boots must be removed before entering. As the pub was shut I didn't get to see the floor but I'm guessing it's not solid Spanish oak parque, or Italian marble.
Apparently they sell plastic over-shoes for 20p behind the bar to assist you in complying with their regulations! Nice little earner, that.
4 Apr 2010 15:26
I'd be happy to call this pub my local. The weekday lunchtime "�0.99 meal" is excellent value and they do a lovely pint of the local (well, almost local - it's brewed over the Tamar in Devon) Jail Ale. Do be sure to visit.
30 Mar 2010 21:52
It's not hard to see why this pub is highly rated, with its excellent range of real ales, many of them local - the porters are beautifully kept, with that mellow, warm, nourishing taste that all too often gets lost in the barrel. The pub genuinely has atmosphere, and the food and service get top marks too. The only fault I can find is that there was no hot water to wake up to the next morning, although the accommodation was in every other respect superb.
If you can, get here before opening time and go for a nice walk down one of the nearby footpaths. The local church, dating back to the reign of Henry VI, is worth a look too.
30 Mar 2010 21:50
Trafalgar Freehouse, South Wimbledon
This pub is a real treasure, with its excellent range of well-kept real ales and cider on tap, gentle-tempered regulars and affable service. It's well-kept too, and nicely small, so is ideal for a quiet drink. It's hard to believe places like this really exist.
Someone below has said it's in the "middle of nowhere". The pub I was at a few weeks ago on the edge of Dartmoor was difficult to get to; this one is within two minutes' walk of the Northern Line and several bus routes. By what definition is that "the middle of nowhere"?!
30 Mar 2010 21:45
The slightly Sloane-esque clientele aside, it's not a bad place if you've half an hour to kill - the Black Sheep's well kept and the scotch eggs are tasty. Everything is distinctly on the costly side, and no, I'm not going to add the usual platitude that crops up far too often on this site, "but it is in London so you'd expect that".
15 Jan 2010 20:46
The pub has a solid selection of cask ales; the Doom Bar and Proper Job are well-kept. The food isn't too expensive, is properly home-made and nicely cooked. The fish & chips in particular is something to get excited about. On my visit on Friday night it was fairly busy but not packed/rowdy, with just the right amount of background murmur. A convivial evening can be had here, making this a very pleasant village pub.
22 Aug 2009 00:28
A perfect pub in a perfect location, overlooking the village green. The landlord was friendly (you don't often get a "sir" in this day and age), the guest ales were interesting and the cider & perry - locally produced - were well worth it, especially as the place was so reasonably priced. Will have to go back and try out the food sometime. It's a locals' pub in in the best sense, non-exclusive but not selling out to the mass market either. Definitely the best pub in East Cornwall.
21 Aug 2009 19:02
The Prince Albert, Notting Hill
Went there after work last week and was hugely disappointed. There were a few interesting beers behind the bar but this was absolutely pointless when the service was so incredibly lousy. The smug, preening bar staff were perfectly content to spend ages laughing and bantering amongst themselves and seemed to think that their lovely pub was ruined by the irritating customers wanting to be served. After standing for what felt like an eternity, and seeing several newcomers served before me, I asked when my turn would come, only to receive a sarcastic reply. That's my custom lost permanently. The owner must be very charitable to employ these people during a recession.
Also, the place reeked of urinals and the flies buzzing round did little to add to the atmos. I recall from a previous visit that the food was alright, but that in itself is no reason to come here.
2 Aug 2009 23:09
The Hand In Hand, Wimbledon Common
Bar staff who don't know what a porter is. Overpriced food. �13 for a pint of cider, a half of lager and a glass of Pimms. The interior: tacky, like a theme-pub that's been artificially aged. There's something about Wimbledon Common that makes people absolute suckers for this kind of thing. Can't helping thinking they convince themselves it must be good because they're paying so much.
Oh yeah, and there's a "green" just outside, but in summer it's usually covered in plastic glasses and the kind of people who use the word "Glasto" without a hint of irony.
28 Jul 2009 23:39
A lovely pub - I'm just mystified about the comments below.
The other half and I stayed the night and were thoroughly impressed by the quirky feel of the place, the understated drinks and menu (locally sourced cider and perry that went down a treat after a day on the beach; the best roast pork I've had outside of the family dinner table) and the friendly but un-intrusive service. Completely unpretentious too, despite featuring in The Guardian's guide to the '100 best pubs'.
28 Jul 2009 23:32
An excellent Sam Smiths pub: very good service, interesting decor, quite cosy and most importantly of all well-pulled beers and ciders along with a decent bottled selection. Reasonably priced for the area too. It's encouraging to find that pubs like this one still exist.
4 May 2009 13:45
You can certainly do better than this in Alvechurch. The pub has a slightly souless feel and the beer's a bit pricey. As for the food menu, seven quid for a burger is a bit much. The guest ale's pretty good at the moment but their permanent fixtures don't include anything other than mass-produced boring beers.
17 Jan 2009 15:14
A wonderful, sprawling old delight of a place, more than worth a visit from afar for a few pints of something suitably traditional and a helping of tasty home-cooked food. The owners are incredibly friendly and welcoming, and you can't beat it for availability of post-roast walks through the Worcestershire countryside.
16 Jan 2009 01:09
The Fox and Grapes, Wimbledon Common
Nice ale selection, featuring the magnificent Autumn Dawn as a guest recently. But that's about all I can think of to say in praise of this boozer, other than its location. It masquerades as a 'real pub' but is really only a cartoonish approximation. The clientele is made up mostly of cap-wearing ex-Sloane Square downsizers, the food is magnificently over-priced and, worst of all, having forked out for a meal one runs the risk of having the atmosphere spoilt by big-screen F1 fun. It's not so much a pub as a hangout for smug thirty-somethings who moved to Wimbledon just so they can take their kids horse-riding at weekends while still being within reach of the boutiques.
16 Jan 2009 00:47
It's a good sight better than The Trafalgar. There's nearly always free seating, the drinks are quite reasonably priced and while none too varied in the cider arena I was really impressed with the Christmas beers on tap last month. The food's pretty good too, with their rendition of fish & chips as good as any in a pub of this kind. It's by no means one for the die-hard obscurist but as a resting-place after a stroll in Greenwich Park it really can't be beat'.
16 Jan 2009 00:42
O' Sultan, let me sing thine praise. Easily the best pub in London. The selection of Sam Smiths' beers and ciders is wonderful, the fire's most welcome in winter and the proprietors, once you go a few times, are kind and friendly. The regulars are a solid, affable bunch and the atmosphere is pleasantly villagey in a genuine way. The lack of food is something of a down-side, but if they did introduce it then it would just get too crowded and too busy behind the bar. Try 'Slurp' Japanese restaurant up the road if you get hungry!
16 Jan 2009 00:36
It's quite a decent place, with a good range of continental beers and English ciders. The food's rather nice too; I recommend the sausage and mash. It's quite pricey but then one must expect that in N.1. The staff are usually quite helpful, although less so on weekends. Frankly, though, the bar snacks are absurdly pretentious. Everyone wants mini-cheddars really, not bloomin' wasabi peas.
16 Jan 2009 00:31
For a chain pub, this place is pretty good. It's retained a good deal of atmosphere, is pleasant and airy inside, has an expansive beer garden and a reasonable selection at the bar. Meals are cheap and competently cooked. If you're going for a few pints you can't do much better than this in Plymouth.
24 Sep 2006 18:59
Any pub that employs bouncers on the doors probably isn't worth visiting. Hardly necessary in a small country market town.
24 Sep 2006 18:56
Positive aspects:
Mp3 jukebox with an outstanding selection of indie and alternative music; comfy sofas; pool tables; quiet on weekdays.
Negative aspects:
Aggressive bald men in combat trousers frequent the place; surly locals line the bar reading the free newspapers and making it difficult to order; the once-impressive range of independently brewed beers and ciders has been replaced by mass-produced chemical poison lagers.
24 Sep 2006 18:54
The Barley Sheaf is one of Liskeard's better pubs, but that should not be taken as high praise. The place is often heaving at weekends, although it's hard to see why, given that the beer is distinctly pricey. There is little atmosphere to speak of, the toilets are in a poor state of repair and food is limited to the usual crisps. The clientele seems to consist principally of pretentious students (i.e. the sort who attend media studies courses at institutions like Winchester).
24 Sep 2006 18:50
The Angel is a charming establishment, with agreeable decor, friendly staff and a decent snacks menu. The traditionally-made Samuel Smith's bitter and cider are among the finest beverages on sale in Leeds. Despite the low prices (less than �3 for two pints) the pub attracts a good range of clientele and is to be particularly recommended to students who are tired of the usual student pub experience: no loud music, surfeit of gambling machines or pretentious poseurs here. The place is, in short, one of Leeds' best-kept secrets.
24 Sep 2006 18:44
This was my local for one year, and I avoided it as much as possible. The selection of beers available is limited to the usual lacklustre mass-chain sort, the toilet facilities are ghastly and the pub is often heaving with the most vacuous and banal of Leeds's student population. There's no joie de vivre, merely a vague sense of menace, with the overcrowded seating areas a hotbed of petty crime. Drinks are expensive too. To put it simply, there are so many better places to go in the local vicinity.
24 Sep 2006 18:39
The Fox and Grapes, Wimbledon Common
My lunch there speaks for itself. Can I just say at the outset that this was a works Christmas meal; I would never normally be seen dead in a place this expensive.
We were seated in the corner. Five of us cramped around the table. When my meal was served the staff got cross because they had to reach across me to set my fork, as if it was my fault we'd been seated at a table that was far too small and didn't allow them the access they required.
We asked for water, and were given a bottle that only contained enough water for 4/5 of our party. Our request for more water took another ten minutes to action.
One member of staff came and asked if we wanted salt and pepper. We said yes. Another came over and asked the same question.
And how much did it cost, for one course and a non-alcoholic drink? Think of a reasonable amount, then double it.
I thought it was bad before (see my previous review, back when it was just about, marginally, a pub not a gastropub/restaurant)....
One final detail. Even the pictures on the wall have price-tags on them. A steep three-figure amount for a lacklustre painting of Wimbledon Common. Says it all.
16 Jan 2015 23:13