BITE user comments - mafting
Comments by mafting
Went in on a weekend evening, and very disappointed. Pub seemed to be on a low ebb, the beer (Brakespear) was a bit sharp, and worst of all the pub was dominated by a large group of hostile young locals who seemed to think they owned the joint and that it was fine to have a pop at passing trade such as us.
30 Sep 2012 23:32
Like The Snark, I'd also avoided this great pub since Barry left, after a hugely disappointing visit under the last regime (I think they did try, but it just didn't work). But after seeing the advert and write up in the local camra newsletter, I was tempted back in.
It was a little quiet (about a dozen people midweek), but the beer was great: Greene King Mild, York Guzzler, St Peter's Best and Milkwood Nut Brown, with GK Abbott and IPA as ballast. We tried the food, and was quite impressed - nice chunky 8 oz steak (�11.45), thick bit of gammon with decent eggs and pineapple (about �9), both with massive chunky chips (proper chips), with a simple green side salad. I'd be tempted to say that the gammon and eggs was rival quality and value to The Geldart's (which is saying something).
Good to see/hear regulars are drifting back, as it could do with a bit more of the old atmosphere. Most of the pub paraphenalia has gone, so it felt a bit 'empty', but I'm sure that will pick up as this pub is definitely back on the map. With the Elm Tree and Free Press just round the corner, this bit of town is now worth the discerning drinker spending the whole evening in again.
2 Apr 2012 00:11
The Old Post Office, Wallingford
Currently selling Wychwood's January'SAle, a 2.8% bitter. Very nice, and perfect for a workday lunchtime drink! Pleasant staff, comfy seating and newspapers available. Nice.
29 Jan 2012 14:17
Now open after a change of ownership and complete refurbishment and transformation. Stripped and old wood inside, Doom Bar and London Pride on handpull. Worth popping in for a look.
29 Jan 2012 14:13
A great pub. Beers from Green King, but not all is lost as it also has the excellent XX mild and a couple of guests (including St Peter's Ale recently). Also worth noting for the food; the menu is quite varied and unusual for pub grub (a bit of an Italian/Continental influence). The set menu on mon-thurs is extremely good value - three good-sized courses for �12, and all were delicious.
Probably a good idea to get here early, though. Between arriving and being served with our first drink around 6:30 pm, every table had filled up.
7 Oct 2011 19:16
The Devonshire Arms, Cambridge
Great location on Mill Rd and good for the station, and a good range of well-kept beers and cheery, eager young staff. Always seems a bit humid and stuffy, and they could do with sorting out the ventilation and cleaning the tables more often, and maybe touching up the decor a bit to make best use of what could be a lovely interior. 'Will be great when it's finished' is what I'm always left feeling!
29 Sep 2011 21:02
First visit for a long while, and it was not having a good night. Still the same lively mixed crowd, but the music was cranked right up and was blaring out in every room, making conversation difficult. Ordered a pint of what was supposed to be Woodforde's Wherry, but had to check again at the bar because it tasted very much like a ropy pint of GK IPA. Whatever it was, it wasn't Wherry as they claimed, and was borderline undrinkable. Left half of it and went somewhere better (the Geldart). The whole place, including some of the staff, looked a bit dog-eared and on the slide.
29 Sep 2011 20:56
Now The Lion & Key, with a microbrewery at the back (not yet running?). Much improved for it. Had about 6 ales on, inlcuding a couple from Newsome Brewery. Well worth stopping off between White Harte, Walters and Black Boy.
23 Jul 2011 14:25
Seems to be improving once again, and now sits among a clutch of good real ale pubs (Ye Olde White Harte, Walters, Lion & Key). Was busy but not full on this saturday evening, with around 6 ales on. The beer range was a bit disappointing (featuring e.g. Cumberland Bitter, Copper Dragon Golden Pippin) but was ok. Still an essential pub to visit if drinking in Hull.
23 Jul 2011 14:22
After avoiding this place for months due to surly self-reverential staff and overall disappointment with the range and quality of beers, I tried to give it another go. On a saturday afternoon I walked into the courtyard and immediately saw it was packed. On fighting my way into the pub I could see that the bar was 2-3 deep in people wating to be served and that around half the pump clips were turned round (beer not available). The humid heat and smell of frying in the pub convinced me that I'd be better off elsewhere. I'd just come from the White Horse on the Broadway where they didn't seem to have these problems (despite being fairly busy themselves).
When you've got a steady stream of tourists following the advice that this is a 'must visit' pub, then i don't suppose you need to worry about repeat custom and try and make it enjoyable for them. Wont be going in for another 6 months.
9 Jul 2011 23:26
If morrisonale knows of far far better pubs in Oxford, then I'd love to know where they are. In lieu of that, the White Horse is one of the best I've found. On a very busy saturday afternoon in town the pub was not packed, and tables were available. It does get a lot of tourist custom, but also locals too. Beers available were White Horse bitter, Tribute, Tim Taylor, Doom Bar, Old Hooky and Shotover Prospect (which was v. good). Barman was very pleasant, and the fish and chips was fine.
Haven't been in for a good few months but of the city centre pubs I tried today (Bear, Turf, White Horse), this one was the best.
9 Jul 2011 23:18
Popped in to escape a very busy saturday Oxford. There were 6 beers on the wicket, although a couple of them were going off. 4 were Fullers (Pride, Chiswick, ESB and HSB) and the others Shotover's Prospect and Butcombe Bitter (both excellent). The pub was very hot and humid inside, but had a steady stream of custom. Worth a visit if it's quiet.
9 Jul 2011 23:11
Something of an estate pub, next to a budget hotel and retail park. Nothing special pub-wise, but quite large and does the usual processed industrial food and beer. A handy boozer for the locals, but for anyone passing through I'd recommend driving another mile or two to the Waggoners in Wawne for better food and ale.
23 Sep 2010 23:27
Quite a narrow selection of unappetising reale ales on this visit. Still a bit of rock/goth/indie/music pub, popular with the non-chav young 'uns. Big sofas and leather seats, large and roomy bar. Not an essential stop for the discerning real ale drinker, but it's always full of life and worth a look.
23 Sep 2010 23:23
Nice old building housing a fairly basic boozer. It's not classy, but the food is cheap and good value, though beer nothing special. Worth a pit stop.
23 Sep 2010 23:18
Been in a few times and always been a bit disappointed, as it has never quite matched up to the billing. Only ever had a couple of beers on when I've visited (presumably because the rest have been drunk, so fair enough), which have been ok, but the pub itself has been stuffy and humid, a bit grotty, not especially friendly and virtually empty. The tiny outside seating area is a disgrace, the grubbiness giving a bad impression from the off. Could be much more of an asset.
The local camra seem to love it, but after giving it a few chances I'm struggling to see why. I can see what they're trying to do, but it doesn't seem to be working very well when I go there.
23 Sep 2010 23:15
Nicely bedded in with the new management. Beers are Oxford Gold and Brakspear bitter. Food is pretty nice, including deals on mon-thur (2 courses for a tenner).
23 Sep 2010 20:49
Billed as a 'Smith & Jones' pub. Remined me of an All Bar One. No real ale available when I visited. Extensive and very cheap food menu. Had a mixed grill for �9.95, which was not very good, even for the price.
21 Sep 2010 21:57
No real ale. Pleasant enough staff, and seems a locals pub, but nothing to entice the real ale drinker.
21 Sep 2010 21:53
Best pub I've found in March. Modern classic contemporary setting (that means wood and stone, with leather seats, but in a classic modern pub feel), and 4 well kept real ales from local breweries, Woodforde's (Wherry and Nelson's Revenge) and Tydd Steam (Barn Ale and Mild). All excellent. Friendly service. Unfathomably quiet on this tuesday evening, but well worth seeking out if in town. Just opposite, over the river, is the Kashmir Balti House, which is worht seeking out for a curry.
21 Sep 2010 21:51
A repeat visit. Range of 3 Youngs bitters, including London Gold, being ok or good, plus another bitter.
Food was only average - 9 quid for gammon, egg and chips, tenner for "fish" and chips (what fish? Cod? Haddock? Pike?!).
Bar staff decidedly mixed. One young lass very good, another awful - had no conception of shandy, and had never heard of Magners (they only do Bulmers). perhaps training staff before letting them loose on a saturday night might be an idea....
Still, a very nice old building, and one of the better pubs (the best?) in the immediate area.
25 Apr 2010 00:39
One more thing: the place really could do with a spruce-up. The seats were ripped and tatty, and the toilets left a lot to be desired. Again, check out the bogs in the Royal Exchange to see that a London boozer's khazi doesn't have to actually look like a sh*thole.
25 Apr 2010 00:26
The Sir Alexander Fleming, Paddington
Awful. Only redeeming feature was the pleasant barman.
25 Apr 2010 00:23
Re-visited on a sunny saturday evening, and the place was very quiet (almost dead). Friendly bar staff, but the Deuchars was pretty ropey (is this an easy thing to achieve?!). Will probably pop in again, but will always prefer the Royal Exchange across the road.
25 Apr 2010 00:22
Not a bad pub. Beer was good (Youngs bitter and Special, Titanic), surroundings pleasant, clientele mostly 20-40s professionals and got quite full. Food was a bit pricey but not bad. Staff mostly pleasant, although one young barman had a face like thunder every time we spoke to him - a bit of seasonal cheer wouldn't go amiss. As is becoming common in pubs like this, some tables had reserved signs on them, which is an annoyance on a packed evening - what is it, a pub or a restaurant?
5 Dec 2009 16:16
The Pride of Paddington, Paddington
Bit of a grotty hole, much better places round the corner (e.g. The Mitre).
5 Dec 2009 16:08
The best real ale pub in Oxford town, no contest.
Has a good, interesting range of bitter and (on my last visit) Elgoods Black Dog mild. On a saturday night, it wasn't full of the kind of heaving clientele that spoils the White Horse and the Turf Tavern. So you could actually have a seat and a civilised pint without feeling like you're in a tourist trap or student bar. In other words, a proper normal drinkers' pub.
Served food, but I didn't try it, though menu looked cheap. Beer was good, staff pleasant, pub interior nice. A real gem, 5-10 min walk from the station. The only pub I've found in Oxford that could hold a candle up to Cambridge's premier league.
18 Oct 2009 00:30
Hugely disappointed.
Used to go in here about 10 years but popped back on a return to the city in the afternoon to find it somewhat tatty, grubby and basic.
Ordered a pint and asked for a glass of tap water while I was paying (was a hot day), only to be told that I could buy a bottle of water but not have tap. I've never had this before in my life and would have walked out, but as the fella already had my money in his hand I went along with it.
The Tetleys was not great (Tim Taylor's Landlord was also on, but other pumps unused), but the place was dark and gloomy, chipped and scuffed, the tables dirty, and could do with a major clean-up/sprucing up. There was also piped music, which never normally bothers me, but this was too loud and a particularly annoying mix of a Basement Jaxx mash-up in the middle of the afternoon.
Not the place to have a quiet pint and the thing with the water left me feeling fleeced. The place felt grubby and grasping and I wont be going back when you can walk 2 mins more and be treated to a decent pub experience in the Wellington.
24 Aug 2009 20:44
Got as far as the door in this place before immediately turning around and leaving. Looked absolutely bloody awful.
19 May 2009 22:59
Not worth especially seeking out, being a very average Greene King pub. Service a bit mixed (one very friendly and courteous, another a bit curt). Food mixed too, one meal very nice, another (mixed grill) using very cheap cuts and with a glorified slice of bacon passing for gammon. Not good enough for the price.
19 May 2009 22:57
With the sad wobbly decline of the Black Boy and the Bay Horse, and the fact that Ye Olde White Harte caters for lager drinkers as well as camra members, this has assumed the mantle of 'best pub in Hull' in recent years. And it's bloody good. It's a basic backstreet boozer, no fancy decor, but it's quite spacious, vibrant, with lots of well-kept regularly-changing ales and also a huge range of bottled beers. The ambience is friendly conversation.
The window frostings and scarves above the bar tells you that there is a Hull FC supporter running the place, but this being rugby league you will be welcomed with friendly chat whether FC or other. So a great place to go for the discerning drinker from visiting teams.
24 Apr 2009 00:03
The Geldart used to be notorious as a dirty, dodgy, awful after-hours refuge for alcoholics and excitable students in the fays before relaxed pub hours. As soon as everyone else was allowed to serve after 11 too, its only selling point disappeared and it shut. You could stay in the White Swan and get til 1 am instead, legally. Nobody missed it, and it could easily have been lost as a pub.
It has since been re-opened by the charismatic Elvis, who used to work at the nearby (and well respected beer and food pub) The Kingston Arms. It has been completely refitted with tasteful, modern, restrained decor - leather, dark wood, low lighting, you get the idea. It aims for a similar clientelle to the Kingston, and the other quality beer/food pubs in the area (which are numerous and intimidating rivals for such a venture). But the Geldart holds up very well.
The beer quality and range is good - at least 4 handpulls from largely Anglian brewers (e.g the excellent Woodforde's Wherry). The food menu is limited but also good. The gimmick is the 'hot rocks', whereby your food arrives still cooking on a hot...rock. They had steak, venison and kangaroo when I visited, for about �13-16 including chips and salad - about standard for the area. There are starters like a plate of pitta and houmous, and deserts. It's somewhat better value than the Kingston these days, which has been trading on a faded food reputation involving high prices and cheap ingredients for some time (10 quid for mackerel!).
Certainly worth seeking out if you're in the area, fitting in well with the Cambridge Blue, Kingston Arms, Empress, Live & Let Live and Salisbury, but still enough below the radar to not be packed.
23 Apr 2009 23:47
Fantastically good pub. Had a mild on (Berkshire), and beers all seemed to be from local breweries. The ones I tried were in tiptop condition. Staff and regulars friendly. Not much to add to previous accolade posts, except parking can be tricky and it's not easy to reach by anything other than car if you're not a villager. Had darts board, dominoes, cribbage. One of the best pubs I've ever visited.
23 Apr 2009 23:22
Full of loud youths, felt like a bad Wetherspoons. Staff ok, but not a place to re-visit. I'm 33 and I felt like an old man in here.
22 Apr 2009 16:31
Wadworth 6x and Henry's IPA in good condition, the guest (Horizon Cyclops) wasn't on.
Rural village pub, dark floorboards and beams, tasteful rural bric-a-brac and local pictures, bar billiards, large brick fireplace, piped music. One large compartmentalised room around a wooden bar.
Seems to have a big angle on food, with most patrons being diners. Layout geared towards this with wooden tables and chairs.
21 Mar 2009 22:07
The Coachmakers Arms, Wallingford
Good pub. Pleasant atmosphere and crowd (apparently a refurb about a year ago, judging by other comments and appearances), wooden floorboards and old wood tables n chairs, lots of books and a few implements on the walls, plus a mounted impala head making a change from the usual stag! 2 main rooms and a bar area, all quite cosy. Three handpumps, but the 2 Brakspear bitter clips were turned around and the only bitter was a seasonal Brakspear. Has a food menu which looked good. Well worth a visit.
20 Dec 2008 16:13
The Royal Exchange, Paddington
Very good no-nonsense boozer, handy for Paddington, manned by friendly Irish staff. Had Brakspear Bitter and Greene King IPA on wicket. The Brakspear was good. Murphy's was on plastic tap. Very cheap good-value food - nothing more than �5.50, such as sausage and mash with cabbage and gravy, roast cold meats, and the meat sarnies are �3. It's not haute cuisine, but it's very decent fodder for the price.
Not a massive pub, split into two areas (bar and a further seating area at the back), with wood and leatherette benches, gold lighting fittings, lots of horse racing paintings and pictures on the wall. Toilets ok for London. Eclectic jukebox including lots of old blues, plus virtually everything else, but it's not too intrusive. Also a TV for sports, but also not so as you'd notice unless you looked for it. Mixed crowd of youngsters on the razzle, suits, old boys and workers.
Well worth an evening.
5 Dec 2008 01:26
Recently re-opened after a sympathetically traditional refit (carpet, old wood, exposed tudor-ish beams) and with a friendly young couple of publicans. Three real ales - Greene King IPA, Morland's Original and Ridley's Witchfinder Porter. Has TV and juke box, a long bar area that is partitioned, and is handy for the station. The menu looked good value, with deals on some days (pie or curry and a pint for a fiver), and was traditonal pub fayre. Licenced to 1am on fri and sat, but may not stay open if quiet. Worth a visit, and deserves supporting, as a second pub is a valuable addition to the area.
29 Nov 2008 23:43
One of the better central Oxford pubs that stands up to other towns. Decent beers, and though small it's quite cosy with dark wood panelling all over. Lots of Inspector Morse pics on the wall, which was a bit cheesy. Certainly worth a visit, and better than the smelly Eagle and Child.
29 Nov 2008 01:04
Morland Original and Greene King IPA on wicket. Morland was ok - didn't risk the notoriously poor-travelling GK. Two bars to the pub. On this friday night one was full of young crowd and very loud music (audible from down the street!), the other bar was quieter til about 10.45 when it suddenly filled, due to it being the only later pub venue. Got very full, but friendly crowd of 20-30s. A good pub if you're in the mood for that kind of thing.
29 Nov 2008 00:58
3 beers on - Brakspears Bitter and Oxford Gold, plus Hobgoblin. Beer in good nick. Decent atmosphere, friendly crowd or mixed ages, old-style boozer. One of the best in Wallingford.
29 Nov 2008 00:54
Very good for beer, with up to 10 real ales, including many local brews (e.g. Elgoods Black Dog, Cambridge brewery beers). Real fires in winter, a large beer garden, very handy for Mill Rd and Cambridge rail station. Food is the upper end of pub grub, but quite overpriced - this was the first gastropub in Cambridge and still trades (and charges) on its reputation despite many other competitors now, some of which are far better value.
Service can be quite sullen from the Iberian matriarch, and bar staff seem to change with alarming regularity. Tables are usually booked at weekend evenings by people wanting to eat, and staff have pushed me off a table an hour before the booking time. There are not really enough tables for it to be a pub and a booking eaterie, so something needs to change here as it is very offensive to spend 3 hrs in here drinking their ale and then being unceremoniously thrown off your table because Student Johnny is bringing his ma and pa. Only to find every other table booked too. The staff are not even courteous about it.
So my advice would be to get here early, perhaps of a friday or saturday afternoon or early evening, have a few of their excellent beers, then move on by 7.30pm.
8 Oct 2008 23:23
The Seven Stars, Chancery Lane
A lawyers pub, attracting many of the beer-sodden barristers from the nearby courts. Very expensive and pretentious food, but it wasn't bad. Beer was fine on my recent visit. Eccentric landlady calling herself Roxy Beaujolais, and a cat that wears an Elizabethan ruff and has run of the bar top. Pu is full of bric-a-brac, and tables with plastic covers in the main eating area.
Not wonderful, but fairly charming in its own way. Worth a visit, but probably needs to take its head out of its arse and pay a bit more attention to customer service.
8 Oct 2008 23:08
Went in last night. 3 pumps but only 2 beers on: Deuchars IPA and Courage Best, which were fine. Friendly service and atmosphere, sports telly on in the corner but not loud, and priority was given to the very good juke box (lots of 90s indie classics).
Food was good for the price (burger and chips for about 5 quid, steak and chips about 8-9 quid).
A large open-plan pub, with old farming implements on the walls, dark heavy tables and chairs and red leatherette benches. Toilets clean and civilised.
Nothing very special about the place, but a thoroughly decent pub, especially for this bit of town. Well worth an evening of anyone's life.
5 Oct 2008 00:14
Great village/country pub, very traditional, with 4 well-kept and interesting real ales. Nice garden area with dovecote and flowers, large car park, beams and real fires inside with nice old furniture and lots of bric-a-brac. Dominoes being played. Very cosy, welcoming cheerful staff. No food.
28 Sep 2008 02:16
I'd echo the previous poster. This is not a pub anymore, it is a restaurant/cafe all the way through. No real ale on wicket, all tables set for food, and not conducive to just having a drink. We had a meal, which was generally ok and arrived quite quickly. Service was friendly, and the place was very busy so looks popular with people driving in. But after eating we didn't fancy another drink here and quickly moved on to the Blue Bell in nearby Old Ellerby, which still functions as a proper pub (sadly unlike the Railway).
28 Sep 2008 02:12
11 real ales on tonight, and 2 ciders and 2 perries, plus a Belgian beer on draught. Ales came from Woodfordes, Nethergate, Tring, Titanic, Oakham, Broughton and others. I had a Wherry and a Tring mild and both were excellent. Foodwise, my mate had a baked spud with chilli, which he professed to be great value at around a fiver. Good mix of clientelle, and busy on this friday night, but not rammed.
A really excellent pub, one of Cambridge's best.
19 Sep 2008 23:25
Brakspear on Hobgoblin on, on a lunchtime midweek visit. Landlady cheerful and friendly, young barmaid a bit less so!
Brakspear was very good. Several people eating, and it looked (and was reported as) very nice.
Quite a large pub, with 3 large rooms. One with pol table, onefor eating, one a bar room. Bar itself looks ike a modern adition and not very attractive, but nice beams and bric a brac throughout the pubs. Slighty frayed at the edges, but cosy. Large car park and seating outside. A nice pub.
17 Sep 2008 10:58
No cask ales last night on my first visit. A good bar menu. We had he battered coley (an co alternatie to haddock, so points there for effort) and chips with peas and salad. Good value at 6.95, though batter was a bit soggy. Atmosphere a bit thin - rather cold, felt empty despite about 20 people in, decor a bit alienating -trying too hard to be modern and cool, I think. Staff friendly enough, food quite quick and freshly cooked.
7 points for food
0 for beer
4 for atmosphere and decor
There are several 'Black Boy' pubs around. It usually refers to an old tobbacconist logo or links to the abolition of slavery.
17 Sep 2008 10:53
I stand corrected on the beer range - improved between my last visit (some months ago) and the most recent (last weekend).
Beer very good, place rammed with students, food took ages (but it was very busy, although we were denied cutlery as we were eating outside!) and was ok, but I still saw people being ignored at the end of the bar I'm afraid. Maybe the sign isn't obvious enough and the pumps and lighting confuse people?
JHB still the only 'local' brew (Peterborough), so I think that comment was fair. Black Bull very good though. Would be nice to see some Cambridge, Nethergate or Elgoods beers.
Angry ripostes by staff on here to personal opinions based on prior experience not an incentive to return. A polite correction could have done. Makes one wary of taking concerns to the bar at the time of visiting!
15 Sep 2008 17:33
This pub gets local accolades, and it's not bad, though there are much better in Cambridge.
Plus points:
good for the station
youngish crowd of pretty young things and students
good juke box
beer quality good
large
negatives:
Often packed.
Beer range limited to mostly Charles wells/Adnams stable. No local beers.
Bad service - there is a long bar that is separated by a partition, and despite it all being lit they only serve at one end of the bar and ignore you if you stand at the other. Numerous times i have seen people totally ignored by the staff as they wash glasses right next to them, when they could simply say or put a sign that there is no service at that end of the bar. It's not rocket science and people get quite wound up when it's busy.
Food is served, but can take a long time and is only 'ok' rather than great.
12 Sep 2008 20:31
Having ocne had a reputation for being a bit of a rough hole in the past, a refurbishment in recent years has turned this into a good local pub with some useful features.
Firstly, in regards the last poster (who needed a pee), I don't really blame them for turning away a bloke who'd been on a pub crawl but hadn't had the decency to include their pub on it, and then expect to use their loo. They're not a charity! Buy something, like everyone else does when they want to use the facilities. It's general pub rules everywhere.
The best things about this pub are location (there are very few pubs at this end of Mill Rd, let alone good ones), and also the food. The menu is quite cheap, especially steak nights on tuesday, and surprisingly good. The fish and chips is great for pub fare, and the portions are all freshly cooked and good-sized. The beer is usually IPA or similar, and nothing to write home about - I usually stick to Guinness rather than risk Greene King. The waiting staff are polite, and the landlady is also a charm. The landlord is ex-services (with his navy memorabilia on the walls) and can be a bit brusque, but runs a tight ship (pun!) and takes no hassle from some of the less desirables at this end of Mill Rd - something a pub in this area requires.
There are 2 rooms, one with modern decor and leather sofas and another with big screen sports. these are sufficiently separated so that one doesn't bother the other. There is also a large pleasant outside area. Clientele is mostly regulars and Cambridge locals but also a mixed crowd for eating. There is a big car park, which is also useful, and it has a bus stop to town right outside.
All in all, a pleasant locals pub that does a great line in food and good for a summer afternoon/evening. It's also good for sports fans (especially football - note the Cambridge Utd flags outside). Worth going out of your way for the great value food.
12 Sep 2008 20:22
The King Street Run, Cambridge
Terrible. Very grotty. Go to the Radegund at the end of the road instead.
11 Sep 2008 20:37
Very disappointed with this on my first and only visit. It was smelly (not just the bogs - the whole place stunk of sweaty bodies and stale beer), grotty, and the beer not up to scratch. Range was also very poor and uninspiring (do they do anything but Brakespear and London Pride in this town?!) Very overrated - I left most of my pint and departed.
11 Sep 2008 20:31
New landlord is doing a sterling job in filling Dave's mighty boots. This is still a brilliant locals pub with a great mix of clientele (old men with red noses to freshers), a good juke box (not too intrusive), good well-kept beer (usually 4-5 real ales, including local breweries), and nice staff. It's also quite big, ramling through 3 rooms which all have a different feel, so you cna always get a table yet it's still cosy. Also a large beer garden.
11 Sep 2008 20:22
Fantastic pub. Ancient, full of character, well-kept beer (Caledonian 80-/- and Deuchars IPA, Flowers/Youngs, Directors, Old Peculiar) and friendly staff. It gets very busy on weekend evenings between about 7.30 and 8.30pm as it's on a bit of a circuit for locals on the razzle, as well as the usual drinking crowd and a growing sprinkling of tourists. But that gives it a varied crowd and bustling vibe. So best go on a week-day night or after 8.30pm, when you can appreciate the interior. There are huge dark oak beams, ceiling and staircase, all charred from a long-ago fire. There are 2 copper-topped bars, but only one is usually serving. Behind the unused bar is a skull in a glass case that was found behind panelling upstairs. There are 2 large open fireplaces with delft tiles (look out for Mason symbol - a rotated tile in one of them). The courtyard is pleasant in summer and is handy for smokers. The stained glass windows are nice, and a large inlaid fish leads you up the alley from Bowlalley Lane on part of the heritage trail.
The pub is credited as being the start point for the Civil War, as the town's governor lived here and held a meeting in his rooms (the 'plotting parlour' upstairs) during which they decided to deny the King access to the town's massive arsenal ans close the city gates on him. This was the first act of rebellion, and it all kicked off from that.
All in all, a truly wonderful traditional pub. I've only knocked a point off for it being busy at times, and because I once got told off for moving a chair out of the fireplace in order to join friends at a table - the chairs aint for moving!
11 Sep 2008 20:16
Been going in here for 15 years. One of the best pubs in town (in a town full of good pubs), but it suffers variably over the years due to changes of management, not all of them being for the good. The current incumbents are slowly running this pub down, and it is now usually rather empty. The beer range and quality has taken a notable dive in 2008 and when I went in earlier this year the landlord seemed half-cut at the bar. It now has a bit of a grubby feel, rather than the usual dark and interesting. The quality of the interior is still impressive, although a few years ago they removed all the old weapons and most the slave-trade artefacts (chilling Sales posters etc) from the walls and replaced with pointless Hobgoblin beer posters (the pub is close to the abolitionist William Wilberforce's house - look out for the frieze on the fireplace on the front room). If the current management are not careful, this pub could be run into the ground and lose its status as an absolute gem.
11 Sep 2008 20:04
The Gate House, Wallingford
**NOW CALLED TOWN ARMS**
Needs a new entry under that pub name.
After a refurb and new management this has become one of the pub-lovers best options in Wallingford, although it was still fairly quiet on my weekend visit - needs some word-of-mouth and a proper entry on BITE.
This free house pub is a 17th Century Grade-2 listed building. It has two rooms, with cobbled floors/dark wood/chairs and sofas in the front, and three hand-pumps selling good regional beers - West Berks, Loddon and White Horse brewery on my visit. The W Berks Mr Chubb's Lunchtime bitter at £2.90 a pint was very good indeed.
A wide-screen tv was showing Wimbledon in the corner, though the sound was off (a good thing), and there was piped music in the back room but not enough to be a nuisance.
It's located on the High Street, virtually next door to the awful Boathouse - let's hoope some shell-shocked survivors that have been unwittingly sucked into that awful place manage to escape and find their way here. At last, a proper civilised real-ale pub in Wallingford. Recommended.
3 Jul 2013 13:19