BITE user comments - mr_goatboy
Comments by mr_goatboy
Was in the area recently and had a couple of very tasty meals in here. The menu was reassuringly small with interesting local produce and fresh fish heavily featured. I would heartily recommend it to anyone visiting the Portscatho/Gerrans area.
The one real ale on tap (Betty Stogs when I visited, but I think they vary it as I saw a Doom Bar pump clip) was well kept and very tasty. If you really must drink fizzy nonsense masquerading as beer - that looked fine too.
Seems like it attracts the locals as well and isn't just touristcentric - which is always a good thing.
To sum up - friendly, clean, good value tasty food and decent beer. Nice beer garden too.
25 Jun 2009 12:21
Used to go to the Roseland Inn quite a bit when down in the Roseland Peninsula on holiday. It was prettty good initially, but then went into a bit of a nosedive.
Haven't visited for a few years, but recently went back after finding out about the new(ish) owners and the attached microbrewery.
Vast improvement. The food was very good (the steak I had was particularly noteworthy) and their own ale (the ridiculously named Cornish Shag - why do real ale brewers have such infantile senses of humour?) was very tasty.
Prices? Not a bargain, but reasonable for the quality on offer I suppose.
I don't know if it gets many locals in though - it seemed as though all the customers were tourists on the night we went.
Still - if you're down there etc. etc... It's worth a visit.
8 Jun 2009 12:00
A solid enough place to while away an afternoon. 3 solid well kept real ales on tap.
13 Mar 2009 17:53
Was here in early September. Didn't eat, but the St Austell Tribute was good. A pleasant place to escape to for a few lotions.
5 Nov 2008 12:25
Well Betty. Negative is a bit unfair. I try to find the positive in everything and would dearly love to be able to drink in the Ranelagh, as it's the nearest pub to my house, but find it impossible to do so. I just can't condone the poor standards and slapdash service. Sorry, I don't like to feel ripped-off.
I'm not alone it would appear as a rating of 5.4-odd from over 40 users isn't too great, is it? Even the much reviled Springfield Park Tavern gets a better rating.
You ask the type of place I would like to drink in? I would have to say that it would be something akin to the Ranelagh, but with much higher standards and better value for money.
4 Nov 2008 23:56
Nice advertorial Betty. ;-)
Wild horses couldn't drag me and many others back however.
31 Oct 2008 20:59
I hadn't darkened the door of this establishment for about two years, but was convinced by a friend to attend against my better judgement.
Sad to say, even though it did the wonderful Sierra Nevada Pale Ale on draught (albeit at the stratospheric price of �3.85 a pint) the service was shambolic - a hot, busy night at the height of summer meant that the two (yep, two) overwhelmed barstaff were besieged on all sides by punters desperate for drink - waiting far longer than neccessary (average wait for a drink was about 10mins). I noticed a few give up and walk out in frustration. Not good.
Food orders were also dealt with at the bar which led to more confusion as the staff were left hanging about waiting for the clueless yummy mummies who'd forgotten who wanted what, how and whether or not chunky fries or salad accompanied the uninspiring-looking fare on offer.
A dedicated food ordering area would make this far easier for us poor sods who go to a pub for umm... beer.
A quiz night made this experience even less pleasant as we were regaled by a series of largely banal questions belted out at maximum decibels over the PA System as you waited patiently for service. OK, I concede that people like this sort of thing, but if you're trying to have a quiet drink and have been ordered into the bar as the garden and patio close early it's a bit trying as there was no getting way from it.
I welcomed this pub when it was converted to pseudogastro back in 2005, but unfortunately feckless management and evidently poor standards have meant that it's nowhere near as good as it could be. Many friends from the area have regaled me of tales of bad service and inedible overpriced food.
If there was competition, people would desert it in droves. It has a virtual monopoly as there's little or no serious competition for the gentrified pound which has come into the area in the last 10 or so years. I can't imagine many of the clientele checking out, say, the Springfield (which is a far better, less pretentious boozer where I recently got a very decent pint of Courage Best for a stuning �1.90) As it stands, the people who use the Ranelagh get poor value for money.
Maybe head office should send a mystery shopper to check it out as it could make far more for the chain if run properly. Or maybe the chain is happy fleecing the clientele? God knows what will happen when the credit crunch begins to bite.
I don't think I'll go back.
30 Jul 2008 18:24
Nice stereotypical 'olde worlde' country pub. Very nice selection of Localish/West Country ales. Good quality food - decent value for money. Highly recommended.
16 Oct 2007 15:31
The Springfield Bar & Grill, Bounds Green
hmmm...
I wonder if anonymous has ever actually been into the Springfield. Doesn't sound like it.
1 Oct 2007 20:44
I think the most fitting tribute I can pay this amazing establishment is that when you use mere mortal boozers you always wish you were in the Wenlock.
Not so much a pub as a way of life.
1 Oct 2007 12:26
The Royal George, Charing Cross Road
Used this pub on Saturday evening by default (stag do). I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this pub. It's nowhere near as bad as it initially looks. Service was fast and efficient which was a surprise as it was quite busy. The London Pride was quite decent as it goes.
1 Oct 2007 12:10
I met up with friends in this establishment on Saturday morning and I have to say it wasn't as bad as one would expect. Had a decent pint of Young's. Certainly could have been far worse.
1 Oct 2007 12:04
Had fantastic mussels and fish and chips in here and very reasonably priced too. Three very decent real ales on tap as well. Highly recommended.
20 Sep 2007 20:57
The Ranelagh is a pub for people that don't like pubs or the people that frequent pubs. It's a restaurant that sells beer, basically.
In the summer it's intolerable as it serves as an ad-hoc cr�che for free-range children and their daft parents. Am I being unfashionable in thinking that pubs should be an adult pursuit?
It takes bloody ages to get served when there's even a handful of people at the bar. And as Cockney_Hammer says �3.30 for a Guinness is shocking out in the boondocks. The food has got progressively more dreary and unoriginal. If there were any other competition for the gentrified pound in the area they'd undoubtedly suffer. And deservedly so.
Oh and Mryumyum - it DOES feel like a chain just one cynically designed to fleece you and your ilk. The "different" feeling is engineered in all the chain's pubs. Establishments like this are becoming increasingly and depressingly prevalent. I'm amazed that people would use the existence of such a place as a criteria for choosing where to live. Each to their own, I suppose.
As it happens the pub you and others allude to (The Springfield) is a pretty decent establishment, but just happens to cater to residents who have lived around the area for longer and don't wish to suffer fools and foolishness. You can get decent beer and food there. Quickly and cheaply. Last time I was in there I was talking to a veteran of the Spanish Civil War. Is that the type of fighting you were referring to?
And before you ask my middle class ponce credentials are probably more impeccable than yours. I've just been in the area far longer.
3 Aug 2007 20:41
The Springfield Bar & Grill, Bounds Green
An honest decent local boozer. No airs or graces like the increasingly shambolic and pretentious Ranelagh up the road.
Good for watching football without hassle. I'd prefer a Real Ale on tap, but the Guinness is usually very good. Haven't tried the food, but it looks fine.
All in all a very solid and honest local.
5 Mar 2007 13:00
I went in here just before Christmas to meet with friends. Would normally drink real ale and was slightly dismayed to find that there wasn't any on offer, it being a Sam Smith's pub and all. Had a pint of their Wheat Beer which was quite pleasant and reasonably priced.
I'd sum this up as being better than I thought it would be, given its proximity to Oxford Street. Better than most in the area, but nothing special, to be honest.
5 Jan 2007 15:46
Beer: Good, well kept - Sam Smiths, which I guess is OK if you like their offerings.
Food: Hearty, old school and reasonably priced - no overpriced gastro-style nonsense in evidence.
Ambiance: Safe and reasonably friendly - decent mix of clientele.
Bogs: clean and well equipped.
A decent and genuine local boozer. Very definitely a pub that serves food rather than a restaurant that serves beer, which is becoming all too prevalent.
Being off the beaten track saves it from a lot of the ills that befalls other pubs in the area.
I enjoyed my recent evening there and would return without hesitation.
14 Dec 2006 13:05
A charming little pub tucked up a sidestreet in one of Corwall's prettiest seaside villages. Good selection of ales and excellent bar food. Has a very good restaurant upstairs.
23 Jun 2006 19:59
If being surrounded by braying fools talking cobblers is your bag, this is your venue.
7 Jun 2006 18:15
Not a bad little boozer. Gets a little shouty when it fills up. However I don't think that Abbot Ale is mean to be served SO COLD THAT YOU CAN BARELY HOLD THE GLASS!
7 Jun 2006 18:10
I used to love this place, but it's gone rapidly downhill in the last year or so.
I recently got a virtually opaque pint of St Austell Tribute, and when I took it back was told "that's what it's meant to be like".
Wasn't like that the last time I had it!
Please try harder.
7 Jun 2006 17:51
Hmm...
Firstly, I welcome the fact that a pub of this sort can exist and indeed thrive in Bounds Green. I never cease to be amazed that folk will pay �4 for a pint of obscure wheat beer.
However, they need to try harder. Service at busy times is unbelievably poor and has no cohesion whatsoever.
Last summer I waited an unbelievable 15 mins to get served. Yes, it was busy, but I've worked in pubs where things have been mentally busy and 15 mins is an absolute outrage. If there had been anywhere else to go we would have gone - but maybe this is part of the Ranelagh's problem - there's no serious local competition. I believe from a recent visit that come the summer things will be just as disorganized as last year.
They also run out of real ale far too often (last three times I've been in there) and lager is lager whether it's obscure and expensive or not.
7 Jun 2006 17:21
The Springfield Bar & Grill, Bounds Green
"Add to this a cold pub, terrible blaring music and overpriced beer (for the area), and you have a thoroughly miserable experience. AVOID!"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Beer overpriced??? I looked back on a review I did of the Ranelagh in 2007 and the Guinness was more expensive then (�3.30 per pint!) than the Springfield is now. Not having been in the Ranelagh for a few years I can't comment on what they charge but I bet it's not cheap and I very much doubt it's as cheap as the SPT.
As far as the issue about requesting that people buy drink - fair enough. I wouldn't dream of going into a pub to watch football without having a few drinks and resent seeing cheeky sods taking up table space without having the decency to purchase a drink. It is a business after all.
Maybe I'm old fashioned in that respect.
It still does what it says on the tin. A good honest boozer. Treat people well and you'll be treated well.
20 Mar 2011 20:19