BITE user comments - pgw
Comments by pgw
Went in here for the first time the other day. Ales (Yeovil BST and 49er) in good nick. Free roast potatoes brought round by the guvnor. Lively & friendly, welcomes dogs, food menu looks good. I'd recommend this place
13 Aug 2010 12:56
The White Hart, Stoke Newington
Excellent pub - large inside, great garden. Usually a good selection of ale (nice Summer Lightning when I was there, plus Doombar and Tribute). All present and correct, really. Have been there (when I used to live in the area) on a Fri night and it is PACKED. Other times - like a Sat afternoon - very mellow. Had a couple of pints and then across the road to Cafe Mostra for a great meze lunch
17 May 2010 11:44
Went here the other day on a return to London/old stomping grounds. Not seen it before - converted from a shop. Relaxed, friendly staff, easygoing all round. Nice pint of Merrie Monk, with other ales on the go too. Had a Sunday lunch - they do a veggie option and you can load up in an all-you-can-eat stylee at the carvery. Nice one! Recommended
17 May 2010 11:32
Bankes Arms Hotel and Country Inn, Studland
Good, generally. The beers are always tasty and a decent range. Food is so-so. Location is brilliant - a nice walk up to Harry Rocks, and then a drink in the large garden area which has stunning views. Amazing
11 May 2010 15:21
Not bad at all . . . some OK Ringwood (Best, Boondoggle, 49er - not in pristine form, but fine) and an increasingly lively atmosphere on an early Fri evening. Some of the blokes at the bar were loudmouthed, swaggering cocks of the highest order - one of them bellowing all sorts of misogynist crap at the top of his voice for the benefit of his 'mates'; I felt sorry for the young barmaid, who was obviously new and learning the ropes, having to listen to that all night - but, then again, you get these sorts of 'characters' in a lot of boozers, and the atmosphere was otherwise lively and friendly enough. Worth a visit, definitely
11 May 2010 14:58
A real shame this place has closed down - still, at least we'll now be spared people moaning about going in and (gasp) finding some dogs in there. Apparently (shock horror) some people take dogs for walks and then want to go to the pub straight after. And, annoying as it might seem to some moaning bastards, some landlords recognise, accept and embrace this fact.
11 May 2010 14:45
Ye Olde George Inn, Christchurch
Great pub, great beer. Allows dogs (a good thing). Needs to put more vegetarian options on the menu though - what happened to the veggie burger? It was only on the menu for a month or so and then disappeared! The Piddle beers are great though, and they always have a guest brew as well
7 May 2010 12:37
Hmm - this is still a bit of a crap pub. Dirty glasses, sticky tables. And, for somewhere that has a pretty rough and ready clientele, the door policy is odd. In the depths of winter, walking in from a subzero outside with hats and scarves on, we were immediately accosted by a doorman going on about "no hats". "Eh?" we said, as we removed our hats because we were, like, now inside rather than outside. "No hats" he repeated, pointing to a sign that says something about no hoods, hats, visors, Viking helmets. We pointed out that we were only wearing hats because it was freezing cold and we were taking them off as we walked to the bar anyway. This only prompted more are-you-causing-trouble type doorman horseshit. I'm assuming they get some troublesome types in there, but a few oldsters in woolly hats . . . hmmm. A more recent visit, and a friend's son was not allowed in because he was wearing tracksuit bottoms - a policy of no trackies after 7.30 or something. I looked round and everyone else was wearing dinner jackets and bow ties, so that one was fair enough. They do have standards to maintain in the Seabournes, after all. Shame it doesn't extend to the tables or glasses . . .
4 May 2010 08:29
Are those people who are 'holding onto their twenties', mentioned a post or two back, waving them at the staff? Because that's the minimum you need to get a round in these days . . . Guinness is �3.05, as just noted by lowroader, and all the ales are *almost* at that �3.00 mark. In fact, I went in the other night and Adnams and London Pride were �2.85 each and Fullers Discovery was �2.90 (and the latter was flat!). Last time I went in was a month or two back, and the prices were slightly lower (and they were lower still a mere few months prior to that). It looks like they are putting the prices up every few months. It's a decent boozer all right, but sheesh, what the hell's going on with those prices? I went to the Wenlock Arms the other night and they still do their hugely impressive range of ales, all for �2.30 a pop. To be paying 30% more for variable beer really does smack of someone getting carried away with this postcode bollocks, rather than thinking "What makes a decent pub?" Still, that's the way of the world now (though there are places that show it needn't be)
13 Apr 2006 12:18
Nice boozer - good ales, and the food's good comfort type grub (sausage and mash, pies etc - but the high-end versions at reasonable enough prices). The bar space is open-plan and pretty trad-looking (ie not a trendy makeover) and there is another area out the back (plus a garden). In fact, its 'old-school' feel, combined with the fact that it is on Stoke Newington Church Street, perhaps explains why it is generally pretty quiet for a pub on a main road known for its food/drinking culture . . . most of the Stokie types probably go somewhere that they think is a bit trendier (which is good news for the rest of us).
Downsides - can get pretty smoky; and one time when I was there til closing time, the chucking out style was completely out of proportion to the number of punters and the generally relaxed atmosphere (think of an uptight sergeant-major screaming at 3 or 4 bemused people already on their way out . . . ). These things aside, a good pub - esp good for a couple of pints if you are on your way to one of the many fine restaurants along this street. Also, the landlord/landlady have two great springer spaniels, which always adds character to a boozer.
7 Mar 2006 12:29
Generally a pretty good place - though pricey for what is a backstreet boozer. Nice range of beer. Have to agree with previous posts that refer to how they welcome dogs (though some of the staff seem to merely 'tolerate' them, but that's fair enough) . . . it's good to be able to take your own dog to the pub, or go in without yours and be more or less guaranteed someone else's to be mooching about. The jukebox is good too. The outside bit is a bit of a weird thing (a kind of covered conservatory/gazebo effort), but it's pretty nice to sit out there once the weather gets warmer. Esp as the pub itself can get quite smokey. Not sure what the official licensing hours are, but they are usually pretty relaxed about drinking up time - closing the curtains and not bellowing at people unduly. Overall, a decent pub.
7 Mar 2006 12:12
As Grinerine points out, this is something that comes down to 'personal experience and opinion'. As I said in my post, I've had lots of great times in the Island Queen and there are (or have been) some great staff working there. My personal experience on the evening of Sat 4th March was a very very poor one, for the reasons I explained. I certainly saw no evidence of the two male staff who were on being 'into providing good and polite service'. They weren't slow, just sloppy and morose. Maybe it was a one-off, but it certainly happened.
And if the pub does have a late license (to be honest, I didn't see the times posted outside), until 1.00pm on a Sat, then all the punters were thrown out 1 hour 40 minutes early, as we were out the door (in precisely the way described) by 11.20pm. This was annoying at the time - and is even more so now that Grinerine has pointed out the existence of a late license. My suspicion at the time was that the two staff were off out somewhere else after work (and perhaps wanted to be there earlier in the evening, and resented working, hence their manner) - the fact that they evidently closed the pub over an hour and a half earlier than it should have been closed on a Sat evening does nothing to shake that suspicion.
7 Mar 2006 11:54
Been to this pub loads of times in the past and always had a good time. Architecturally it's fantastic - windows and fittings etc. Range of beers are good. It's pretty expensive though. And the last time I went, the service was amateurish and morose (how many pubs these days have people working behind the bar who actually know what they are doing?) There's been some great staff here in the past, but the two guys who were working there the other night looked miserable as sin, and consistently pulled pints that settled well below a full glass and then had to be asked to top it up (and at these prices, you want a full goddamn pint). There is a sign saying 'Ask us to top up . . . ', but you shouldn't have to ask. The other thing was kicking out time - the pub clearly doesn't have any kind of extended licence (fair enough), but I think it's a pain in the arse that people who are *obviously* ready to leave and are *equally obviously* waiting for someone to come back from the toilets before leaving (saying so to the staff on more than one occasion), should be constantly harried to 'COME ON NOW!!', as if we were still sat supping full pints and ignoring them. These two jokers may have had somewhere to be after work, but people who have spent around �13 per 4-person round all evening deserve a bit more consideration. This seems to be the way these days - great pubs, great beers, inadequate staff and a we've-got-your-money-now-get-lost attitude. I'll go somewhere else from now on
6 Mar 2006 11:24
The Londesborough, Stoke Newington
Went here the other night - it's a nice enough space, small-medium central bar as you walk in with some tables near it, opening out to a large area with sofas etc at the back. Nice enough decor in the modern/traditional/revamped stylee. There was a DJ noodling away - seemed a bit halfhearted, and the music wasn't great (though maybe that's just me). The disappointing thing was the drinks, I'm afraid. Over a tenner for 3 drinks (though this did include a large glass of wine) - the Pedigree bitter was poor, and the Fosters also tasted a bit chemically (though some people would say it always does). Disappointing really. The kind of place where it might be nice to sit back on one of the sofas with a bottle of wine, but go somewhere else if you like your ale
28 Apr 2005 16:05
The Phelips Arms, Montacute
Went here a while ago and thought the ale (Palmers) was good. Had some food as well, and that was not bad either. The one thing I would say was that the reason for going there in the first place was to check it out for a subsequent visit with family, kids etc. On the first occasion (a Saturday), there was tons of choice on the menu - including lots of vegetarian options on a specials board (around 6 or 7 dishes, more than most pubs bother with). The second visit (a Sunday lunchtime) - no vegetarian food at all. None. Nada. Zip. Bupkiss. Now, some people might think "Well, it's a Sunday - they were probably doing roasts". Yes. But one of the meals on the menu for that first visit was (wait for it) a veggie roast, with all the trimmings. So they obviously can do it. To not have it on, on a Sunday, and have no other veggie options - that's just daft. All that said, the pub is a good one, really
16 Aug 2011 14:42