BITE user comments - pumpermuncher
Comments by pumpermuncher
Spent a quiet couple of hours in the corner of this pub on a Monday night with a newspaper and a few fantastic pints of Hydes Bitter.
Cheap prices and various locals coming and going as the evening wore on. Friendly but not too familiar Landlord, lively chatter and no blaring music.
This is the type of local non-generic pub I love and which are a dying breed "down south". No good for the panini brigade or parents wanting coffee and a playpen. Hope to visit again when in the area.
20 Jan 2015 20:10
The George and Dragon, Thames Ditton
Recently stayed near Thames Ditton and had two nights out here, along with Sunday lunch.
The first night on a Tuesday resembled some of the earlier comments on here, with clicky locals at the bar, however a return on a Friday night found it busy, lively with chatter and steamed up windows, a good old fashioned boozer.
The Sunday lunch was lovely, however the pub was packed on arrival. We waited a while for a table, enjoying Whitstable Ale or two, and it was well worth the wait. Lovely roast beef lunch on a Sunday, with the crown thinning out to a nice Sunday session crowd. The staff were great throughout bringing drinks to our table rather than waiting at the bar. There were five in a our group and all left well oiled and full up.
I would recommend this pub.
12 Jan 2015 20:09
Wilmington Arms, Exmouth Market
Gastropub with a nice atmosphere, good constantly changing beer and a busy crowd post work. Movies, music and comedy laid on in the back room. Looking forward to keeping this as a regular.
30 Nov 2009 18:35
Two visits over the weekend. Great beer selection on, reasonable prices and served up well. Pretty packed but that added to the post shopping atmosphere. Didn't try the food but a lovely waft of custard at sunday lunchtime almost tempted us. One of life's little luxuries being perched in a pub window during a downpour!
30 Nov 2009 18:32
The Jerusalem Tavern, Clerkenwell
Visited last Friday for a few Golden Ales. Heaving inside with little elbow room, but a splendid pub all the same. There is something so warming about the din of chitter-chatter and steamed up windows in a pub. Beer was great, locale clientele was found to be friendly and this pub will definitely remain on future Friday crawls. Beer limited to St Peters (all the better for it) and Bitburger lager on draft.
30 Nov 2009 18:28
Not really my type of pub with not much to offer. In fact the only note of interest was the cat without a tail making itself comfy on top of the fruit machine. Beer mediocre (standard Spitfire).
30 Nov 2009 18:24
The Sekforde Arms, Clerkenwell
Nickthefish hits the nail on the head. Great little boozer, friendly crown and decent beer. Food also found to be good, albeit sunday roasts have ceased.
30 Nov 2009 18:20
Far better pubs in virtually every direction from the faux All Bar One. �9 for a bog standard lager and small wine hurt the pocket badly and ensured it would be our one and only visit.
30 Nov 2009 18:17
The Queens Head Inn, Kettlesing
Had a lovely couple of pints post New Year revelry at this wonderful pub. The Black Sheep served lovingly however the food was a disappointment (beef sandwiches were found to be both overpriced and skimpy on portions - please take note Landlord). Lovely surroundings and a roasting coal fire just cannot be beaten on a frosty winters day in the Dales.
3 Jan 2009 19:27
As Grovetown quite rightly states, Hales Bar and Britons Protection are two of only a few truly great city centre pubs left. An absolute must visit pub for anyone who likes their beer. Timmy Taylors "Landlord" is worth a jar or two.
3 Jan 2009 19:23
Always try to get in a visit to the Blues Bar when we are up from London. A real gem of a bar and something I am very envious of. Good selection of changing real ales, fantastic live music, one of only a few bars to benefit from the smoking ban and always a great crowd.
3 Jan 2009 19:20
Update from my post of earlier this year.
The Queens Head was found to be bang on form over the past number of visits, great beer, great atmosphere and staff with a warm smile. Well done to the new Landlord.
15 Dec 2008 21:21
The Original Plough, Chelmsford
Being the sort that is allergic to (if fact, hating everything about) the likes of Edwards, Lloyds and Yates, this pub is a welcome treat. Good selection of real ale, busy during sporting events, ideally placed for the post work pint (which also brings about the added benefit of continual passing trade) and pretty good service at the bar (also, reasonably priced).
If you haven't tried it, give it a go. Not my regular but a great pub.
27 Sep 2008 18:57
The new Landlord since Christmas 07 briefly had an imapct with a slight improvement with the staff, but has reverted back to its previous ways. Food still poor (it is always possible to hear one complaint at any one time in the evening), but the staff remain the biggest letdown. Four people cleaning tables/chin wagging, one person serving ten people waiting is a usual snapshot. Shame for such a lovely building and grounds.
16 Mar 2008 08:29
As mentioned in the post below, Slient did indeed move on during Feb 2008 and what a shame. It was gobsmaking to visit the pub a couple of times afterwards. Devoid of life, music on the television in the background, unfortunately the remaining staff were not the friendliest.
Please see for yourself how much a pub can change by loosing a good Landlord. Hopefully, and I do truely do hope so, the old place will get some of its "mojo" back in the summer with the new Landlord, otherwise it will be a very sad loss. Any visitors keep us posted.
16 Mar 2008 08:25
never a pleasure. poor beer, lairy punters and in need of gutting out.
8 May 2006 22:13
not a bad boozer at all. would be worth any O'Neills drinker's money to take a trip to see what could be done to present a reasonable irish bar. beer is good quality and a cracking range of sport on the box.
8 May 2006 22:09
Steamer by name, Steamer by nature. A great big floating pan filling Steamer. This pub is the exact reason why we now have some many bloody Weatherspoons and Yates in the town centres. Resembles a half decent pub from the outside, but proves to be nothing more than a youth centre, a reliable source for your "enry the eighth", and a constant supplier of shite beer.
8 May 2006 22:03
Good pub for a couple of swift ones on an alternative route home from the station. Avoid it when the footy's on. At least a couple of times it teetered near kicking off. Barmaids do provide a passing sideshow. Beer ain't too bad either.
8 May 2006 22:01
A faux Pitcher and Piano setup, which has served both fantastic and very poor food food over the course of the last year of occasionally drinking there. If you enjoy drinking with Estate Agents, donning shiney suits, dirty shoes and still under the misaprehension that the Hoxton Fin is the forefront of fashion, then get your booty down here. As with most Estate Agent pubs, beer is continually served shite.
8 May 2006 21:57
The Railway Tavern, Chelmsford
agree with the comments above. as a non-smoker, it is quite refreshing to have a quick pint in a proper pub environment rather than a sterile (Ivory Peg) den. Beer is good, ever changing crowd as commuters pass through, and fantasic seats up the back.
8 May 2006 21:52
Follows an amazing trend with pubs of being adjacent to a police station and being able to offer near death levels of violence, even on a quite midweek evening. Had the displeasure of living opposite the pub for six months. Used the pub on the way back from the train station between 6 and 7 as this seemed to be the time CID drank in there and seemed to keep the lid on it kicking off. The �1.50 pints adds fuel to the fire.
8 May 2006 21:49
Again, as other comments suggest, this pub has the most fantastic beer garden for the summer, but does provide mediocre food and costs the earth for any purchases. A jug of Pimms on a balmy summers day will require a trip to the High Street to secure a second mortgage. The hosts are great and accomodating though. Must say though, I did find their Youngs was shite, and thats coming from a Wandsworth local.
8 May 2006 21:46
Not really a pub in my honest opinion, but absolutely cracking food. Cannot be faulted. If you live near Chelmsford and haven't eaten here, you are missing out.
8 May 2006 21:43
First port of call for ex-cons leaving Chelmsford Prison. Worth a visit to see all the dregs of life. Not even cheap beer from around the world can make it tolerable for more than a swift half before catching the bus home.
8 May 2006 21:40
Reasonable pub to listen to a bit of rock/goth, cheap (if poor) beer, and some entertainment in the form of daily druggy rows.
8 May 2006 21:35
As many have said, this is without doubt the best pub I have have had the pleasure to call a local. I used to live the other end of Lower Anchor Street and found myself becoming rotund by the day. Having returned from travelling, I now live one and a half mile away but still make the pilgrimage with the ever suffering Mrs Pumper on a Sunday, with a early start on the last Sunday of the month to take delight in Belle View.
Beer is great as a standard. The shame of it is becoming so picky where visiting any other boozer.
Even Mrs Pumper appreciates being able to have our Sunday chat without Girls Aloud or Andy Gray deafening all and sundry, albeit costing me money with booking holidays, buying new sofas or inviting relatives, a price worth paying when you got eight pints of Wickwar in ya.
8 May 2006 21:33
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The Antelope, Surbiton
Surrey folk. If you are a beer fan, stop your search for the perfect pint and start making your way to The Antelope. With a wide selection of hand pump, ciders, craft lagers and (this is the kicker for me) their own brews on tap, I don't think you can go wrong. Surely there will be something on tap that hits your style. For me it was the Big Smoke Pale Ale, a 4% true session beer. Their own brewed Porter was also great, the Rye IPA at over 6% was for sample only.
The only thing stopping a perfect ten score from me is the pub is frequented by trendies with kids, which in itself is not too bad but can be a distraction when running around (the kids that is). This is a very minor point in the grand scheme of things (and really a reflection of the local community), but with no TV's, no fruit machines, vinyl music and a steady crowd, I have found my new local.
If the Landlord is reading, please keep it up. Loving the buy nine, get the tenth free loyalty card.
24 Feb 2015 18:23