BITE user comments - rachaelov
Comments by rachaelov
No ales on tap here, just bottled beers. They have Czech budvar, so I drink that. They have a pretty decent range of spirits, so also have those on occasion. Not ever eaten here, so couldn't say on that, but I've never felt inspired to try. It's family run, and they are quite an eccentric bunch from 80 odd year old dad, mother scratching the table tops in the corner, to the ebullient Mel. They are always friendly and chatty and you get the feeling that making money isn't the most important thing to them. Plus its often open late. I like the place.
26 May 2012 16:27
Its an ok pub since the makeover (it wasn't that great before it), and the ales were well kept. Have had a burger here both times I visited, and both times the very thick home made patties were raw inside, apparently on purpose we were informed, so wont be having those again. It has a nice veranda seating area outside, and it s quiet street - so that's nice.
26 May 2012 16:18
The Crown and Anchor, Shoreham by Sea
The terrace out the back overlooking the river is nice to while away a few hours in the evening, but other than that, nothing to really recommend it. I've only been there on weekend evenings, usually Sundays, and the restaurant areas are always intensely middle class. They really don't look very comfortable all crammed in, but they must be telling them selves it's really nice, actually.
The bar staff are friendly enough, although once one bringing our food told us off for not having the number angled so she could see it easily from the doorway. Well, your a waitress deary, I'm the customer, and not here for your convenience.
I agree with JoeP that the burgers are good; once had the nachoes (ie cheesy doritos - any Mexican would spit them out) with cheese etc, and it was passable, if a little stodgy. Beers were so so, so I've had lagers since.
26 May 2012 16:11
It's an ok pub, but a little to gastropubby for my tastes... I always have mixed feelings when I visit a pub that I first frequented 25 years ago. Back then, the food was non existent, or dire. But it had a lovely ramshackle feeling, and was very local - though me and my mates would came by train from Brighton, we'd exhaust ourselves stomping over the South Downs, and then descend to quaff several pints by the fire and whack our heads on the low beam on the way to the gents. And then at the last conceivable minute leg it to Glynde station for the last train back to Brighton, and fall asleep.
Since then the place has been all been spruced up, painted, made neat, expanded, and now concentrates on food, thus attracting wealthier cliental from a far greater range. There are still locals that congregate around the bar, but most the rest of the patrons are intensely middle class here to reinforce their life style choices.
In my opinion the beer isn't as well kept as the Rose Cottage or the Cricketers, both of which have gone thru their own transformation from sleepy locals to gastro complexes. But, like Sussexcrawler, I too prefer the Rose Cottage out of all the one strung out under the downs. I don't go to the Ram much anymore, perhaps just because of those memories - but if you have none, or need to go to the right place suitable for weekend activities, I'm sure you'll enjoy your meal.
26 May 2012 15:57
Yes, it is a proper little pub. A number of St Austell ales, and a guest one too - most enjoyable. Dark comfy bar, as it should be, with a little room with inglenook. It feels like its been built and altered over time, without resorting to the dreaded refurbishment, and hence is a little bit quirky but not in a knowing way. I sat out the front, n the shade, to watch the world go by, and the friendly landlord stuck his head out to let me know there was a sunny garden out back if I preferred. Dogs allowed, on leads, excepting Archie!
26 May 2012 14:58
Friendly relaxed pub, cheery landlord, with some decent Cornish ales on. Low ceilinged, with lots of wood paneling (and radiators and such painted brown!) with the odd nautical touch, like fresnel lensed navigation lights, without making it feel themey. I'd make this my "local", next time I'm in town.
26 May 2012 14:46
Very busy (not its fault), and seemed to be filled with geezers with tattoos when I was there.
26 May 2012 14:37
Agree with the last comment - and they seem to have the ambition to being a spartan london-esque gastropub, and have lost some of its charm in the process of ripping out the booths/compartments. They wish to charge London prices, but really the service didn't merit it - it took half an hour to take my order despite going to the bar, and being assured they'd be there momentarily - twice. Aggravated by a couple arriving 15 minutes after me, and having their order taken within a few minutes. Again, when I attracted the waiters attention, told my waiter would be along momentarily.
That said, the bream I had was excellent, but will probably try somewhere else on my next visit. Ale selection was reasonable, but the choice of whiskeys or bourbons risible.
26 May 2012 14:34
Pretty awful. No real ales so fell back onto Guinness. I went on a quiet Sunday and the outside seating was pleasant - but otherwise I would try somewhere else
20 May 2012 13:48
The Bar 190, Gore Hotel, Kensington
Be prepared to pay over a tenner for a cocktail, or about 8 quid for a double of spirits - but they cocktails are good, a great selection of spirits, very cosy - I've spent quite a lot of money here :)
2 Mar 2012 12:01
The Churchill Arms, Kensington
I like this pub, but it does seem to be a victim of its own success. Extremely busy, noisy, and hot and stuffy in both evenings I've been recently - to the point where you wonder whther crammed in people have convinced themselves its great without looking at the reality of the experience. I s'pose many would find the atmosphere great, but I must be an old fart.
When it's less busy, and you have half a chance of geting a seat, it is a great place. Food ain't bad either, and oddly they do take away food too.
2 Mar 2012 11:57
But VegaLaCerda, why would I persevere? To become one o' the unwelcoming ones?
19 Feb 2012 10:42
@laughingduck - yup; and I remember the days they used to brew their own beers too. I still remember the day, passing thru Streatham again, with anticipation, and unwittingly walked into a laddos pub...
25 Jun 2011 20:18
Great beer - always seems to have at least one beer I've never tried. And friendly too. Shame it's such a schlep for me to get to - but I make the effort once a month or so.
25 Jun 2011 19:29
After being studiously ignored, finally ordered two pints - landlord gave me change in 5p pieces. Har de har. I do not exaggerate - the worst boozer I've ever set foot in. 0/10.
25 Jun 2011 17:56
I like thus pub. Good ale. However, last time I went a few months back, the entire "restaurant" was booked, but empty. No where else to sit, with the locals crammed in around the bar - but was told couldn't sit at one of the empty reserved tables. Had a pint and a half, sat outside in the cold, and 45 minutes later, still the tables were deserted - staff looked at me blankly when I pointed this out. Left.
its a shame; I know I'm just one person so they'll hardly go bankrupt. But I'll not make the effort to return.
25 Jun 2011 17:40
I like this pub; it has the feel of a local - ramshackle and informal. Decent live music too, on occasion. The beers... well - I visit hove only sporadically - sometimes the beer is great and well kept; sometimes not so well kept. Still, I'll always take a chance and visit.
5 Mar 2009 04:04
The interior is slightly less quirky than was, but still fine. But the beers were disappointing; not a patch on what it was before. More geared towards trendy young 'uns - who arn't interested in beer. Went back to the Evening Star...
5 Mar 2009 04:00
The Norfolk Arms, Russell Square
This is a restaurant; not a pub. As a restaurant, it's fine. But you will feel harassed if you just pop in for a few pints - and there's no 'drinking area' either; they want you to buy food/spend money, and will give you menus and hover. Which is fine if, like I say, you want a restaurant.
(hmmm... Russell square? Not really: more kings cross)
7 Jun 2008 13:36
The Bricklayers Arms, Fitzrovia
I had to check to see if people were reviewing the same pub I went to. Go to the upstairs bar, ita's intriguing without being engaging... otherwise downstairs quite drab. Bar staff and cronies were absolute teenage blank bubble headed south africans/aussies who fancy themselves as the stepford wives and drone on to each other about shoes and handbags and boys. If you're over 30 prepare to be treated charmlessly, as if you're a slightly distastful alien. Wont be going back... there are far superior sam smith pubs nearby.
No handpumps, no ale or bitter.
28 Apr 2008 07:33
Great working class boozer - takes you back to the 70's. Really glad there are still places like this thriving in Fulham. And long may it continue.
12 Apr 2008 22:13
Yeah, I used to love this pub too. Stephen Fry popped in for a pint one night while I was there: it was that kind of place. Still like it, but it's lost much of it's charm. It's lost a feeling of intimacy - of being a local - of being just that slightly quirky. Of being English, I suppose.
Beers are now verrry expensive, and nothing to get too excited about. Yeah, I too had what must be my most expensive pint in a boozer right here. Still, it is often quiet enough to relax and read the paper for an hour or so on a saturday afternoon. Weekday evenings tend to be quite busy these days.
23 Dec 2007 12:56
The Crown and Sceptre, Streatham
Wetherspoons with a bit of soul, thanks in part to the local streatham society, I hear. Even managed to get rid of the 'Moon on the Water' rebranded name. Pretty big place, but rambling with discrete areas, so it feels quite intimate and comfy. Had a look at an old ordinance survey map from the mid 1800's, and asides from fields, this was the only building on this intersection. I'd like to know more about it's history.
Anyway, the beer is good, food resonably decent. Mixed clientel: young, old, working class, those who've stepped on the local property ladder, old west indian geezers (always a plus). Does have it's share of slurring drunken oldtimers with no teeth and stained t-shirts.
23 Dec 2007 12:35
Refurb turned a reasonably comfortable boozer into a bland sports bar for the local young meedjah types. ESB still good.
23 Dec 2007 12:25
uh oh - candles on the tables?
Yup, normality2000, landlord is certainly grumpy. I like that.
23 Dec 2007 12:01
W'happened?? Puke green walls, pine furniture, bright lights? I visited this years ago and remember it as a decent boozer - small, comfy, good ale. Being in the area I made an effort to walk up from clapham junction. Wont be doing that again. Deserted at 8pm saturday. And I can see why. Only die hard locals remain, and they don't seem very happy. The paint work looks like it was slapped on by a drunken teenager. Beer passable. Avoid.
22 Dec 2007 20:43
Why Why Why??????? Destroyed - a beautiful dark scruffy atmospheric pub. Used to vie for 10/10. Now a wannabee trendy souless hollow shell complete with faux distressed painted wooden surfaces - very 1984. Anyone who loved this pub, DON'T GO AGAIN. Better to remember it as it was.
18 Dec 2006 20:30
This shithole kinda grows on you. It's full of odd characters: an old geezer always swaddled in layers of coats and jumpers no matter the season, always clutching 'the manuscript'; Union officials from down the road (the place is sometimes 'committee room D') drunkenly declaring never ending friendship; sudden influxes of workers from the Royal institute of the Blind 'round the corner with a few soppy labradors if your lucky.
Has authentic reasonable priced thai food; admittedly the ale is usually shite - stick to the guinness (it is a Irish joint after all). Weather your first impressions and you will find this 'shithole' friendly, easy going - a genuine local.
18 Dec 2006 20:11
Popped in here last night while waiting to put some one on the coach at Victoria - haven't been here for a few years, and it has improved somewhat since it's decline after they stopped brewing their own ales. The beers aren't spectacular: one guest ale and those usual suspects of a pretend freehouse. But the bar staff were very friendly and attentive, the general atmosphere was relaxed and cheery. It was pretty noisy jukebox-wise, but it is coming up to Xmas. Not anything like as good as it was, but as TheGP says below there ain't much competition round these parts. Wouldn't go out of my way, but if I'm in the area you could do much worse... 6/10
18 Dec 2006 19:46
The Hole In The Wall, Waterloo
Yup - a grubby flea pit of a boozer it is, and it benefits from that. Hasn't changed much over the years, although there are now lots of signs guiding you to it; so let's hope it's not in danger of becoming a parody of itself. Essentially a good place for a few pints before catching that train. Recommend the Battersea Bitter - and by and large the beers are reasonably well kept. Don't bother with the food - they seem to be mostly defrosted instant meals. Was there on a sunday evening and a greasy barman kicked us out early, whining accusingly about the danger of place being descended upon by "the scum o' waterloo" if we didn't leave immediately so he could batten the hatches...
17 Dec 2006 18:54
The Lazy Toad, Shoreham by Sea
Mixed feelings about this pub - it usually has good beers served by gravity straight out the barrels behind the bar: v. good. But sometines they are a bit warm: not so good. Friendly: good, but bear in mind it seems to be mainly frequented by visiting leathery suntanned wealthy ex-pats from Spain, or ex-ex-pats, now living 'in the country', who have a rather right wing view of the world around them. Prince Phillip would like the company: bad.
17 Dec 2006 16:32
Went back here after a gap - glad it's still serving an excellent selection of excellent beers. Still friendly and relaxed, young and old - a place an aging fart can feel comfy. Pity they ripped out all the stained dark brown panelling some years ago - this stripped back look irks me a little. Still, together with the Basketmakers arms, and the Greys and Hand in Hand up Kemptown, it's enough for me to brave the oh so up-our-own-ass-right-on-trendy smugness that is Brighton....
17 Dec 2006 16:14
The Swag and Tails, Knightsbridge
On a nostalgic wander around my old stamping ground round Imperial College thought I'd visit my former local, the tucked away Prince of Wales on Fairholt Street. Damn, now a trendy wine bar, more about image than substance. Sneered at by the staff - obviously I shoulda had a loud braying voice and guffawed a lot... absolutely...
But back then it had the shabby charm of a local boozer: taciturn Hitchcock look-a-like landlord, and was frequented by tremendous mix of porters and kitchen staff from the local hotels; washed up actresses; and various wealthy types and aristocracy, not that you would know it, slumming it - Lady Gilbey (of the gin) getting sloshed and various minor Viscounts, Gerald Ratner after the fall... and all joining in tormenting the occasional hooray henrys that stumbled in... a loss.
17 Dec 2006 15:53
The Harrison, St Pancras / Kings Cross
It's an ok place. More bar than pub. Has some comfy leather chairs, played background jazz, wasn't that busy... Ale was passable, but they concentrate more on the staropramen kind of lager. It's hired out a lot to private parties, so more than once I've wasted a trip. Be prepared to wait a looooong time (1 hour for sausage and mash???) in the evenings for food. Food was above average tho'. Wouldn't make a special effort to get there again. 6/10.
17 Dec 2006 12:32
A great little local boozer, full of a wide range of local characters, changing throughout the day - and yeah, unpretentious.
Each bar has a very different character, but seem to happily coexist: the two back bars are young, football and lager orientated; the lounge is comfy, relaxed, shabby, friendly, full of old geezers, posties, and even the odd long haired Guardian reading arty type. My pint has usually been well kept - tho' haven't tried the fosters or the lagers tops ;) Bar staff are great too.
Like the quirkily painted wall panels too. Yup. A proper boozer of old.
17 Dec 2006 11:58
The Betsey Trotwood, Clerkenwell
It's a damn shame - I've seen this pub decline steeply over the last ten years. It was once rather quirkily decorated with mannequins in edwardian swimming costumes hanging from the ceilings, damn fine shepherd Neame ales, music much in the same vein as Bradleys Spanish bar, late night opening on weekends, frequented by boozy Guardian journalists with hot gossip, busy but not overly crowded... A place to go with friends, but also comfortable on your own to read the paper and have a pint before heading home.
Then there were 'improvements' - ie, all quirkiness eradicated - about five years ago, and slowly the process has continued to today's sorry state. In the last three times I visited over the last year or so, with vain hopes, twice there was no real ale, and once a badly kept Spitfire, along with loud 'new medja' music playing to a largely empty bar...
Better off around the corner at The City Pride for a pint of ESB; the Three Kings for a cosy atmosphere; Sekforde Arms (Youngs) for a proper boozer; or the trendy Jerusalum Tavern for a extensive range of St. Peters ales on tap or bottled - altho' it's usually pretty busy in the evening (closed on weekends too).
RIP The Betsey Trotwood
16 Dec 2006 16:11
The Royal Oak, Wineham
First, I will say this is a beautiful pub, and if you have overseas visitors with you, it would be difficult to find a better example of an old English country pub. But...
I was driving, and had a straight tonic water, and it was the smallest tonic water I've ever had in a pub. Their largest glass of wine was tiny as well, and the landlord was obviously angling for you to purchase a "double" rather than have what all other pubs I've been too offer as large glass.
I've had the beer in he past, and I remember it being ok, being a real ale drinker myself. And as I say, great atmosphere, and really glad its still there. But I don't know, the stingy meanness of those non ale drinks we paid for (six quid) left me feeling not so well inclined to the place, and will make me reluctant to return. And all for few not pouring a few pennies worth of tonic water into a half pint glass.
28 May 2012 08:49