BITE user comments - sonoftherock
Comments by sonoftherock
Now re-opened as The Hill, Craft Union (Enterprise Inns) group. Astonishingly cheap, and awful. First couple of weeks full of herberts barred from everywhere else. Left it a couple of weeks, and herberts seem to have been barred, but couldn't find the bar staff. Mystery solved, they were all at the corner table, texting, playing Candy Crush etc. Fingers crossed things pick up, but when you sell rotten guinness at £2.95 per pint, you can't expect much.
30 Jun 2019 16:57
Two years since last reviewing this pub I thought I'd update my opinions. If anything the pub has improved. It still has great staff including a great new manager. Saturday night is themed, at present it's Rock'n'Roll bingo which ends with a trip to the dance floor, great fun. It has BT Sport Premiership games, no Sky tv, which is great as it doesn't have all the luggage that goes with dedicated sports bars. In my opinion the welcoming atmosphere puts it way ahead of the pretentious Sylvan Post and Dartmouth, and the aircraft-hangar-dimensioned Witherspoon's Capital doesn't really warrant a mention. Highly recommended for anyone passing.
22 Feb 2015 16:02
Have been drinking in this pub for a few years now and it's getting better and better. Very friendly guvnor and guvnoress, nice range of real ales, good food, and a great regular clientele, but very welcoming to newcomers. It's got a nice big garden with kids climbing thingie so you can dump the sprogs. Richard and Julia are always making improvements to the place. Recently added to the Good Beer Guide. One and only downisde is the gents hand-dryer which provides only a gentle periodic draught - bring your own hand-towel.
7 Feb 2013 08:52
Hoorah, hoorah, it's closed and reopened under what appears to be a strong-minded Irish landlord returning it to it's roots. The last landlord was shut down after not paying his Sky TV bills, not such a problem if he'd bothered paying for his electricity. Anyway, the new owners have lavished much-needed money in rescuing the pub from ruin, have reinstated traditional Irish music nights, have banished under-25s which were the main problem, and have got all the footie and Gaelic sports back in on a reasonably low-key basis. Oh, and one real ale, London Pride, but that's more than they've had for a decade or more. I'll give it time before giving a genuine rating.
5 Jun 2010 20:19
Really good, friendly pub. Would recommend Sunday night Quiz Night followed by Play Your Cards Right. The guv, Richard, has recently increased his ales to two guest beers,and two regular ales, Brains SA and Deuchars IPA. I am absolutely bemused by references to thugs - I'm pretty sure the witness was hallucinating or was lost.
30 Oct 2009 10:16
Really good, friendly pub. Would recommend Sunday night Quiz Night followed by Play Your Cards Right. The guv, Richard, has recently increased his ales to two guest beers,and two regular ales, Brains SA and Deuchars IPA. I am absolutely bemused by references to thugs - I'm pretty sure the witness was hallucinating or was lost.
30 Oct 2009 10:16
I met the twin guvnors in the pub currently run by Terry, the Beehive's old landlord, the Dacre Arms in Lee/Blackheath. If there plans for the Beehive come to fruition it should be well worth a visit. Fingers crossed for the boozer-starved residents of New Eltham.
9 Jul 2009 10:07
Has to have the worst toilets I've ever encountered. Good Quiz night though, with the quizmaster being twice as drunk as everyone else put together.
9 Jul 2009 10:02
Sad to say, this is another pub in the Lee area that looks like it might bite the dust. Having been run as a proper Irish pub by the same governor for 31 years, it's had a few good spells since, but now seems fallen on hard times. The big attraction up until recently was the big screen sports, but rumour has it that Sky pulled the plug when bills weren't paid it. Little else to recommend it anymore unless you want to play the local bookie at pool.
9 Jul 2009 09:50
Unfortunately has been recussitated. I guess you could look on the bright side and say that it sucks in the Chavs and keeps them out of the few other reasonable pubs in the area.
9 Jul 2009 09:45
Used to be a regular. Popped in recently when passing by and popped straight out again. Was going downhill when I gave it up last time and it's further down that slippery slope towards Chav hell.
9 Jul 2009 09:39
I've been in many pubs where it's a struggle to get to the bar. Normally it's because of the crowds. In this put it's because you get stuck to the carpet two paces in. Give it a miss, and by the way, the toilets really SHOULD be in the same postcode as the rest of the pub.
9 Jul 2009 09:36
The Porterhouse, Covent Garden
Like the boozer, but a bit disappointed that our 8 drinks (7 beers and a short) worked out at over �33. I'll stick to drinking in the suburbs...
9 Jul 2009 09:32
As a Londoner working in Obberdeen a few years back I found this a great boozer. Governor was even kind enough to rent me a flat at a good rate. I hope it is still the same friendly place, but with the addition of some drinkable beer.
9 Jul 2009 09:26
The Friendship Inn, Fallowfield
Must've picked a bad, bad day. Arriving at opening on a Sunday lunch opening time with a group of friends we were immediately verbally abused by the 12-year old spotty barman. Each visit to the br resulted in the round-buyer being insulted by the same spotty kid, under his breath. Patience ran out when he tried to double-charge my mate for a round. Exeunt stage left, but made the mistake of returning in the evening when he wouldn't be working. Correct, he wasn't, but the spotty munchkin was still in there pissed as a pudding giving us even more grief across a crowded room. Being a bunch of southern softies we let him off the good kicking he'd worked so hard to earn, but it was rather embarrassing for the governor to have to lob one of his own bar staff out of the pub for the night. The rest of the staff were great, enjoyed the cold beers and the footie chat, and would go there again as the other places nearby look pretty dismal.
24 Jun 2007 10:04
Gets better with every visit. Go there and cause an incident by nicking John the Architect's seat.
14 May 2007 11:40
The governor, Gary, has lost the plot, but I gather he'll be leaving soon, possibly not under his own steam. I'm one of the football crowd mentioned, and I think his 12ft square screen is complete pants. This is the only pub in a large residential area, and all the families that used to use one end of the pub have been driven out by the attempt to turn it into a sports bar. Still, what can I say, I continue to use it in the hope that the Spirit Group will appoint someone who will bar the persistent violent offenders as well as the one poor bloke who is barred for swearing. And after all that, it's still worth popping in because there is still a big bunch of friendly regulars.
8 Dec 2005 12:20
I have only used this during the day, and I can confidently say that it must be the worst pub in Fulham. When four bar staff cannae cope with two customers in the afternoon, may the Lord help them when it's busy.
8 Dec 2005 12:08
I have used this pub on and off for ten years, always before Chelsea games. There was one bad spell when it thought it was an All Bar One, but has recovered in the last couple of years. For footie fans it's a great pub, they always manage quick service, have all the live games on, the beer's cold, and the atmosphere's great. By far the best pre-footie pub in Fulham.
8 Dec 2005 12:04
Can't wait to visit this pub, probably next week some time. I hope it hasn't been renamed to the Pedant's Arms by then...reading the reviews so far has been like being in a pub full of drunken...er well pedants. Must be worth visiting just to see why a pub with a smelly bog, nothing unusual there, stirs such heated emotions.
19 Aug 2005 17:27
I was very impressed with the remote opening of the toilet door from behind the bar. As me and my mate were the only two customers at the time I felt pretty special.
A truly awful pub, far-removed from it's days as The Plough, our school hangout many years ago.
23 May 2005 20:12
The Ravensbourne Arms, Lewisham
Unfortunately can be very violent, as proven by a recent murder on the premises. My friend was macheted to within an inch of his life by the friendly locals, and there seems to be at least one very violent incident every Saturday.
6 May 2005 15:16
A nice friendly boozer, somewhat spoilt by merging the public and saloon bars. I used to love the days of having to stagger out from the public bar to the hole in the wall urinal. Such pleasures are few and far between. Always felt a bit more intimate with two small bars.
Still, Dermot the guv has done a good job keeping it going so well after 31 years of Brian running the place. He's had the place 6 years now. It's a really friendly place to watch the footie or take in some variable quality live music, and has a late licence from Friday to Sunday. As a jazz fan, my adviceis to avoid the jazz band on a Monday.
30 Nov 2004 13:51
This was my family local for years, and was always the nicest pub in the area. I recently visited after an absence of many years and was shocked to see the same barman working away.
A great, friendly local pub. I don't know if they had music on as you never would have heard it over the buzz of friendly conversation. One tip from years back which still applies. Don't get there late in the evening if you're aiming to rest your buttocks.
30 Nov 2004 13:45
I visited this pub on Saturday 27th November 2004, just before heading off for the Charlton vs Chelsea match, and had a great time. As away fans we were made welcome immediately and were chatting to the locals almost immediately, not to mention the Dutch hordes from JC Roda.
A decent pint of Courage Best, and a really nice atmosphere. A pity it wasn't open after the game as well.
30 Nov 2004 13:39
This was a 9.5/10 pub when I first used it 13 years ago, under the management of Ciaran, a big, strong, friendly Irishman. Sadly, in the last year under the current management the pub has slipped rapidly down the tubes.
This used to be a great place to watch the footie, with lots of friendly banter between a great mix of folks. That's all changed and the footie bunch can easily intimidate strangers and locals alike. Perhaps a new guvnor could turn things around and get the crowds back in.
My weak excuse for using the place is that it's the only pub in the immediate area and there are still a bunch of people clinging on in the forlorn hope of a turnaround.
30 Nov 2004 13:32
Back to sonoftherock's profile
The Bird in Hand, Forest Hill
Worst pub in Forest Hill suddenly has a new rival in The Hill next door. Always worried when I walk into a boozer and the bar staff are as drunk as I aim to be at the end of the evening. Loads of sport on telly, but you can only watch what the boring guy in the corner wants to see, as he apparently has ownership of the remote...
30 Jun 2019 17:00