The Horse and Groom, Streatham

I was in here 20 years ago when I was 18 and a massive fight broke out, spilling over into the car park. I was in again a few months ago and another one started! 20 years have passed, and its even burned down in between and nothing has changed!!

21 Jul 2006 13:38

The Nightingale, Balham

I returned for a drink here a couple of times recently after many years and at first was quite pleased that it was pretty much the same. However a realisation gradually came over me, that my reaction of 'Aaah, still a charming local pub' was actually wrong - this is the same as it always was, a pokey little back street boozer full of sad old drunks whiling away the hours talking crap and reading the paper! True they may be talking about current events rather than football, and reading broadsheets rather than tabloids but its just as depressing! And doing a charity walk once a year does not automatically give charactor!!

19 Jul 2006 15:31

The Manor Bar & Grill, Tooting

Nice looking pub, inside and out, but I can say with all honesty that the bar staff are the worst I have ever encountered. A couple are just incompetent, but the others are down right rude! They seem to forget that the purpose of a pub and its staff is to serve drinks! Their reaction to being disturbed from their private nest of chit-chat and reading the paper at the far end of the bar is surly, scowling and short! Truely dreadful! This pub could work, but the landlord needs to fire root and branch and get staff that will bring in punters! Look at the Trafalgar 100 yards up the road!!

19 Jul 2006 14:20

The Regent, Balham

Nice big pub in good location, but seems full of the inbred spawn of landed gentry/City set who socialise with eachother on ULTRA high volume whether there be 2 of them or 20! In such a cavenous building the effect can result in eardamage! We left last week after 26 (I counted them) arrived en masse and dug in for the evening in the centre of room for the evening! Thinking back The Balham Hotel had its good points!

19 Jul 2006 14:14