The Sportsman 'Time Well Spent', Mogador

Always have loved this pub - with the recent changes it is even better! The people of Kingswood are truly lucky. Excellent beers and the best food around served all day. A true class act run by a true class team.

10/10

17 Aug 2008 16:47

The White Hart, Chipstead

Bluebeckers took the White Hart over exactly a year ago this month - so its time for reflection. I hated it then, do I still hate it now?

Before Bluebeckers came along I used the place around three to five times a week, eating there at least once a week, usually more. In the year that has followed I have been there on only FIVE occasions - usually to show friends how the place has been destroyed - I have no intention of ever going back, despite it being a short 5-minute walk away.

This pub has been vandalised and I would personally have preferred a conversion to luxury flats than the sorry, sad, chavvy establishment we have been left with.

I don't know ANYONE in Chipstead who is happy with what Bluebeckers done to the White Hart. Not one of my neighbours uses the pub anymore - in fact it is not exaggerating to say that the vast majority of locals are deliberately boycotting the place. This means it now relies of passing trade and I would highly recommend that if you do pass this place, carry on and turn right at White Hill and use the excellent Well House instead, only a mile or so further.

I am delighted to see that Bluebeckers are so desperate to attract trade they have dropped their branding name. I am delighted to see that when I pass, the car park is more often than not half empty and that the chalk board outside offers everything from free beer, free starters, two meals for a pittance, etc. Bluebeckers only have themselves to blame for the desperate measures they are taking - right from the start they knew exactly what the locals thought of their changes but totally ignored their concerns.

Also I am delighted to see that the White Hart's former landlord Marc has been able to buy and refurbish three pubs including the nearby Sportsman and Yew Tree. In both of these establishments he has excelled and anyone who wants to see how things are done properly should visit these pubs in Kingswood (Mogador) and Reigate (Reigate Hill). I live in hope that Bluebeckers will soon want rid of the White Hart and that Marc will snap it up and turn it back into its former glory.

The White Hart is now one step up from the Hungary Horse down the road. A place for people who do not care much for pubs or decent food; for those with no taste; for those who don't think it cruel to take their kids to McDonalds and read Heat magazine. A chav haven in the countryside that has dragged Chipstead into the gutter. Avoid this place at any cost.

0 out of 10

17 Aug 2008 16:28