The Haven Arms, Ealing

Where to begin - this is a lovely little pub north of Ealing Broadway with friendly bar staff and a beautiful beer garden. It would be fair to say that the prices of the drinks could come down a tad but the food on offer in the pub is delicious.

Undoubtedly one of the main things that put this pub ahead of others within the Ealing area and the UK for that matter is the fact that it still has a pool table and darts board. For people that do not have a memory which stretches back before 2000, these two fantastic pastimes brought friends and enemies together in a forum of conversation and activity that made British pubs the unique enterprises they were. However, since 2000 all too many pubs have followed a path into their anal passage then north to a place of fancy named yet mediocre food, extortionate drink prices, and a serious lack of pub entertainment. Their reason? Well apparently these highly enjoyable pursuits, particularly pool has been accused of causing too much trouble in pubs. I guess I know what they mean since the other day a guy lost on the pool table and I clearly heard him say 'damn' - shame on him.

All in all a lovely place to go for a beer - rating 7.5

25 Jun 2010 21:32

Flynn's, West Ealing

Where to begin - did not know about this pub before the refurb but as it stands now we have what is one of the best pubs in the Ealing area. This pub, without doubt, has the best smoking area in the world, wood decor in an oriental style - beautiful (disagree? - then you should have gone to specsavers). The bar staff are friendly partcularly the cute girl with glasses and the beer is not overpriced. Yes this definitely is an Irish pub, but one you feel welcome to enter into - my only task now is to try the food one day, but I suspect it will follow the high standards of the rest of the pub.

Overall 8.7/10

12 May 2009 12:02

The North Star, Ealing

Where to begin - first the good points - this pub has a lovely atmosphere and always seems to be fairly busy, no real complaints about the beer, and the covered smoking area/beer garden is fantastic.

The bad points are as follows - firstly the price of the drinks is far too expensive for what is effectively a town centre old fashioned pub. Secondly, and most importantly, the bar staff are so slow that I was expecting to see a special bus parked next to the pub - seriously they do not seem to be able to compute what a lot of people standing at the bar represents and when they finally do get around to serving you you are greeted by nothing more than a look of disdain and pure hatred. Come on Mr. Manager, this pub can be even more popular if you just input some motivation and effort into your bar staff.

Overall 5.8/10

12 May 2009 11:43