please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
This is a lovely pub, the staff are polite but not overly friendly, they will serve you well but won't have a chat with you so it depends on what you want from your barman. The food is nice, served quickly and with a smile, yes it is expensive but when you look at the location can you blame them?
Worth a visit.
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I've been in this pub a few times. You need a fold up bike to get there mind you. As it's a bit of a long hike from the surrounding pubs around the Greenwich area. On a nice sunny day it's refreshing to sit outside & admire the splendid scenery.
The staff are very courteous whether you are local or tourist. The food appears to be very expensive though. £3.50 for a bowl of chips? Ouch!
This place is definetely worth a looking in.
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This one really gets you reaching for the razorblades.
Another great venue snatched from Greenwich by the unstoppable Frank Dowling and turned around into a ghastly souless dive aimed squarely at tourists and the Spiky Haired Brigade (estate agents, salemen etc along with their respective orange girlfriends.
Wonderful location, appalling use of space, septic toilets and Frank's unique method of staffing it with bland humourless cretins all add up to an experience best left to the less discerning.
Oh, why couldn't a well-known local brewery take over these places and squeeze out the plebs??
Not barred from this one yet but trying hard.
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A tourist trap, but it did have a good range of Nelson Brewery beers on offer. I was with a couple of chums, and we all had the Loose Cannon, but none of us were very keen on it. Unfortunately we could not stay long enough to try any of the others, which is a shame because I had not come across this brewery’s products before. The pub itself has a superb location with an excellent view over the river. Tall rooms with large windows letting in a lot of light made it seem quite welcoming, but the bare boards didn’t seem to work in a pub like this – carpeting would have been better. Didn’t eat there, but the meals passing by looked good, although expensive (of course). Personally, I prefer less obtrusive pubs – this certainly has a lot of front!
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Visited recently and found it to be well-decorated, and with friendly staff. It was delightful to sit outside in the sunshine by the river.
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God I love this pub. I've eaten in the restaurant several times, the food is very good and tasty. Had a lovely bit of Halibut in there recently. Always get served no problem and am always really happy to just sit in the bar whiling away a few hours staring out of the window having a drink. Could do with some lower strength draft lager for us common lager drinkers.
We love the pub so much we held our wedding reception there. The best wedding venue i could have hoped for. All our guests were amazed by the setting and we could not fault the staff for the service we received. A lovely pub and venue.
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Obviously either males have a better loo than Annetta's experience, or there has been an upgrade in the last few months.
This is somewhere not to be missed: provided it is out-of-season, there are few better places to sit and watch the Thames than the Trafalgar bars (and there seem to be an infinite number). That is a characteristic shared with the Yacht next door.
Far from being "a rather strange pint" (see JonW999 above), the Nelson Brewery of Chatham does at least half-a-dozen very palatable bitters. The Trafalgar runs a decent selection: chose your poison from the posted ABV ratings. If you're man enough, there's Nelson's Blood (at 6%) and Shipwrecked (a Winter Ale at 5%). Saner folk stick to the Trafalgar bitter (at 4.1%). There was also, on this visit, Timothy Taylor's Landlord (at 4.3%, and in cracking condition). As far as I could determine, all eight beer-engines were loaded and ready.
Food is good pub grub: you pay for quantity and a bit of presentation (i.e. the lettuce is fresh). Choice on the bar menu is limited. Service is fine and friendly.
This has all the makings of a well-run drinking hole. Heaven knows they're few and far between. Now, if only Mayor Ken would populate the Thames with wherries and sailing barges, all doing interesting things ...
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The only good thing about this place is it keeps the tourists out of the decent Greenwich pubs. Used to be a great place (despite said tourists) until INC did its worst (when is he going to stop and leave Greenwich alone??). Crap beer, overpriced, no atmosphere, dirty and tatty, rude staff, shall I go on? Take my advice and go to the Yacht next door, in fact take my advice and avoid all the INC pubs/restaurants altogether (Trafalgar, Admiral Hardy, Coach and Horses, W lounge, The Park, Spread Eagle, George... the list (unfortunately) just keeps growing).
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Went for a meal in the restaurant with family a few weeks ago, which was excellent, if not cheap.
As a pub it’s a nice enough place, especially in the summer. Although I find it a better place for an early afternoon drink with the Sunday Papers, before moving off somewhere with a bit more soul. The River views are it’s biggest asset along with the food.
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Much trumpeted and busy but really rather unexciting pub, part of the ubiquitous, and characterless, Greenwich Inc chain. Had a rather strange pint, Nelson brewery's Cat O'Nine Tails and still not somewhere I will rush back to.
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Great location and good range of ales, very much a tourist spot but an pub I almost always visit when in Greenwich.
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We went with a family group for lunch on Saturday 7th July. It is the first time I have visited and we were very impressed with the quality of food, presentation and service. We were seated in the restaurant by the window with excellent river views. My only criticisms are: the price - very expensive! and the loos - which urgently need some refurbishment!
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Lack of Nelsons Blood put a dampner on our eveining pub crawl around Greenwich. Other than that the Trafalger is still a superb pub.
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Third stop on a works pub crawl a couple of days ago. Beer awful, temperature in the pub seemed similar to that outside at about zero. This was the first time I'd been to the Trafalgar for a while and it has definitely gone downhill.
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Took my parents for sunday lunch yesterday and had a really enjoyable meal. The staff were lovely, had a great table by the window and both parents are keen to go back!
Toilets were a little grotty for such a nice pub tho ;-(
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just making comment to follw the last two been in pub on numerous occasions never seen "flower sam"
As for i.d. checks its nice to feel safe not surrounded by kids
never a problem getting getting served not always the "fastest" but you will always be acknowledged .
Pub needs a work over and tidying up
perhaps these last two comments are freinds or enemies of "SAM"
Always enjoy going there with freinds and never yet been hassled
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Another Greenwich INC disaster. Lucky for them Greenwich is full of tourists and visitors from elsewhere in south east London because if they had to rely on locals they would be in administration by now.
Only good for the River views.
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A once terrific pub that has been Greenwich Inc-ed and is now totally devoid of character.
anonymous - 7 Nov 2006 11:37 |
Great mid-week pub (the kind of place that should be enjoyed when it's quieter), but overcrowded on weekends and summer evenings. The views from The Yacht next door are better (more panoramic windows) but the decor's can't be compared. The restaurant section is also excellent, but that can be reviewed somewhere else.
Two problems though. First of all, when I went there on Tuesday night they were playing jazz at foreground volume levels. I'm not as opposed to jazz as a lot of people, but even so, there's something wrong about needing to talk over it at a pub.
Secondly, their house beer - Trafalgar Bitter from the Chatham Brewery - is ghastly. The problem isn't that it's not too my taste, but that I can't imagine it being to anyone's taste. I suspect they just hold the empty bottles out into the Thames to refill them and recap them - such is the murky, brown, unpleasant swill. The Chatham dockyards should get back to building ships of mass destruction, and not beers of ass destruction.
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Nice building, ruined by the fact that the beer tastes like piss and the people who drink there are mid 30's who like to think of themselves as "cool" or "hip" whilst drinking a £4 bottle of wine. Do I like this place? What do you think?
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Absolutely disgusting toilets - not just dirty and flooded floor but in a poor state of repair. The mirror that was meant to be above the sinks was leaning against the wall next to the urinals, one cubicle had no lock and no light and the other was overflowing and due to lack of a dispenser the floor was covered in paper towels that had blown off the ledge. Lovely.
Nice riverside seating and the interior has a certain battered charm, however that look should not extend to the toilets!
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The location and the building are great. Unfortunately, that is the best you can say about the place. The beer is average, the food less than average quality, overpriced and cold when finally served and the bar staff not too enthusiastic. But you have a great view. Now even with tables and chairs at the river.
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The glass fascists always seem to get their way here, with plastic only in the beer garden.
Unfortunately, on a busy hot Friday, this translates to everyone getting beer in plastic!
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I've been this pub a few times and yes, while the view of the Thames from the window is great, the prices are not. I was served a pint of FLAT Stella in a Guinness glass. That sums the place up for me. It's extremely packed most of the time too, but that’s because of the location, not the greatness of the pub.
HTM69 - 29 May 2006 22:20 |
Great location but the pub itself is shamefully bad. The exclusively foreign male bartenders seem only interested in chatting up/serving laydees. Which is fair enough....but not on my time Pedro.
Worst toilets this side of Calcutta.
anonymous - 8 May 2006 12:52 |
Went to this pub last Friday evening so it was very packed but the location of the pub made made up for it. The beer was OK. The gents need a refurb - soon.
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Nice pub but gets too busy which is a shame. Good location. They really need to sort out the ladies toilets there are not enough considering how busy this place can get.
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What was once a terrific pub has been ruined in the last few years. An overlit bar hurts your eyes, the beer is expensive and the outdoor seating has become regimented to get more people in. Still, it manages to draw huge crowds.
anonymous - 18 Nov 2005 14:56 |
Cracking location and a spacious venue marred by the loud public address system calling folk to their tables in the restaurant. I should mention this was a Sunday lunchtime though. The grating annoucements were compounded by NOT particularly pleasant Trafalgar bitter and awful cloudy London Pride. Probably end up here again though cos the location is great.
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Greenwich Inc and Instinct Events are one and the same thing - they own most of Greenwich, including The Traf, Admiral Nelson, Inc Bar, The Cricketers, Bar du Musee and the restaurant opposite the Rose & Crown, so if you want to avoid the rude staff here, I would suggest you avoid them all!
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Anon 2 May: I got married upstairs back in September last year and was perfectly happy with it. The upstairs is run by Instinct Events who used to be based there but have expanded their business and are now near Bar Du Musee. I agree that the bar staff could be more helpful but I believe they are two distinct businesses. The Trafalgar is a Greenwich Inc pub. You probably would have been better off calling Instinct's phone number as they are very helpful.
General comments:
The toilets really should be better maintained, esp. the Ladies (based on my wife's comments!) There is no excuse for the state they are often in.
Overall though I like this pub for an evening drink. There are worse pubs around. It can get a bit too busy to be enjoyable sometimes. When that's the case I simply go elsewhere :-)
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I went to a wedding reception at this pub. On first impression, I thought "nice". However, this pub is UNSAFE! One of the large Victorian Sash windows fell on my head and not one member of staff came over to check I was ok, even though they were informed that the incident had occurred. To make the situation worst I called their headoffice a few days later, spoke to a director who said she would look into it and didn't hear back from her so called again. She was not very helpful so called the council. The guy I spoke to at the council was quite helpful at first. I told him which pub it was then he said "oh, I get on really well with that pub". Well, it's not surprising then that matters were not taken any further seeing as the pub are pally pally with the council! The pub tried to blame the guests at the wedding for opening the windows which were not meant to be open. They admitted that they knew the windows were unsafe and were planning to refurnish next year. But why is it that I was one of the first people to arrive at the pub for the reception and ALL the windows were openand staff were putting the curtains back to let the sun in!! and why is a venue allowed to hold events if there are parts of the building that are unsafe. When I went to the doctor to have my head checked out, just in case, the doctor told me that firstly, I had serve concussion and secondly, if I was a child I would not be alive now as the sash window was about 12 foot high and 6 foot wide, the force of that falling on a child's head coukld very well have killed the child!
anonymous - 23 Sep 2005 17:13 |
Previous comments have a ring of truth about them!
Yes-It is a busy,sometimes overcrowded pub as it is on the tourist trail-so no surprises there!
Yes-The bar-staff do sometimes appear to be slow and unorganised, but I would not say rude. This could be remedied by a decent bar manager!
Yes-The food is overpriced,not in terms of quantity but quality.
Yet-The choice of beers and ales is above average. Lovers of Real Ale-go straight for a drop of the Nelson's Blood! A strong (7.4 per cent)ale with a remarkably smooth and fruity aftertaste!
You can truly marvel at the decor of this showcase pub and the atmosphere it evokes! I am sure on a quiet day (devoid of tourists)one could sup ale until the heart's content as the Thames flows by with all its majestic brilliance and stillness!
Please don't be mean to this pub over its toilets (as in previous comments!) This site should be rating the liquid that passes through our lips, not the virtues of the surroundings in which we pass the liquid through our bowels!My advice to punters-for what it's worth choose the right day, and immerse yourself in a pub with genuine historical reverence and pedigree!
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The bar service here is always bad. I have noticed on a few occasions now, that the bar staff are lazy, and just serve the people who appear directly infront of them and ignore everyone else waiting at the bar.
The pub is nice inside but far too small and crowded to be pleasurable. The toilets are the filthiest I have seen in a pub for ages, with a broken hand dryer and no towels. The tap was constantly running as it was broke, two weeks later, it was still running. Makes you wonder what the kitchens are like...
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Large popular pub on the Thames with great river views. The window in the main bar is quite stunning. Beers are offered by the Chatham brewery, Nelson, which doesn't have a great reputation. The place can be quite oppressive during busy periods, but can be reasonably relaxing, if not exactly homely, during weekdays.
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the unique historic riverside position of this pub and its attractive function rooms is not matched by its products or service, the owners have ruined what used to be a 'great british pub', musak, understaffed, cramped, moderate food and yes it encourages loud pavement drinking blocking public footways in the process. A friend recently tried to enquire about their rooms for a wedding but couldn't get any sense from their flash web-site, a visit to the pub found staff - and manager! - "too busy" to discuss a wedding reception value circa £3,000. They bought a bottle of water, a coffee and what turned out to be two very moderate Trafalgar Burgers and walked along the road and placed the business with a nearby location with friendly helpful staff and a far better proposition!
anonymous - 2 May 2005 03:55 |
I have been going to this pub on and off for years and with regret I have to agree with the previous comments (except I like that they have all the seating outside. Never have I been to a pub where the toilets are consistently in such a disgusting state. Food is overpriced. What happened to the musicians? Why have they stuffed it so full of chairs you can barely move? Overstretched staffing level. A great shame and sadly missed opportunity. If you are reading this - get it together!!!
anonymous - 22 Apr 2005 14:40 |
I hate this tourist pub (just 2 busy) but what really annoys me is the way they have taken over the area outside.
This was a lovely place to walk (on the way to better pubs) but now you have to try and get past the 20 or so b&Q style tables
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hmmmm great place for the tour groups and weddings now shame as this was a cracking place for a pint a few years back, what with cool staff, hipster flipster (?) and a crazy dude on piano (i wonder what happened to him on top of the pops???)
pete - 11 Nov 2004 19:34 |
I have to say I agree with the above comments. Not only is the food overpriced, but it is also misrepresented on the menu. When we brought this up with the management he (Ivan Whitley) was rude and unaccomodating. What ever happened to customer service?
Theresa Avey - 31 Oct 2004 00:23 |
Grossly overpriced both for drinks and food and consequently a very unpopular haunt these days. Used to be a friendly, relaxed atmosphere until taken over. Ladies loo's are disgusting.
Jo - 12 Oct 2004 12:36 |
this wonderful old tavern used to be in the top ten pubs in london year in year out. what has happened to our favorite tavern
charlton bob - 15 Sep 2004 22:15 |
I hate this pub, skanky décor, takes an age to get served and is almost impossible to get a seat… I have to say though, some friends absolutely love it so give it a try and if you don’t like it, there are plenty of alternatives…
Dan - 14 Jun 2004 16:13 |
From my visit I can empathise with many of the other comments. If the moment is right it's great. If it's not it's like bad sex.. you 'sort of' regret it. The steak 'sandwich' and chips is expensive as a sandwich but very good as 'steack frites' with a pice of ciabatta instead of baguette. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Mind you we did arrive and got our bar order in just before a coach load of blue rinsies hit the restaurant and slowed the kitchen down. Great view, irritating musak until brain and alcohol filtered it out. Beer fine except for Camra nerds. My lady enjoyed it.
andy - 1 May 2004 20:08 |
pub of the year days are sadly o distant memory, if only the new owners understood what made this historic tavern special. but then the owner is a yank and thinks 1664 is a real ale ha ha.
toby - 24 Feb 2004 20:13 |
Excellent view from the pub, but if the view is the best I can say about the pub then it must be a bit poor. Expensive drinks, unfriendly service, looks a bit of a hole, annoying music and the food was extortionately priced (£6.95 for a quarter of quiche they probably got for 59p from ASDA?). I went there to celebrate my University graduation and am very glad to say I won't be going back. 3/10
Steven - 5 Feb 2004 18:12 |
fantasic view overlooking the river. great place to go. *****
Tara - 9 Jan 2004 13:38 |
wicked sundays! - had a great drink with mates overlooking the river and then a fab band plays from 8pm upstairs till 12 anything from ella fitzgerald to kylie! it was the best sunday Ive had in years!
stefanie - 26 Nov 2003 17:04 |
This is undeniably one of the best pubs in the world. Great food in the restaurant, lovely grand decor. It gets absolutely rammed though but is worth it mostly.
Clarey - 25 Nov 2003 14:57 |
i thought the view made the place!!!beer was worth the wait!
Maria - 17 Oct 2003 16:57 |
Trafalgar is one of my top three pubs in the world. It is beautiful when they pull the tables outside in the summer down by the river and the jazz on a friday night is excellent.
anonymous - 24 Sep 2003 17:21 |
everything was reasonably priced the music was too loud good bar food
Dave - 8 Aug 2003 20:55 |
The food was great the beer was ok a little long to wait though the Irish Manager was cute
Rachel - 8 Aug 2003 20:54 |
Great beer great staff
Ralph - 6 Aug 2003 18:18 |
They serve bad beer without a care.
Very expensive.
Dave - 6 Aug 2003 15:22 |
I went to the Trafalgar Tavern on Saturday it was incredible, they had the table and chairs out on the river, the food was incredible, the music just right and the service was even better. One of the best pubs I have ever been in.
Jennifer from Surrey - 5 Aug 2003 17:51 |
Don't leave Greenwich without visiting this great bar and its friendly staff. It's a great place to have a party! It's known as a "good place to tie one on", the "excellent fish 'n' chips" leads fans to conclude that the grub is "underrated"; It's a "fun" spot to hear live session bands.
Lynn - 4 Aug 2003 20:14 |
Great location, beer OK....... quality live music weekend evenings.
Best times to go are out of tourist season and outside of student term times
at the university.
Toby - 23 Jul 2003 14:27 |
The whitebait dinner I had here was the best whitebait I've ever had...& probably the last. Unfortunately, it was a brilliant afternoon when we walked in, & I immediately found a window seat in an empty room. What was more unfortunate, our cute & attentive young server was able to pay personal attention to us, and as her section began to fill was apologetic due to her becoming so busy. My pints of bitter were decent(but not memorable), and my friend's bangers & mash was decent. Luckily I was able to tune out the canned background music, and as a tourist, I felt I should resist my urge to spray the Yuppies in the main room with a boiling mixture of tar & sulphuric acid. While I would not be a regular here, I was able to slake my thirst on our trek from the Galleon to the Yacht, & stave off Death's grasp for another afternoon. The Trafalgar building, and it's collection of prints took by breath away, even if the food & drink didn't. While not worth a special trip, the Trafalgar is perfect when you know you can't last another 100 feet to the Yacht.
Martineaux - 2 Jun 2003 12:02 |
The pub itself is dirty and unfriendly, but the view of the Thames is pleasant on a sunny afternoon or summer evening. I have some lovely memories of sitting with my boyfriend outside, and then receiving our whole evenings drinks free when the stupid barperson couldn't find our tab on the computer!! Ha ha! Wasn't that expensive that time!!
Claudia - 29 May 2003 19:39 |
Ate there yesterday (26 May 2003). Food was, at best, mediocre - chips were cold and batter on fish not sufficiently cooked. Sausage and mash was very average. Squid inedible. Two of the main courses arrived about 15 minutes after the others. Service woefully inept. Despite all this the place was packed! Kitchen and front of house clearly not able to cope with the volume of customers.
Shame really as it is a lovely venue and could be one of Greenwich's prime eating spots. I will not be back.
Carl - 27 May 2003 13:12 |
It used to be good two years ago now its full of Fashion snobs
ian - 9 May 2003 11:10 |
what the pubs in hell would be like, expensive food and drink, terrible service, horrible jazz music in the background, horrible horrible horrible!
Jason - 2 May 2003 12:01 |
Amazingly over-rated - packed, run like an impersonal chain pub, irritating jazz music.
The upstairs rooms (usually closed to the public) are beautiful, mind.
Darryl - 27 Apr 2003 23:01 |
outwardly impressive but very very pretensious pub. Staff very full of themselves and cleaning and collecting glasses from tables seems to be too good for them. Sarcasm and witty comments always seem to be forcoming when being fleeced at the bar. Must charge highest prices outside of the savoy! Good view of the river but then so have the other pubs along the river bank too.
arturo_morales - 18 Mar 2003 16:01 |
I think this is a great pub, ive only been there on busy Saturday nights in a large group, and on those occassions never found the atmosphere lacking. They have some fantastic live Jazz in the evenings, and the night-time view of the thames is a real feature, also a large variety of clientele.
sarah - 14 Mar 2003 10:44 |
The only characteristic worth mentioning seems to be its size - huge. No atmosphere to speak of. Tables were dirty - yuk - really offputting- and didn't get cleaned during my visit. The owners seem to think that no effort is needed. I went once and won't be going back.
Elena - 4 Mar 2003 16:19 |
I was expecting more from this pub. It was very dark and cold inside, not very welcoming at all. Does have good river views, which would be great on a sunny day. I imagine it gets pretty busy though.
Clare - 16 Feb 2003 18:55 |
Excellent location, managed to keep its oldfashioned charm. Won the Evening Standard Pub of the Year competition about 3 years ago.
Pauly H - 4 Dec 2002 15:24 |
One of the oldest pubs in the south east. Fine food and excellent river views.
Sally Harris |
