please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Food dominated riverside pub. Great choice of quality food at very reasonable prices. Loads of specials on the blackboard, table service by friendly staff and a good range of beers (2 guests, Directors and Deuchars IPA). Enjoyable experience
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Great location overlooking the Thames, and housed in a 70s building. That sounds worse than it actually is. Friendly bar staff, a good range of drinks and all in all seems a good place. Looking forwqard to returning when the wetaher gets warmer.
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Went there for a friend's birthday drink, it was a Saturday night and I regret going. They had on very loud music, no-one could hear themeselves talk let alone what anyone else is saying, also lots of people smoking just outside very close to the exits and whenever the door opened you got a lungful of it (we have a smoking ban so please stop so much of it coming into the building!). Probably nicer in the day though.
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Spacious pub on two levels in a modern (fairly) brick development on the Kingston riverside and close to Kingston Bridge so you can watch the boats going past and tourists trying to feed the swans.
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Quite good for Young's beer and one or two others, the atmosphere isn't very traditional but it has a good situation on the riverside and is a lot better than many of the 'bars' in that overcrowded area.
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One of the better pubs in Kingston from my memories of the place. Was last there in Sept 2007, and I had a decent evening. Beer was quite good.
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Another great Youngs. Reasonably priced for those not on the dole. The usual selection of watery Ales for those how find beer tasting of anything other than metal offensive. Good lively music and lovely views. Not for those who dislike Clapham types or take Irish theme bars as a personal insult. A great little nitro of a bar.
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Overpriced and pretentious. Staff too stupid to realize that if you buy your first beer from then the bar that you may be still want to eat. After being told at the bar that food must be ordered from the table I waited 20 minutes without being served. Will never visit this "pub" again.
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Decent pint of Youngs beer, and good riverside location but spoilt by uninterested staff who seem to be trying to create an atmosphere that suits them rather than what their customers want.
Music extremely loud and aimed at 18-25s, even though the majority of customers were 40+.
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Not entirely satisfied with my last visit, after complaining about the attitude of a member of staff, i was made out to be the liar!!
anonymous - 3 Sep 2007 19:06 |
Typical Young's pub but with more of a river view. Usually gets very busy and the food is certainly on the dear side of expensive.
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Used to be a regular haunt of mine 20 years ago. Went back to find it very expensive and they wanted us to drink out of plastic even though we said we would be inside.
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This place was a regular haunt of mine 25 years ago when I lived in the area and I spent many an evening (and lunchtime) out on the river terrace. Returning after an absence of several years, it is disappointing, although not particularly surprising, that it has lost much of its universal appeal and has become a bit of a trendy spot generally aimed at the under 30’s. The large bay front commands views of the riverside terrace and Kingston Bridge and whilst the modernist decor and sink into the seat sofas are not particularly out of place in such a modern pub, I preferred its previous pub by numbers interior, even if it did look like an embryonic Wetherspoons. As one previous poster has indicated, you need to pick your time and occasion to get the best out of this pub. As it was a special St Patrick's night bash and I had only come to see my friends band play (enter big plug for Never Mind The Bongos), I have no idea what the general Saturday night ambience is but I get the impression that loud, monotonous, clubby music is the order of the day. The mood is toned down on Sundays with live jazz. Out of peak hours it would be a lot more subdued and relaxing. The beers are from the usual Young's range and decent enough quality but prices are not cheap with Guinness weighing in at a hefty £3.20 a pint. It was nice to return after so many years but I think I’ll just stick to my old memories.
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Not a bad pub as Kingston goes - pleasant for a mid afternoon catch-up. I booked a private Xmas party here last year and the food was unexpectedly good, however popped in today for Sunday roast which was a £9.50 school dinner, complete with soggy Yorkshire pudding, packet gravy and seemingly watery reheated veggies. Mind you, whilst Kingston remains so devoid of decent town-centre boozers, the Bishop will remain my pub of choice.
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The best pub i have ever got pissed in...mint. I got drunk there and walked for miles to hamton wick and i don,t know why?
I left hospital early and whent strait there...no messing.Lot's of brids too! No thugs or any crap.Do your shoping in the town and then get in there...have it out with the beer and see who wins...he who dares.
Get pissed, life is to short.
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Went there for lunch today. Very open and light. Lacking the intimacy and character of numerous other riverside pubs. Table service (i.e. they take your orders for food as well as bringing it to you) makes it more of a smart bar than a pub. Fair enough if that's what you like - there is room for all kinds of establishments in the pub trade. "Yer pays yer money and takes yer choice". The steak and Guinness pie and chips was OK - no better, no worse - but for £9.50 a throw I would have expected good not OK, but for all that it's a relaxing place to stop for lunch on a weekday in winter!
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This pub has a good location. Not eaten here but had a few drinks and it was pleasant enough. Never felt the need to go back though!
Jo984 - 28 Sep 2006 10:44 |
This pub very much depends on the time that you visit.
As with almost everywhere else in Kingston on Friday and Saturday nights in clement weather, it is full of ar5es.
However, the staff are some of the best I've come across in the area, and the food is actually very good for a pub. If you pick the right time, this can be a real gem.
Infinitely better than it was before the current management. Mind you, I remember it when I was somewhat younger and it was a real ropey venue (too cruddy even for my tastes) full of teenagers - I was one of the older ones at 16!
Can recommend trying this out for a nice long lunch, whilst the chavs are still at school/college.
patsy - 18 Aug 2006 15:19 |
What is meant by staff deserve better? I have been to this pub on many occasions and it is a nice relaxed place. Sure it is noisy on a Friday & Saturday night but what else would you expect in a venue of this size in a town like Kingston. I have never run in to any trouble here and have not come across the 'Kingston Element' that a previous contributer found.
anonymous - 5 Aug 2006 14:42 |
I was there on a Friday night. Almost exactly what you would expect of a town centre pub at that time.
Very noisy inside (I don't know why, as surley people who wanted that kind of thing would be in the "club" next door. Note to owners - If you are going for the pub feel as opposed to a bar, please try not to fall into these traps. Be brave and let people talk, they might like it), but the location is great and the outside is nice in good weather. And there are worse places nearby, make no mistake.
Hopefully at other times in the week it does itself justice. The staff were very good and deserve better.
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This pub is great for Sunday lunch overlooking the river, but come dusk it seems to attract a certain Kingston 'element'. Don't ask me why because it certainly has more potential than Ha-Bloody-Ha along the river.
anonymous - 31 May 2006 21:44 |
This is what Youngs now refer to as a "contemporary pub and dining experience ", but its OK for a pint on the river. Good location, but as previous contributor rightly says, its typically soulless and impersonal
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No wonder the Bishop is out. No doubt he's found a better pub elsewhere. Great Location, souless pub.
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The jazz on Sundays is a great idea. It is a pleasure to the ear. Good Job.
anonymous - 28 Jan 2006 22:54 |
Music a little loud on Saturdays sometimes, but otherwise a nice Young's pub. Recently refurbished so it's all nice inside and I recently rented the upstairs room for a party and I was excellent. Highly reccomended to non-chavs.
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Great Pub. The food is good, the staff freindly and it has been nicely redecorated. The room upstairs is a really great place to chill, although is usually booked out for parties. Will definately go here again
anonymous - 5 Nov 2005 15:40 |
Have been visiting this pub off & on for years. still a great place but the current menu is nothing like the one shown here and the (mainly australian) staff are extremely rude.
One pays over the odds for the location!
anonymous - 11 Sep 2005 23:38 |
Great location, good beer, boring pub. Sat outside and had to listen to horrible piped music from within which was quite loud. You're sitting by the river, it's a warm summer evening, people are rowing boats on the river ..... and you're forced to listen to muzak. How do they think this helps and adds to the experience and the ambience? It doesn't. It's the common mistake in pubs that music in some ways creates atmosphere - but it's just aural pollution.
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Went for lunch here yesterday, our first visit. (Excellent) table service, blaring crap music and intense 30 degree heat, complete with picturesque, relaxing riverside location made us feel like we were on holiday. The northern lass in me couldn't resist the steak and ale pie despite the glorious weather and it was delicious - just like my mum makes! Liked the place so much we went back after work for a few hours. Couldn't say how different it'd be in winter sitting inside (looked quite nice if a little generically non-atmospheric) but a definite summer hit and my lunchtime venue of choice (now I have one, being in Kingston these days instead of lovely Ashford/Feltham).
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Went past the other day after seeing they'd had a refurb. What a difference.! The layout has all changed and the place is generally a lot smarter. The menu has also improved 10 fold. So much so that I ended up going in for Sunday lunch. I say to those like myself who used to hate the place....give it another go. You'll be pleasantly surprised at Youngs' efforts to turn the place around.
anonymous - 23 Jun 2005 10:53 |
No atmosphere. Like an upmarket airport lounge. Nice for drinking outside by the river in summer - otherwise forget it - it's a typical anonymous impersonal pub with no character or warmth whatsoever. Functional, but not memorable or noteworthy in any way.
Simon - 17 Nov 2004 15:41 |
no atmosphere at all - refurbishment has wrecked this place completely. I wont go there again
John - 14 Oct 2004 13:35 |
Not typical Young's; a lot more pricey than the Grey Horse in Richmond Road, and no atmosphere unless it's trying to be Raffles'. I sat there and imagined myself in the beginning of Apocalypse Now. It was the best way to drink in this pub.
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They ID-d my 27 year old fiance ha ha ha He hasn't carried ID for 8 years ha ha Too expensive (typical Young's) and no identity. Avoid!
Jane - 17 Aug 2004 11:04 |
great riverside pub great food sunday roasts are massive real ale outside seated area with great veiws up staires bar non smoking also with stunning veiws of river decorated modern .
anonymous - 27 Jul 2004 09:12 |
The food was great, Service was good and the staff were great v.chatty.Recommended to go there
Holli - 5 Jul 2004 17:19 |
Couldnt believe it when they charged me £17.50 for 3 double vodies and orange!! Nice to sit outside .. but not for those prices! Bring a bottle - thats what I say!
Donna - 9 Jun 2004 13:16 |
What the hell have they done to this pub? Gone now the shady lived in corners and bench seating, laughter and cheery atmosphere and proper pub punters. What now? Bright lights, modern artificial plastic decor and no one in sight. Progress.., Huh!
Kevin - 8 May 2004 11:33 |
Nice, relaxing pub, though a bit of a barn in early evening. Drinks were fairly dear even for here. Encountered a nutter who asked me if I was a Mason (negative) and who then told me that they were in cahoots with the politicians to take over the world and dictate what TV we watch.
All that for free.
anonymous - 24 Mar 2004 13:34 |
THe food is not great .. but it seems to attract the oap's .. they love it!
Emma - 9 Feb 2004 13:29 |
I had food in here not long ago and was asked if I wanted "vegetables or potatoes with it".
Yes you are right, you cannot have both.
stamina josh - 5 Feb 2004 18:34 |
They have bricked in the balcony!
That was one of the best things about this pub, sitting on the balcony in the summer, up away from the muggyness and midges you get right on the river front.
Also the old seating downstairs was much better than they have now. Nice little bays to sit and watch the world go by. Now its a wide flat space with little tables. Seems to be less seating.
if your a non-smoker though, upstairs is now a non-smoking bar. Top marks for consideration on that account. Buch falls down on much else.
Bar staff are OK considering the transient nature of the customers.
Its a little too 'prim and proper' now. Not a place to relax.
jon-paul - 15 Jan 2004 13:15 |
Nice to sit outside by the river in summer. However summer nights everyone wants to be outside and there is a lack of seats!
Dimple Chops - 14 Jan 2004 22:12 |
The bishop used to be great .. well it still is in the summertime .. but when its cold it has not got much to offer, well except for expensive drinks (£2.40 for a vodie and orange)and empty seats - But still if you like a quiet place to chat then the Bishop is the place to be!
lucy chandler - 9 Jan 2004 10:52 |
Good name, but that's about it. Totally devoid of any character.
Good for: Sunny days at best coz you sure as hell don't want to be sitting inside.
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Stopped here for lunch and a pint or two last Sunday. Beer was good, food was good, and the service was really quick. We ordered lunch and barely had time to sit at our table before it arrived. Nice cool place for a quiet drink on a hot day.
Gordon - 12 Aug 2003 10:58 |
Good selection of Youngs beer, food is plentiful if a touch pricey. Nice place to chill out for the afternoon by the river.
Matt - 7 Jul 2003 14:32 |
We went on a sunny weekday at luchtime. Staff were very friendly and efficent, food was quickly brought to us and good. Refurbishment clean, bright and airy. Good location. Nice not to have loud music. Much much better than it was when I used to frequent it regularly in the early 90s.
Eleanor - 27 Jun 2003 09:42 |
Went there the Thursday before easter. Packed pub, hot day, No bar staff. Took 20 mins to get served. Lots of people were getting increasingly pissed off. I do hope this was an oversight.
Mike - 29 Apr 2003 14:53 |
Much improved since the refurb but still not great. Main gripes are the lack of atmosphere and the quality of the beer which is a bit hit and miss.
Angus - 19 Mar 2003 12:46 |
Not keen on the bright new refurb. Good spot on the river & the food's fine. Infinitely preferable to the Gazebo nearby.
Dave - 30 Oct 2002 12:55 |
staff are sullen and don't want to serve you, take your cash elsewhere
lou - 14 Oct 2002 15:39 |
More of a chill out pub, 2 floors, no loud tunes, prices are ok for the area, trying to get a seat takes military planing and precision.
Relax and leave. Dont try to pull, you might succeed...
Short Guy - 20 Sep 2002 03:46 |
it's been completely refurbished inside. still smells of dogs though.
anne - 17 Jun 2002 10:34 |
always seems to smell a bit of dogs.
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