Old White Beare, Halifaxback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Well, dear hearts, a Moment Of Truth - not a common thing in life - presented itself to us in this pub recently.
Did you ever wonder, exactly, and I mean exactly, what the term "dog friendly" can mean? If so, then I'll detain - but I hope not belabour you - with an example.
It seems that in this pub, some dog owners take it to mean that every single customer must be, or, importantly, if not then pretend to be, as dog-soft-in-the-head as they are, and they will encourage their animal to" investigate" each and every one in the room to ascertain whether they are indeed all complying with this imagined requirement.
If you really don't like this, and should dare to express your feelings straightforwardly at this assault-by-animal-proxy, and at having your personal space invaded by the critter and - worse still - by its owner, then you can expect to be subjected to a hailstorm of foul-mouthed abuse, aggressively lurched towards and generally turned into a public Aunt Sally. In turn, if you should express any objection to your treatment in appropriate terms, then the persistently head-scratching "manageress" of blonde artificial extensions may well ask you to leave for "causing trouble for no reason".
People may sometimes ask why so many pubs are closing down. I humbly proffer that the truth revealed here is a ten-times-greater reason for that sad fact than the smoking ban ever was or will be.
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The Old White Bear is a decent pub by any standards these days, as we found to our pleasure on our most recent foray.
However, it must be said that the bar and snug are both small. At busy times it can be a bit too intimate, with everyone rather in each other's faces.
It is as well then, that the complementary pub just down the road, the Pear Tree, has changed hands and undergone a makeover. The locality can easily support two pubs, especially when they don't try to copy one another.
The Pear Tree now offers a range of exceptionally well-kept ales, including standards such as Tetley's and Timothy Taylor's Landlord, but there were no less than six when we looked in, with Doombar, Castle Rock Harvest Pale, and Yorkshire Blonde amongst them.
They don't as yet do food, apart from Sunday lunch, but that may change. It's a sister pub to the Bull's Head at Gomersal.
The decor is now light, clear and airy, and the atmosphere is intended to be receptive to the genial and well-mannered. I wholeheartedly commend the management policy of protecting that last and most valuable of assets.
There are no television screens to distract or annoy, and the music just is at sufficient volume to give privacy to conversation but no more. I recommend it highly, either as a change from the OWB or as a favourite in its own right.
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Delighted to see that the good people of Calderdale returned not a single UKIP councillor in the recent elections.
Well done to all the regulars at the OWB and the Pear Tree!
Cheers!
Buy your own pint !
;-)
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PS: although the beers are now generally well kept, they do seem to overuse the sparkler. Ales take a lonf time to clear and have too large a head. Some of the younger bar staff pull pints where even the foam does not reach the rim. This is a shame, and unnecessary. Still beer is quicker and less wasteful to pull than foam. It has more life on the tongue too.
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We ventured over again recently, and it's worth saying there's another pub, The Pear Tree, about 800m down the road. This latter, apparently, usually has on Tetley's and another such as Landlord. It's cheaper than this, but it's a bit of a lived-in locals pub. That's a pity, because its location could make it easily rival this one, with some improvements. I suppose Tetley's, Punch or whoever don't want the outlay though.
I thought a bus might make for a nice outing from Halifax, but there are hardly ever any I'm told. The only one I saw had "Local bus" displayed ("for Local People-nowhere you'd want to go", I suppose) but didn't say to which part of the locality it was going.
Anyway, the sun was shining and there was the usual (for this part of the world) display of beetroot-red bald heads here, in the outside area, which meant the rather limited space inside was at least enough, and pleasantly relaxing. Some old boy drove by in a Rolls Royce, and for some reason about half those seated outside waved at him, some standing to do so. (It's a good job they don't live in Notting Hill, they'd be worn out).
There were four real ales on here on this occasion, and the two I had were both in good condition.
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I've been a few times since my last post, and the beer quality has since been consistently good, especially the Copper Dragon beers. The local loudmouths are only a consideration during otherwise quiet times, mainly during weekdays daytime/early evenings. I agree with the other poster that the staff are very friendly and attentive. Food is generally good quality, and the pricing seems better judged now. The management has changed in recent times, and I think the present incumbents are getting the feel of the tiller.
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This is a really nice pub and restaurant, attended a christening there last week.
The buffet was fresh and great quality the staff were friendly and competant, really nice event.
We had never been before but the following sunday decided to try them out for lunch, excellent. Very nice atmosphere exactly what you would expect these days from a quality English restaurant. The roast beef was the best I have ever had, and my starter had what was described as a crispy egg on it! Which was different but delicious.
The beer is excellent quality, crystal clear Timothy Taylours Golden best which I would highly recommend and there were three other real cask ales on golden Pippen, Landlord & something else which I can't remember.
All in all great pub & restaurant in a nice spot especially on a sunny day.
dom90 - 18 Jul 2011 14:35 |
In my opinion what could be a nice old pub is spoiled by too much space given to over-expensive yet unexceptional dining. The little that remains is often dominated by a few loudly-spoken locals who appear to think the unremarkable surroundings are a prestigious village of some sort, want everyone to know how much money they (would wish to appear to) have, and to hear all the matters in which they believe they are an authority. The quality of the beer is very variable, though an excellent pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord, Copper Dragon ""Golden Pippin" etc. can be had on occasions. On others it has appeared to me to be a dilute form of condiment. The pub is reputed to have been partly built from an old ship's timbers of the same name, and has some quaint old features.
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