please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
This is a great pub, good beer, don't care about food, good standards, football and they grasp the concept that us fellas don't want to be served off auld boots and shaky auld drunks ( Prince Of Wales ) because they always have a couple of crackers on the payroll. Good work man with moustache. If you are a poor man like the fella below I suggest you don't drink in Covent Garden, bet he never shut up about it all night. Your mate. Cracking bar I'll stop by next time I'm in town.
|
I hadn't been in this bar for years. but gave it a try last week. Pub was good - attentive service and nice decor - but shocked at being charged more than £7 for two pints of Early Bird. The bar maid explained this as being due to the budget increases! Covent Garden is expensive, but this seemed excessive.
|
This was one of my favourite boozers. Friendly, great staff, great beer, charming Landlady and while not allowing anyone to take advantage, the pub has always been pretty relaxed at closing times.
Last night we were asked for our glasses at 11.05. We were still drinking but for good measure we had our beer mats from us.
The over zealous barman then came and demanded our glasses, in no uncertain terms, again 5 minutes later.
Is the bar manager new? If so and the landlady is reading this can she please get rid of them and restore some of the discretion that appears to have been lost.
|
Corking place to watch a big sports game and good beer, too. The staff have usually been decent - and quite an eyeful - so always one place I find myself going to for things to watch.
|
Nice comfortable boozer, had a lunchtime pint and burger last week, both of which were fine.
|
Nipped in between torential downpours during Saturdy lunchtime. Very good pint of Spitfire. Clen and tidy bar, though not very busy.
|
V good central enough but not as manic as other pubs in the area ?
|
Nice pub, ales have alway been good when I have been. Male staff excellent, (younger) female staff don't know how to pour a pint or what good customer service is.
|
An ok pub nothing exceptional lacks atmosphere.Food not expensive but basic.Usual range of Shep Neame beers and lagers.There are better establishments in the area.
|
I tried the Spitfire which was undrinkable, and the Masterbrew, which was just barely drinkable.
|
Been here twice. First time I had a majestic pint of Spitfire. So next time I went with a few mates after work, and the girl behind the bar tipped the slops tray into my pint then carefully topped it up with some nice fresh stuff from the pump. Needless to say I didn't buy it and she poured me another claiming it was a mistake. Not been back.
anonymous - 21 Jan 2007 21:41 |
A very good Shepherd Neame pub - worth a visit. 7/10
|
An excellent place on a Friday night after work. Always just busy enough to find room to have a few drinks. Whether it's a couple or a large group we always have a good time, and we're more often than not there every Friday.
The food is reasonable if not a little slow to be served, the beer can vary as can the attractiveness of the bar staff. But for Covent Garden it retains a pub feel and we can't resist always beginning a night at the Freemasons Arms.
anonymous - 4 Dec 2006 00:46 |
Whatever you do, do not suggest to the bar staff that the toilets stink like bad drains.
They then refuse to serve you, accuse you of being drunk (even though you had not touched a drop,) and ask you to leave.
Oh and at lunchtime the toilets stank of blocked drains..................
anonymous - 29 Nov 2006 15:09 |
Hard to judge since visited with Spurs euro game on multiple screens; though Spitfire very ordinary despite the volume.
|
Nice boozer. Been using this one loads recently.... partially due to the vision of Brazilian beauty that works behind the bar. Fit as the proverbial butchers dog.
Well stocked fridge.
......only drawback..... some of the esteemed foreign bar staff have a tenuous grasp on the vernacular lingo! Have to agree with Mr Bonser on that one.
anonymous - 26 Sep 2006 11:45 |
top Orangeboom, one of the few good places to watch football on big screeen, food mundane but served fast.
|
I couldn't resist this. Just been there tonight to watch an England game. Pretty full as usual. I ordered 2 pints of Orangeboom and it ran out of beer, so the barrels were changed. They seem to have a habit of filling old half pints into new glasses in this pub now. Anyway, they gave me two pints. Mine was cloudy and flat (possibly an old half from the end of the barrel), so I asked them to change it. It threw the bar lady into confusion so she put my pint minus about three swigs of beer just below the counter before asking her manager what to do next. In the meantime another senior looking person picked up my old pint, topped it up with whatever lager it was and served it to someone else down the bar!!!! This rather begs the question as to what she thought she was serving the guy, because presumably she had no idea what it was! I suppose any old lager will do to us football supporters eh! Cloudy, flat you name it, they won't complain! And don't askfor fish and chips, they come on the smallest plates you can imagine. Talk about kiddies portions! This is a nice pub, but they are taking the pee now. 5/10.
|
I agree the foreign bartenders did seem a bit ignorant and impolite - especially when I asked to see the manager!! Anyway, I eventually managed to speak to the assistant manager who was lovely and understanding, and I told her about the widescreen problem that they had had. I went through the procedure with her and I can now say with much delight that the Freemasons Arms now shows true 16:9 widescreen pictures on their plasma tellies! Come here to watch the Premiership football! Find out more about my pub widescreen campaign at www.radiofeeds.co.uk/wide
|
Little to add to previous comments based on last week's visit - but I do agree that staff who's command of English is inadequate should not be employed in any role that involves communicating with members of the public ( i e - customers !)
|
For a Sheps pub, this is poor. Not necessarily poor in itself as there are a host of other pubs around it that are so much worse, but poor because it could be so, so much better.
Has the three 'standard,' Sheps beers (Spitfire, Masterbrew and Kent,) on handpump but then has the more unusual ones (Whitstable, Bishops and 1669 at last count,) in keg form. For a pub that is a flagship for it's brewery in London this is a real missed opportunity, (as you can get Spitfire in most places these days.)
If you want Sheps beers, take the scenic route to Mabel's Tavern in Euston, at least they have the full range.
Disappointed as this could be so much better.
|
Great pub to watch England matches as the the F.A. was formed here many moons ago but used to be better when the bar staff could understand and speak English!
|
Yeah not bad in a standard pub way - rather expensive wines and beers though
anonymous - 7 May 2006 15:27 |
Notable as the pub where in 1863 the first meeting of the Football Association took place. It's a Shepherd Neame pub serving three casks in good condition, at around £2.80 a pint. The place is large, pleasant and comfortable with cosy corners, leather armchairs, wood, mirrors, embossed wallpaper, high ceilings and all the trimmings of a standard central London large company pub refurbishment. There is a lack of individual character, but everything is clean and tidy. Good value pub grub with bangers and mash under £6. A decent enough, average pub.
|
Generally a good Ale House, attracting tourists and office workers. Sat 1st April pm they had a girl serving that had no grasp of English at all - she had no idea what the price of the beer was and wrongly charged me twice. This apparently won Shepherd Neame pub of the year 2005 - but the manager really needs to get a grip to whom she wants to employ : because having to yell and spell what beer I want, really f**ks me off and does nothing for my enthusiasm for the European Union at all.
anonymous - 3 Apr 2006 14:02 |
Nice pub in the typical "modern traditional" style. Spitfire was on splendid form and one of my work colleagues was impressed with the bottled Whitstable Organic Ale. Music was a bit loud, but overall reasonably impressed, apart from the bar staff, whose command of English left a bit to be desired.
|
A nice half way house kind a place in Covent Garden. Great Shepherd Neame beers and a lively punter base. Sky is on, but not obtrusive. You can get a seat and table eventually, and the bar staff have been attentive and prompt on my several visits to this establishment. Recommended.
|
Only been in at lunchtimes - doesn't appear to be very busy. Lots of traditional pub features and one of the few pubs that still has a picture of the Queen! Shepherd Neame beers at a reasonable price for the area. Good service. 2 plasma screens (look a bit out of place alongside Oil Paintings and Queen Betty but so be it). It has no doubt changed a bit since the Football Association was formed here in 1863 but where better to watch a match than the place where the modern game as we know it was effectively born. For a good traditional pub you can't go far wrong.
|
I found the Shepherd Neame beers to be spot on, though this pub had more of a clubby feel. Plenty of seats, but an open floor plan so it can get loud.
|
This pub has gone downhill drastically in the past couple of years. It started with Greene King losing interest in it and Shep Neame have let it slip further. The beer is often bland and flat. Far too crowded to enjoy. And that's without the shady masons who often arrive in a herd from the nearby temple! There's far better pubs in Covent Garden in all four directions.
|
Went here to meet friends one night in November and liked it so much I went back for my birthday.
You get treated like a regular pretty much straight off, the food's lovely and well-priced for Covent Garden, and there are a couple of widescreen plasma TVs showing sport etc which kept me amused while waiting for friends to turn up.
It's difficult to find a seat sometimes, but there are plenty of places to perch fairly comfortably while you're waiting to pounce on a table.
|
Good boozer. Cheers to Jack and Linda. I used to work a few doors down here and we used to sit in the windows here on friday nights. Food was good too.
Aaron - 19 May 2004 06:18 |
Change of brewer to Shepherd Neame in December 2004. Much improved food quality, and better beers. We like the traditional atmosphere, and Linda is a great landlady.
Adrian - 18 Feb 2004 20:46 |
I was asked to perform an International Wine Challenge on the first floor in the private bar/dining-room for 25 Americans at short notice in December '03. Despite never having met John and Linda, nor known of the pub, they could not have been more helpful in making the arrangments. This is a classic 'London Pub', slightly kitch and over the top so fun to be at and a dream for the yanks who were expecting Sherlock Holmes to arrive at any minute! The staff were delightful and incredibly helpful, the food was imaginative, honest and enjoyable and the first fllor room was a very good venue in which to get 25 yanks well lubricated!
jack scott - 3 Feb 2004 09:58 |
A fairly average pub in a quieter stretch of the West End, that is famous for being the birthplace of the Football Association. With nothing truly exceptional to recommend it, odd remnants of footie memorabilia aaside, the beers are well kept, the staff friendly, the bar is fairly busy and the upstairs function room is adequate. All very average but bearable I suppose.
Agnes - 28 Oct 2003 11:10 |
