please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
A "conversion bat"?
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Now a Sainsbury's local -there is a large than average shop conversion bat over the road called the Alfred - which is just your lagers etc.
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Closed and boarded.
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This pub has closed down. It is currently boarded up.
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Reckoned by some to be the best pub in Borehamwood. This really is damning with faint praise. Large drinking emporium designed to appeal to the football viewing / pool playing sector. Indifferent food served in generous quantities. The operator's (Barracuda?) cider festival redeemed the place by offering Green Goblin...but suspect little to appeal to the real ale drinker.
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We had an unusual evening in this pub a couple of months ago...it was about 10.30 on a Friday night and we were waiting for a train home. Time enough for a swift and watery pint of John Smiths. As we sat and drank up, we realised with slowly dawning horror that a female patron sitting at a table over to our right was "going commando" while wearing a short dress...her legs hung loosely open to reveal what I can only describe as a caterpillar. Eww. We made our excuses and left.
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From outiside I thought this was the local nightspot complete with a 'capable' team of door operatives ready to dissuade evil elements from entering.... through the windows I espied miserable looking pensioners gazing outwards possibly deep in thought about somewhere nicer they could be.... Nearest drinking establishment to the station but I'd rather walk a mile and a half down the road to Tescos and buy take out stuff and hang round the 'bus station' than venture in.
anonymous - 31 Jul 2010 00:28 |
the red lion was opposite the film studios and used to enjoy customers including film stars such as richard burton and liz taylor in the early years.
We used to knock around with a bird called zoe whose old man was the landlord in the late 80'S by then it was full of the local piss heads
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Wise old Juniper Inns have slashed the budgets on all of their pubs so now you won't get anything more than a dodgy karaoke run by the company's preferred choice of Jock here. Up until Christmas they had a great quiz night with the bloke who used to do karaoke there in the enigma days.
The redeeming quality this pub has (apart from the refurb) is that the staff are efficient and friendly, the food is excellent, and there are none of the chavvy crew allowed in there.
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Its current name is the Crown, before that it was Enigma and before that�.well this is one of those pubs that changes its name more often than Michael Jackson changes his nose. I first drank in here in the late 80�s when I started working in Borehamwood and it certainly wasn�t the sort of place you felt comfortable in with a suit and tie on. I remember they used to have strippers at lunchtime and they even set up a sumo wrestling night. From what I gather each subsequent incarnation has both attracted and accommodated similar clientele.....up until now that is.
It seems the local chavs will now have to find somewhere else to have a scrap on a Friday night as they�re unlikely to even get a foot in the door of the new Crown. Even on a Saturday afternoon I saw one bloke refused service, two 20 something young ladies carded quite aggressively, and one guy made to step away from the bar so that they could check if he was wearing tracksuit bottoms. All this while I was waiting for them to do what they should be doing � selling me beer!! Still I suppose I can�t blame them, when you take over a pub with this sort of reputation you need to be strong from the outset.
The refurb into a gastro pub by current owners Juniper Inns is fairly extensive and the space has been used well. The eating area is at the front of the pub leading up to the bar and round to a raised area with a couple of pool tables and a dartboard. A large beer garden completes the picture. I�ll probably drop in again in a couple of months time to see if the strippers have returned.
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No this isn't the pub you are thinking of pint.taken, the Red Lion was at the other end of Shenley Road by the roundabout opposite the studios. It was closed down in the late 80's and turned into a McDonalds, which I assume it still is.
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does anyone know if this was ever called the red lion im going back about 30 odd years ago i know there was one not far from the elstree studios.
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The Enigma is now under new management again by a women from Newcastle and here partner also works there. It is still quiet but is getting busier they do food all day and the meals are very nice. she has had the drink reduced and has more drink promotions they have also they have bought karaoke back on thursday's as requested they also have doorman who are very nice the new management are trying there best to make it into a nice pub and i wish them all the luck in the world they are really nice friendly people but also they dont put up with any crap either i give it a high rating and that is for all the effort they are putting into it
anonymous - 16 Aug 2006 21:25 |
This pub is great the ppl 4rm bwwod dat drink in der r gr8, its full of buff lads. as 4 da drug issue's and fights dat happens n e where u go mayb u jus dnt notice it. i think dat the atmosphere in this pub is brilliant. Karoke on a thursday is brilliant sum times the dj ruins it but everyone seems to have a great night. it is under new management now and its better now the landlady and landlord hav gone because there solution to all of the problems was to bar everyone. which wasnt the best of ideas!!!
anonymous - 11 Apr 2006 14:41 |
what a total s**t hole, would not go back here if I got paid to drink in this place, and I think the lines need to be cleaned more than once a year, as there beer is the only thing that could make there customers seem nice.
I would like to know what the clean the bar and tables with as i needed a hand to get un-stuck from them.
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Can't say I agree with the poitive reviews of this place since chnageover of those running it. It takes ages to get served and I don't think the place has managed to get rid of its less than desireable crowd. Sometimes a laugh but more often than not there is a fight kicking off somewhere.
anonymous - 9 Nov 2005 16:53 |
What a horrible pub its still the same and i never go
there is also alot of nasty people who go but its good
place for music and to dance.
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I totally agree new couple running this place are great! Love the atmosphere in there now. And theyb really care about the customer!!!! Love this pub now.
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'Enigma,' meaning perplexing, inexplicable and mysterious. And sure enough, all those apply to this JJB den where the Borehamwood massive come to spend their grubby cash - you'll find them all here from pre-schoolers to the elderly, from pre-natal to post-natal. Mysterious are the women whose clothes and skin are stretched ragged by the cycle of pregnancy, domestic violence and bulimic retching. Inexplicable is the abattoir d�cor and the sticky film which covers every surface. And you will certainly be perplexed at your decision to go there at all.
The bar staff are generally OK and the booze is cheap, very cheap in fact, but it's a trade-off you won't want to make, believe me...
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Are you the new landlord Boo?
What happened to the previous two? If they got sacked I may just drink in there again!
The Enigma is a beautiful pub but may have suffered from a lack of TLC under the previous managers
Rich - 7 Aug 2004 12:57 |
the previous landlords have gone, please give it another try, there is a fantastic landlord now who has turned the pub around and a new chef, the sunday roasts are terrific, there is something for everyone in this pub.
boo - 3 Aug 2004 18:00 |
the manager is fantastic and a real people person, and makes sure you have a great night, he has pulled this pub out of the gutter and is now running regular Do's. I can understand why the people who left nasty messages did as they are obviously the last tenants who gave this pub a bad name, but now.....WOW...amazing atmosphere great beer, great cocktails, great gals behind the bar and saturday nights a night to remember in the enigma.... Thank you new landlord for bringing class and fun back to borehamwood. xxxx
Boo @ B/wood - 3 Aug 2004 17:54 |
What a beautiful looking place. The interior is fantastic. There is one MAJOR drawback though: The landlord is miserable, grumpy and offensive to customers. He really lets the place down.
anonymous - 6 Apr 2004 01:26 |
Have to agree with the comments about the landlord, he's a proper miserable bloke.The customer certainly always comes last with him.
Rather drink in the Wellington down the road and thats saying something !!
anonymous - 9 Dec 2003 22:48 |
I like this pub, i live in borehamwood, and it is one of the only decent pubs that play good music and have a good atmosphere on a thursday & friday night.
On thursday you have Karaoke, and on Friday you have the resident DJ. Its the best Pub that has been made of the building. It is always busy on friday's and everyone knows everyone. I will admit there is some trouble sometimes, but where can you go where you never get trouble. Only good thing, is the bouncers are strict so you dont get young kids, and definitly nothing gets carried away
Anon - 7 Aug 2003 16:13 |
the so called manager is rude and holds no respect for the customers. the toilets smell like they house tramps. dont waste your time...
anonymous - 10 Jul 2003 12:19 |
my comment is about the managers of this pub, never before have i been so disgusted with a manager in my life, he was rude, misserable and when i went to inform him that the food that i had just perchased was cold i got acused of planning it just so i could get my money back!!! outragous
David Poulton - 27 Oct 2002 13:45 |
