please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
One of the most stunning-looking pubs ever, with a spectacular location right on the bridge. However, the outside is (amazingly) literally covered with spider's webs and it has a generally run-down atmosphere.
|
went there yesterday for lunch, dirty horrible and poorly managed. (i think the manager was at the bar getting pissed). shame it has so much potential although i guess the don't ned to change it if silly tourists continue to frequent henley!
|
What a marvellous public house - I visited the establishment last Saturday with my good lady wife. She was afforded much opportunity to practice her GCSE Polish and the ensuing brawl was merely a case of "lost in translation". We enjoyed the raw steak with ice cream and anchovies and the warm lager in plastic measures was very welcome to wash it all down. £50 well spent and a front row view of the local widelife, hey roland lives!
|
Service with a snarl. My wife & I dropped in on a Sunday lunchtime - the "greeting" was a barmaid gesticulating from the other end of the bar for us to come to her rather than vice versa. The fact that we wanted soft drinks seemed an alien concept to her, as did the words "please" and "thank you" when we paid the surprisingly high price for said soft drinks. She ws also surprised that we thought perhaps the drinks should be cold... We will not be going there again; there is plenty of choice in the area. The Flower Pot down the road at Aston is nice and friendly.
|
Sat inside to avoid drinking the decent ale out of a plastic glass, nice location but nothing to write home about, £3.40 pint 4 brakspear, 6/10
|
Dirty, soulless and intimidating! Staff do not take ownership of their responsibilities!
anonymous - 26 Oct 2007 23:09 |
This pub offered the worst service myself and my family have ever had to endure. They are so inefficient and it would benefit tremendously if they all perhaps had some training on the tills in particular. Oh, and watch for the rats running through the beer garden, though this was not a surprise as it is right on the river
anonymous - 25 Oct 2007 16:34 |
Recently we had visitors from Australia who particularly wanted to visit Henley. We decided to lunch there and our friends thought it would be nice to sit by the river, So we decided to go to The Angel on The Bridge, this was on Saturday 29th September 2007. My wife went in to order our food. The staff who served her were foreign and she had great difficulty making herself understood. She had to assist them in making the debit card machine work to pay for our meal. after a long period of time she came outside not very happy. After a while three meals arrived so I told my wife to start eating so as not to let them get cold. After a while I went inside to find out what had happened to my meal. After a few blank looks the staff informed me that it had not been either ordered or paid for. I said forget it. My wife then went inside to ask for the manager. A man arrived who she presumed was the manager and explained the whole saga. She said she believed that as it was their total mistake they should do my meal quickly and not charge for it for the inconvenience caused. She was given very short shrift. As I was so unhappy. I informed Brakspears and their chief Executive Mr Bridgeman advised me that he had visited the pub,spoke with the tenants manager and they they would contact me to resolve the matter to my Satisfaction. As at today of course they have not. Needless to say my Australian friends were not impressed and I certainly will never use the pub again
|
Visited a couple of weeks ago whilst on a sabbatical from my pied a terre in Chelsea. Gosh these guys have it tough - Pimms imbibed from a plastic measure and not a strawberry creme brulee in sight. Purchased 6 covers from the delightfully silent European waitress and now realise I may need to put the Chelsea Square property on the market - still a great day out and cousin Giles is now over the Weils disease.
anonymous - 29 May 2007 01:30 |
People warn about this pub - it's over-priced, the food is crap, it gets crowded, and the beers comes in plastic glasses.
It is all true.
But what The Angel does have that over-rides all these complaints is location, location, location. The position on the Thames by the stone bridge is wonderful - full of charm, beauty and character. The swans come to feed. Boats float by. The day drifts pleasantly.
We saw no sign of the brass plaques on the floor which indicated that famous people such as Grace Kelly had stood there. We looked in the downstairs servery bar - but that had a tiled floor anyway. We looked in the upstairs restaurant room, which had wooden floor, but no sign. We looked in the upstairs bar, but that had carpet.
O well. Still a must visit pub. Be prepared for all the negatives - don't buy food, and bring your own tankard, and you'll have a charming experience.
|
The lease of this pub is for sale. I hope the next occupiers check this site for some tips before they start.
|
Ha, the pub that's tricked a thousand tourists. Nasty thing on the river side with overpriced drinks and (plastic?) glasses.
Step 5 feet to your left gentleman and you will find half a dozen other Brakspear pubs that are better (this is Henley after all).
|
couldn't agree more with the last comment! went for a nice day out and got sucked into the tourist trap. Firstly the drink prices are pritty bad (£2.85 for a pepsi, £3.30 for a Fosters) and you get a plastic cup. Then we couldn't order food at the bar, it has to be ordered at your table outside, so ensued a long wait to grab someones attention. The menu sounds so good and I was definetly sold.. Steak and Guiness Pie, all made to sounds very home made but it couldn't be further from the truth. I felt absolutely robbed when i got what could only be described as a thin slice of what i suspect is an ordinary cheap TESCO pie, not to mention the horrible tinned veg, and it all comes on a paper plate with set of sealed plastic cuttlery. My partner got the deal just as bad, with a quiche that was barely eddible!! we both felt absolutely robbed and annoyed. My advice DO NOT HAVE FOOD HERE!! unless you want to feel as empty as you were before the food.
|
Promises so much, delivers so little.
Our early summer visit to this pretty pub under the bridge in Henley left us feelng ever so slightly robbed. Overpriced beer was sloshed into plastic glasses by disinterested and inexperienced staff. Our, not inexpensive food, (£8 for a slice of pie), was delivered on paper plates with plastic cutlery and my old dinner lady would have been embarassed serving up the microwaved veg and tepid meat. All in all, if it weren't for the fabulous location next to the river this place would have gone out of business years ago, and rightly so.
|
Expensive beer from a plastic glass, if it weren't by the river why bother.
|
Pretty standard, had a good pint!! Bet the place is awesome in the summer!!
|
Less busy on weekday evenings. Had excellent pancakes and crepes on Shrove Tuesday. Also had decent roast pheasant during the week. Good value.
|
If an Alien from Mars asked me about this Pub I would say one thing...sit on the river side with a beer and relax. The riverside patio of this place is fab.
|
The drinks at the Angel are certainly overpriced, but the food is not; however the quality is reflected in the pricing structure. A chalkboard outside tempted us in by offering roasted peppers with beef, spinach and goats cheese, which was surprisingly school-dinnerish and bland; the pasta bolognese had a little more flavour, and the coffee was good.
It would be foolish to expect a pub in the centre of Henley to be anything other than crammed on a weekend lunchtime, so the service and the noise-level were both acceptable. It's hard to decide whether it would be worth going back for their weeknight swiss fondue.
Karen - 31 Oct 2004 13:36 |
The Angel has EXCELLENT people watching on the deck in the summer and is the only pub in town guaranteed to have a crowd at 2:00pm on a weekday. Yes, it can get crowded, but, I've never had a problem getting an outdoor table with a group. Wine is lovely & cold, beer too. Food is marginal, but food is not the attraction. As for indoors, yes it's very cramped, but this is not unique for Henley pubs, unless you frequent The Catherine Wheel.
anonymous - 24 Oct 2004 03:21 |
Could be so much better. Why do you have to have a plastic mug and warm beer just because it's busy?
Great view and good atmosphere. Try it but don't expect too much.
Daniel - 2 Jul 2004 16:21 |
Decent enough, although if it was not for its proximity to the river it's hard to think what it might have to offer. Very crampt interior, which isn't necesserily a bad thing but doesn't provide anything extra in this case. Food was disappointing - too dry. Still, the location can't be bettered in the area, so as long is it isn't winter it's well worth a visit.
Good for: pulling up in boat for a pint
|
A nice pub, situated next to the Thames. Nice in the summer to sit outside, or nice in the colder evenings to have a beer and a snack inside.
Lee - 24 Jan 2004 15:42 |
