please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Went on a Sunday. Not awful. No ales but lots of lagers, including some decent imports. Big screens showing the footy, and some very cheap food which wasn't half bad.
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Used to love this pub few years back but now its on borrowed time !! While the decor is beautiful the lights were 2 bright and music 2 low !! Tvs left on all night playing reruns ...why ? bar staff didnt even speak 2 each other never mind us ! Over priced drinks were flat and wine was typical house wine with fine wine price ! No atmosphere in this pub anymore !
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I had previously been a regular at this pub (around 99-06) and have posted some good comments before - went back a few weeks ago after a few years of absence.....what has happened to this place? The old quirky (but likeable) atmosphere of this pub has just turned to sterility. The barman was extremely rude and unpleasant and it wasn't even busy. What a disappointment - so may pubs these days are refurbed and come out crap at the other end - such a shame !
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I never really liked this pub and I dislike it even more now. Fosters, Becks, Stella and Amstel are all on draught along with John Smiths Smooth, Gaymers and Guinness. It has been decked out like some trendy bar so obviously no need for any real ale.
There are three huge plasma screens and I think that sport is shown when it is on, but maybe they could lose the CCTV screen from plain view on the back wall as I�m sure that Golders Green isn�t really that bad.
A half a Stella was �1.70, and my change was returned on a silver tray.
The barmaid was polite, but I�ll not be returning here again in a hurry.
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A bit like Grozny, without the laughs.
No real ales. No food. Just lager and TVs.
What is point? And think, Jimi Hendrix played the downstairs bar in the 60's !!
There aint no doubt about it fellows, we have seen the best of the pub-days. Its over now.
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Has been tarted up since I last went in, but doesn't really work - looks pretty naff. I can't remember whether there were ales on tap last time I was here, but there certainly aren't now. I like it less now, at least it was an unpretentious local previously.
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This pub is some sort of elaborate practical joke, surely?
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THIS PUB IS SICK!!!
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Boozing in Golders Green is about as pleasurable as going on the pull in a retirement home. Within walking distance of the tube are just two options, the unbelievably awful Gate Lodge (literally a shoebox of shit) and the Refectory, a pub where every reasonable plus is balanced by an annoying negative.
The small to medium sized interior, for example, is fairly comfortable with a couple of cosy sofas alongside one wall and various sets of sturdy table/stools elsewhere. However, it all feels a tad cheap, especially as the levels of cleanliness go up and down with more regularity than a whores knickers. Some of the time everything is smart and tidy, but a good third of all visits will coincide with �skip night� when resting your pint brings it into contact with half a dozen crisp packets and entering the toilet involves a stern challenge of nasal and stomach stability. Naturally the staff have to take some of the blame for this state of affairs (especially as the Ref. is never really packed), but while they seem to be restricted by an invisible force field to the bar area, they nevertheless are very friendly, polite and efficient.
The booze range and clientele continue this game of checks and balances. The taps are undoubtedly well kept and very cheap, with all pints coming under �2.90 � not something to be sniffed at in London. However, the selection is woeful, being restricted to bog standard lagers, one cider and Guinness � nothing at all on the ale front or indeed of note on the spirit/wine shelves. Equally while the clientele is non-threatening and reasonably friendly, they are mostly sedate apart from occasionally when a group of very large mouthed and very small brained chavs sweeps in before a big night of special brew and prison cells.
Ultmately the Ref combines two annoying clich�s: it�s a �mixed bag� in every regard and which side of the shit you land on simply relies on �pot luck�. This variability means that you can only judge it overall as a fairly middling 5/10.
anonymous - 30 Nov 2006 15:15 |
Not bad - shabby admittedly, but I thought it was quite welcoming in a funny sort of way. I'd probably return here.
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I don't think the Refectory pretends to be anything but a basic pub. It was just that when I lived in Golders Green in 1977. Clearly from these postings, little has changed in the subsequent 29 years.
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On of the better pubs in North London. Handily close to the bus stop of a wet day!
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I happen to live up the road from this unsightly pub. It serves sub standard food in a shabby enviroment. The pool tables have been skinned so it feels like you are playing on a air hockey table. The piss they pass off as beer is cheapish but.... well....its piss. Suprisingly friendly and talkative bar staff are one of, if not the only, highlight of this dismal excuse for a water hole. Although I have to admit to have never having ventured downstairs into the night club (Klub Extreem), mainly due to its name, I have been informed that it is full of greasy men trying to dance, on a stickey floor, with the preeteen girls that hover around outside on a saturday night.
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This pub has been my regular for a good 3 or 4 years now; i'm not entirely sure why but it just is. It is not the best pub in London by any means, though it is my personal favourite. The beer is reasonably priced and there is a pool room upstairs (though they have recently got rid of a table so it can be hard to get a game when it's busy). Other than that there isn't much else to say. If you're brave enough try the downstairs nightclub on a Friday night..........
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ohh the refectory....sigh...are you a bus stop? not very nice in the winter and rainy season but the beer garden makes up for it in the summer!!! I think it needs more atmosphere though!!
anonymous - 25 Jan 2005 16:18 |
been visiting this pub for a while now and i think its getting cleaner, still...the local sewerage system doesn't do it any justice..ha ha ha
great place to meet random people..or if you want to learn a bit of Polish and Japanese....
anonymous - 25 Jan 2005 16:15 |
Where has that goodlooking barman gone? Pint of Becks please? You don't do it on draught? Oh
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I believe jimi hendrix (among others) has played at this pub in bygone days.
These days it's mostly average. Untidy, badly laid out etc. Staff are friendly though.
Has the potential to be so much better.
Imbecile - 18 Aug 2004 16:33 |
This pub has been my regular for a while now, mainly owing to the pool tables. Generally a great pub, but lacks cleanliness sometimes.
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This isn't a bad little pub, but there's very little in it that begs to be mentioned. Leaving the TV on all the time is a strict no-no in any pub and the pool room upstairs feels like a different building entirely. However, the prices are fair, the atmosphere is easy-going and the clientele are endearingly random. It's crying out for someone to take it by the scruff of the neck and bring it up to standard, though.
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Very friendly staff. Need to spend much more time cleaning tables, emptying ashtrays etc. very grubby at times. Toilets are a complete disgrace. Given it's prime location, and lack of local competition, it would reap many benefits from a proper refurb.
James - 28 Oct 2003 11:52 |
I would frequent this pub in the early 80's, when I lived in England. The pub, then, was known for the number of foreign students who, like myself, would have a pint or two, after the classes at the Hampstead Gardens Suburbs Institute. Has this changed much since then?
Roberto(kinky) was a rather popular chap at the pub. Whatever happed to him?...
Anybody?
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