This is a all round nice place. Beer good, atmosphere good 8/10Great little pub,reminds me of when my dad use to take me to his local in Hammersmith,Still has that traditional feeling with more atmosphere,Plus a very good selection of beers.A1 Must be good, lots of Camera awards displayed on the walls.I drink wine so I dont know how the beer tastes,But certainly a great atmosphere

time appears to have stood still with this place, but sadly so has the poor ale quaffed a couple of weeks babk, 6/10 could do better!I was passing by on the 19th March and they were closed. Is this operating under unusual hours?

The comments below sound promising, except for the no live music rule. That top room had the potential to be a perfect venue (with the right music).just had sunday lunch in this pub, must be one of yje best value roast's in poole - lots of meat and veg with friendly staff. One to try.

we payed a visit to this character packed pub on sunday afternoon after a very good recommendation. my family and i decided to have the 2 course sunday lunch. the food is outstanding completely home cooked and excellent value for money. unfortunately we found the blonde lady/girl serving at bar was quite unwelcoming and dare i say a little rude. however, the pub in itself is stunning and with the standard of food we will be returning. Marvellous. I just hope it doesn't get as crowded as the Market Porter so I can continue to enjoy my pint in this lovely place.Well it looks like Londons loss is Pooles gain. The Guvner certainly knows his stuff, he has injected a new leese of life into the place that will certainly bring me back. I agree with "whippit" that Fullers arn't my faverite beer but the quality in this place is great.
This is a cracking boozer, with a great feel to it & I can only see it going from stregnth to stregnth.

A lovely pub with great food and nice beer - had a nice pint of "thrice hopped" hopping hare in the proper glass :)

The service was great, and the food was probably the best pub food on Poole Quay. In three nights in Poole we drank there one night after dinner, then ate there the remaining two nights. The staff were happy to put things on a tab for us (a rare sight in a pub these days) without even keeping a card behind the till, and arranged a taxi for us at the end of each evening. Would really recommend for anyone living in or visiting poole :)Good food and beer. Like a previous writer, I am not too happy with the interior design. It is still, IMO, the best pub on the Quay.Had a lovely pint of Pickled Partridge and a lovely soup to go with it.Good location on the Quay and friendly staff.

Ok it's a greene king establishment but this makes for a very affordable round in comparison to the overpriced inns in the area(Purchased 4 pints here for less than 3 in previous!)Great beer garden and tasty lookin grub, well worth a visit, 9/10Predominantly a hotel but contains a cozy bar with fire to enhance traditional pub atmosphere with local beer and lively weekend (particularly summer) events. A quiet gem of a pub in Poole which has a quiz machine and fruity for those who want them, situated close to the quay.A very proffessional and efficient set up,but still retaining charactar and individuality.
Worth a visit.

Gone downhill....The staff seem ruder than they used to be. Might have been taken over. Defintely less welcoming than last time. Beer is still ok. 5/10This pub serves good beer in an atmosphere conducive to a good chat. It is a better option to head for here rather than the High Street.If you like decent real ale, this pub is for you. Normally has about 4 Ringwood ales on plus a guest beer. Good place for a pint and a quiet chat, although it does have a bit of a 'God's waiting room' feel about it.

Nice pint of Everards Sunchaser was quaffed here outside on a scorching may sunday.Really nicely furbished, nice outside seating area, ideal for station, and a landlord who knows what he is doing, 8/10good to see more of the up and coming ashley cross, great food and competent bar staff. HOWEVER despite trying again and again, i cannot find a day/time that the place is not frequented by snobs who did nothing but give me bad looks (how dare i opt for a scotch on the rocks and not a white wine spritzer!) and I fail to trust bar stuff who go into other pubs in the area and add their own alcohol to a straight coke in the ladies (thus the low rating, i apologise and retract that statement if she is no longer employed).

otherwise a nice clean pub with good range of spirits and excellent restaurant.snobby and pretentious....go to the bermuda triangle instead...saying that though ive only heard good things about the food...

I've been to this pub a few times with a couple of friends and found it a really nice place. Being only 19 we always seem to be at the younger end of the clientele, but the staff have always made us feel welcome when it's established we are old enough and not yobs! I've never come across any rude behaviour from staff - in fact i've only encountered the total opposite.

An all round good place for a pint!A great pub - excellent real ale and the fish dishes are the best in the area.
Cosy and attractive.A nice traditional pub, which i've only visited twice.
The 'Pub' experience is a big part of going for a drink in my opinion. There are few pre-requisits to a good evening, but they are essential......
1.Glasses made from Glass
2.A friendly atmosphere
3.and being made to feel welcome.
Sadly my expectations were not met, while regular customers were offered glasses, my party and I were offered the plastic equivalent. The land lord appeared to glare as though we were intruding when we took the large table in the window, as if we had sat at a table designated for someone else. He then proceeded to collect near empty plastic glasses from the table before we had finished.
Sadly the poole arms will only be rated a 4 out of 10 from me, and most of that is contributed by this beautiful and historic building.

Very expensive beer and the food didnt look great either. However a nice location to sit outside on the quayside and it catches the sun for longer in the evenings than some of the pubs further along.It's a locals pub for those who like live music and a pint or six. An eclectic mix of people from all walks of life although mainly from the university of life as opposed to actual university. They come to have a good time and so should you. Bands vary from the absolutely fantastic to the somewhat awful however they all get their 15mins of fame. A great pub with decent Tanglefoot bitter in the most beautiful harbour in the world - Sydney - no thans Poole all the way. Careful in summer lots of grockels (holiday makers and yes I know it's a Devoian term but it works here)that just stare bemused as to what the hell sort place they are in !!!!Back working in Poole again, its such a nice town! Thought i would give the Nelson one more chance, its been decorated since last visit, not bad either, beer a little expensive, regulars outside as with everwhere, plenty of room outside good seating area, but then there is the staff, are they forced to work there what a miserable bunch, they are all scared to death of the plump scary landlady that was just returning from the Gym.
I will not be visiting Gyms in Poole lol

this place is always fun and quite trendy although the loos take some getting used to <g> good choice of drinks and fast serviceMint is obviously a very foil bar, but not so bad.
I worked there and I was quite paid as promised.
It is not like the Dundees Sports Bar, just near, which belongs to the same company (Future 3000 Plc), which never pays his foreign workers. They always have excuses to make you wait your paid, but if Mint has money from Future 3000, the Dundees has too. Everybody knows that. The only way to avoid this scandalous situation is to boycott the Future 3000 Plc bars.Visited Pool from Kent for a girlie weekend.

Like the other person that commented previously, we were also a bit concerned about the people that may be in Mint, after seeing some of the sights beforehand in other bars.

We loved Mint. It's very funky and the double layer works really well. There are different areas depending what you're after and the music was just right.

A good night had by all!!

We thought the drinks were quite well priced as only an extra £1 for a double and the toilets were possibly one of the best I've ever been in - wasn't sure what to expect but worked really well - good fun!

I feel the need to review this pub again.
Since my last review I have dined here, and things don't look quiet as good.
The staff seem very impatient, when ordering food or drinks. The food it's self was plain, tasteless and generally unpleasant. My pet peeve in pubs is being made to wait for the bill, despite asking 3 times, it took over 15 minutes to arrive.
Not impressed and wont be returningFood clinical and value, not a character pub, services the tracel inn next door, nice food, crsp atmospherenow changed hands to a 'Table Table' bar/restaurant. The decor is very nice inside and the menu seems varied enought for most guests. The drinks are well kept and the service was very good. - i would certainly visit here again now.

Food is generally poor and subject to very long waits, 40 mins for a simple starter, an hour for main course!! Duty manager was very offended by complaint and asked "what could he do about it" i.e NOTHING. Beers are mediocre and service generally poor. "Beer garden" is full of dirty tables, waste food and rubbish, not to mention copious seeaguls!!What a crap place!
Attracts the worst that Poole has to offer. OK, so the prices are low, but so are the standards.
The place is filled with lager swilling DSS, single mums with prams, etc.
Its loud and dirty inside, so try sitting on the tables outside: They're covered in seagull crap. Only went here once (never again). Whilst sitting outside, a young couple plus baby sat on the next table - The kid was sick all over the table and the parents just moved to the next table to finish their chips. Nice.Started in here on a girlie weekend from Kent, literally for a bite to eat. It's a nice set up for a Wetherspoons with the upstairs looking over the downstairs but the staff are so slow - is that a contractual obligation for Wetherspoons staff I wonder? Anyway, after my friend and I were harrassed by a toothless wonder who asked "are you twins?", we ate and ran.

Again, cheap drinks but not much else going on. The 'fish' parade that happened to go past while we were eating was the best thing about it as it had funky music blaring out!

Certainly lost a bit in the way of atmosphere when transferring to S&L but, although now predominantly a food pub, it has given the staff more purpose and the surroundings a much worthier feel now it has been scrubbed up. Still maintains a polite weekend evening audience and now attracts a much better clientele, still with amusements and larger range of beers now. A good move all in all.Not the best pub in town.
Not a place for ale drinkers or those who appreciate quality.Now called The Slug and Lettuce. This pub has a kind of 'airport hotel bar' feel to it. Theres lots of glass and coloured lighting. But a good range of beers, wines and bitters.
Service is good too. As an example, my wife ordered one of the three Rose wines, but didn't like it. When I returned it to the bar to buy a replacement, the barman gave me the more expensive Rose with no extra cost, despite my offering to pay for it. - very impressed.

Food service incredibly slow, meals didn't come out at the same time - first meal came out 10 minutes before the second one and there were side orders missing, then the first two people had finished eating before the third meal arrived. Party of six eventually managed to get all their food, but it wasn't particularly appetising. Seems like a nice enough pub but the service really let it down.Service appalling. If you can interrupt the barmaid from texting her mates you might get served.

It took so long 3 of us walked.An obviously busy pub in a pub desert area of the town. Service just about ok but with uncleared tables well after eating time on a Friday. beer just about ok.
There are a lot worse in Poole disappointingly this one could be brilliant if the management put some effort into it.

Typical spoons pub in a nice location for sitting outside on summers evenings.Two "Spoons" in Poole - this is the better one.
A limited selection of chilled real ales (cheap, though) for a Wetherspoons.
Don't order food if you're going to catch a bus! The grub is the usual Wetherspoons fare, but I've waited for an hour on two occasions for my order to arrive...
Not great.Have got mixed feelings about this place. The real ales are normally in excellent condition, albeit too cold, and cheap. Service is often dismally slow-there never seems to be enough bar staff on. Tables remain stacked with dirty plates and glasses for hours on end. Due to the low prices the pub tends to attract the lower end of the local clientele. If you like microwaved food, this place is for you-only steaks etc are cooked fresh-you may as well buy yourself a Billy-no-mates meal from Iceland for £1 and microwave it yourself in 8 minutes rather than waiting up to an hour for it to be 'nuked' in this pub when it's busy!