BITE user comments - Arthurguinness
Comments by Arthurguinness
Currently closed and covered in police tape due to the machete attack a couple of nights ago.
28 May 2008 11:12
Unfortunately, it appears to be just a temporary closure for refurbishment. It would be better and cheaper to just burn the place down.
6 Mar 2008 11:06
It's not closed. It was open last week when i drove past.
You got my hopes up there though, it's dire.
15 Nov 2006 09:39
To get to the bar involved virtually fighting three separate scrawny, tattooed, teenage youths. And wasn't worth it when i finally got there.
Impossibly average pub. Standard guildford chavs, warm, flat lager. They're welcome to it.
18 Aug 2006 11:52
Not sure why i like this place. Its ok but doesn't seem to have a lot going for it. No frills, beer's ok, not great, decent food, not outstanding, etc.
However when compared with the dross in the surrounding areas, its a beacon of calm. You can virtually always get a seat, and hardly anyone goes in there. If you're after a refuge from the a-holes all around the square mile braying about their bonuses and just want a quiet, undisturbed pint or two, go here.
17 Aug 2006 17:26
Lovely, lovely place. Really good, welcoming atmosphere, great guinness and just feels right.
6 Jul 2006 14:56
Thinking this place had potential, i popped in, encouraged by the previous comments. Sounds like the landlord may well be a good bloke, however he wasn't there and the disinterested barmaid happily served all the locals in the place (even those who didn't want drinks) before me. Then when i was trying to watch the footy i was put off by a short angry man at an adjacent table looking at me funny and whispering darkly to his mate. After 20 minutes i'd had enough and left, trying to decide if i've got one of those faces you just want to punch, or if some pub regulars are just cocks.
Funny atmosphere, not hostile but certainly not welcoming. I'd still give it another go though.
Decent guinness.
6 Jul 2006 14:54
While not openly hostile, the mumbling landlord would clearly rather have served someone local than me. He restrained himself to glancing at me in an irritated fashion as i'd obviously interrupted his afternoon by daring to order a pint of guinness in a nearly empty pub (which he poured all the way up without leaving it to settle). I only stayed for one and shouldn't imagine i'll ever have another in there.
Also, a four year old chav in an england shirt called my mate a bumhead. Which was a pretty fair assessment and bumps the mark up to 3/10.
26 Jun 2006 14:38
matraven, calling people who have posted negative reviews parasites and blaming them for the pub's dire situation seems offensive and unnecessary. They are entitled to their opinions. You are obviously entitled to defend your poxy pub, but while it may have been great a few years ago, it is toss now which is relevant to readers of these reviews.
I notice that you have nothing to say to recommend it.
On a personal note, i have been there three times in my life and its been appalling every time. Bad pints, unpleasant people, horrible atmosphere. I have not used or abused it or in any way contributed to its fall from grace (apart from letting my opinion of it be known), but am perfectly entitled to call it a shitbin. Because it is one. Avoid.
17 Mar 2006 12:36
ickle_donkey are you sure? that rumour has been going around for the last three years
17 Mar 2006 12:18
Been in once on a saturday afternoon to see what it was like.
Five people in there apart from me, none of whom said a single word the whole time i was there. By the time i left, three of them were asleep in their seats, probably due to the effort of glaring at me angrily for the ten minutes it took me to drink a so-so pint of guinness.
You'll probably want to avoid this one, unless all you want to do is drink strong cider all day and communicate solely by pointing and glaring.
17 Feb 2006 16:28
Awesome.
Walking through the door was like stepping back to a happier time.
Only been there once but spent a delightful afternoon embroiled in friendly banter with a select group of hilarious locals (Clive grumpily complaining about the burden of having a fantastically large penis/a middle-aged bearded accountant lamenting the flammability of an old school friend - comedy gold) and a mildly insane barmaid.
Dont know if i caught it on a good day but that glorious saturday afternoon will always live on in my memory. Ahhhh, happy days.
Please dont ever change. Next time i'm in winchester It'll be my first port of call.
10 Feb 2006 19:45
Painfully lethargic is right.Overheard in the Bellemoor:
Hello?.......Hello?.....Could someone top my guinness up please?.......Is someone there?.....Its been settling for half an hour i think its ready?....I quite wanted another before closing time...Excuse me....bugger it, i'll do it myself.
I'm a patient man but there are limits. They do a nice, unhurried pint of guinness.
Order all of your drinks for the evening the second you get someone's attention. They'll probably have given you some of them by the time you leave.
Not a bad pub apart from the above. If you're really, really old or are easily startled by sudden movement, this is the perfect pub for you.
10 Feb 2006 19:36
Great pub. Out of the way so has avoided the less desirable local elements (the 13-17 yr olds packed into every other pub in town fri/sat nights with a broken bottle in their back pockets). Seems to be the best of a good bunch around the old town area. Went in for the first time on New years day. The pleasant atmosphere soothed my headache as i gently drank away my hangover whilst chatting to the friendly barmaids. Great locals pub, just a shame that they didn't have the foresight to locate it nearer my house or i'd be there all the time.
Highly recommended.
10 Feb 2006 19:17
Great place with friendly bar staff and good atmosphere. They do a very nice pint of cold guinness however for reasons which escape me, it's always poured to overflowing then the outside of the glass is rinsed and handed over.
Guys its not that hard: Pour down the side of the glass to nearly 3/4 full and leave to settle for a couple of minutes. No rush. Lift the glass up to the tap and top up, stopping when the glass is full. Hand to customer. Job done.
Minor guinnessy gripes aside, its a great pub though and the gaffer's a good bloke.
Crucially, the Oak is conveniently located for the Papadom round the corner for a swift lamb korhai on the way home.
10 Feb 2006 16:29
Used to be awesome up until a couple of years ago, however was then refurbished and ponced up a bit. Looks ok but the bar stools were removed from around the bar meaning that the regulars soon moved on and the atmosphere died.
Nice but litter-strewn beer garden and average pub food. I went soon after refurb and after enquiring about bar snacks was offered olives or cocktail sausages. I politely declined and went to the oak instead for a pint of cold guinness and some pork scratchings.
Porcelain bowl of olives, my arse. You're a pub, have some self-respect.
10 Feb 2006 16:19
Rose among nettles indeed.
Pretty much the only pub in Bromley town centre that:
(a) Doesn't induce an immediate headache when you walk through the door
(b) Has been cleaned. Ever.
Great for watching footy (never too crowded) or meeting friends for a relatively civilised evening's drinking. Nice pies too and a tiny beer garden.
Great selection of beers and wines, and as a previous reviewer mentioned, there are a number of small human males scurrying around the bar on occasion. They were friendly enough, though without any real insight into England's perennial left midfield problem. Fair play they gave it a stab though.
If you're in Bromley and want a pint with grown ups, go here.
10 Feb 2006 15:48
What a pub!
Ticks all the major boxes. Good booze well taken care of, great pool table, dartboard, quality jukebox selection ranging from classic cheese to recent stuff. Decent-sized beer garden with lawn so lovingly manicured i felt rude walking on it.
Friendly bar staff who dont rush guinness (a seemingly obvious yet surprisingly rare quality in bar staff), and amiable locals.
Check out this awesome family-run place to remind yourself how a pub should be.
10 Feb 2006 15:27
Erm.... are some of the people rating this pub confusing it with the bird in hand in bickley?
18 Aug 2005 17:07
Pure, unadulterated shitbin of a pub.
Everyone's comments are true but dont capture the immense misery that descends on you when you step through the door.
18 Aug 2005 16:58
Not been for a couple of years but used to be the best pub in the world.
Used
Small, reasonably quiet place with friendly, amusing locals. Good guinness, good pool table, sky tv and dartboard. Generally no scum in there, apart from the occasional boisterous student group on their way to somewhere worse.
What a pub should be.
I know the management's changed though so wondering what its like now.
18 Aug 2005 16:45
Back to Arthurguinness's profile
The Bell, Aldgate
To the previous reviewer - either strap on a pair or go to an all bar one. It's a proper, independently-owned pub on the edge of the financial district, so has a good mix of suits/locals and the odd student group. One of the least scary pubs I've ever been in.
It does look a bit ropey from the outside but if that bothers you, go inside.
Good atmosphere, friendly bar staff/landlord and a pool table/dartboard area downstairs which can be hired out for private parties. Good, if occasionally weird music too (heard "Informer" by Snow from circa 1992 playing there the other day). If the landlord's dishing out shots of home-made chilli vodka then avoid. Unless you particularly want to wake up with stomach cramps at 3am the next morning.
Decent food too (if a touch on the pricey side).
Best pub in the area. Only downside, started to grow in popularity so more difficult to get a seat at peak times.
20 Dec 2011 17:39