BITE user comments - Dannysigma
Comments by Dannysigma
Another identikit bar that ticks all the boxes: exposed brickwork? Check. Large, ornate mirror? Check. Overpriced food? Check. All trace of interior history and character excised? Check. What really sets this place apart from the many, many others, however, is the service. It is monumentally, astoundingly and breathtakingly bad. It is so bad, I seriously wonder whether or not they are doing it on purpose. Surely nobody (and it isn't just one of them, it's all of them) could really be that incompetent? I have been here a few times (heaven only knows why) over the past couple of years, and occasionally pop back thinking that the rubbish and attitude filled bar staff must have changed by now. And indeed they have. Every time I return, they seem to have gotten worse.
Quite a pleasant atmosphere and a decent garden - is that enough to balance up the down sides? I don't think so.
27 May 2008 17:20
Now called the 3 Lions (so that's Irish and English covered in the last year - look out for name changes to the Leek and Daffodil and the Robbie Burns in the near future). Strange pub, not quite as bad as it first looks. Very odd mixture of customers, but friendly enough. Many better pubs nearby though.
22 May 2008 15:32
The Fine Line, Clapham Junction
Aaaaargh! The only time I would even consider going back to this poo hole was if I had been given 3 months to live and a machine gun.
6 May 2008 14:34
A veritable banquet of 'meh'. Not very good, though not really, really bad either.
6 May 2008 14:31
Rubbish staff, identikit interior, big garden. On a sunny day, why not head here like all the other lemmings?
6 May 2008 14:30
Handy for meeting people who can't follow directions to anywhere else as it is right by the tube. Not much good for anything else though.
6 May 2008 14:28
An English theme pub for children and tourists only. You have been warned.
6 May 2008 14:27
The Sir Richard Steele, Belsize Park
Wonderful pub with a pleasingly mixed clientele. Easy to forget that this was the pub that started the cluttered interior trend, so not a copycat but an innovator. I like the bats hanging from the ceiling....
6 May 2008 14:26
People queue to get in here! Really! It somewhat boggles the mind. Still, if your idea of a good night out is to spend an hour and a half in the rain so that you can then spend a fortune crushed together with the posers who inhabit this hole, then far be it from me to dissuade you. Good luck!
1 Feb 2008 12:20
A strange combination of gastropub and bar that actually works, even though I hate both. It manages to be dark, atmospheric, trendy and original all at the same time. My only gripes are a limited range of drinks, a lot less seating that there first appears (particularly if seats are reserved) and one occasion when the barman totally failed to even acknowledge our presence while cashing up a till - I am aware that such an action requires concentration, but a brief 'be with you in a moment' would have been nice!
1 Feb 2008 12:11
A pub for people who really don't like pubs. I really do like pubs so I htought it was rubbish.
1 Feb 2008 12:02
Looks like a terrible, trendy bar, but the mixed clientele and excellent range of drinks completely save it. Great place for a Friday evening's drinking or a Sunday afternoon spent reading papers and spotting minor celebs. Locals are generally very friendly apart from one git in a cowboy hat who seemed angry that other people were sitting on all the seats.
1 Feb 2008 11:53
Fantastic, real pub that might appear gastrofied but is still a boozer at heart. Some hysterically bad paintings on the wall to keep you entertained too.
18 Jan 2008 12:38
Much, much better than it might appear for early evening/weekday drinks. Comfortable and friendly. Ended up staying much longer than I expected.
18 Jan 2008 12:37
Not sure how I ended up in here as I would normally sooner die than enter a place called 'Liberties'. Just goes to show you how narrowing prejudice can be. Actually one of the better pubs in Camden, with plenty of seats and good comedy upstairs.
18 Jan 2008 12:35
Awful. Terrible. Full of Australians who can't take their booze. At least it gives them somewhere to go away from anywhere I'm likely to be, I suppose.
18 Jan 2008 12:25
An OK pub with friendly bar staff. All except one fine gentleman who is just about the rudest human being I have ever come across (whoever told him he had a future in the service industry wants shooting) - as he was moving furniture to accomodate more people for the evening crush, he literally rammed a chair into my girlfiend's back to move her out of the way then swore at me when I asked him to watch where he was going. Ruins the whole place, really.
18 Jan 2008 12:05
Shillibeers Brasserie Bar, Holloway
An interesting place (and the neighbourhood is nowhere near as bad as some reviewers seem to think), though a bit in the middle of nowhere. Next to the Pleasance Theatre, so useful in that respect, but the enormous size and seeming total lack of customers mean it surely can't be much longer for this world...
18 Jan 2008 09:37
Cheap booze, cheap food, beautiful interior. The high ceilings (it used to be a cinema) sometimes lead to a lack of atmosphere, but very much in the Wetherspoon mould - an interesting building converted sympathetically. Beer and a burger for �4.25 in London? Can't go wrong!
18 Jan 2008 09:34
A very good pub worth the (tiny) detour off the beaten track. Excellent beer, friendly service (apart from one female bartender who seems to be out of it all the time, often forgetting that she is serving you half way through serving you) and a terrific beer garden.
18 Jan 2008 09:30
Full of tourists and desperate wannabes. Avoid like a syphilitic whore.
18 Jan 2008 09:27
Too many rugby playing idiots with no concept of manners, personal space or how to modulate their vocal volume (par for the area, I suppose) but not a bad pub otherwise. Not a particularly good one either, though....
15 Jan 2008 11:05
If you wear a trendy hat that you don't take off indoors and you like to have your conversations at the top of your voice so everybody else around you will be impressed by your wit and erudition, then this may well be the pub for you. The oh-so-fashionable open kitchen means the whole place stinks of cooking fat. Although the service is decent, they have a late licence and a decent range of beers, the clientele and the stench bring this place right the way down.
15 Jan 2008 11:00
Cosy, eclectic, and not trying to be anything but itself, The Torriano is an excellent place, off the beaten track, that caters to locals and casual passersby alike. A good range of cocktails, half-decent wine and the occasional toasted sandwich go a long way to making this one of my favourite places. Sunday evenings can be fun as there is often a nearby poetry event so sit and watch, listen to and laugh at the conversations of the participants who come in after it is finished. It also has an excellent beer garden. And is under threat from delvelopers who want to turn it into flats. Could someone perhaps point them towards the excellent residentential potential of the nearby Lord Stanley?
15 Jan 2008 10:53
The King Charles I, Kings Cross
A fantastic find just a few hundred yards from King's Cross station and all the other soulless, identikit bars in the area. Small, friendly and with a decent range of drinks, this is the best place I know to while away time waiting for a train, or indeed, just to while away time. They don't serve food, but you can order from any one of the many nearby takeaways, or buy a sandwich from the Tesco Metro round the corner and they are more than happy for you to eat it in there. Well worth a visit!
15 Jan 2008 10:43
A Cemden institution - far enough away from the plastics and the posers to qualify as a real pub, Quinn's has had a late licence for as long as I can remember. The enormous selection of Belgian and German beers is second to none, the service is unflinchingly excellent and the clientele is entirely mixed, from old men watching football to groups of students. Highly recommended.
15 Jan 2008 10:28
The Assembly House, Kentish Town
Beautiful interior and excellent (though a touch pricey) food should add up to one of the best pubs in the area. Unfortunately, the service is often terrible and any complaints, however mild, seem to be met with a great deal of aggression and defensiveness by a young man called Jamie who seems to hate all customers. Otherwise, a very good pub. (The burgers, incidentally, are among the best I have ever tasted, and I have tasted quite a few!)
15 Jan 2008 10:25
Horrible, terrible, risible place full of men in fashionable hats shouting at one another while using there laptops. The food is slightly above average, the wine list uninspired and overpriced and the service patchy to say the least. You do stand a chance of getting served in the right order, but only if the barmen's friends aren't in, as they always, always, always get served first. On the other hand, it serves as a filter to remove such people from other pubs in the area...
15 Jan 2008 10:17
New landlord, new look. The Unicorn is now a rock pub. Kev the landlord runs a friendly, welcoming place with decent (and free) live music(cover bands and originals) many nights of the week. Being a Greene King pub the prices are reasonable and the range of drinks excellent. No food, but that's no bad thing. My favourite pub in the area.
15 Jan 2008 10:14
The Abbey, Kentish Town
Amendment to review below - I was in last night and received sterling service from Gerald (I think). The other people on the bar were as hopeless as ever though.
29 May 2008 16:26