BITE user comments - Dean_Pritchard
Comments by Dean_Pritchard
I used to boycott this pub, being a Luton Town fan and this being a Benskins (Watford brewery) pub. Thankfully I'm not so anal these days, although I'd never actually drink their beer.
Anyway, this is a great tiny Victorian pub - seemingly unchanged for years. With most pubs around going from terrible refurb to terrible refurb, this makes it an absolute treasure. Original green tiling throughout, but this place is so old fashioned you can't help thinking of it in black and white.
16 Jan 2007 11:42
Boarded up for a month or so now. Seems permanently closed, except for the one day of Freshers week when its packed with students wearing "official student pub crawl" t-shirts, many of whom are ridiculously drunk by 4pm.
Apart from that, well and truly shut.
16 Jan 2007 11:29
David Watt's isn't the charming fellow he was cracked up to be eh?
Anyway, unlike him I love real ale (but haven't got a beard and only occassionally see the need to wear a jumper), so am glad that The Victoria now has competition from The Globe. That's ten minutes walk away, and well worth the stroll.
Time for the Vic to buck up its ideas.
17 Oct 2006 12:30
Has turned Dunstable, a dismal town almost totally devoid of decent pubs, somewhere worth hopping on a bus to... not from that far away mind. Great pub, great range of beer.
17 Oct 2006 12:24
Great local's pub... which is great if you're one of the locals. Otherwise, and although I've never found it at all threatening, people look at you wondering what the hell you're doing there; which isn't a bad question.
Incredibly smoky pub, which seems to double (indeed at times it seems its primary function) as a bookies.
Has far more character than The J.Topers... but sometimes - like Scooby Doo post Scrappy - alot of character can get a little much.
25 Aug 2006 09:53
S'alright. Nothing to necessarily recommend or warn about this pub. Actually, if you like Greene King, this may be the best place in Luton for a pint of IPA or Abbot. Big, quite airy, busy but reasonably friendly.
In my book however, GK pubs are on the last resort list purely because of the rubbish beer.
21 Aug 2006 12:27
I'm in agreement with most of the comments below. The only kids (U30's) I saw on my last visit, a couple of months ago, appeared to be playing whist. On a Saturday night. But its true, nobody does seem to be having the time of their life here... that doesn't necessarily make it a bad place though, does it? There's too much contrived/enforced fun around these days anyway, some of us like being in the company of (fellow) miserable buggers from time to time.
21 Aug 2006 11:47
Great big portions of traditional Czech food served here. Beer good too and, this being Zizkov, it’s all amazingly cheap.
21 Aug 2006 11:30
Reopened last Friday after another little refurb, this time to extend the "dancefloor" area. When you think of great principles - no music, no television, no smoking - that Wetherspoons once espoused, and have now casually dropped, its a little sad.
On the plus side, its only �1.69 for a pint of ale, the quality of which has got better over the past couple of years and the big screen telly is of far better quality than it was two weeks ago.
So, its just about ok to watch the cricket here... the place would get far too packed and odious to consider taking in a football match. Even without the menace of a big match atmosphere, Luton town centre isn't too nice a place to be after around 8pm.
Still, that said, there's always Luton Town FC.
21 Aug 2006 10:40
U Vystrelenyho Oka (The Shot-Out Eye), Prague
So named in commemoration of the exploits of General Jan Zizka – whose statue on the hill behind – the largest equestrian statue in the world apparently – is the best focal point for finding your way to this great idiosyncratic pub.
I’m not sure if anything absolutely defines the great European “anarcho” bar… maybe it’s the range of eclectic artwork on show, the unkempt appearance of the bar workers/clientele or loud and near unlistenable music. I tend to think there’s got to be at least one dog roaming the bar with impunity to qualify.
There were at least three dogs at the Eye when we went, and nobody seemed put out.
Loud music, loads of smoke, cheap beer and artwork by Martin Velisek (according to the Time Out guide) make this a “must go to” pub in Zizkov, an area which thus far has avoided the tourist driven changes that make central Prague a bore.
Get off the number 9 tram at Viktoria Zizkov football ground, walk over the road and look out for General Jan on his horse. Its another five or so minutes walk, and is a bit hard to find as it’s down a side street and doesn’t look much like a pub from the outside… get a map.
21 Aug 2006 10:11
Great gruff service in this pub, where they're happy to plonk a fresh glass of beer in front of you whether you asked for it or not... which only becomes a problem after the "well, ok, just this last" pint.
While upstairs is a good old fashioned local boozer, there's a wooden spiral staircase at the back (past the ice-hockey game) which descends into a thriving nightclub scenario heavily populated, it seems, by American students.
Old Czechs upstairs (shouting at the football on the telly), young Americans down (shouting to make themselves heard above the music/other shouting Septics).
Probably best for a getting gently soused on an afternoon session upstairs.
A great Czech pub with cheap booze - of the kind its increasingly hard to find anymore in the central tourist trap.
Still, its only five minutes out of town. Get off the metro at Jiriho z Podebrad, and head towards the TV tower. U Sadu is in a small square (more a circus) near the tower gates.
21 Aug 2006 09:47
Loads of dark wood pannelling in this large, interesting split level pub. Nice to see a Teutonic take on the kind of tat publicans like to stick on the walls.
Good pub in a town which makes much of its brewing heritage but is hardly packed with really good hostelries... although there are a few about.
18 Aug 2006 13:12
Looks like the busiest, trendiest, place in the central square of Dortmund - but there are bars with far more character nearby.
If you're into puerile humour, the name's quite funny.
18 Aug 2006 13:07
The garden is great for panoramic views (and wildlife apparently).
The restaurant possibly isn't what it was, maybe I've become more discerning. A friend of mine visited on a quiet day midweek a while ago and reported the kitchen chaos which ensued when Gordon Ramsey and his production team (who must've been filming nearby) dropped in unannounced. Apparently, he picked up the menu and asked his entourage "anything there excite you?".
The waiter walked halfway to the table, stopped dead and scurried back to the kitchen to get the Manageress to serve instead.
Not sure what he thought... which surely serves as an invitation for someone to pretend to be Ramsey and write an expletive heavy review.
18 Aug 2006 12:08
Great big barn of a pub - two bars/restaurant rooms the size of football pitches.
If you like screaming kids running around then I recommend Sunday lunchtimes.
Who posted that picture? It looks like a set for Scooby Doo.
18 Aug 2006 11:58
The King William IV, Cockernhoe
Come on Andy... its been over four months. Visit this pub and tell us what you think.
I have been to this pub. Its ok, nothing really special, nice for a quiet summers walk out of lovely Luton - good ale. Big and small TVs positioned so hardly anyone in the pub can see them.
Anyway, never mind that, I'm keen to read some more reviews for pubs that Andy Merrell has yet to visit.
18 Aug 2006 11:48
Nice little pub. The dining room round the back is too small for the four tables they've got in there... which doesn't necessarily cause a problem unless its as excessively hot as it's been this summer.
18 Aug 2006 11:35
Ale kept well enough to make you wish it wasn't a bleedin' Greene King pub. This pub has the quietest jukebox in the world - the noise of the cd changing in the machine is considerably louder than the resulting music.
So, good for a quiet late afternoon/early evening drink. Can get a little too busy and noisy at the weekends though.
18 Aug 2006 11:31
One of only two good pubs in Luton, the other being the Bricklayers Arms, shame that they're on opposite ends of the town centre. Great beer, a pool table which is an option when its very quiet (otherwise a waste of time). The H.Metal owners are affable enough (as they, and gothic rockers tend to be) and a friend of mine claims to have spotted some girl on girl snogging behind the bar... which, if true, must've upset the CAMRA subscribing clientele somewhat.
17 Aug 2006 13:38
Had to suffer this place 'cause England were playing rugby and my girlfriend is a fan of egg-chasing. Mercifully, by the time we got there, England were losing so badly that she didn't want to stick around.
15 Aug 2006 13:32
First went there in '94 and was pretty much enchanted. Went again earlier this year and, although the beer is still excellent (too right it isn't Porter), the atmosphere got a little grating. A Sunday early afternoon, having trudged for miles through the two foot of snow which fell overnight, we really needed a gentle haven from the cold... but instead, had to sit suffering as two tables of young German tourists blasted out an oompah accompanied singing competition.
Found myself, maybe to counter disturbing anti-Teutonic sentiments, apologising to my girlfriend for having recommended this place, moaning about the (relative)price of the beer and poring over the map for the nearest metro station.
That said, I still think visitors to Prague should come here. Once.
After that, Prague centre having inevitably become one big tourist trap, I can heartily recommed Zizkov which is five minutes out of town by metro/tram.
I'll recommend some specific pubs, but will have to check on the spelling first.
15 Aug 2006 13:25
Nice photo, good work.
I like this pub, my girlfriend hates it. That said my favourite time to go is a late weekday afternoon, enjoying an (overpriced) ESB and reading the paper; we tend to visit as a couple at the weekend when it unfortunately tends to get packed with boneheaded boors.
15 Aug 2006 11:09
Sorry, I thought this was a pub guide... This used to be a pub - The Cats Whiskers, turning into The Office, going gay for a while before coming out as the town's first "Indian Tapas" establishment. Takes all sorts I suppose.
Bright, clean and reasonable enough - although numbers have gone down alarmingly, there are better Indian restaurants in town.
Not somewhere you'd really want to go for for a drink.... although they do have Sky Sports (if you're looking for that in a pub/curry house).
15 Aug 2006 10:41
Luton isn't the nicest place in the world to have a drink which makes this good old fashioned, friendly boozer all the better.
Fantastic place.
15 Aug 2006 09:35
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Buckwilds, Luton
I've not actually been to this latest "Wild West" themed incarnation of this pub. But I'm in my 30s now and, mercifully, beyond the intended demographic. They have a bucking bull rodeo machine in there.
On the way for a ubiquitiously clandestine afternoon pint in the White House over the road, I heard a baseball cap wearing teen inform her (equally debonair) friends "can't wait 'til I 'ave the baby so I 'ave a go on that bull"... and so, with such concern displayed for the unborn child, my optimism for Lutonian youth was fulfilled.
16 Jan 2007 12:02