BITE user comments - Monters
Comments by Monters
The Southwark Tavern, London Bridge
You can't compare this place to the market porter et al. Those are more traditional pubs serving an older, quieter crowd that is probably into real ale, a quiet chat and maybe a go on the quiz machine. The Southwark's pitch is at a younger, trendier crowd and it gets it right in my opinion. Fantastic looking place for starters. Good, interesting food. Young good looking staff. Fun quiz. Great place to relax off a hangover with a bit of hair of the dog on a Sunday morning. Love it - you should love it too.
22 Jan 2006 19:01
Nice. Good looking pub full of good looking women, an excellent division between seating and standing areas, and outside tables which work remarkably well considering they're right beside the traffic hell of Baker Street. Expense, and really small, scruffy toilets are my only criticisms.
22 Jan 2006 18:54
The Windsor Castle, Marylebone
Excellent pub. Full of business school students, giving it an unexpectedly good atmosphere even at quiet times of day. Amiable staff and landlord. Food is basic but good downstairs, nicer upstairs where they have a restaurant and a sort of sofa-filled lounge bit.
22 Jan 2006 18:53
Zero ambience, zero class, and full of weirdos or suits having one pint. Never going to be a classic pub given its location and, therefore, its inherently transient clientele. But still rubbish.
22 Jan 2006 18:51
OK for a quiet drink if you really need one in the Tufnell Park area. Let's face it (all due respect to the Boston) it doesn't have much competition. Large and empty and very dark inside. Why did they build pubs without windows in the seventies? Pool tables give it a slightly studenty feel. No women go there, ever. The lack of decent pubs in Tufnell Park makes me baffled that they can't seem to make a go of the Grand Banks.
22 Jan 2006 18:36
Nicely decorated, characterful pub with swift service but the latter may well be due to the fact that (on weekday nights at least) the place is virtually empty. Best thing about it is its decor and arrangement inside - particularly the rear segment which has an open fire and lovely, sinkable sofas. Very large inside, although with surprisingly few tables, and with quite an extensive patio out front. This makes me wonder if it ever gets full enough to pick up a decent atmosphere. The plastic roof over the beer garden has gone, btw.
22 Jan 2006 18:31
Wow. A pub which really polarises opinion. People either hate it (for arrogant bar staff, slow service, or scruffiness) or love it (for its "local" feel, its appealing looks and its traditional decor). I would have to say that on my brief visit, I observed few of the bad traits and all of the good ones. Really good looking little corner boozer, deceptively spacious at back, with a very traditional (though small) bar area and a collection of local characters hanging around. The one negative I did observe was a slightly cliquey attitude on the part of some of the clientele. But that was a small niggle. All in all, this is great if you want a local boozer. If you want fast "professional" service and strict observance of health and safety standards, go to All Bar One.
22 Jan 2006 18:28
The Dartmouth Arms, Dartmouth Park
Great pub, this. Interesting food (try the English platter) and a friendly, quiet atmosphere which encourages you to take a seat and read a book. Sits on what was the bank of the old river fleet - it flows underground, practically under the pub's garden, nowadays. Only flaw is that it gets really, really crowded when there's football showing (on the two tiny TV screens)/
22 Jan 2006 18:22
I used to grab lunch in here regularly, though it was a while ago now. Don't pay attention to the picture - it is much more pleasant that it looks, both inside and out. Even the distinctly plain office block which it forms part of has been refurbished a little. The beer garden/patio actually overlooks a service road, not the circle line.
22 Jan 2006 18:18
The Clapham North, Clapham North
Comments on here are harsh, I think. Great, albeit loud and trendy, atmosphere on weekends, and on summer nights when they open the front up to let the air in. Opens late. Nonetheless slightly "up itself" - the kind of place you'd see all the desperately trendy people you knew at college, hanging out by the bar in their pulling shirts, frowning their prettiest, coolest frowns. Worth considering if you're on a night out but nobody's idea of a local.
22 Jan 2006 19:04