BITE user comments - SilverBullet
Comments by SilverBullet
The Black Sheep Bar, Crystal Palace
An OK bar in the vein of those sleek and sexy joints around Clerkenwell, except less comfortable and less sophisticated (and less sleek and sexy if it comes to it!). It's got lounge bar pretentions with a pub style atmosphere and clientele. I'd imagine that the local Estate Agents drink here. The food is standard finger food stuff and the seating is arranged so that if a few groups come in then everyone else is standing. The outdoor space at the back has awesome views. Over-priced, but in that way that CP has become of late... There aren't many better bars in CP for this style of drinking but that's more a critiscism of CP than a recommendation for the Black Sheep. Go in a group and you'll enjoy it.
24 May 2007 00:35
The Royal Albert, Crystal Palace
Great little boozer... none of your usual CP pretentiousness, decent price and a decent Sunday Roast...
24 May 2007 00:27
The White Hart, Crystal Palace
I've been using the WH as my local for about a year now (I live across the road). 12 Months ago I couldn't believe my luck, that I had such a cool local with such a varied range of beers and wines and a decent food menu. Since then I've seen the standards drop to the point where I would probably wander off somewhere else along the Triangle for a pint now than spend my hard earned cash here. Firstly, the service has deteriorated considerably. The current manager can often be seen sitting around chatting with mates while the staff, with sullen expressions and little charisma, attend to one task at a time with little ability to multi-task or remember an order larger than three drinks. The beers I used to love are more often than not off the menu and the wine has become over-priced for such average fare. The food menu changed recently which was a blessing... the current menu is OK but you'd get a better Sunday Roast in the Albert for less. The entertainment is amatuerish.. the pub quiz is so badly run it's open to serious cheating and with cash at stake that's quite frustrating. The bands on Weds are good but the general background music is clearly the staff's choice and consists of some obscure CD's of average Aussie soft-rock combos. I suppose what's most frustrating, si that after a year as a reasonably regular vistor I'm still a stranger to the staff... After two visits to the Alma the bar staff knew my name... The venue has style and enormous potential as a great place to hang out but currently with staff who clearly see their work as an onerous task, over-pricing and average entertainment it's less appealing than it could be. Perhaps CP current popularity and success has made the management and staff complacent, and I'm sure they will always make money, but with minor tweaks and smiley faces they could be the most successful food/drink establishment in SE19.
24 May 2007 00:24
Top boozer, although it does get a bit raucous on a Friday evening and you'll be hard pushed to find a seat. The beer is awesome and as discussed below the table service makes it an easy place to lounge around in. It's a shame they don't do food, as a Sunday evening roast and pint in here would be perfect.
16 Aug 2006 18:16
A very local pub for very local people... I recommend going in the side door, as going in the front usually means walking past people whose faces you would usually see on the front of the News of the World with ASBO written above them... I assume this is the haunt for those who have been banned from the nearby Railway Bell... If you are of a delicate nature then do not drink here, but if you are prepared to go a few times and can stand your ground then I'm sure after a while you will become accepted. It's worth it in the end as well, as the beer is well priced, and very well kept. I hope they never find out who I am as I'm sure I'm in for a 'sortin'.
16 Aug 2006 18:04
Recently refurbished and proof that in the immortal words of William Shakespeare... "You can't polish a turd." They still have a cretinous dress code policy... no shorts in the garden after 9pm... So, if that's you, and you've been sunning yourself all day then off you go home to change (and don't come back). The drinks are outrageously priced and the 'entertainment' is like a bad evening in Benidorm. The one saving grace for this pub is that it's open late and, even if it started playing Dutch Electro Country it would still be preferable to the two cesspools that are the Tramshed and the Gordon Bennett.
16 Aug 2006 17:57
I've rated Spirit a 5 purely on the basis of the value for money for the food. They won't win awards but they do make good satisfyingly cheap food! The service is about as average as Hoochimamas up the road which is a shame. If they made the extra effort (and had barmaids who knew a) how to hold a corkscrew and b) when the kitchens REALLY is closed) it would be a fine etablishment. Given that all they need to do is raise their game a little and they could be stars I'd recommend people to go, as it may be just me and the few times I've been.
16 Aug 2006 17:50
Hoochimama's Bar Bistro, Tooting
What a disappointment... I appreciate that the bar has is meant to have a laid back feel but the staff seem less interested in the clientele than chatting with their mates at the bar... plus, the bar is tiny so if you get a few people queuing up it takes forever to get served. Once you have been served by the dis-interested staff and if you are lucky enough to get what you actually want (if they haven't run out) then it's a nice chilled place, and the food is OK. I've been a few times now, each subsequent time with an expectation things will improve... So far not so good.
16 Aug 2006 17:46
The Manor Bar & Grill, Tooting
I can remember this pub long before it was a Firkin... to be honest the owners have made some strides into making it a nice place to drink but it still has the air of trying too hard. The staff are friendly but a little clueless (i had to stop the barmaid hunting for the red wine in the fridge!) and the prices are pretty much as high as you'd expect from a bar trying to attract a certain 'clientele'. My friend ate and said the food was good. It's a bit frustrating that they seem to want the hospital crowd at the detriment to others... I work hard, I pay my taxes, so why can't I get a discount? I will go again but I'll always feel that the pub is missing a litle something... maybe it's just more people?!
16 Aug 2006 17:36
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The Grape and Grain, Crystal Palace
You have to ask yourself, in this era of sudden prosperity in Crystal Palace and the wave of 'trendies' whos parents can't stretch to helping them out with a deposit on a flat in Clapham... Why the f**k this place is still the s**thole it is? The only reason for this place to still exist is that it concentrates all the chav scum in the area in one place so that the rest of us can drink in relative peace and safety around the Triangle. Even the regulars must realise it's a dive. I think it's the reason why the BlueBottle has such an anal door policy... gotta keep'em out!
24 May 2007 00:46