BITE user comments - alan_latchley
Comments by alan_latchley
The Southwark Tavern, London Bridge
Interesting comment from Tricksy. But then he is the manager....
28 Nov 2011 14:07
Some people appear to like to have a moan for the sake of it. Talk of a "baffling policy on showing football" being "frankly bizarre" and leaving "a poor taste in the mouth". Absolutely hilarious. Have you picked up the toys thrown out of the pram?
Perhaps a good thing to do would be to ask why. The staff are always friendly and polite and willing to help / explain. Might be be more mature to do that before posting something so 'dramatic'....
10 Mar 2010 08:52
Strange place that could make so much more of itself if the intention was there. Slap bang in the middle of the market. Has a quaint interior that comes across as a bit dingy but if you take the time to glance up, there's quite a few decent features, but you can easily miss them in the gloom.
The landlady can probably be described as a 'rough diamond'. PLeasant to regular faces, rude as you like to people that piss her off, but the staff are loyal to her, which looks like it works both ways, but you do get the impression sometimes that customers are to be tolerated rather than welcomed in, although the bar staff are friendly enough.
Recent attempts to increase trade by opening past 4pm on a Saturday, and opening at all on a Sunday don't appear to have worked, but then if you're not providing a reason to go there, other than the fact it is open, why should anyone bother. Given that the market is one of the best food markets in the country, there is little or no effort here to provide anything that might tempt people in. No food is served at all on a saturday, whereas the rest of the pubs in the area are bending over to provide some decent food and pull the punters in.
Worth a pint to have a look about, then move on.
20 Jul 2009 08:42
Now that the place has started to bed down, I think it's looking really good. Obviously on a hot weekend sunday in the summer, there will be an element of a struggle as the sun seekers will be heading outside. Personally, I hate the sun! So this downstairs pub is perfect!
I think the beers selection is good and varied, staff are always polite and a good laugh, the food is markedly different and improved from the old pub. Still very good for sport, with some good sessions around the rugby and cricket recently.
Might not have the real ale history of the Porter, but the Porter, for all it's excellence on the beer front, has always remained a bit soulless since the year they knocked the back through. The Wheatsheaf, on it's day/night, has the best atmosphere of any pub in the area.
18 Jun 2009 08:52
As mrse1 says, the new one has opened. And what a great job they've done with it. Really nicely kitted out, the same faces behind the bar. Good beers, some very nice real ales. This place deserves to do well, and is well worth popping round the corner from the market. I think it beats the Porter, but the great thing about all the pubs round here is that they're all in it together. 10/10 though to Danny, Phoebe and the rest.
20 Apr 2009 08:44
The �4.95 buffet is really good value, and it's quite nice to have a normal pub menu, but have the option to choose from a full Indian one as well. 3 screens for sports, bloke was quite accomodating when I wanted to watch a minority sport. Quite a friendly bunch. I noted they went out of their way to help a group that had a disabled friend.
Only odd thing which I haven't come across before is that when there is a decent sports event on where they know they'll get a good crowd, they increased the price of the beer I was drinking by 50p a pint for the duration of the game.
30 Mar 2009 11:27
It was never going to be completely demolished as far as I'm aware. They just needed the upstairs flat to go for the bridge to go through.
Reopening has always been a plan when the bridge is completed which is why the brewery took dozens of photos of the interior, so they can reproduce it. Reopening reckoned to be in 4 or 5 years time.
27 Mar 2009 12:52
New place is planned to be the bar under the Hop Exchange (most recently a Balls Bros) round the back of Borough Market on Southwark St. Supposed to be opening mid/late March.
17 Mar 2009 10:03
Concur with earlier comment that getting served here continues to be a mystery. What appears to be adequate numbers of staff seem to melt into the background in a sea of disinterest. Sometimes it seems that whole lunchtimes are wasted. Other pubs in the local area with far fewer members of staff seem to be able to serve twice as many, but that's why they have 'regulars'. The Moon is very much a maybe-let's-go-somewhere-else-for-a-change sort of pub, where you then think of why you didn't just stick to what you know.
10 Feb 2009 09:52
Charming incident some months ago where one of the regulars, who describes himself as a legend, was sat at the bar on a stool, pushed himself away from the bar and vomited violently downwards 4 times in the space of 30 seconds. He then kindly moved his stool to the right to enable the barmaid to clean up the contents of his stomach with a mop. Not even asked to leave. Sums this place up. Won't go in there again. Shame as the pool table and jukebox are quite good.
9 Feb 2009 13:47
Funny old boozer. Downstairs pub so lots of people miss it. Bar staff are always friendly and if you are a regular, there is usually a good bit of good natured banter flying around from the guys who always stand at the same sections of the bar. If you go in, make sure you ask what the soup of the day is...
The staffing numbers are consistent. Always the same whether there are 3 customers or 333. Friday lunchtime? Order a bottle of wine and sit back and watch the chaos.
One of my favourite pubs in the city.
5 Feb 2009 14:26
Top pub. Top beer. Great simple food. Really well run. Mad bar staff. Upstairs, the Polish female manager and sidekick barmaid are a top double act, and downstairs, Alf is a bit of a legend.
5 Feb 2009 14:01
Changed management a year or so ago. Policy now appears to be to play loud music, whether you want to hear it or not, until you leave. Free bit of grub on a sunday to try and tempt people in.
Main reason for going in was to chat to one of the barmaids who was a good laugh, but she appears to have left now as well.
5 Feb 2009 13:56
Moved to this area a couple of years ago, and was initially struck by how horrible I thought all the pubs were. This place has become the 'regular' though. The locals are all guys who appear to have lived round here for years, but are all nice blokes who will make you welcome. If that sounds patronising, it isn't meant to be. The landlady is great. Staff are friendly, and there's always something going on. Totally changed my opinion on it. Wouldn't go anywhere else round here now.
5 Feb 2009 13:51
Personally, it's a nightmare. A living nightmare. I'm sure it's probably just a case of a clash, but when someone from work asks if you are coming out for their birthday, and it's at Mary Janes, another part of me dies.
3 Feb 2009 17:06
Was a fine pub. Will miss it a lot, but as the guy who wrote the moving piece in the memorial book said, a pub is more about the people that work there and drink in there. Rumours are about that the company have leased another place in the same area, and that the manager and the majority of the staff from the old Wheatsheaf are all going to be at the new place, and that they're even taking the name across.
3 Feb 2009 10:38
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The Magpie, Bishopsgate
Had a very strange pub experience here the other night when it was very busy. Had a tab running and ordered some food. Turned out the barman didn't know the kitchen was closed as the chef wasn't there. No problem with that. Easy mistake but asked to see the boss as we wouldn't have had the last drink otherwise.
Boss comes in looking quite scary. Then apologises for the barman's mistake, refunds the food money, asks if I have a tab, which I do (3 or 4 rounds worth)insists on clearing it himself so no charge. Then asks if we're still looking to eat, which we were. Offers to go over the road to a sister pub, order the same food, which he does and pays for himself, and puts a round of drinks behind the bar, and makes sure we are well looked after. Way beyond the call of duty.
Top bloke. 10/10
5 Jul 2012 15:06