BITE user comments - bensonby
Comments by bensonby
Beer is well-kept albeit too cold and the prices are an absolute pisstake. I was distinctly unimpressed - go to the Golden Lion across the road.
14 Nov 2008 14:13
The Jerusalem Tavern, Clerkenwell
Great little pub with a great selection of beers - its great to be able to get a mild in london! It's drawn in an interesting manner too...
It was quite crowded but we found a seat, lots of people stood though.
What I didn't like was that they insisted that if you stood outside you had to have a plastic "glass". I remained inside but did not like feeling inhibited by the fact that I was "not allowed" outside if I fancied it...and didn't like being questioned as to where I was planning to drink; I would have made up my mind after I got my drink thank you very much!
All that said, its a great little pub with a lot of character with friendly bar staff and fantastic beer.
5 Aug 2008 10:55
Great old "gin palace" type pub with lots of divided off areas with several bars - something that's very rare in London. Very interesting glasswork, mirrors and tiling. And an interesting gent's toilet!
great SS prices, but my beer wasn't on top form.
5 Aug 2008 10:49
Very interesting interior, and fantastic SS's prices. One of a good selection of pubs in the area...
5 Aug 2008 10:44
I can only echo other writers here -its a real success story since it opened a couple of years ago. Its won several awards and its not hard to see why! Well worth combining this one with the Crescent up the road.
10 Jun 2008 14:03
still on top form - still great value, friendly staff and never too crowded.
How do Sam Smith's do it?
6 Jun 2008 15:36
Lovely multi-roomed layout with a great selection of beers. An interesting little display about the Stockport viaduct (which the pub sits under) too...
19 May 2008 13:08
Classic pub with a wonderful interior. Serving most of the Robinsons range in tip-top condition.
The food looked great too....I think I'll eat there next time!
19 May 2008 13:07
Fantastic interior and good range of beers. Definately a must when in Liverpool!
13 May 2008 17:54
Good bar with good selection of real ales and interesting continental bottled beers - all reasonably priced (ales start at �2.05), the cask ale is cheap if not always in the best condition. An eclectic mix of (often mature) students and beer lovers - it looks a bit "trendy" but has a relaxed ambience in an interesting mish-mash of rooms. (it seems to be a couple of georgian townhouses knocked together. All in all, its the best "student" establishment around the university.
29 Aug 2007 13:35
Good selection of beer, but it is ian absolute rip off. I went in there recently and couldn't hear myself think in the back garden because some muppet was blaring out incredably loud noise from a sound system. And this was at 3 in the afternoon on a sunday! I doubt I'll be going back soon - try Sandbar!
29 Aug 2007 13:32
still a nice pub, but could have given me a glass of water with my beer! - it was a hot day and I bought a pint - so wanted a glass of water to stave off the dehydration but unceremoniously told that they "dont do water". Charming.
29 Aug 2007 13:29
Bl00dy great pub! - Went in there for the first time this monday on a day out to St Albans, very impressed with the range and quality of all the beers (as well as reasonable prices for the area - �2.40 for a pint of mild). I was also pleased to stumble across the end of the beer festival - which I am lead to believe happens on quite a regular basis... A classic interior and a lovely location - the garden looked nice too. All round a top notch pub, they don't come any better than this!
28 Aug 2007 16:05
Great little building in an eccentric location. Not a bad selection of beers and staff are friendly. However, the selection of beers did leave a little to be desired (Deuchars IPA, and 2 adnams beers) considering it is supposed to be a famed ale house. (they also served rather a large head, which was a little dissappointing - needless to say I asked for a top up) It gets very crowded esp. as its a small pub, little on the expensive side too... But its well worth a visit just for the building!
29 May 2007 01:35
Typical Central London Wetherspoons, usual good prices and an average/good range of well-kept beer. Decor is clean, and more 'bar style'. No complaints, nothing special, nothing wrong with it. (due to its location it does get rather busy)
29 May 2007 01:31
Fantastic place, will be a disaster if it goes down the pan! A real classic with great beers, friendly staff and patrons and reasonably priced. Looks awful from teh outside, but worth many a return visit. The beer festivals they run are great too!
Legend has it that Karl Marx used to drink here...
29 May 2007 01:19
still fantastic. Consistently the best in every resepct.
14 Mar 2007 14:39
Had a very bad experience in here about a month ago. It was a very busy friday evening, and I couldn't get a seat anywhere, so though i'd pop in to Rain bar as I'd never given it a go. Thankfully there were some seat in the upstairs area with only a few people drinking in (it was packed downstairs). Thus I counted my lucky stars and my friends went off to buy th round, I sat down, directly in fron of some of the staff who were busying themselves at the (closed) upstairs bar. Clearly my friends took a while as it was crowded and about 5-10 minutes later they returned with my pint. However, with barely a sip gone from my pint we were rather bruskly informed that the area was closing. This in itself seems absurd as it was a very crowded evening, with little standing room downstairs, and the only reason why we were in the establishment was because it was the only place we could find seats. However, it was not this that wrangled the most; what really put me off was the aggresive, impolite manner in which we were told to leave - I was in the middle of recording a phone number of a mate and tried to finish this process before moving along, only to be treated like trespassers rather than paying customers. Needless to say I shan't be returning any time soon.
14 Mar 2007 14:37
What a ghastly place. Whilst advertising upon its sign that it "is one of Manchester's finest old ale houses" there is not a drop of real beer in sight. A fantastic old early nineteenth century building has been converted into a horrid barn for the great unwashed where they can sup on foul tastless fizz. The cranial capacity and ape-like nature of the expected clientele is made clear by the fact that they need doormen, and by the posters at the entrance strictly laying down the rules of the establishment. (As if I didn't know how to have a quiet pint. One really wonders why it is so crowded, it is but a stone's throw form the Lass O Gowrie, the Peveril of the Peak or the Britons Protection, heck, you can even get a decent pint directly behind it at the Salisbury. What a pity, a fine old building, a classic example of 18/19th century hope and develipment degraded to some hell-hole for the ignorant to indulge their alcoholism
23 Jan 2007 21:48
Can't really see what has changed about this pub, still as good as before! - good cheap beer... who knows how they manage to sell bee ar �1.76 a pint!! Only pity is the old photographs of actors have gone in the renovation.
5 Jul 2006 17:14
real drinkers pub, very cheap and good range of very well kept beer.
29 May 2006 17:36
Decent friendly pub, with good selection of rotating real ales... generally a rather "rock" clientele. Far better than any of the other local Oxford Road pubs.
24 May 2006 13:20
Sinclairs Oyster Bar, Manchester
Typical Sam Smith's pub, nice traditional interior, and very cheap beer (�1.34) pity about Manchester's ridiculous plastic glass facism... The only thing that is odd about S Smith's is its only brewing of one real ale....always struck me as odd. the only thing that put me off this pub is the proximity to the icty centre and the fat that makes it crowded...
I've heard on good account the food is great too...
22 May 2006 15:53
Piggles,
Its a shame that you had a bad experience at this pub, but I would suggest going again. When I talk to my ignorant lager drinking compatriots I tell them that (among many other things) one of the advantages of real ale is that every batch of even the same label tastes different and that every pint is an excicting new experience. Natuarally then yo umay come across a bad or less than exciting brew, but sometimes you find a drink from heaven. Harvey's for me has always been consistantly favourable, and to find mild in Londonn is fantastic. As for my favourate beers I must go with Hydes, Pictish, Marble (a manchester micro)and phoenix. We're certainly blessed in the North West.
The Royal oak has a fantastic interior and a great selection of very well kept beers, I'm sorry you weren't impressed, please try again...
Bensonby
22 May 2006 15:48
Nice selection of Cains, and a real cider on handpump. Crowded, but had a pleasant atmosphere... I seem to remember it was a CAMRA pub of the year a couple of years ago...
(and Australians know nothing about beer... only the British brew fine cask ale, the ONLY definition of beer)
22 May 2006 15:41
Cheap good beer in nice surroundings. The bar staff were very friendly and helpful when I asked about plaecs to eat in the vicinity. The location means that it was rather crowded, I can't vouch for it in the past, but I had a pleasing visit and an excellent Cains Mild.
22 May 2006 15:38
Pleasant of a nice evening, sitting in the garden. Only two real ales and quite expensive at that. That said its a friendly and relaxing environment...
28 Apr 2006 08:50
bit of a dingy boozer, the barman could not pull a pint to save his life - it was the end of the barrell spitting everywhere, when i infomred him he needde to change the barrell he said "nah it'll settle in a minute." Some dodgy characters about too...
27 Apr 2006 12:10
Not great, expensive, with the bloody cheek to change their prices at weekends. Only one real ale, and when i was there it wasn't brilliantly kept. Its not in a great area for pubs, being the only inhabitable drinking establishment within a mile or so...
27 Apr 2006 12:08
The Royal Albert, Crystal Palace
Decent enough pub, a proper boozer with a couple of decent beers. Cheaper and friendlier than some of the other pubs in the locale...
27 Apr 2006 12:06
Decent shep's pub tucked nicely out of the way. Plenty of real ale (all shep's naturally)and a pleasant interior. Apprantly its been on the site for a couple of hunred years....nice all round.
25 Apr 2006 09:57
The Sherlock Holmes, Charing Cross
pretty average, only greene king available, and pretty expensive at that. Full of tourists, never tried the food but it looked pretty standadard and a bit pricey... The staff were very friendly though.
12 Apr 2006 11:09
The Briton's Protection Hotel, Castlefield
They are planning to move it literally a few feet to square it up onto the main raod...a complete and utter costly waste of time. A disgrace that some1 could prefer (yet more) unafforadble trendy flats to this unique (grade 2 listed) gem of a pub!!! utter disgrace, i'll be there chaining myself to the bar-rail believe me...!
25 Mar 2006 11:35
Bit of a dingy boozer, nothing special. When i was there there was some god-awful bloke singing, he looked like he was straight out of pensioner's holiday camp in the 1970s.
5 Mar 2006 18:12
Fantastic location, and good selection of beers. Imagine it would be great in summer...
5 Mar 2006 18:07
Nice pub, good range of beers...though they were a little harsh about throwing us out of theupstairs because we weren't eating...despite the fact that it was packed downstairs and no-one was eating, thus there was plnty of room.
5 Mar 2006 18:05
The Smithfield Hotel, Manchester
A fine smoky hole to sample a huge range of rotating beers. Fantastic atmosphere, and a good place to go for last orders as has already been said.
8 Feb 2006 15:12
Very grotty, but with a friendly charm and a good range of beers. (Full Robinsons range)
7 Feb 2006 01:01
Note the spelling mistake in the actual naming of the place. Never a good start, like some bloody noise-hall. No beer. eugh.
19 Jan 2006 14:54
Fantastic, possibly the best pub in london. Beer quality is superb, and you can get a decent mild!! - first time Ive ever found a decent mild in london! The staff are friendly and there seems to be plenty of regulars all saying hello to the landlord who seems pleasant and seems to know his stuff.
Splendid original interior, with handpumps dominating the the bar, with the revolting eurobrews kept to a minimum. A realy gem, with a really "unique" and "unspoilt" feel. Classic.
19 Jan 2006 14:36
Little on the trendy side, and its like a goldfish bowl. Satisfactory range of very well kept beers though. The sort of place that would be acceptable to take young/trendy people to and still manage to find a decent pint. (Dear god, I sound like a middle aged man, and im only a student!)
18 Jan 2006 16:02
Metropolitan Bar, Baker Street
Prime after-work location, friendly, good selection of well-kept beers, wetherspoons prives (cheap) No real complaints....its massive. Food is cheap, but its tastes it too.
11 Jan 2006 10:58
You can get Adnams and Wells in the Royal Albert...but yes, you're basically right Rich66
11 Jan 2006 10:52
Decent loval pub, well kept good selection of ales. Little pricey, but what do you expect from SW London? You pay for quality and no less than some god-awful trendy bar. I was impressed and contrary to some comments, it was very friendly...with a friendly bunch of regulars.
11 Jan 2006 10:49
Decent selection of beers, both bottle and on pump. Interesting location (under the arches) I agree with malone in so far as its not a "classic" pub, rather more "trendy" than that...however, for what it is it is a friendly and pleasant place. Personally I prefer the more "traditional" or "authentic" pub, but for a rather fashionable bar it exceeds expectation by a long way.
16 Dec 2005 21:45
The Peveril Of The Peak, Castlefield
Layout is classic....exterior amazing. No complaints about the beer, but something seems lacking about the interior itself. Decent pub though, perhaps im being fussy...
16 Dec 2005 21:43
The Briton's Protection Hotel, Castlefield
Classic layout, fine selection of whiskies, good wellkept beer... A gem.
16 Dec 2005 21:41
Real victorian gem. This, along with the Marble arch is the best Pub in town. Its a nice refreshing change from all the studenty or chavvy rubbish round about. A grand selection of beers and a nice traditional interior! They dont come much better!
22 Nov 2005 15:28
its a weatherspoons...what do you expect? - cheap drinks, real ale...good value for money and the clientele aren't bad at all......
4 Nov 2005 21:18
Lovely pub, lovely interior, good beer on hand pump....what more do you want? and in the middle of london with cheap prices!
4 Nov 2005 21:16
The Alleyns Head, West Dulwich
seen a lot worse, drink there regularly enough (little cheaper than the dog...) has real ales, staff aer friendly enough (see the david brent quizmaster) what can i say? - its not bad...
4 Nov 2005 21:09
The Crown and Greyhound, Dulwich
Its a lovely pub, little pricey, but what do you expect? good range of beers, both real ales and bottled continental ones (aswell as your usual lager muck) - the staff are friendly and the food is good and its got a nice outside area.... when im in the area im always there!
4 Nov 2005 21:07
I think this is the most fantastic pub in the world, 9 real ales (4 brewed on site) very friendly staff, good traditional food, and amazing unique victorian interior...its one of a kind, a gem!! well worth the trip...
4 Nov 2005 21:04
The Alleyns Head, West Dulwich
Went there for the first time since the revamp. Very competitive prices for the beer and a great selection. Not the greatest "atmosphere" in the world but for that price and that selection you can't go far wrong...
16 Jun 2010 19:29