BITE user comments - bobdebilde
Comments by bobdebilde
Don't use the right-hand side urinal in the Gents. The floor slopes.
17 Dec 2006 00:51
Having been put off this pub at first by the prices and the clientelle (students wearing scarves, flat caps and smoking pipes - but then what do you expect in Oxford?) I have had to change my mind, largely because of the bar staff. I came here recently with friends, and sat in the front room in relative luxury for a pub. It was supposed to be No Smoking, but we were there quite late, and nobody else was in the room, so the barman brought through an ashtray and let us carry on. The evening was unfortunately interrupted by the fire alarm going off, but when we were evacuated, another barman told us that we could go home and take our glasses with us (as we all had almost full pints), as long as we brought them back the next day. We were made to feel like guests rather than customers, which makes a change from those all-too-common establishments which alienate their customers by their anally retentive "company policy".
14 Dec 2006 14:58
What a pub! The barman is a legend (though he drinks Foster's); it's spacious yet cosy, with sofas and a pool table, it's relatively inexpensive for London, and it's off the track beaten by the hoi polloi. Can't fault it - it has everything you would want in a local.
14 Dec 2006 14:43
It's a decent pub, but not inspiring. With prices more expensive than in London, though, it's one to avoid.
23 Nov 2006 15:41
Great pub in a fine location, but �3.10 for a pint - and for a Foster's at that? Great place to meet for an evening out, but too expensive to hang around.
16 Jun 2006 17:40
Great big pub, with a fine choice of beers, as well as all the spirits you might require for finishing off the night. It's a Fuller's pub, which is always a bonus. It's a great place to go drinking with mates - very spacious, and comfortable sofas to sit on. The staff are friendly as well. I come here sometimes with my Dad and brother to watch the football too, and they've got a few screens, including one big one (though their reception of Sky can get interrupted by bad weather) - but it seems to lack a bit of atmosphere, and you don't get the banter or tension that you might hope for during a big game, but that might be a reflection more of the local clientelle than the pub itself.
11 Apr 2006 23:25
This is a fantastic pub - great range of beers and an awesome atmosphere. It does have a tendency to get rather crowded, however, especially in the evenings, so service could be rather slow - but this doesn't detract at all from it's great character.
15 Dec 2005 12:34
I went to this pub last night with some mates because one of their friends was playing here. The music was great - but that's all. The landlord was sulky and unpleasant, and sat at the bar doing nothing while we were being served; the barman (just the one) had a face like a smacked arse, and the general atmosphere was dismal. Some drunk Irishman letched over my mates, under the facade of trying to sell us a raffle ticket of some sort (though there seemed to be no other competition than the darts match played by a couple of fat, loud-mouthed drunkards). There was no Stella on tap, so I ordered a pint of Kronenbourg which smelt strongly of sulphur. The worst pint I have ever had, and still not at all worth the (admittedly cheap) �2.40 I paid for it. I shall never be going back, and it was universally agreed by our party that it would not be a place at which the rest of us would choose to gig.
7 Oct 2005 19:22
Now shut down and renamed as "The Castlenau". Have not been in yet but surely anything must be an improvement on the Porterhouse. Can anyone recommend it?
2 Jun 2005 15:30
not bad... not great...: Pretty lame location, right on the A4 although the river's not far away; but then again it's on my way home from school!
3 Feb 2005 18:20
The Grove, Battersea
BenG, Sorry for not being very clear. By off the beaten track, I just meant that atmosphere was pretty chilled, and it wasn't jam-packed like some of the pubs nearby can get during the evening. Not empty, but a few locals who were up for a chat, and a barman who took it upon himself to entertain us for as long as we wanted, and got involved in our banter as the night progressed. To be fair, I've never been in for a drink by myself, but I've never found the atmosphere to be lacking when with mates. Maybe you caught it on an off-day. I live in Chiswick, but have been back so many times that I now consider the Grove my local, and Anton (the barman) a friend. Sure the decor is a bit tacky (and it looks like a bomb shelter from outside), and the Gents are pretty shocking (especially the graffiti on the walls), but it serves a great pint, and you can always feel welcome. Has made for so many great nights.
15 Jul 2007 20:23