BITE user comments - bornandbred
Comments by bornandbred
Yep, the smell of the open drains and the barely alive bar staff had the same affect on me as it did on Tina. So depresseed by the whole plce i cn hdly spek.
What a dump this pub is.
8 May 2007 17:45
Someone has obviously got a chip on their shoulder. This pub is a vast improvement on what it was previously, and with comments like is it a pub or club, I cannot take your review seriously. Real ales, guest beers an extensive wine selection means it is a pub for all tastes. Food is now requested not only from regulars and new customers but from outside organisations for functions and lunches. If we are missing one person, and that is Anonymous who posted the previous comment...it is no loss.
17 Mar 2007 12:00
Over priced, over rated, over populated by four wheel drive city dwellers and the over 80's. Poor attitude to strangers, food is very very average and the beer is barely acceptable. Go down the road to Easton or on to Alresford to find decent pubs.(Don't bother going as far as Cheriton though!)
24 Jan 2007 17:26
Ah Conniwot, with changing landlords, breweries and beers there's always a place on this site for faint praise, criticsm or giving some shithole a real good slagging (see Gaolhouse) I do hope to see some reviews in the future, too many bloody Wykeham wannabees out there!!!
26 Aug 2006 12:52
Also noticed the guitar group and the endless warm up, but apparently they are going to play more recognisable tunes shortly. All in all though a small criticsm for what is a better and better pub.
If you see signs for curry night, go! I went last tuesday, 11 curries from mild to hot including vegetarian, side dishes and rices etc. �11 for all you could eat! excellent.
26 Aug 2006 12:39
The Slug and Lettuce, Winchester
Bit of knoweldge here:
This place and the two (now) pasty shops by the Buttercross used to be inns back in the 13th odd century, they were called Heaven, Hell and Paradise, when folk came out of the very small church (St Lawrence's between all three) after service they would turn to one of these inns depending how they felt.
Not sure which one this place would fall into now, good for the odd works bash, but I wouldn't be a regular. Beers not kept well, inc chemical lager! Food ok.
26 Aug 2006 12:35
Good pub, beer is kept by someone who knows what they are doing, the food is honest at honest prices. 100% improvement on what it was. I look forward to seeing how this place developes and matures into a truly great pub.
22 Jun 2006 17:54
Not offended chf, I do enjoy good service in many many pubs, and my 'self confidence' has never been a factor if they fail to live up to expectations. That's what these sites are for, to vent ones spleen in public.
As for stevehar nothing 'sinister' intended, but you must have been lucky not to meet the noisy ones on your visits.
I hope you enjoy many more years drinking at the Flowerpots.
22 Apr 2006 09:41
I am flattered that my review was discussed, thank you. Maybe being in the trade for twenty years has coloured my view of what is considered a decent pub, and maybe that is why I appear 'grumpy'in my reviews. More likely it is because so many pubs/inns get it wrong. I admire your tenacity for staying twenty years in one pub if it hasn't changed from what it is like now. I do accept that local farmers and rural inhabitants use this pub, but I surely do not have to remind you of the over loud nouveau riche and wannabe lords of the manor that also use this establishment. See man who lives 13 miles away considers it his local.
I certainly do not prefer big super pubs or corporate drinking holes, what I care about is service, well kept beer and a sense of realism from the clientelle. Since my last visit on the bank holiday I am afraid my previous views stand.
My apologies if this offends.
21 Apr 2006 12:42
Creche for sad young people without the balls to go to London. Scruffy, dirty, cheap and tacky...the bar's not that great either.
Blabla you need glasses and taste.
8 Apr 2006 14:52
A 'boozer' doesn't sell cocktails. THAT is precisely whats wrong with this place, it is neither one nor t'other. When the kiddies have stopped playing at barkeeps then hopefully this place will evolve.
8 Apr 2006 14:49
TOO SMALL!!!! or does that just make you notice the tossers more? When the young folk of the Wykeham want to kick their heels in town yah! this is where they go. Revolting.
8 Apr 2006 14:46
Used to be good, now it's trying too hard. Food ok but sometimes a suspicion of reheats and microwaves as preferred method of cooking. Something not quite right anymore. Thinks it is the Wykeham of the north, if it is avoid it like the plague ugh!
8 Apr 2006 14:43
BIGGEST dump in town. Sexy landlady???? you need help. Wouldn't eat there, barely want to drink out the glasses and the clientelle!!!! Not hard, so not a thrill to be in, just incredibly thick. Avoid this place at all costs.
28 Mar 2006 17:35
Has had the heart knocked out of it long ago, just another city centre tourist pub, won't be long before it goes the way of the Vine. Bar staff unpleasant as is the food, decor, beer,customers and 'Yack' alley that leads to the front door.
21 Feb 2006 17:29
Small, scruffy, with mixed clientelle, some friendly some not. Landlord and Landlady leave a bit to be desired in the friendly stakes. Toilets need third world aid makeover.
Saying that it can be very pleasant in the summer to sit outside and wach the world go by .
21 Feb 2006 17:25
Is Will2 sure? longest bar in Britain? Can't see it myself.It's places like this that make the Wykeham lot smug and takes trade away from decent pubs. I'm all for progress unless it looks like this, you can tell how many steps back it's gone by the Neandrethal '10 o'clock club that congregate every day. One to avoid.
21 Feb 2006 17:21
Nice place, love the landlady, food is superb, surroundings are pleasant. Go there!
20 Feb 2006 15:30
Please be prepared for a sensory overload of Pringle jumpers and people who don't quite know where the countryside begins. Laughable if it wasn't so sad.
20 Feb 2006 15:27
Don't understand why this is on here, this is a restaurant!!!!!!
20 Feb 2006 15:25
In danger of taking itself too seriously, and food looks like it's becoming more important than the pub. Beware the slide into restaurant territory.
20 Feb 2006 15:21
This is now a restaurant and should be removed from this site. Shame, but thats what happens when you open super pubs and vodka bars.
20 Feb 2006 15:13
Landlords leaving!!! all up sticks and try the Golden Lion on Alresford Road, I am sure he will improve it.
20 Feb 2006 15:07
Small but friendly, can get quite crowded. Beer is good, food ok and decor sympathetic to the building. Unfortunately can't think of any further praise or damnation, sort of place it is really.
21 Nov 2005 17:09
Ok pub but as demonstrated by the previous reviewer, don't expect high brow, intelligent or in their case coherent conversation.
VIS IS A BWILIANT BOZER! ahem!
21 Nov 2005 17:04
Always full of very sad people, last resort before you are deported or forced to drink in the Westgate.
It's position should make this one of Winchester's most popular pubs, there are worse.
21 Nov 2005 17:01
Fighting my way through the staff and customers smoking on the steps outside, you will find the best nearly pub in town. Nice old building, solid central bar, usually decent beer...and the atmosphere like the moon...zero. So many landlords have tried and so many have failed. It could have been a contender.
Young kid could have only been twelve, chugging on a B and H, sat on a barstool at ten at night... a bit strange, he was drinking a half?
21 Nov 2005 16:53
Have to disagree with you for a change conniwot. Although I wouldn't use it on a saturday night, Sundays in the Exchange are always fun. The landlord is actually quite a shrewd man, he knows how the pub is going to work at different times. What the bar staff lack in attentiveness they make up for in appearance and friendliness.
Beer is getting better too.
21 Nov 2005 16:36
The Original Porthouse, Winchester
Conniwot is spot on, you'd think everytime they refurbish and spend money it would improve, but sadly not. A hell hole.
18 Nov 2005 17:53
I think the review 1st july by anonymous is referring to the Exchange, must have had a couple too many, or is just a pillock.
18 Nov 2005 17:43
Clientelle are very much like that of the Wykeham in nearby Winchester. If they got out more and stopped playing at rural living they might appreciate a real pub. Food sparse,bland and over rated. Staff when in attendance (rare) are rude and/or ignorant, beer badly produced (best pint of the infamous 'pots' was had at the Black Boy).
All in all a plastic version of a country inn produced by the village inhabitants who have 'bought' a pub. Depressing.
12 Nov 2005 14:12
Flying ashtrays, stuffed fish exploding, fat bloke with baseball cap ringing the bell like the start of round two, country and western singing vagrants, hysterical laughter, birds tougher than blokes, cheesy eighties disco, thai brides and lots and lots of lager... what a great night.
Not one for the faint hearted but cetainly an experience, if you do well as an apprentice they may let you join the Rising Sun.
12 Nov 2005 13:54
Excellent! a truly decent pub. Good beer very well kept, good honest food, decent clientele across a broad range (Wykeham Arms lovers, you may need to think of a discussion subject other than yourselves) and highly trained staff. Comfortable, non threatening down to earth pub. One to relax in!
12 Nov 2005 09:57
Well done beezer, you have just demonstrated a fine example of the weak chinned local from this pub, 'and again I say thank god!' typical. The locals will not explore the city for the numerous excellent pubs, but remain entrenched with their poorly kept beer, over rated food and terrible staff that this pub provides. It is only this narrow minded, blown up toady approach that keeps it going, that and the tourists suckered by kitsch olde worlde tat. If you tried a good pub in town there may be hope for you, good beer kept well, intelligent company discussing a BROAD range of subjects and professional staff.
12 Nov 2005 09:52
The Golden Lion, Winchester
Now a really good pub, will be a shame if it is changed in the near future due to the landlord leaving for pastures new, it should remain a good decent community pub.
One thing I loved was the new pub sign, different on both sides showing views into and out of Winchester behind the lion. Hand painted by a regular apparrently, well done wish more pubs in Winchester had decent signs, instead of surrendering to corporate plastic.
10 May 2008 15:26