BITE user comments - halpo
Comments by halpo
Yates Wine Lodge, Southend on Sea
Alright for a daytime visit, but naff as you like after 5 when the Sarfend office glitterati pour in for an eye/skinful.
22 Nov 2005 12:27
Big alternative-type rambin' old pub with 3 bars that deserves some better press by the look of the ratings...
3 bars with different atmos in each. As an occasional visit, a welcome distraction, but you'll require an aqualung to enable you to breathe in the bar with the pool table.
Remember kids, 'it's smoke wot killz'!
22 Nov 2005 12:22
Typical. No interest for years and then they go and redecorate right after I post up my semi-scathing review. Very nice inside now and the beer garden has also been attended too, with new tables and a redone patio area. Also, those grotty old window frames on the main entrance (road) side, which went rotten on a regular basis, have been binned. Much better. Everything else, including the beer, is as usual (not bad) for an average pub.
28 Jul 2005 15:01
Nice pub, for a chain. Friendly staff, and the option of the 'Reflex' club upstairs. It is better when it's not so full, but then, where isn't? The all-pervasive "Oirishness" of it all peeves me slightly, but it is only slightly (indulge me here, I'm half 'plastic' myself). The 'black stuff' is definitely always worth having in here.
As for 'Reflex', I've been there once, and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely. Lately, my compadres have expressed disenchantment with the place, though. I seem to remember I had fun and was a little unsteady on my feet towards the end, and was then subjected to an hour and a half's wait for a cab in rainy hell (Vic Circus) at two in the morning. Imagine doing THAT sober!
16 Jun 2005 18:22
Nice pub. Nice duck-pond. V. relaxing in the summer. Friendly and welcoming, charming and warm. It was quite a relief to find that I could just about make it here and back for lunch after a year working in the nearby idyll that is Southfields industrial estate.
16 Jun 2005 17:50
Another big JDW pub. Good range of beers. Somewhat soulless, however. Not over enamoured. Big rectangular spaces with tables dotted hither and thither. Classic JDW maximised use of every corner of space for potential punters. Not much oak beam or horse brass (hullo there!) going on here! For a pub with such a rustic name, surprisingly (or not) free of charm. That and, as everyone else has said, a grindingly long wait at the bar.
16 Jun 2005 15:57
The Last Post, Southend on Sea
JDW. Not bad. BIG pub. Good for spotting the bright young things, before they swan off clubbing, while they preen and fuss and sink copious amounts of alcopops. The average age of the patrons goes fro 85 to 20 between 7 and 8 in the evening!
Original venue of our semi-legendary Thursday night 'Club De Vin'...
16 Jun 2005 15:41
Another JD Wetherspoon... Been there a few times recently and it seemed to be pretty smoky to me. Alright, but not really my cup of char. Didn't make me want to go there again, put it that way.
16 Jun 2005 15:34
Aaah... 'The Paul Pry'! Many a Friday night over the 90's blah blah... Nice in the summer, in the garden. Tends to wax and wane in popularity as and when the landlord gives in and gives the fascia a lick of paint (not often) and I'm afraid JDW have scored a swift knee to the clackers with 'The Roebuck' down the road. Not sure about the DJ/Karaoke type shenanigans either, for that matter.
16 Jun 2005 15:27
Lovely pub, bordering Hockley Woods. Now a 'Chef & Brewer', so the grub is pretty good too. Fires and candles, warming and welcoming with a lot going for it. Good selection of beers. I'm sure they used to have a real Bull's head above the door in the 70's...
2 Apr 2005 14:58
Hungry Horse. Man am I fed up with that bug-eyed equine motif. Big menu, if you like burger/chips-type fair. Other than that, gets crowded on a Friday lunchtime with Ford workers and they quite often have a shortage of staff during busy periods. OK, I s'pose (good, for the area).
23 Feb 2005 18:33
The Steam Passage, Islington
Staff alternate between the fit, the mad, those of questionable hygiene and the brain-dead. Service is average at the best of times. It's just been done up, although for some reason I can't tell the difference inside. Too jaded, I guess. Boring. Having said that, it's convenient for an after-work scoop.
29 Oct 2006 16:35