BITE user comments - mym
Comments by mym
Called in soon after it had re-opened. Expensive, trendy, very large open spaces - far more of a bar-restaurant than a pub, so if that's what you want, you'll like it. I didn't. The beer was ok but not especially well kept, it should be a lot better for the price they charge.
2 Jan 2011 11:23
Dignity (Taylors of Finchley), Finchley
I *do* live in Finchley but will travel rather than go here.
Beer never well kept, no character.
2 Jan 2011 11:19
The Jerusalem Tavern, Clerkenwell
Ah, that's a shame.
Even less excuse for keeping the beers so poorly then.
18 May 2006 23:40
The Jerusalem Tavern, Clerkenwell
No, they have two other pubs (neither in London).
I went again recently with a friend and the beer was really not very well kept at all - my organic bitter was almost undrinkable. It is just never reliable in quality alas. Shame, as I like the place and the beer range.
27 Apr 2006 23:03
Let me clarify, I've not had a bad pint here, just 'nothing special' ones.
12 Oct 2005 09:35
True, two bars, but they don't, to me, feel very separated (and the main of the two bars is HUGE). I'm still not finding the beers in top condition when I call - I was starting to think it was just that Harvey's beers per se were not my type but last week I had a pint of their best bitter at the Market Porter (close by) and it was excellent. I still like this pub though.
9 Oct 2005 14:29
And on a visit a year later.... still the same, good beers, well kept. Friendly.
22 Sep 2005 16:34
Excellent, small, friendly country pub, not Harverstered, not had a Huge Dining Extension added. Good beers (three or four) well kept, good plain garden outside. Feels really quite isolated.
22 Sep 2005 16:03
Thank god the no mobiles policy is still in place (as it is at the Blue and many other excellent pubs). It's a very small pub, so what's so hard about going in the garden, or outside the door, if you want to use a phone? Nothing.
Not sure I want to be drinking with people who are so lazy/petty/selfish that they are not prepared to make such a tiny effort. As 'rad' says, they can go elsewhere anyway.
22 Sep 2005 11:27
This is the pub you can sometimes see a bit of through Jamie Oliver's front door in his various documentaries. shame he doesn't cook there!
Beer is usually good, atmosphere is excellent.
23 Mar 2005 10:58
Dingy and vast. No real ale (despite 8 hand pumps on two bars and a fading sign outside saying "real ales").
No sign of any refurb, beyond the outside being partially repaionted a few months ago. This is a run-down pub-company-owned can't-be-bothered sort of place that could be so much more.
Sad.
23 Mar 2005 10:49
The Catcher in the Rye, Finchley
Place certainly looks better - the beer however is not well kept so far. Camra social there on 10th March, will report more fully then.
3 Mar 2005 11:47
The Catcher in the Rye, Finchley
The Catcher in the Rye in Finchley Central is closed for a revamp and will open on the 9th February as a "food led pub with real ale" according to the managing director of Faucet Inns, who I interrogated on the matter when I saw it closing.
I'll reserve judgement until I call in once it's open, but anything would be an improvement on the grotty hole it had become.
7 Feb 2005 17:18
Glad to hear that the water charging issue has been resolved. The bar manager at this pub wrote me a very rude email about it, calling me all sorts of names - obviously he didn't realise that I still have this pub in my top three pubs in Cambridge...
31 Oct 2004 18:56
The beer is probably the nearest to real ale of any gay pub in London (which is not saying much).
The Ancient Order of Druids was founded here in the 18th century - see plaque on wall inside.
12 Aug 2004 10:46
A thoroughly good pub. Layout is open, but not "echoey".
I call there most evenings when I have been at the Globe on Bankside and the regulars and staff seem friendly. Beers (all from Harvey's of Lewes, who own the pub) range from passable to very good.
12 Aug 2004 10:23
Update: the breakfasts are fantastic, with home made black puddings available!
12 Aug 2004 10:20
Excellent friendly local, owned by the Wye Valley Brewery just down the road - four of their brews were on tap the night I visited, all were good and well kept.
5 Aug 2004 14:48
Small, can be cramped. Beer is usually ok but the management seems to have gone downhill over the last couple of years. For example, they have just put a note up saying that if you are having their food, have not bought a drink, and want tap water, then you have to pay 50p to cover 'labour and ice costs'. Which is pretty shameful really.
15 Jun 2004 10:26
The Jerusalem Tavern, Clerkenwell
The ambience is good, the beer sare excellent but sadly variable in quality as I don't think they are kept as well as they could be. On one visit in every four I have been served with cloudy or off beer (explanations have ranged from "it's hot today" to "it's a new barrel" - both of which are just not good enough).
When it *is* godo however, it's very good indeed.
14 Jun 2004 17:23
Excellent local pub, good range of well kept beers. Extremely nice garden too, overlooks a church and small private back gardens.
14 Jun 2004 17:20
Excellent beer, good food, excellent atmosphere. It's a close-run thing between here and the Kingston Arms (which is in the next street) for best pub in Cambridge - the Blue has a smoking ban however, so probably just wins IMO.
10 Jun 2004 17:35
Excellent beer, excellent sausages, excellent atmosphere. I can't think what else one might want (except perhaps a no-smoking inside rule). It's a close-run thing between here and the Cambridge Blue (which is in the next street) for best pub in Cambridge IMO.
10 Jun 2004 17:30
The Elephant Inn, North Finchley
The ale, whilst limited to Fullers, is reasonably well kept. The thai place upstairs of ok but nothing special. One of the very few decent pubs within a mile of Finchley.
2 Jan 2011 11:28