BITE user comments - oliverhylton
Comments by oliverhylton
The Victory Hotel, West Mersea
Very friendly landlord and a great family pub. Light and airy though ever so slightly too 1990's for the charming Edwardian building. Hardly detracts though - beer kept beautifully. Packed on a sunny Sunday.
4 Jul 2011 13:52
Getting better: 3 real ales on served at a decent temperature including an excellent pint of Brains Gold. The food offer is good for lunchtime though they still need to eradicate that aroma of Domestos that hits you when you enter... bring back cigars.
19 May 2011 12:25
I disagree with many of the comments below. My father regularly used the place before it was renovated and agreed heartily with my view that it's a far better place now. Yes the booze is daftly expensive for a pub but the decor is fabulous - a fine English retort to the omnipresent and crass 'urban chic' that's taken over from minimalism; the beer is kept extremely well; the staff are efficient and friendly (and they kept on some of the original staff too). Also, to the reviewer below, what's wrong with the poor old jug - a thing sadly neglected! Above all, in spite of the (excellent) restaurant at the back, the place is still very much a boozer. I'd be absolutely delighted if other pubs were saved in this way rather than aesthetically vandalised or shut down altogether.
23 Feb 2011 12:49
Lovely tiny, cosy place replete with Brylcreemed characters and hacks from the nearby Telegraph offices. A great hubbub of coversation and no music or fruit machines. Shepherd Neame ales on tap and well kept. A proper drinkers pub. All it needs is the little fire lit in the corner (or the return of cigar smoke).
22 Feb 2011 13:29
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Fleet Street
I disagree with the comments below. I've been coming here for years and with the odd exception, the staff are civil, polite, and a delight to have behind the bar. That odd, charmless, humourless exception to the rule will always be found but as I say, I really do think it is the exception. The landlord and landlady here are also a longstanding joy...
22 Feb 2011 13:14
Recently refurbished and a great deal better than it was including pleasant staff. An open fire would add atmosphere.
22 Feb 2011 13:08
Further to the comment below, I have to say that the landlord, John, is actually a fabulous chap. Eccentric in the very nicest of ways and great company. He is also there pretty regularly as far as I can make out... he is a very old fashioned type of publican: the sort of very characterful host you would have known a hundred or even two hundred years ago... And the pub matches the man - quirky and delightfully old fashioned
6 Oct 2010 10:01
A very decent, proper English boozer replete with glowering portrayals of Nelson and Churchill. It even has a piano which is far too rare in London pubs these days (Golden Eagle nearby and Coach & Horses, Greek Street are exceptions). Loads of real old characters in here too, many you wouldn't really want to cross but very friendly over a pint. Very much worth a visit.
6 Oct 2010 09:55
Really glad this wasn't another pub in the area to close its doors for good. That said, it has a hell of a long way to go - lacking any character at all and the music is ridiculously loud, whatever your taste.
6 Oct 2010 09:52
The Horse and Groom, Belgravia
Lovely little pub - very tiny but well kept Shepherd Neame ales, great lunchtime grub and a charming Irish landlord. Only gripe is the lighting which is too cold and doesn't suit this otherwise place.
4 Jan 2010 17:19
The King and Keys, Fleet Street
Now a diabolical Mexican 'kitchen' replete with tawdry plastic signage, miserable sanitised punters and garbage for food.
25 Mar 2009 14:35
A 14th century inn and an absolute cracker. Stuffed with antiques and locals of all sorts with heavy beams, oil paintings and roaring fires. A very welcome survival in a charming market town: if only all pubs retained such genuine, unaffected character - an accolade to the landlord, a gentleman farmer called John Wilsdon.
21 Oct 2008 13:53
Diabolically bad. And agree completely with the comment below. Avoid at all costs.
20 Oct 2008 12:41
The Horse and Groom, Belgravia
A fabulous little local where the staff, lunches and beer are all superb. However, the lighting is dire. This is a cosy place with, bizarrely, the starkest lights which eliminate any atmosphere at a stroke. I can't be the only blind punter (or staff member!) so hopefully this may change in time...
1 Aug 2008 10:00
The Famous Royal Navy Volunteer, Bristol
One of the worst 'renovations' I have ever seen. Just a few years ago this place was precious - a rare gem and you could feel the history seeping from the dark moulded ceilings, flagstone floors and delightful characters that were drawn to the place. It had clearly remained pretty much unchanged since the days when it was genuinely used to find naval recruits in the 18th century. It is now a standardised souless place in comparison. An appauling job that should genuinely have had the owners served with a prosecution order.
30 Apr 2008 17:24
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The Angel and Crown, Leicester Square
This pub appears to have CLOSED
8 Sep 2011 12:35