BITE user comments - scousemouse
Comments by scousemouse
This is a great pub and has been my local for about 3 years now. The staff are friendly and also very competent, most of them having been there for quite a while now.
Beer is standard Fullers but it's all well kept and they often have a guest ale on which keeps things interesting enough.
Food is generally of a good standard, particularly their Steak and Ale pie which is excellent and their roast dinners. Menu is a bit gastropub but still good value.
This pub is good for sport, particularly football though it can be bit difficult to find somewhere to perch for big England or Top of the table Premier League matches. Although it's not got a particular team bias a lot of Liverpool fans drink here which suits me just fine!
Not sure why people have complained about the decor, at least it's not bland dark wood like most Fuller's pubs these days.
Overall the only way I could improve this pub would be if it opened a bit later!
24 Apr 2009 20:42
Unfortunately this pub has changed since I used to frequent it and not for the better. they have had a complete refurb which seems to have made the place a bit soulless. don't get me wrong, it's still a pleasant enough pub, but it looks and feels like a gastropub with a TV in it. What a shame.
28 Jan 2009 14:12
Decent enough pint here and definitely cheap but it's a rough place a lot of the time. Also every time I've been there they've been playing music REALLY LOUD which is a pain when you've just gone for a quiet pint!
22 Dec 2008 16:53
Pretty good pub this, decent beer at reasonable prices. Occasionally can be a little bit rough but it's still far and away the best pub in this area.
22 Dec 2008 16:51
Good pub, quite trendy but still decent atmosphere and relaxed, though lively enough to feel like a good night out. Beer Garden looks like it would be good in summer. More of a lager place but did have a couple of ales on tap, the london pride was pretty reasonable. Food is also good, though it's not somewhere you go to specifically to eat as it's quite snacky. Would definately recommend if you fancy somewhere a bit lively.
22 Dec 2008 16:48
The pub itself isn't bad, I like the decor a lot but the lack of music I think is a problem, simply because the pub doesn't get very busy so lacks the background noise required to feel comfortable when chatting with mates.
However the main problem with this pub is the bitter which is all the smoothflow type stuff and is bloody awful. I wouldn't return solely for that reason.
17 Nov 2008 11:49
This is a great little pub, BadgerBeers on tap which is quite unusual.
22 Nov 2007 11:08
Who knows this pub might be alright in the day but at night it is truly horrendous. Unbelievably at weekends it has a cover charge and a dress code (I've worn trainers on a night out specifically so I don't end up in here). Still it keeps the Stella drinking, fight starting, R&B loving chavs away from the North Star over the road and for that it should be thanked
25 Oct 2007 14:53
Went here for a birthday not that long ago, it was the first time I'd been in since the refurb/name change but I have to be honest I wasn't impressed. For a start the bouncer took exception to the fact i was wearing trainers (they were brand new brown suede and besides do they think that having a dress code keeps pout undesirables? I would agure that the opposite is true). There was also no ale only lager (there was a pump so maybe this has been rectified since). It might have had a DJ but the music was awful (chessey R&B mainly) and it was full of, well, the sort of people that listen to R&B. On the plus side it's got a late licence and the decor was quite nice but in future if I fancy going somewhere lively in Ealing I'll stick to the North Star which is infinately better than this.
25 Oct 2007 12:02
Went here for a friends birthday a while ago, the weather was nice so we had a table booked outside. Evening was ok, beer was good, even had a couple of decent bitters though it was mainly lager. Two main critiscms first, that despite being in Camden it feels like a bar in any number of places in London (notting Hill in particular) and second at 10pm the bouncers uncerimoniously herded us inside despite there not being enough room for everyone. so we left. sharpish.
24 Oct 2007 13:04
Started off at this pub on a recent night out in Kingston. Not sure why there are so many bad reviews, ok it's not the best pub I've ever been too but it's still ok, particularly in comparison to most of the pubs in the centre of Kingston which are chain hell holes or poncey bars. The beer was good and there was an excellent selection (7 ales on tap). OK it's a bit tatty and the service wasn't that great but it proved to be the best place we visited all night (we went to 3 other pubs after this each of which got progressively worse). Luckily the friend I was visiting is moving soon so I won't have to sample the delights of Kingston again!
9 Oct 2007 17:03
this isn't really a pub, I guess you would call it a club/bar, though to all intents and purposes it's a club with a weirdly timed and far too early 1am licence (with the new licencing laws you'd have thought they'd be able to shut a bit later). Anyway when looked at as a club it's pretty good - the music is usually of a high standard (mind you I'm a bit biased as my mates have run a couple of nights there)and they have live acts on too some nights. The main room is also a great space for dancing or watching bands. However the service is generally poor and the drinks overpriced (though probably fairly similar to other places like this). The back room also has a funny seating layout that makes it almost impossible to get acrross when the place is packed. oh and the toilets are minging. See it's a club, and that's why we shouldn't judge it too harshly, just sort out that licence!
20 Mar 2006 14:54
As other's have said this is reallymore like 2 pubs grafted together the first is a like a cosy local boozer, the second a vast carnivorous student bar (plus it has some further little cubby holes that I've ended up in at one time or another. Me and my mates tend to sit in the old boozer part, supping our lagers (this is not a pub for the bitter drinker unfortunately) and chatting to the occasional camden character. good atmos, good music and good crowd. I've had the food here once and it was alright, cheap stodge. As other's have said (but it needs saying again) the toilets are truly foul, but that's probably the biggest downside. A visit to Camden is not complete without stopping here for a couple!
8 Mar 2006 15:52
On first glance this is a strange pub for such popularity/notoriety, but the fact that Blur/Oasis used to drink here (probably for about 2 weeks in 1994 but anyway...) means that it attracts it's fair share of musical tourists mixed in with a cool, laidback local indie crowd. Still on the whole it (just) deserves it, fun and lively place to start an evening in London's Indie capital with (almost) always impeccable choices of music on the Jukebox. What can i say, it's a personal favourite.
8 Mar 2006 14:39
This is a great weekend bar, always plays interesting music with different DJ's etc on each evening (all playing different styles of music) and a small dancefloor. Tends to get very crowded though and between 9 and 11 it's usually one in one out at weekends. shame that it only opens until 12 too.
8 Mar 2006 14:34
A little late in geeting there...discovered this pub a couple of weeks ago (on 26/02/06) when looking for a pub to watch the footy in. Looks like this was the last last day it was open which was a shame as it was a nice, cosy little boozer with excellent Well's Bombardier in pump. Hopefully it'll reopen again and won't be turned into a Starbucks or something equally vile.
8 Mar 2006 13:53
The Metropolitan, Westbourne Park
This pub is no great shakes but it's a damn sight better than the Grand Union down the road. at least it has some decent beers on and plays good music. That said it's not a place I'd go out of my way to return to.
22 Feb 2006 14:52
The Grand Union, Westbourne Park
This pubwas chosen by a friend for the start of a birthday night pub crawl, and a fairly inauspicious start it was as well. One of the type of places that has loads of premium lagers and one bitter (and that was London pride). On the plus side the food was ok, though it was quite expensive and the chips were awful (french fries style with far too much salt - probably to get you to dink the overpriced beer). On the minus side the drinks are expensive and there is only one toilet for the blokes (no urinals) and that doesn't have a lock on it (hmm...wonder why that is). Mind you this pub is not really any worse than most of the others in this area. All the pubs in Westbourne Park/Notting Hill seem to be like this - too many gastropubs in too small an area. I won't be returning here, but then I hope I won't have to come back to Westbourne Park any time soon either...
22 Feb 2006 14:48
Ended up spending New Years Eve here (this was not my choice but was one of those let's try to please everyone type decisions). By the end of the night i wished I'd stayed at home. Terrible atmosphere, awful music (mainly R&B), full of chavs. Truly dismal. Next NYE I'm going to Fabric, or a party, or my local pub or staying at home watching Jonathan Ross. anything but go here again!
13 Feb 2006 17:45
A Reading institution and the one place in Reading I never got bored with the entire time I lived there. I've made friends there, met girlfriends there, been throw out of there and generally done plenty of stuff I shouldn't have! Great atmosphere, with a real mixed bag of people (Rockers, Ravers, students, basically anyone who hates the Chav chain bars that dominate the rest of Reading) and decent music (where else in Reading can you hear The Prodigy, stone roses, chilli Peppers, Eminem and Roni size all in one night). Yes it's a bit dingy and the beer is a bit on the pricey side but God i miss it!
17 Nov 2005 16:26
I have many fond memories of get completely trashed in this pub from my time living in Reading and whenever I'm back in the area I alway pay it a visit (usually on the way to the Purple Turtle!). good crowd, mainly students and people who wish they were still students and decent music. Usual scream drinks - lager, lager, lager and suspicious looking alcopops. Cheap food too, and it's pretty good. However the service is and always will be awful.
17 Nov 2005 16:17
I went to this bar a couple of years ago and thought it was pretty cool but because it was a bit off the beat and track I never found the urge to return until this weekend(though to be fair they have been closing on weekend for a while). This is actually a great bar, went on saturday night for a quick drink as my girlfriend lives in the area. staff were friendly and the cocktails were, according to my girlfriend, really good (i'm more of a beer man myself). Returned again on Sunday as they have just started doing sunday Roasts again. Food was excellent plus they showed films on the screens in the bar, and of course you could chill out on the sofas with the sunday papers. A great place for a sunday I might well head down there next weekend too...
18 Oct 2005 16:55
If you've ever been to an All Bar One you'll know exactly what to expect – Overpriced Wine and Premium Beer and a Clinical, Soulless environment. I’m not a fan of Chain Bars in general, but I reserve a special disdain for All Bar Ones. Why would anyone go here when the North Star (similar concept but infinitely more personality) is only 20 yards down the road? Please don’t go here, maybe if enough of us avoid it they’ll get the message...
10 Oct 2005 11:56
Pretty much the only decent bar (despite it's name and outward appearence this is definately more of a bar than a pub) around Ealing Broadway. Good selection of alcohol, especially premium foreign beers & Lagers. Has a DJ at weekends, playing predominantly house music. Attracts a relatively young (25-35ish) and trendy crowd but always has a good atmosphere. Haven't tried the food so can't comment on that, though it's definately on the pricey side. Has a no smoking are but doesn't really hep much when its busy as it's sandwiched between two smoking areas! Also has an outside area which is pleasant enough though gets very busy in the summer. In my opinion the place only has two real faults. Firstly that it shuts at 11pm (not the fault of The North star really, but the licensing laws and that there is no where decent in Ealing to go afterwards) and secondly that at 11.01pm the bouncers are hassling you to drink up and leave - have they not heard of 20 minutes drinking up time? Still if you're sick of chain bars (hello All Bar one),give this a try.
27 Sep 2005 15:27
The Ealing Park Tavern, South Ealing
This place is very typical of the new Gastro Pubs that have sprung up around london. i have eaten here a couple of times and the food was on the whole excellent, with the separate restaurant being quite homely and a pleasant place to eat. However as a pub it falls somewhat flat. There's a reasonable selection of drinks though it leans more towards the Premium Lager style beers which aren't for everyone. also although the decor is very nice, it's rather lacking in atmosphere.
27 Sep 2005 14:22
Best pub I have come across in this area which is handy as it happens to be my local. good selection of beer, with occaisional Fuller's guest ales, as well as a good selection of wine and spirits. The Food is also excellent, a "Modern Eclectic" Gastro pub style menu, all home cooked. However unlike a gastro pub (for example the nearby Ealing Park Tavern) this place has a real atmosphere and is a proper locals pub. A bit off the beat and track (hidden away down a back street) but generally this is a god thing, meaning it attracts a loyal and regular crowd of all ages, though it can make it's location hard to describe to friends from outside the area. The pub also gets very busy on Brentford match days, though the crowd is always very genial, and is also good for watching sport on TV with sky and a big screen. The beer garden is also very nice when we get a nice day (which in Brentford admittedly is not often). All in all a class act.
27 Sep 2005 14:03
Ok it's a bit of a dump but it has it's uses. Chief among these is it's an excellent pub to watch live sport, particularly football as it's one of the few pubs in the Ealing area to bother with Sky Prem Plus (handy if you're not a Man Utd/Chelsea/Arsenal supporter). On top of this the food is absurdly cheap and tastes ok (usual pub fayre - chips with everything). The drinks are also very reasonably priced, making this a good place to start an evening. On the minus side theres not a great selection (not a place for the real ale enthusiast), it's kind of dingy and it's very popular with younger drinkers which might not suit everyone. Stil on the whole not bad at all.
26 Sep 2005 14:40
This place is truly awful. Rubbish music (though I guess if you like R&B it might be ok), �8 door charge at weekends, full of chavs wanting a fight and a dress code (which is hilarious as the place is a dive!). In it's favour it does have a late licence (not many places in Ealing do at present and those that do are just as bad) but to be honest if i want a drink that badly I'd catch a bus to Acton and try my luck getting into the Red Back instead.
26 Sep 2005 14:22
The Drayton Court, West Ealing
Big pub but not an especially great one. 3 rooms, one with a pool table in, plus a large room downstairs that can be hired for parties etc. It's difficult to say why this pub isn't great, has a good selection of beers, wines and spirits and the food is ok and not too badly priced. basically it's just a bit souless somehow and the chav element that frequents it doesn't help. On the plus side it improves markedly in summer when you can sit out in the exceptionally large beer garden and it has a couple of large screens so it's good for watching footy in.
26 Sep 2005 13:24
The Kings Arms, Ealing
Very good pub this, particularly for a weekend night out where it strikes a decent balance between being chilled out and lively. Definately one for the beer drinker. i think there's something like 5 or 6 different types of lager on tap including the rarely seen and very nice Sagres plus up to 4 real ales, Tim Taylor and the ever excellent Doom Bar are the ever presents, with usually two guest ales. Generally I've found the ale to be well kept.
Quite a good pub for sport, it has screens in all 3 rooms but it doesn't feel dominated by them like some pubs can.
The food is ok but can be a bit hit and miss, though the Onion Rings are excellent and amazing value, and the Carvery on a Sunday is good too.
Probably the only major critiscm I'd have of this place is the decor of the back two rooms. The front bar is great, light and airy with big windows, but the middle room is wood panelled and looks both weirdly old fashioned and oppresive. The third room is even worse and looks like a lounge in a second rate hotel! Still bizarre decor aside this is a great pub, and one I find myself frequenting with increasing regularity.
21 May 2010 12:02