BITE user comments - spoinge
Comments by spoinge
Superb. Great ales from top breweries such as Marble, Crouch Vale, Fyne Ales, Ilkley, Burning Sky, Dark Star, Cloudwater and Arbor as well as local ales from Kent Surrey and Sussex, all served in great condition from the temperature controlled stillage room. The owner's generosity (no sign of cheap beers from the 10 different beers a week breweries or multi nationals) and commitment to sourcing and serving great beer shine through. "Great Wall of Cider" and English wine for fruit based drink loversStranger, woman and dog friendly.
12 Mar 2016 09:23
The Old Poet's Corner, Ashover
Fantastic range and quality of beers - loved the Ashove Rail Ale.
Home made food with massive portions and superb real chips.
18 Aug 2014 11:14
Very friendly local, 6 beers on, 4 from local micros. Highly recommend (note opens at 8pm)
18 Aug 2014 11:11
Visited a few times , Larkins is always spot on and the bar staff very friendly.
Food is always slightly better than I expected (and slightly more expensive).
29 May 2014 12:57
The Kentish Rifleman, Dunks Green
Good pints of Whitstable Native, nice garden (although a bit of a treck from the bar carrying drinks).
29 May 2014 12:51
Brilliant choice of ales - landlord and customers very friendly. Given a few tasters and all were in top notch condition. The Fyne Ales Jarl was superb and is something of a regular. A must visit for hopheads.
29 May 2014 12:45
Visited twice recently, the second time after doing the brilliant "Fancy Free Walks" pub walk that starts and ends here. Good choice of ales on first visit, not so much on the second (the dreaded 10 different beers a week Welton's and Cottage - I gather they are cheaper than some other breweries). Hophead on both times and was superb. Food very good - home made ham egg and chips (the frozen triple cooked variety) top class. Staff extremely friendly despite the pub being packed. VERY dog friendly.
29 May 2014 12:34
Visited on a saturday for lunch. Very friendly staff and the food was excellent (especially crab salad). Our dog was made very welcome - we ate in the bar.
Beer choice very disappointing (4 Marston's including 2 Ringwood). Beer quality very good.
29 May 2014 12:27
I may have been unlucky, but in over 10 visits (the location makes it a good place to meet or end an evening), I have never had a great beer.
Visited 28/01/14 and had a very poor Leeds Pale and a disappointing Lancaster Blueberry beer. To be fair, my accomplices' Stewart Zymic Pale Ale was in decent nick.
Maybe the large number of handpumps and high turnover of customers make it tempting to leave beers on when past their best.
Staff were friendly.
29 Jan 2014 13:21
Visited saturday 20/7/13. Tried Dark Star Darkness, Kent Pale, Surrey Hills Shere Drop, W&E Knight of the Garter and Whitstable Oyster Stout. All were very good and the Oyster Stout was excellent. Friendly staff and locals.
Deserves the many awards received.
22 Jul 2013 13:51
The Carpenters Arms, Limpsfield Chart
13/07/2013 - single hop WGV excellent (as was the Summer Perle).
16 Jul 2013 14:04
Sunday lunchtime 23/06/13. All beers tasted were 1st class - Goachers, Betty Stoggs, Rother mild and the house beer (I would guess by the taste also Goachers). Food was a bit disappointing/sloppy - a couple of under cooked potatoes, below par accompanying veg with the roasts. Previous meal here was very good, so maybe they just had an off day. Staff and locals at the bar were friendly.
Worth travelling to for the beer.
16 Jul 2013 13:58
Royal Oak Inn, Staffhurst Wood
Visited here fairly regularly over the years and the beers are always in good condition, although the selection is uninspiring (usually Pilgrim, Harveys, Adnams, WJ King and the excellent Larkins). Very good selction of other drinks - real ciders and perry and quality soft drinks and mixers. Dog friendly and staff are friendly if you speak to them (although possibly a little offish to strangers). On my last 2 visits the food (although perfectly acceptable) has not been of the standard of when we first starting visiting.
9 Jul 2013 14:01
The Carpenters Arms, Limpsfield Chart
Visited 4 times recently. All beers tried were good and on each occasion one was outstanding (Finchcock's once, Summer Perle once and Spirit of Kent twice). Staff are friendly and the food is good. Can get very busy resulting in longish waits for the food. I agree with Gramsci that it lacks a space to just have a drink when you cannot make use of the ample outside seating. Food offering would be improved by a couple of signature "destination" dishes (a la Wenlock salt beef sandwich)
9 Jul 2013 13:49
The Carpenters Arms, Limpsfield Chart
Both Spirit of Kent and Finchcock's in good form. Very helpful staff who allowed us to eat inside with the dog and provided water bowl. Sunday roasts were well prepared with good quality meat and were generously served (around �11). Plenty of seating outside. Open plan layout slightly gives the feel of more of a restaurant than a pub. Overall I was impressed and the pub is a definite alternative to the very good Royal Oak at Staffhurst Wood.
27 Aug 2012 10:01
Trafalgar Freehouse, South Wimbledon
Splendid pub with fine ales and wonderful staff and regulars who are far too tolerant of my drunken nonsense.
In defence of Hoppy Al, in my experience he is not one to sexually discriminate based on gender, or indeed, species. In fact, quite the opposite.
22 Jun 2012 13:11
The Willoughby Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
Great real ale pub offering much to the football fan (Sky Sports everything incl. 3D , across multiple screens and rooms, plus it is walking distance from Kingsmeadow for AFC Wimbledon or Kingstonian games). The fantastic Surrey Hills Shere Drop now seems permanently on as well at least one beer from the excellent Twickenham brewery plus 3 others. Real cider/perry and a good selection of cooking lagers. The amiable buffoon of a landlord manages to provide a consistently high beer quality which for me is rivalled only by the likes of the Land of Liberty, Peace & Plenty at Heronsgate and the Old Fountain at Old Street.
8 Sep 2010 13:24
Like many others, I am extremely disappointed to hear of Bob's departure. I'd just like to thank him and his staff for the many great times (and beers) I had at Rose & Crown.
I must point out that the posting below from sam209 looks a tad suspicious.....
He has only commented on 1 pub.
I've never heard someone call themselves "a big fan of real ales"
He fails to name any of the beers on offer or even the one he sent back.
The phrase "The pub itself is nice - old village style with a beautiful garden, friendly & polite staff and new eager manager. " seems scripted.
" don't know much about what the pub used to be like but it definitely needs improvement...it doesn't have to become a modern pub with loud music...just a better one" sounds to me a bit like a negative comment on Bob's tenure.
Written by the new owner, perhaps?
19 Jul 2010 10:49
The Willoughby Arms, Kingston Upon Thames
Great pub run by the indomitable Meeester Reeek (love you long time). Good choice of well kept real ales, great sports coverage, friendly regulars and plenty of community events.
21 Sep 2007 16:37
The White Hart Inn, Margaretting Tye
Excellent pub run a brilliant landlady who stamps her quality on all that goes on.
21 Sep 2007 16:30
Trafalgar Freehouse, South Wimbledon
In my top 5 pubs. A triumph of excellent beer,a great landlord and fine local people over location and architecture.
21 Sep 2007 16:04
In my top 5 pubs. Perfect use of 5 hand pumps - a mild, 2 totally outstanding house beers (Whitstable IPA and Larkins) and 2 quality guests. Sunday lunch is as good as advertised (high quality meat with generous variety of vegetables).
21 Sep 2007 15:55
Queens Arms, Edenbridge
Truly wonderful. The only beer available is the lovely Larkins Traditional, served in great condition. Beware the restricted opening hours.
12 Apr 2017 12:10