BITE user comments - willyfog
Comments by willyfog
This country needs more pubs like this. It is at the true heart of the community being as it is in the centre of the village geographically and also seems to be the focal point of village social life. It ticks lots of stereotypical boxes of what you might ideally want from an English village pub with a great selection of real ales and cider, cheap bar food, plenty of local customers (young and old), dogs sitting on the floor, an open fire and a cricket pitch next door.
I don't want to say anything negative but if you were being pinickity you could point towards the fact that it's incredibly cramped inside, the gents toilet is outside and lacks any mod-cons (I think a light is the most advanced thing there is) and the food i've had hasn't been that great, but most of these things just add to the rustic charm of the place.
I highly recommend a visit, particularly in the evening when the atmosphere really comes alive
16 Aug 2009 10:23
Ate last night with a work party and was disappointed with food. Ribs were slimy and greasy, chicken wings even worse and coleslaw was that insipid cheap supermarket type. Felt ripped off.
Service was friendly but they did forget 1 drinks order and had to be prompted to take our initial food order after a long wait. Decor feels like a hang-over from chain restaurants/bars of the 90's with lots of random tat covering the ceiling and walls. Could do with a spruce-up to bring it into the 21st century. Also was v noisy due to a large number of birthday parties in progress - this admittedly was late in evening but it may have been rather off-putting if you were dining in a smaller group.
Overall, pretty dire and there is better similar fare to be had within spitting distance
17 Jan 2009 09:56
The Old Poet's Corner, Ashover
Visited recently with friends on way to holidaying on Peak District. Saw pub advertised in Good Beer Guide and web-site looked enticing so gave it a go.
Very pleased with what we found. The pub really feels like the centre of the community and made a welcoming stop with it's buzzy atmos and great selection of drinks. If any locals take it for granted they should come down to where I live in Oxfordshire where every other countryside boozer has lost it's original identity and been turned into overpriced gastropubs run by ex-city chefs.
Cider and ale selections were top notch and I had some excellent pork and black pudding sausages with mash. Well worth visiting and I will defintely be doing so again.
9 Jan 2009 19:30
Me and a good a group of friends were staying in one of the near-by villages last week and wanted to celebrate a friend's birthday. Having eyed a sign for The Druid, we thought it an appropriate location.
I wish I could go on to write about the promised excellent atmos and wonderful food from this "family run" gastropub as the web-site advised, but try as we might to contact them (by phone at least 5 times over 2 days at meal times and twice actually visiting them during supposed opening hours), no one ever answered or it was always shut!
I could have put this down to the web-site being out of date but when we visited the pub and found it to be closed the second time a notice on the door actually stated it was and should have been open all day that very day.
Annoyed, we went somewhere else. I'm sure it was all there loss. I won't give The Druid a rating but if their marketing and customer service is anything to go by it is not worth the trip.
9 Jan 2009 19:19
Eat regularly here and I don't really know why - it seems to have always been a family favourite. The food at present is very indifferent with one meal being half-decent and the following being a huge let-down.
The worst offenders are the frankly appauling chips which seem to often be undercooked (oil not hot enough?) and some of the cuts of meat used which are often gristly or overly fatty. I also think the hamburger - whilst looking impressive as it is stacked up and held together by a skewer - is far too greasy and not worth the �9 or so asking price. Tge mash often seems to be lumpy as well.
Its a real shame as we've been coming as a family for many years and whilst my other dining companions seem to see these shortcomings as "one-offs" (that keep happening!), I don't really think its good enough. The pub itself is excellent with decent ales, friendly staff and a very popular pub quiz which we have taken part in several times, but it is being sorely let down by sub-standard food charged at a premium rate.
13 May 2008 11:34
Visited recently for Sunday lunch and have to say was very impressed with what I found. Was one of best Sunday lunches i've had for quite some time.
I must have visited the Chequers at least once every 18 months for the past 5 years, and every time it is under different management. Sometimes the food is excellent, other times it's indifferent, but i'm pleased to say the current owners are doing a sterling job.
Me and my party of 3 others started with a round of drinks whilst sitting in front of the enormous open fire place. This is the best feature of the pub interior, especially combined with the 3 leather sofas that surround it. I had a gin and tonic made with Hendricks gin (a rare sight in a country pub) and noticed that the bar girl garnished it with a couple of slithers of cucumber rather than lemon or lime which was a nice touch and made a change from the standard Gordons, Schweppes and lemon slice combo you get in most places. My friends had Stowford Press cider and J20's (but beware as the G&T with the cider was �8.50 alone!).
I accompanied my drink with some truly excellent pork scratchings which a waitress informed me were made by the restaurant's butcher. You could really taste the difference as they were distinctly less salty than the mass-produced stuff in most pubs and had had a slightly chewy quality in keeping with real crackling.
The menu itself was fairly short and presented neatly on A4 paper and was based around 3 courses (�14 for 2 courses and �17.50 for 3). This format I thought works well for Sunday lunch but may have put anyone not looking for a roast at a disadvantage as the only other mains were a vegetarian lasagne and fish and chips. I don't know what format they operate the rest of the week but I wasn't complaining at these very reasonable prices.
I started with a warm duck salad which if anything was the low-point of the meal. Whilst the duck was good and the mixture of leaves varied, the sauce that accompanied it was rather dull and lacked depth or punch. I was hoping for a variation on hoi-sin but it tasted more tomato-y which was disappointing. One of my friends had the chicken pate which was very smooth and rather run of the mill. Not unlike a supermarket offering.
Then came the main courses and most definitely the stars of the show. I went for the Pork roast and was glad I did! The plate came with 4 generous cuts of pork already covered in gravy (perhaps not to everyone's preference) and several excellent roast potatoes. There was an accompanying dish of carrots, brocolli, mashed swede,etc and a small bowl of thick, chunky apple sauce. It was truly excellent and generously served. I was a bit miffed with my slightly stingy portion of crackling but soon forgot about that as my mind and taste buds were quickly drawn to the superb roasties which had clearly been cooked in animal fat as they had that unmistakable meaty, savoury taste and were crispy and golden with a slightly chewy base. Fantastic. The pork was of seemingly good quality as well and the gravy thick enough to cling to the food around it.
My friends had pork again and beef which also looked very good.
For pudd (what a glutton I am!) I went for a toffee pudding with ice-cream and a hot toffee sauce. It was pretty good without being remarkable. Often in this type of dish the sponge gets very dry and is a let-down but this was quite moist and the sauce provided a powerful sugary kick.
We didn't have any wine so I can't pass comment here.
Overall, I think long may the current land-lords/owners stay as they are clearly on the right track as the dining room was packed. The service was chirpy and friendly (the pub is nearly entirely staffed by 20-something's in black uniforms) and the prices very competitve. If I was looking to find fault (and I don't like to), i'd say the choice of furnishings left a little to be desired with very modern looking chairs and tables in the dining areas where perhaps a more traditional look would have been better suited and some cheap-looking high tables with uncomfortable backed bar stools (IKEA?) in the small bar area. But I can't really knock it, not after the great meal we had.
31 Mar 2008 18:39
I visited recently whilst taking a break in Canterbury and thought Cafe Belge was excellent. I didn't realise it was a chain before I visited but would gladly go out of my way to visit one of the other restaurants they have. I read the poor review that "Bruceadams42" gave and thought twice about going as service like that is totally unacceptable, but luckily I had no such issues (maybe because none of my party were vegetarians!).
It was very quiet when we arrived around 7pm and made me feel a bit silly for booking a table as there was only one other group eating, but by the end of our meal it was packed. The "Cafe" part of the name in very visable with cheap plastic table cloths on all tables and quite an informal atmos. It would make an excellent place for a work party or a fun meal with a large group of friends but I don't think it's the sort of place you'd take your other half for a cosy valentines meal!
I thought the food overall was very good. There was a huge choice on the menu (and it's not just mussels). I went for a crispy duck salad as a starter and thought it was very good. The sauce was a little bland but the duck and salad were lovely. I followed this with Mussels in a thai-style broth with chillis, lemongrass, etc. This too was very good, and for under a tenner including a big bowl of french fries with mayo and bread was very good value indeed. If I was to levy some criticism I'd say the mussels could have been a bit bigger and there was a lot of empty shells mixed in. My dining companions had a Halibut special and a chicken dish. Both looked very nice and were served very attractivly.
For pudding I went for the Banoffee Mess which was also very good. A bit sickly but you wouldn't expect anything less!
The real stars of the show I guess though are the beers. I was amazed by the menu and I counted 119 beers on it. Only had 3 or so and I can't remember any of their names but one was a strange cider/champagne/lemonade thing which was quite interesting.
As far as service goes, I thought whilst it was quite informal, the waiters/owner/manager seemed very curteous and were well informed of the menu dishes and gave some good recommendations on the beer. If anything i'd say they were a bit over attentive as we were asked if everything was ok with our food at least 6 times - this is about 5 times too many!
Overall, I would go back and would recommend it to friends. I'm just glad i'm not vegetarian.
16 Mar 2008 19:24
Good solid pub with no major frills. They do bed and breakfast which i've utilised several times as an out-of-towner which is good value for money as the breakfast is good. Me and my friends do an annual pub crawl round the town and whilst we have rarely encountered any trouble in Otley over 5 years, the one flare up we have had was here on a Saturday night.
9 Mar 2008 17:13
I visited on the day before Valentine's day this year, and whilst I knew the pub was aprt of a chain, I found the overall experience disappointing.
The staff were courteous and polite, which was good considering they were very rushed due to the restaurant being packed, and we did receive a discount on our meal due to some vouchers one of my party had, but that i'm afraid this is where the praise stops!
I failed to get served at the bar despite waiting there for 10 mins to start with so i retreated to our table hoping to get a waiter to fetch me a drink. This eventually materialised approx 25 mins later, and that was after i was advised my first choice of Magners cider (hardly a rare drink) had run out.
I was a little non-plussed with the menu as whilst there were many choices there was very little imagination anywhere on it. All the dishes were either approximate staples from TGI's restaurants (burgers, ribs, steaks, etc) or were bog-standard london gastro pub grub items (fish cakes, risotto, etc, etc). I went for the Calamari followed by the Duck leg from the specials board (at least this promised some originality), The calamari was very average and came with a watery not very garlic-y aioli and for �5 seemed steep. The duck that followed was a rip-off. It cost �15 and was accompanied by a small sode of sauteed potatoes and 'root vegetables' which were just red onion and beetroot gravel. I finshed the whole thing in 5 mins and felt cheated out of �15. The duck was reasonable, if a meagre portion. I realsied quickly I should have gone for something far more basic like my friend's bangers and mash which looked both tasty and generously served. I tried a tiny piece of a cheesy chicken dish (never a good combination) and wished I hadn't as it was terribly salty and very dry.
We skipped on pud (after another drink I ordered took 30 mins to arrive thanks to the order being apparently lost). If it hadn't been for the discount I would have complained I think, but then again maybe its just me - afterall, its a chain pub and maybe my standards are too high (a bit like their prices!).
2 other small notes - the main toilets are up a truly evil staircase and posess a very low ceiling, plus beware the front door exited straight into the road with no pavement. Then again, being hit by a car may have been a welcome diversion following my meal!
17 Feb 2008 23:06
The Black Horse, Reading
Have to agree whole-heartedly with previous reviews. Have been coming to The Black Horse for years and it is one of the most characterful pubs i've ever been in. These types of pub are sadly a dying breed (I thoroughly agree with one previous reviewer's comments about The Bell at Aldworth being of a similar type) with antiquated methods and fittings, but in a world of chain pubs, continental lagers and juke boxes it is a blessed relief to go back in time now and again.
Most of the ales have to be fetched from the cellar upon being ordered, the gents' toilet is outdoors with no roof and the urinal is really just a wall with a trough, the indoor seating areas are more akin to a living room than a pub and the pub itself is not the easiest to find for the uninitiated (particularly coming from the Wallingford side) being as it is down some country lanes that don't immediately promise much in the way of life. All these features add to up to the make The Black Horse a true hidden gem and one that should be treasured and preserved for as long as possible
16 Aug 2009 10:38