BITE user comments - ye73812
Comments by ye73812
Average pub really, average in the pejorative sense. Average food, average beer, average prices, average decor, average garden. There are better pubs in Acton.
9 Sep 2008 05:02
One of the worst pubs in London, now making headlines around the country for banning armed forces personnel from the premises 'because they start fights.' Oh yeah? so which regiment are the bling and Burberry crowd with?
Can you imagine banning black people from a pub because they 'have a tendency to rob?' The CRE would be apoplexic. Horrible pub, terrible beer, fascist company door policy. Close it down.
9 Sep 2008 04:59
Excellent little place, one of the gems of Acton. Staff are all incredibly friendly and will happily converse in English, French, Creole and any number of Indian languages. And Russian. And Italian.
The beer is the usual selection for a town boozer, but the food is like nothing you will find cruising the high streets and superpubs. Freshly cooked Mauritian food - if you're after something a bit different from the ubiquitous curry, try this. The chef is a genius with food.
They had some Sega dancing in the place last year, a proper treat - it was like being on holiday. Except for the British weather, of course.
Chairs too lumpy? Get up and dance! A top, top place, number one destination when I get off the stinking Piccadilly line at Acton Town.
7 May 2007 04:41
I've always enjoyed a few pints in O'Neills, whatever the time of day or night. It's a proper drinking pub, loud music, lots of smoke, drunk people. Fantastic!
To me, this is one of the few pubs in Richmond that's honest with itself. Why pay another pound a pint to drink in a pub with pretentions of civility when you can drink youself sensless in here and not give a stuff if mna or fir is Gaelic for Mens.
24 Nov 2006 21:12
A bit poor really, useful as a meeting point during the daytime, but the pub's got way too high opinion of itself. You simply cannot charge those prices for what is, effectively, the station waiting room.
Of the two venues near the station, I'd reccomend O'Neills. At least they don't pretend to be anything other than a boozer.
24 Nov 2006 21:06
I am afraid I have to agree about the door staff. It seems to be a theme that is increasingly common with the Walkabout chain. Do they have a training school or something, where they train their staff on the virtues of apartheid-era South Africa?
It's fine if you can actually be bothered to negotiate with someone with the IQ of a cabbage, sadly as I get older I find I simply cannot be bothered arguing with miserable arseholes who'se wages I will ultimately be paying.
24 Nov 2006 20:59
Hmm, I'm not sure the opinion of the two previous reviewers is entirely objective. It's an okay pub, but it's always full of obnoxious chavs. Drink here in daylight hours only, then leg it as the sun goes down.
23 Oct 2006 22:45
A proper pub for proper drinkers. This is my kind of place, cheap and cheerful with a bit of an edge that keeps out the sort of silly child who can't handle his beer.
This won't be to everybody's taste, of course, but if you're thirsty, not on the pull and can survive on kebabs from the kebab shop opposite, you'll love it.
23 Oct 2006 22:41
Not a bad place - a bit gastro for my tastes, but they still serve a good collection of fine ales and have managed to stop the hordes of middle-class toerags who are busy destroying the rest of Acton's pubs from ruining this place.
Nice place for a pint and a sit down. Haven't tried the food.
23 Oct 2006 22:31
The Twelve Pins, Finsbury Park
Tpo quality - phenominal levels of service, the bar staff seem to juggle about 12 orders at a time and don't make a single mistake.
Shame the Arsenal have moved to Ashburton Grove now, it's an even longer walk to get a pint in, and toilets on Highbury Fields are very few and far between!
23 Oct 2006 22:10
Surprisingly nice inside, don't be put off by the industrial surroundings and lack of architectural savvy that is Fareham.
Nice range of beers, served in a pub. A proper pub. No bollocks rebrandings or other shite, they've stuck to the tried and true. You owe it to yourself to leave the town centre as fast as possible and have a nice pint in here instead.
You can get the bus from the town to the pub, but it means going into the landfill and cesspit complex known as Fareham Bus Station. Walk it instead.
18 Oct 2006 22:23
A very poor Wetherspoons effort, I'm afraid. Not much more to say really.
18 Oct 2006 22:20
It's a fairly pleasant hotel bar really. Usual range of beers, reasonably quiet and very clean. Taken many a young lady here in my time, you can actually hear each other speak, and you don't have to take a tazer gun to persuade hordes of drooling chavs to bugger off as you work your charms.
18 Oct 2006 22:19
The Castle in The Air, Fareham
Worth a punt for the food and ale. It's a bit off the main drag, so it tends not to attract the kind of punter who thinks a good night out ends with a trip to A&E to have a beer glass removed from their face.
The ceilings are a tad low, I have to remove my top hat on occasion. However, the staff and customers seem to work well together. It's not a traditional yachties pub, it's more like a training venue for those who aspire to be the typical buck-toothed, braying ass that one would traditionaly associate with the clan McYacht. It's actually quite pleasant to be able to sit in a pub, looking at yachts and boatyards, without Princess Anne's more assinine relatives screeching about spinnakers into your left ear.
Well worth a visit.
18 Oct 2006 22:17
I prefer this pub to the Bugle, not that the Bugle is a bad pub, i just think there's less pretentiousness about this place. The beer is well kept here, and the clientelle are welcoming.
Hamble is a very nice place to wander around if you're down in south Hampshire. It'd be rude not to check out the town's pubs. Once darkness falls, you can witness the spectacle of the town's wannabe chavs lurking around the bit of grass by the road junction as well. A source of much amusement when the weather is a bit nasty.
18 Oct 2006 22:11
A decent pub, the beer is surprisingly reasonable in terms of quality and price. I'd have thought that with a captive clientelle of Howard's Way fans, the temptation to charge through the nose would have been overwhelming.
It can get busy, especially in the summer months, but they still manage to keep the service coming thick and fast. If you like yachts and things of that nature, moor up here and have a pint.
18 Oct 2006 22:07
Easily the classiest pub in Gosport town centre, lots of yachtie types drinking in there, especially at the weekends, so the atmosphere is generally convivial. The selection of ales is pretty good, and the food is a welcome change from the McOutlets and kebab shops along the high street.
It's a bit more expensive than the other pubs in town, but in this case you get what you pay for. Also very handy as a meeting point off the Gosport Ferry, it's certainly a lot better than waiting in the dismal reminder of the paucity of '70s architectural talent that is the bus station.
Well worth a punt.
18 Oct 2006 22:03
It's an okay place for a rowdy pint on match days, and it's not a bad pub at all for a quiet pint in the afternoon. It can get very busy in the evenings, but I guess that's not a bad thing if you're the pub manager.
I echo the comments about the Guinness. It is really very good here.
18 Oct 2006 16:10
The worst pub I've ever had the misfortune to visit. I was due to meet some friends there to watch the England match in the world cup. Got there late due to train problems and was told the place was full, couldn't let me in due to fire regulations. Fair enough, rang my friend, told him I couldn't get in so I'd bugger off to another pub and meet later. Just as I hang up, a load of South Africans turn up, handshakes all round and in they go. So much for the fire regulations.
Is it me, or are South African door staff the most miserable arseholes on the planet?
I finally get in there after the match has finished for a pint of pissy lager of some sort. I felt bad for my friends, they'd been stuck in there drinking that shite, while I'd stumbled upon a wonderful boozer in Fulham. Suffice to say, we did not linger.
I second the call for negative rating marks. This place needs to be avoided at all costs. With any luck, global warming will kick in and it'll drown in the river.
18 Oct 2006 05:34
Utterly, utterly shite. The place seemed to be closed for the duration of the World Cup. Unforgivable.
Beer is the usual pissy fare for this class of venue, doormen are unfriendly. The whole place needs to be burned down so they can build something useful on the site.
The second-worst pub I have ever visited.
18 Oct 2006 00:03
I quite liked O'Neills when I went there in July. Plenty of drink, lots of music and I thought the doormen were quite friendly. Interesting to find a doorman I know from another boozer having a few halves in there.
17 Oct 2006 23:49
A bit shite, really. Food took ages to arrive and the place was all to empty and soulless with it's huge room and hardwood flooring. The ladies I worked with seem to like it, mnaybe it was just me!
17 Oct 2006 23:47
I haven't met the new landlady, so I can't comment about her. I do remember falling off the windowsill drunk one evening, so the beer must have been doing it's job!
17 Oct 2006 23:43
Top quality pub. Good food, good beer, plenty of seats. What more do you want from a pub? It's a quick stagger up the alleyway to the station, as well.
17 Oct 2006 23:42
The Surrey Cricketers, Windlesham
No, I can vouch for the fact that there are often fights in the pub. I rmember a proper dust-up a few years ago between about thirty people at a wake. Still, I have to commend them for staying on their side of the bar and not letting the melee come between me and my pint. Good show!
17 Oct 2006 23:40
The Bee is a good pub - we used to walk past the terrible Windmill supermarket gastropub shite to the Bee. Much better selection of beers, friendlier staff and it has character. It's a bit out of the way, but the walk just makes the beer taste nicer.
17 Oct 2006 23:38
Dull, dull, dull, dull, dull. Get back on the train at Kenton station.
17 Oct 2006 23:36
It's a good pub, better than average for a W'spoons. Fantastic selection of beers, especially of the strong Eiro variety. I have absolutely no recollection of how I got home that night, other than coming to my senses in Seven Sisters and bemoaning the fact that I'd gone the wrong way on the tube.
Still, the night buses are always good value!
17 Oct 2006 23:32
It's not a bad place, but I agree with the comments about it lacking soul. Perhaps it'll develop character over time.
Food was pretty decent, and a good selecton of wines for people who like that sort of thing. Beer was of the European variety - not bad, but you wouldn't want to live on the stuff.
17 Oct 2006 23:29
The Haunch of Venison, Salisbury
Great pub - we went in there late one Satuday as an antidote to that disgraceful vodka bar. God, I can still tast the vitriol they were serving in there. Anyway, a few pints at the Haunch of Venison and all was well with the world. It cheered my beer-seeking taste buds so much, I had to go clubbing!
The front bar is miniscule! Go with a few mates and you own the place. Champion!
17 Oct 2006 23:24
Top quality place, nice to see a proper pub surviving in the depressing hell that is Hayes in general.
Very few chav types inside, plenty of them roaming the streets outside. The only thing this pub could do to make things better is mount a machine gun on the roof and invite punters to have a go at shooting a few betracksuited scumbags over a pint of Guinness!
Good work, pub bloke. Wonderful flower display in the summer months, too.
17 Oct 2006 23:09
Good pub - went there to meet a mate, ended up watching the US Open, surprised to see so many people glued to it.
Beer was good, service good, fellow behind the bar was friendly. Given the area, this place is a bit of a gem. Well worth a visit if the tubes are fecked as usual.
17 Oct 2006 23:06
Not really my sort of pub, it's hollow inside and the lack of soft furnishings make the acoustic a bit of a nightmare. I get the feeling that this is more like a beer supermarket for wealthy people who don't want to slum it in Hammersmith proper. Perhaps they enjoy looking over at the very posh people in Barnes and dreaming about a house over there.
There is a real feeling of pretentiousness, as the previous contributor said. I think that once the management figure out it's just a pub, and not The Ivy, they might be okay. Given the hordes denizens of the southern hemisphere in the area, I'd turn the place into a rugby pub.
Overall - pleasant enough, but it doesn't justify the expense.
17 Oct 2006 22:55
The Famous Cock Tavern, Islington
Always done me proud, The Cock, but I only usually go on match days. Getting stuck in a pub with a thousand people wearing Arsenal shirts, all trying to drink a dozen pints in a couple of hours - that's my idea of heaven.
I do feel a bit sorry for the plod, though, They have to spend match day shivering in the rain outside the station while we whoop it up inside. No wonder they glare at us poor Gooners!
17 Oct 2006 22:48
The Hope and Anchor, Islington
Brilliant pub. Great music, crappy decor, excellent bar staff. The downstairs venue can be a bit hit and miss regarding quality of bands, but after watching the Arse stuff Chelski, you don't really mind that.
17 Oct 2006 22:46
Many a night spent in there as a young buck, drunk as a skunk and loving it! Haven't been in there for a while, hopefully they've redecorated!
17 Oct 2006 22:39
This place was rammed when it re-opened many years ago. Nowadays, it's a lot less busy on a Friday/Saturday night, but I'd say quality triumphed over quantity in that respect.
The beer is okay in terms of price and selection. There's a good pool table, and a nice big seating area out the back. The garden is good in the summertime, and it's a nice short stagger to the bus stop and town centre.
The best thing about the Royal Arms is it's proximity to a number of excellent curry palaces. Well worth making a good night of it.
17 Oct 2006 22:36
I'd echo the previous comment. It's what you'd expect a Wetherspoons to be, althoguh they do seem to have done a good job keeping the local chavs away from the place.
17 Oct 2006 22:33
Great pub - lots of different sections to it so you can get lost with your mates. A fine selection of ales as well.
17 Oct 2006 22:32
Great place. The music in the club out the back was rubbish when I went, but the front bar was going for it with some funky techno. Good beer, good staff and friendly punters. Nice short stumble back to Acton Central for the train home as well!
17 Oct 2006 22:30
Ealing Council should hang their heads in shame. For all their hyperbole about building communities, they allowed new residents of executive flats to shut down a real centrepiece of the community.
The guy who owned the G&D was a real gent - he'd let members of the emergency services into the club for free, always looked after his customers in the front bar, and as a result you had a pub with a really peaceful pub atmosphere. Any trouble and the regulars would let you know that it was time to go.
I hope the new version maintains that sense of community, and hosts a massive fireworks party for Acton residents to annoy the whining residents of whatever that miserable development is called.
17 Oct 2006 22:28
A proper pub. Welcoming to new and old punters alike. Another community drinking hole closed by yuppies complaining that the noise of people sipping Guinness was ruining their dinner parties.
Perhaps they'll regret their incessant honking when the town is over-run by hordes of 18 year old kids looking for a place to urinate, fornicate or fight.
17 Oct 2006 22:23
The Red Lion and Pineapple, Acton
A good bet for some proper beers, but what you gain in selection you inevitably lose in music. Good place to go for a quiet drink, it's a huge venue, so it rarely feels crowded.
I do wish they'd hire some more bar staff, though.
17 Oct 2006 22:21
The Mill Hill is a wonderful pub. It gets incredibly busy some nights, especially if there is football or rugby on, but you rarely get any bother. The bar staff are first rate - they've got a keen eye for the queue order and are, without exception, very friendly.
Early afternoon entertainment can be had by sitting at the windows and watching the teachers at the school opposite don their riot gear and drag naughty kids back into school. Not so much of that since the building site went up, but it was always good value to see some little toerag getting a bollocking in public for being a toerag.
The hours have been extended, but the garden has to close at 9pm as a condition of late opening at the weekend. A real shame, this, yuppies are really ruining the good drinking spots in Acton by complaining about the pubs nearby. It'll all be superpubs away from the residential streets before long, the death knell for community drinking.
17 Oct 2006 22:18
Star, Gosport
Refreshingly chav-free, typical Wetherspoons joint with good beer selection at reasonable prices. Best thing is the prices, worst thing is the garden - it's like something you'd expect to see in a Soviet boozer.
9 Sep 2008 05:04