Watercress Harry's, Hereford

Been to Zombies a few times now. I am very impressed! The staff, the landlord and the customers were incredibly friendly to my wife, friends and I. The decor is tasteful and the colour scheme is astounding. Praise should be given to the interior designer for the work done to achieve this appearance. I appreciate that they haven't gone for the horror theme too much. This could have been done OTT which would have been a mistake. Themed pubs are considerably popular as a novelty factor, but novelties are short lived. But Zombies appears to have played this one safely and accurately with its limitation of zombie effects. The occasional prop and posters can only be taken in a light-hearted manner considering the swish refurbishment, as this contradiction is humorous. The same can be applied to the name of the venue, which is also first-rate and hilarious. Very different from the watercress days, where I would only stay for 1 pint before moving on to a better bar.

As a mature man, who has contributed to establishing major corporate identities, I believe the identity is definitely there, unlike many of the other rival establishments, which are becoming tired in Hereford. One of the mistakes made by existing establishments in Hereford, is they concentrate far too much on their �target audience� which then limits their customers choices in the future of where to go. It also limits what the pub can offer in the future too. A good example of this is Saxty�s � old farts like me, or Dusk and Play with their alternate �age restricted� Friday and Saturdays. I have fallen into this trap myself and considered only Saxty�s as an appropriate place to end up of an evening, or the more traditional type pub, like The Barrels. Why?

Why cant older and young mix? Can a young person not be considered professional? I qualified in my profession at 21. Wasn�t that how all pubs were once, without needing to have a "young persons" or "older generation" label? Isn�t the most successful pub chain �Weatherspoons� success down to its cheap products and possible lack of age discrimination? It is also refreshing to see "young people engaging with the older generation" as one of my guests pointed out when they witnessed it. I did notice around 11.30pm that some of the younger crowd, moved on. Possibly, wanting a chance to greater their chances of �finding someone to go home with� with a higher capacity establishment, or cheaper drinks? I�m sure most older can remember those days of being likewise. This one particular night I was there, this was replaced very quickly, at around 12.30, with an older crowd obviously looking for an alternative, to what I do agree is an expensive Saxtys.

The Saturday night I attended, zombies maintained a busy establishment throughout the night and I was impressed how successful they appeared for a relatively new project. My only criticism is that it was difficult to get to the bar to obtain a drink and do suggest the owners think of a way to encourage customers away from the bar area once they have made a purchase

I would also like to direct all other pubs in the area to ignore Lady Y's comment about cheap drinks. I think I speak for most �older professionals� who appreciate a bargain when offered and don�t believe it should be just available to the young. My wife particularly enjoyed the cocktail jug she had at 42 years of age!

I do agree with one thing Lady Y says, which is about competing with the already established "younger" pubs. But they shouldn't either be competing with Saxty's either. What they should be doing is maintaining and improving what they. The pubs strength is being a good �all rounder�. But be aware that your competitors will learn from you and copy in time. Great new place, forward thinking, friendly and I will be returning.

23 Jan 2009 11:46