please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Now Pizza East.
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I completely disagree, this is the best local pub ever. If you behave arrogant towards staff what do you expect back???? The staff are lovely, amazing and great and if they are rude its because you are rude!!!!
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No hand pulled ale.
Red Stripe in a can for �3.
Grim inside, dirty and unkempt.
Owners having loud private conversations with no interest in running a pub with children running around.
Potential but way off where it should be.
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Couldn't agree more with the reviews of this place. I also encountered the girl behind the bar who likes to think she's a little bit 'crazeee'. She was friendly enough but lacked any kind of prioritisation or professionalism and spent the whole night running up and down the stairs.
The food - oh the food! It was so poor it was laughable. I can laugh because I had a voucher that entitled me to �40 worth of food for �15 but my attitude would be very different if I had paid full price. Surly the point of such offers is about repeat purchase - sell it at a loss to get the punters in on the premise that they'll love it so much they'll be back next time at full price. Not so I'm afraid Fat Badger. I honestly think I could have prepared a better meal � and my best effort amounts to little more than beans on toast. Amateur is being too kind. I assume the aforementioned bar girl must have had something to do with the prices because it sure was 'crazeee'! �15 for a steak that was in effect braising meat with soggy, aged salad doesn�t strike me as being good value for money.
The best thing I can say about this place is that it might be okay for a drink on a quiet week night, other wise steer well clear.
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my husband and I visited this pub for lunch a few weeks ago and ordered lunch. It seemed a bit grotty so we did regret ordering but were extremely surprised at the quality of a chicken salad that we ordered. It was the best chicken salad I had ever had. we decided that we would go back for an evening meal at a later date and sit upstairs in the more restaurant area.
what a mistake. when we arrived I went upstairs to find a table while my husband ordered drinks at the bar. I soon came back down as it was empty and smelt horrible, like it had been cleaned with dirty water. the whole place feels sticky and the toilet doors are filthy.
whilst waiting for our food I went to the bar for a second round of drinks. service was very slow, the bar staff seemed oblivious to customers and one appeared annoyingly self obsessed, the type you would imagine describes themselves as 'crazy', like it was a good thing. having waited for what seemed like 10 minutes she served the customer next to me, as he had gone when she went to give him his change I got his attention for her to let him know so she obviously knew I was there. she then went to the opposite end of the bar to serve someone who had just arrived. a male bar tender who had just been chatting then decided to serve someone to my right who had also just appeared at the bar. i was so irritated by this time I went and asked my husband to get the drinks as I didn't trust myself to not get angry.
when the food arrived the chicken salad was nothing like the one that I had ordered a few weeks ago. it was ordinary and plain, we sat and ate while two large dogs ran around in front of us fighting. .........we will not be going back.
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For sale.... very worn out and in need of a load of TLC by new owners
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it's taken me weeks to stop being angry at the service we got. it was terrible - we helped ourselves to menus, to water and had to ask for things repeatedly. we could see a loaf of bread and a carving knife so when the bread didn't materialise we discussed whether getting that was going a bit too far. There were 8 of us and we debated how much tip to leave - some felt we shouldn't leave any but in the end we withheld �8 of the discretionary charge and paid �280. they came back and queried it . when my friend spoke to the owner as we were leaving just to politely mention that we weren't very happy with the service the owner was really bristling and told us we couldn't leave the pub. I ended up losing my temper. You complain about the service and withhold �8 and they tell you you're not allowed to leave. I demanded what service charge we had paid back. I got it back but if the owner has a bad attitude it's no wonder the service is rubbish. shame because the food had potential - some things were nice, others should have been taken out of the fridge much further in advance as they were too cold and it would have been nice if we had all been served our food at the same time.
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I also wish I had read the reviews first. Nice staff though incompetent. The menus and wine list (when they arrived) were inaccurate. The rabbit stew smelled and tasted like cat sick. The cheese and chutney were tasteless and just out of the plastic. The bill was wrong.
holby - 28 Feb 2010 07:34 |
Please read the reviews before you go to The Fat Badger. I didn't and now I regret it! Scruffy and untidy bar, no ale or Guinness, over priced glasses of wine, dirty gents toilet, overpriced Sunday lunch and then a whopping 12.5% service charge on top!
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This place should be renamed �Up Your Own Arse� and the bar staff shouldn�t be allowed within 100 paces of any licensed establishment.
I had to wait an age for the two staff to finish clearing plates and end conversations about what time they finished and what pretentious hole they were going to spend their evening in. My Guinness was poured in one go and had a 2 inch head and my change was nonchalantly dropped onto the bar. I necked my pint and hastily made my way to the exit through a sea of �oh my god�s� and �no way�s�.
I�m a little embarrassed to admit that I ended up wandering in here, but you can be assured that I will not be making that mistake again.
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A fat badger, or indeed any form of indigenous British wildlife, would not be seen dead in such a self-aware and derivative environment as a modern day Notting Hill pub.
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We went here yesterday for a farewell meal. The service was terrible. The menu was misleading in that all meals were mixed up in one listing rather than separated into starters and mains. I therefore ordered a �7 salad as my main only to find it was a very small starter portion. There was no mention of this when our order was taken. Therefore one friend was served her main as a starter as she also ordered a salad. The food was very tasty but is severely let down by the service. We waited a really long time to have our plates cleared despite one member of staff coming over to look at our table. We also ordered an extra portion of bread but it never came. I will never go back here for food.
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nice decor, not bad food.Will be back for more.
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We ate here on 1/December for lunch. The service was appalling. The staff had to be asked twice for anything and everything. One of our party ordered as soon as she sat down as she had to feed her son; she waited about half an hour for the food to arrive. We then ordered and waited another half an hour for ours. Another friend arrived later and managed to order and receive his meal in the time we were waiting for ours. There were no apologies, no explanations, no interest. We asked for some additional chairs (we had a table for 8 and it turned out 10 had turned up) and we were told "No" outright, despite the fact that the restaurant was only half full. The food was tasty, but the service was so appalling I will never go here again.
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Fabulous atmosphere and great food. Nothing pretentious about this pub at all. In fact, you feel entirely comfortable the moment you walk in the door. We ate upstairs, and all 6 of us loved it. Some really interesting dishes too, not your bog standard "gastropub" nightmare. We came on a recommendation, but we'll be back.
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reasonable looking pub in notting hill. food bland, overcooked and overpriced. service awful.
visited 20/5/07, i practically had to serve myself. 12.5% no way!
plus side they have games in the bar.
dogs though are not encouraged in restaurant upstairs at least.
worth going for a drink but don't eat there.
anonymous - 20 May 2007 21:46 |
Is this the most pretentious (gastropub) pub in London? Debate...
Man in dungarees behind bar with japanese topknot-check.
No pound signs just numbers for pricing-check.
Couple with smelly shit-zu on leather sofas whilst eating-check.
Bleedin awful - everything bad about the way London is heading, good food or not...
anonymous - 9 May 2007 23:26 |
This one may last on this site; it's got the local trendiness down but it's not too snooty with it. I've been for a few Friday lunch times and it's ok for this area.
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Went here for Dinner last week, had a great meal, the food is really very good, the staff are friendly and helpfull and there is a good feel about it. We came over from Camden on a recommendation and will be going back to the Fat badger very soon.
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After another name change and new owners I'm pleased to report that, at last, this particular end of Portabello Road has got a decent pub to drink and most importantly eat in!
I went there on Saturday after being recommended by a mate and it was packed with a really nice crowd. The staff were not 'slow' in the least and really friendly. What must be said is that the food is exceptional and although a tad pricey on first view of the menu, i think worth it. The new head chef has just arrived from The Cow which explains the quality.
It's got lots of character and has been really nicely re-furbed - this is not a bar but a really cosy pub - thank you!
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Yet another name change: the Fat Badger!
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Not a bad re-ferb, the furniture and menu look a lot like the the furniture and menu in the, nearby, Earl Percy, but the Carnarvon Castle is starked and more open then the carpeted old man's loo that is the Percy.
Functional but pricey and unsure whether it wants to be a trendy bar or a pub. I can't see it lasting, to be honest, this spot is a bit of a killer for boozers. I've seen three come and go in the four years I've worked around her.
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This has now reverted to calling itself the Carnarvon Castle and has had a decent paint job.
Visited on a lunch time so the place was quite empty, bar staff were a little slow and the beers are served with enough foam to stick a flake in, the prices nearly induced a heart attack so don�t expect much change from your hard earned money.
Not sure if the management has changed or are remnants from its previous incarnation which has to be said was truly awful so not sure if the paint job will be enough to bring in the punters.
The music system is still in place so I imagine they still intend to keep the loud music mentioned in other comments� so the juries out on this one but if the management really get a grip of this place it could turn out to be a decent venue. Will visit again when I get another mortgage so watch this space�..
Note to rlm the Galicia is great so your first impressions are spot on, well worth a visit.
anonymous - 8 Apr 2006 13:08 |
It is pleasantly dark,..in fact all most pitch black upstairs in here,..but on my visit i didnt manage to get any kip at all, due, in no small part, to the disgraceful volume level of the music.
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Looks like it wants to be a pub again and revert to the Carnarvon Castle name. There's still enough old wood in there left.
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Really loud dance during the weekend which does not match the decor of soft cosy sofas. I wouldn't recommend it. Opposite a Spanish restaurant called Galicia which looks quite nice.
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