BITE user comments - BLACKTHORN.BRISTOL
Comments by BLACKTHORN.BRISTOL
Decent pub. I spent a very pleasant couple of hours in here beating Mrs BB 4-0 at pool. Didn't want to leave.
3 Sep 2012 12:54
I've been past this pub many times on my visits to Falmouth but it always looked so quiet as to be closed. I decided to try it on a rainy Thursday afternoon and I discovered a little gem.
There is a smaller bar at the front then a larger lighter room with some really pleasant art on the walls and brillant views over the water at the back, there's even binoculars available if you want a better look.
A clean, bright, relaxed pub with pleasant staff.
This is a brilliant pub with a really nice atmosphere.
One of my favourite 5 pubs in Falmouth.
3 Sep 2012 12:50
As soon as I got in here I couldn't wait to get out ! I have no explanation as to what made me feel so uneasy in here. Peculiar.
3 Sep 2012 12:42
A charming pub.
Lots of little separate areas with walls covered in pics of local football teams from the 70's and pool trophies from 30 years ago.
Old fashioned and lovely with a very smart restaurant area to the rear.
The best pub toilets I have ever encountered - curtains in the gents no less !
Exactly what you would expect from a pub with a thatched roof.
3 Sep 2012 12:39
Nice pub. Friendly young girl behind the bar. Possibly the worst fried snack selection I have ever had in a pub. I think you can sit out the back overlooing the harbour which is nice.
This pub is fine as long as ou don't try the fried onion rings !
3 Sep 2012 12:31
Busy for midday on a Monday - about 20 people in !
This was the only pub in Falmouth where I was told I couldn't take my pint outside which is probably understandable as it so close the road.
The family of 4 next to us ordered burger and chips and there was some mix up which meant 2 burger and chips arrived 10 or 15 minutes after the first two which is no major big deal but indicates a lack of care. The service I received was adequate.
It's okay but strangely had the similar slightly unfriendly atmosphere as the two closest pubs - Finn McCouls and Nancys.
3 Sep 2012 12:25
Visited on a Monday afternoon about 3 o'clock so only a couple other people in. It's a nice quiet pub with a relaxed atmosphere. An ideal place to take a newspaper and have a bit of quiet time to yourself if you want to get away from it all.
2 Sep 2012 15:13
Okay. Nice interior and plenty of opportunity to sit in the window watching the people pass by outside.
2 Sep 2012 15:03
Decent little pub. I always find pubs with little windows that make it difficult to see into a little intimidating but I took the missus in here anyway. It's small but perfectly presentable and neat and clean. There were a couple of locals at the bar who were friendly enough and I ended up having quite a long chat with one young lad who was keen to know where I came from and I felt quite at ease to give him my camera to take a holiday snap of me and Mrs BB in there.
Interesting to note was whilst the rest of the country went Olympics bonkers they had darts on the telly - I like their style !
Definitely a boozers pub not a pub you go for a meal - I'm not even sure they did food at all and certainly a pub I'd visit again.
2 Sep 2012 14:58
This is a big pub (I think it used to be a hotel ?) and although there were maybe 20 people in when we visited on a Monday evening it felt quite empty.
It has a large bar area and I was served quickly by a friendly girl. There was plenty of places to sit and whilst I enjoyed my pint in the relaxing surroundings it did occur to me that this pub could be really good but it has the feeling of being slightly down at heel (in the area we were sat in at least - other areas to the front of the pub looked like they had been improved recently) and rather lacking in atmosphere although I have to concede I can't think of many pubs with a 'rocking' atmosphere at 9pm on a Monday night.
Just before we left a bloke with a guitar started singing and although I don't generally like that sort of thing I have to say he was very very good.
2 Sep 2012 14:46
Great pub. Great carvery on a Sunday and a super fun quiz night with big cash prizes for the 'Play Your Cards Right' game afterwards.
I had a great night out here and felt very welcome as a stranger. I will definitely return. One of my top 10 in Falmouth.
2 Sep 2012 14:38
I was pretty ambivalent about this place but Mrs BB didn't like it. I think that was more to do with a couple dodgy looking people who looked really miserable being in there than anything else.
It's okay for a quick pint.
2 Sep 2012 14:35
Quite a nice interior - all wood and gives the impression of being on an old ship but it felt quite rough with what I presume to be locals swearing loudly at the bar. I didn't feel in any physical danger but didn't feel welcome.
It has the feeling of being Falmouths equivalent of what I would call an estate pub back home. I'm maybe being a bit harsh and It would probably be okay if I went there with a couple mates but I won't be visiting with Mrs BB again in a hurry.
2 Sep 2012 14:28
The Chainlocker and Shipwrights, Falmouth
Traditional 'below decks' decor - fishing nets, ships wheels and pics of a nautical nature. Fantastic outside seating area. A brilliant place to have a pint or two in the sun.
2 Sep 2012 14:20
Nice bright interior and was served promptly. The girl behind the bar was happy enough to take a picture of me with my camera outside the pub so can't fault the friendliness of the staff.
No problems here. Nice pub.
Doesn't appear to open until 4pm though which is strange.
2 Sep 2012 14:17
This is a pub a little off the beaten track and is in the middle of a row of terraced houses overlooking the sea.
I visited on a Friday dinner time and loved it. There was a wedding reception going on in one area and two old boys were getting filmed being interviewed about the war in another part - It all goes on in little backstreet pubs like this on Friday dinnertimes !
I just popped in for one but enjoyed the cosy, relaxed atmosphere and my chat to the old boys so much I had to persuade Mrs BB to prolong our stay and she seemed quite happy to and a thumbs up from Mrs BB is always a very good sign.
Nice traditional decor, Great views, welcoming with a warm fuzzy vibe. Give it a visit. You won't be disappointed. Definitely one of my top five pubs in Falmouth.
22 Aug 2012 16:20
I've been to Falmouth many times but have always been a bit wary of this pub, I'm not sure why maybe because the reviews on here made it sound a little rough or maybe I found the frontage strangely daunting.
How wrong could I have been !
popped in here a couple times recently. I first visited on a rainy Thursday dinnertime - the inside of the pub is like no other I've ever been into ! It's like a pub in an old mans shed in the garden and I mean that in a good way it's charmingly old fashioned. I absolutely loved it but could also see how its enchanting ricketyness might not be for some people.
There was about 10 other people in and the banter and jokes between what I assume to be the locals was good natured, humourous and I was pleased to hear without any noticeable swearing at all. Unfortunately I could only have one pint but I felt very at ease here and would've been quite happy to stay and drink meself silly !
I also visited lateish on a Tuesday night. Again there was about 10-12 people in and everyone was once again very friendly. The clientele tends to be older fellas but I did stumble on a bunch of students sat in the back room who declared it their favourite pub in Falmouth too. This pub has a lovely relaxed and easy going feel to it and it was easy to get talking to an old regular at the bar and was able to enjoy 2 of the best pints of cider I've had in Falmouth.
A wonderful pub. Please don't let the rather 'seen better days' appearance of this pub put you off. It's an experience as well as a pub.
22 Aug 2012 16:04
This is a brilliant pub. I've been on a tour of all of Falmouths pubs recently and I think this was probably my favourite. A nice atmosphere, good music, busy but with enough seating and an outside area overlooking the harbour, people of all ages and a fantastic selection of cask booze including a choice of 6 or 7 ciders, they even had a selection of games such as Connect 4 ! A super pub. Thoroughly recommended.
3 Aug 2012 16:07
This is a Harvester pub and as such has two different seperate areas - The restaurant which is always busy and the bar area. As this is Beer In The Evening I shall limit my comments to the bar.
I last popped in here 3-4 o'clockish on a Saturday recently and my first impression was that it smelt unpleasant (like dirty unwashed clothing as if you hadn't changed your clothes and slept in them for a week). There were only 4 or 5 people in the bar and all of them seemed to be there only to play the fruit machines.I had a couple pints of cider - rather peculiarly my first pint cost �2.90 the second was �2.95 ! I had some pretty poor greasy breaded mushrooms, old hard onion rings and some insipid garlic bread and I had to wait a half hour for them ! but on a positive note they were cheap.
When I visit here there always seems to be some issue awith the bar staff who seem to be poorly trained and motivated or just plain rude. Generally there are absolutely no smiles or thank yous and they often have no idea who is next to be served and serve people out of turn which is infuriating. Regularly you can be the only person at the bar with 4 staff behind the bar yet you still have to wait as they do stuff like filling the ice bucket or tap away at the till or whisper conspiratorially about some mystery topic. I was also stood next to a woman who received a pint of shandy when she ordered a chardonnay once !, I have been served a pint nearly half inch short of a pint and when I politely asked the young lad to fill it up he seemed resistant to do so and said 'we don't fill them up' (I'll point out here it definitely wasn't one of those pint pots with the pint mark a little short of the lip of the glass) when I pointed out It wasn't a full pint he muttered 'oh it's not worth the bother' and begrudgingly filled it up but there were no apologies. The surliness of the staff in here have at times led me to cancel my pint and walk out - it can be that bad ! Sometimes you can get a good one but on at least half my visits here I have something to complain about and it's usually the staff.
One other thing I've noticed about this place is how the pub is often used as a waiting area for the restaurant and so you get families with children (babies even) and or old ladies sharing the bar with sometimes loud, rough and rude locals/regulars who don't hold back on the language or the topics discussed which isn't nice.
This is a smelly pub with all too regularly poor service.
17 Jul 2011 13:50
Ferryboat Inn, Helford Passage
Haven't got much to add to the reviews already here.
The pub is hidden away down tiny little roads in a very nice location but be aware you have to park in a car park at the top of a steep hill and walk down to get to it. There are tables outside and the inside is dark with big heavy tables and a long bar which has been divided by brick arches into a silly little bar that means only one person gets served at a time which in turns causes queues.
The food was expensive even for Cornwall - my steak and chips was �17 or �18 (it was very good but not fantastic) and if you don't like fish the choices were limited. I think there were 4 or 5 fish options but only the steak and a cottage pie were non fish choices.
When I decided I wanted to pay I went to a girl who was fussing with a credit card payment machine by the door the food came from. I stood right in front of her whilst she pressed various buttons for a full minute and she didn't acknowledge my presence or say 'I'll be with you in a mo' at all the whole time I was there then she just turned around and went off which was rude. Oh well. Ho hum.
Anyway the pub is good but expensive. The view is nice but difficult to get to. I had a nice enough stay but I'm not desperate to return.
I thought it was okay. If you particularly like nice views you'll probably love it
7 Jul 2011 14:34
Went in for a bite to eat on a pleasant but breezy Wednesday night about 9 o'clock. There were about 20 people in.
The decor is smart and 'trendy' with plenty of tables and a nice comfy sofa area by the front windows. It's not a traditional pub (no salty sea dogs or darts boards) or a modern boozer (no rap videos on video screens or teen girls with far toomuch fake tan on) eithe. I thought the atmosphere was nice, 'cool' even. The music being played loud enough to enjoy but by no means obtrusive was superb - lots of Northern Soul with 60s and 70s classics by people like Bowie and Hendrix interspersed.
Me and Mrs BB felt very relaxed and was enjoying it in here even before I found the large selection of kids games in a cupboard in the bar. I grabbed the Connect 4 and proceded to give her a sound beating at it over a couple pints of 'Rattler' cider.
We bought food which arrived in about 20 minutes. I'm used to being able to get a main for �6 - �10 at home in Bristol but found that in Cornwall all mains started at �9ish and so it was here. I had a full rack of ribs with a barbecue sauce and Mrs BB. had a chicken breast in a carribean sauce. The food was well presented and there was enough of it but it was so dreadfully bland !. Mrs BB. has a delicate palate and always spots if I add a tiny bit of pepper to her dinner so she was wary of ordering a meal that came with a carribean sauce as she was wrried it might be too spicy but even she could detect not a single trace of any carribean sauce at all. My ribs were tough and totally tasteless. I mean totally devoid of a bbq sauce - so much so that I am beginning to question whether I imagined the bbq sauce being mentioned on the menu at all.
In summary - a neat, tidy 'bar' with nice, polite staff for well off young people - the sort that wear Abercrombie and Fitch, deck shoes, no socks, with their jeans rolled up to just above their ankle. I liked it but the food was very disappointing
5 Jul 2011 16:52
I took Mrs. BB here last week on a couple occasions.
We had a great time watching the World Cup games on a big screen in nice relaxed surroundings on beautiful sunny days.
The bar staff were very good/excellent. One even spent a good minute or two to talk me through their range of bottled ciders and seemed happy to do so.
It's certainly not a traditional boozer. But if you like Wetherspoons food (I do), big leather sofas, people watching out the big windows, plenty of room for yourself and professional bar staff - give it a go.
28 Jun 2010 21:29
I visited this pub several times recently. It's a nice pub.
The staff were efficient but not particularly friendly.
A couple of things annoyed me though.
The backpacker at the bar loudly claiming to have personal ties with every tourist he latched on to's hometown got on me nerves after a bit this wasn't the pubs fault.
The follwing are -
I was getting a pint and an elderly gent at the bar ordered a bottle of wine off the wine list to be met with the barmaid laughing and saying 'that wine list's about 5 years out of date'. I thought this was unprofessional and rather rude.
I watched the England v Slovakia game on a Wednesday afternoon here. The pub was busy but not rammed. It was a nice atmosphere. Even the 2 German ladies behind me were supporting England. However the experience was soured when, just after getting a last pint to watch the post match comment and the highlights of the other game the landlord immediately turned up the music up.. Why on earth did he think the people in the pub wanted to listen to Pixie Lott and Cher at 5 o'clock on a Wednesday ? I really felt it was a 'right then we've put up with you as long as we had to now get out' attitude on the behalf of the landlord.
Low ceilings, naval theme, toilets down steep stairs, pool table very worn, about 2 dozen people in on a Monday night, food all day, accents from all over and a great view over the water.
28 Jun 2010 20:15
The Chequers Inn, Hanham Mills
Visited on a mid week afternoon.
The interior is old fashioned, dark and tatty but the views from the pub over the river are very, very nice.
We ordered food and it arrived quickly.
Mrs BB had a lasagne but I'm afraid it was poor. The top layer was tough like if you have cooked it, frozen it, microwaved it then stuck it under the grill for a minute or two. The chips were good and the salad was good too.
I had a lamb shank with mashed potato in gravy. I loved it. There was plenty of meat and the gravy was very thick and for once there was loads of it. There was, however, other bits of unidentified white meat floating around in the gravy which was alittle off-putting. Nice though.
I also visited on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
This pub is situated superbly for drinks sat outside almost within touching distance of the river in beautiful surroundings.
The interior looked a lot nicer in the sun and busy with people.
I was served quickly despite it being busy and the Blackthorn was good but was served in a plastic glass. I can understand that given the otdoor nature of this pub.
The clientele was of the bare chested/vested tattooed young man with stocky dog and girls with tans and hair extensions type. It was a bit chavvy for me but I'm lead to believe everyone under 25 looks like this and this is no reflection on this pub.
I wouldn't take me mum here for a drink but will definitely visit again. The views are wonderful.
29 May 2010 23:42
The Elm Tree Inn, Hanham Green
This is an old fashioned pub and I don't mean beams and thatched roofs, I mean the 'grannies' art on the walls and the nice quiet atmosphere. I'm 40+ and I feel young in here. It's almost like the pub in that telly programme 'Heartbeat'.
And this gem of a pub is great because of this.
It has a small bar area with the remaining two thirds given over to tables for meals .
The food in here is excellent and priced well. You get loads.
Some of the specials are pricey but this pub seems to have a very gifted chef/kitchen and the food is well worth the cost.
Me and my missus love this place for its lack of pretention. It's a pub that does great food. Simple as that.
29 May 2010 22:42
An old pub with small windows and thick walls so it always seems very dark and cool. This original part of the pub seems to be made from lots of little rooms which lend an intimate/pokey (however you chose to see it) atmosphere.
The bigger room at the opposite end of the pub is a recent addition and has plenty of windows, light and sun.
The bar staff are very nice and there always seem to be enough of them so that you never have to wait long to be served (which is becoming a rarity nowadays !).
It's definitely trying to attract people who want meals and not drinkers. The pool table has been removed and the tiny telly is stuck in a dark corner and never ever gets used. Don't visit this pub if you expect to watch the football - even England in the World Cup won't get shown !!.
The food is good - nothing special, and it is cheap (most stuff costs around �6.00).
The clientele tend to be older and so it's a lot quieter and calmer than the other pubs just down the road in Hanham which have terrible reputations.
My only problem with this pub is that they don't serve Blackthorn Cider. Why on earth if you are going to serve a cider would you chose Strongbow as this pub does ?
28 May 2010 15:12
I'm not sure spidermonkey168 has got the right pub.
His review sounds exactly like The Crown (The Harvester) in Bath Road in 'Longwell Green' (BS30 9DE) and not necessarily The Crown in Bath Road, 'Saltford' (BS31 3HJ).
Please correct me if I am wrong.
28 May 2010 14:38
Back to BLACKTHORN.BRISTOL's profile
Wodehouse Arms, Falmouth
Decent pub. I spent a very pleasant couple of hours in here beating Mrs BB 4-0 at pool. Didn't want to leave.
3 Sep 2012 12:54