BITE user comments - Wixy
Comments by Wixy
Good service, interesting food (try the mix n match "English tapas" on a weekend), and a nice atmosphere. Make sure you don't accidentally wander into speed dating though...
3 Feb 2007 12:52
I used to go to Blake's before it closed and was pleased to see an alternative to the Phoenix / BRB spring up. Haven't been there in the evening yet but have been twice for lunch.
So; nice interior, comfy seats, plenty of space. Nice selection of drinks, and good service. It's usually deathly quiet though so I'm worried as to how long they can stay open at this rate! However without the revenue drain that was Blake's "fine dine" restaurant it could still be viable.
Two things: First, the food is a bit expensive and they could do with giving you some free nibbles whilst you're wating. Second, the portions are stingy for the price. Chunky chips quite nice but you only get nine of them with your burger. I've heard good things about the giant mushroom burger for veggies too. See you in there Friday lunchtimes =)
3 Feb 2007 12:51
Since it's rebirth the Phoenix has been growing in popularity with the local crowd (institute of psychiatry and hospital staff) and commuters. It's got pretty quick service, decent food, lots of seats, nice range of beer, and the upstairs bit is good. A bit smokey but the lovely smoking ban will come and sort that out =)
3 Feb 2007 12:47
Went there last night for drinks and dinner in the non-ice bit of the bar and had a crap time. It's table service only, no ordering at the bar, and for 10 minutes we sat there expecting one of the five members of staff who were busy gossiping to come and take our order. In the end I literally had to stand up and wave madly to get them to come over. Awful.
The food was bizarre, a really poorly thought out meny that leaves you thinking "Yes? And where's the full menu then?". I had roast pork belly with a stewed apple which was quite nice, probably not worth �14 though and the �3 side-dish of chips were cold. Others had a mixed plate of cold cuts with a bread stick and some olives (�7, unpleasant). A friend ordered foccacia bread which came with three dips so nasty we handed them round and it became a macho display if you could stomach them! Another had the lamb samosas which were OK, but again, at �7 for a small portion they were no better than you might expect from a decent tandoori.
The main thing that narked me off about this place was that the service was, at best, below average. Yet they add a 12.5% service charge on everything, and suggest that you leave a tip IN ADDITION for the great service you're getting. If you don't tip on top of the service charge you receive scowls from the staff all night.
I'm certainly never going back, only seems suitable for tourists who don't know how much pounds are worth.
7 May 2006 10:21
Yes, the most sour barmaid in South London works here. If you don't spot her within the first five minutes, you're officially blind. In fact, the critical eye unit at King's uses this place as a testing ground. Jesus, people, some prozac already? I mean the Maudsley's only next door...
3 Jul 2005 01:25
The George Canning, Denmark Hill
Great when the weather's a bit nicer for a glass of wine outside after work. Food's pretty expensive though and nothing to write home about.
6 Feb 2005 13:14
We had a function here at Christmas, manager & staff are very friendly and helpful, food is excellent, dog v. cute (scary eyes). I recommend the steak sandwich, which is traditionally very easy to screw up as pub grub, but is consistently yummy at the castle.
6 Feb 2005 13:12
Yikes. If you run a martial arts class and are looking for a good way to test your senior students, by all means invite them to this pub... Handbags will be stolen, pints will be spilt, and your clothes will smell like you've smoked a carton of Gaulloise. No thanks.
6 Feb 2005 13:06
Great pub, good food, quick service and a nice atmosphere. Hopefully it's too far away from the station to go the way of many other Wokingham pubs.
20 Jan 2004 11:06
This is not a pub for wimps. At least it didn't used to be. Any tensions, fights, aggro is probably because there is conflict between the pierced tattooed bikers that used to be in there all the time and the chinos and shirt wearing townies who have discovered the place is open late. Good tunes though.
20 Jan 2004 11:04
Ridiculous door policy on trainers and hats enforced at will. My friend was wearing a hat, so he took it off. They wouldn't let him in because he's the sort of person who would wear a hat??? I could understand if we all looked like 15 year old pikeys, but turns out they get in just fine. Maybe they were doing it for our own good...
20 Jan 2004 10:58
I loved this pub when it first opened, absolutely loved it. Then again, I was 15. So was everyone else. 7 years later it doesn't appeal quite so much.
20 Jan 2004 10:55
The underground bit next to the restaurant is quite interesting; the barmen practice making cocktails as if it's Zen archery or something and keep fussing over your alcoholic masterpiece even after you've started drinking it!
20 Jan 2004 10:51
Yuk. The tables are sticky, the bar is sticky, the floor is sticky. Sticky with crapness.
20 Jan 2004 10:49
Nice quiet place to come on a sunday for food. Little off the beaten track but excellent place for a pint if someone's forced you to go for a run in Ruskin Park.
20 Jan 2004 10:46
Having lived on Coldharbour Lane for a year I would have come back more frequently if the food prices were 2 quid cheaper across the board.
That said, fantastic beer garden in the summer, usually pretty quick to get served, and the ever changing artwork is always interesting. Also the first place I saw the Fuzzies chewable toothbrush (see what I mean in the men's loos).
20 Jan 2004 10:45
All Bar One, Battersea
Went there last night (a saturday) for dinner and drinks for seven of us. Got a table fairly easily as it was only about half full. It was our waiter's first day on the job, and to be fair to him it was obvious he hadn't been trained properly. I've only been there twice and I knew the menu better than he did. First of all the drinks order came back completely wrong. A pint of Starpromen came back as a pint of cider with ice, and he didn't know the difference. Taking the food order was a bit laborious for reasons I've said. When the food arrived, it was half of one person's meal, followed 5 minutes later by three burgers, one of which was one we hadn't ordered. Mine was fine but the other two were stone cold. Two more plates came out a few minutes later and were the right ones, leaving two of our party without any food. He took their order again and disappeared off to the kitchen. By this point we were pretty narked off and went to see the manager.
He was rude straight from the offset. He said if food was cold we shouldn't eat it and should send it right back. All well and good but we'd been waiting a long time and didn't want to trust them with getting that right, so the people with cold food ate their's. He was defensive and arrogant, not a good manager at all. He said he'd "sort something out" on the bill but was totally non-specific, and said he'd go off to chase the food. Some 15 minutes later the last two burgers arrived and the waiter said our drinks would be free. Unfortunately the food which had just arrived was also sub-par; the buns had clearly just come out of the freezer as they were very cold to the touch on the outside.
Anyway between that and the fact that one of our party had had her bag stolen there the previous week, we will not be going back. We paid for the drinks and left, to go and be treated much better at the Fine Line over the road. All Bar One = Abominable.
25 May 2008 11:09