BITE user comments - anne
Comments by anne
Loki: good point about the ratings, I've removed the ones from before it changed. I'll try to get a new photo up soon too.
9 Sep 2005 16:50
Filthy McNasty's II, Twickenham
Well, we plucked up the courage last night to check it out. Not that it looked too scary at the time. In the dark (we went at about 9:30) the outside wasn't really very noticeable at all, and the candles on the tables inside made it look quite pleasant. The atmosphere once we got in wasn't intimidating in the slightest, although it would be hard to feel intimidated in a pub that was so empty. There were a couple of tables of people watching a bloke sing covers, two old-ish guys having a chat, and us.
The layout is pretty much identical to how it was in the Hobgoblin days, although they've removed all the fruit machines, TVs, quiz machines, etc. They seem to be going for the live music angle in quite a big way, with stuff going on most nights. The barman wasn't particularly friendly but wasn't unpleasant either, just rather disinterested. My Guinness was fine, and prices seemed fairly average for Twickenham; I think it was �5.40 for a Guinness and a Fosters.
All in all - a bit early to tell how it will turn out, but I'd definitely recommend giving it a chance. I suspect a lot will depend on what sort of people end up going there regularly, so if you don't want it filled with the old Hobgoblin crowd, now's the time to get down there. Oh, but one word of warning: I don't think it opens until 4pm, so you might not want to head there for a lunchtime pint.
26 Aug 2005 10:42
Looked very closed on Sunday, windows boarded up and everything.
31 Jul 2005 18:32
Bar Sia's licence has been renewed, and they now have a 2am licence for Fridays and Saturdays.
2 Jun 2005 14:15
Went in yesterday for a quick drink and ended up staying for hours. The welcome was friendly, as always, and the beer garden is looking great these days (although we stayed inside where it was nice and cool and we could hear the jukebox). I reckon it'll be my first choice for summer drinking in Surbiton this year.
31 May 2005 20:58
Being refurbished at the moment, will be relaunched in June as "the No.1 Style bar in the area".
31 May 2005 10:29
Message from the new tenant:
"We have been closed for around 2 months, whilst we have undertaken an extensive refurbishment of the bar and dance areas. We will re-open on Monday 30th May. We have updated the selection of beers on tap, which now include Stella, Guiness, Strongbow, Worthingtons and Carling. There will be party nights every Friday, with the chance to win prizes and VK freebies."
31 May 2005 09:11
Went there on Weds to watch the Champions League final. It was pretty busy, but not as packed as it gets for England games (or, I suspect, anything involving Chelsea).
It started off ok, we had room to stand at the bar round at the back. Got some drinks in after a wait of 5 or 10 minutes - not great, but bearable. Finished those, and attempted to buy another round. We waited, and waited, and waited. And waited some more. No-one seemed to be serving round our bit of the bar, which was confusing, since we'd been served in exactly the same place earlier. Considered wandering round the pub to somewhere else to get to where there were some staff, as it looked like some of the people next to us had done, but didn't want to fight through people when we had a perfectly good spot at the bar and had been waiting there for ages already. After more than half an hour, with no sign at all that we would ever get a drink, we gave up and went to another pub.
Service has often been slow here, but it was never non-existent before. (And it wasn't even a lucky pub this time - we saw the first half here, and were in the Windsor Castle for the second half, extra time and penalties.) I don't think we'll bother any more. It's sad, because this used to be our favourite footy-watching venue, but there seems little point in going to a pub where there's a huge section of the bar with no-one serving for half an hour or more. Unless, of course, you want to watch the game but you're a bit skint and would rather not buy any drinks, in which case I'd highly recommend it.
27 May 2005 10:38
Haven't been there for a few years now but I have good memories of this place, it always had a friendly atmosphere.
Be careful if you're driving - there is a car park behind the pub but it's at the end of a very muddy and bumpy lane (unless things have changed now, of course).
5 Jan 2005 15:03
I've walked past here a few times, and I was convinced it was a proper old-style rough and ready boozer. I'd wanted to go there next time I was in the mood for getting very pissed on Guinness with a whole load of old men. But I finally got to visit on Friday and to my horror it was all gastropub / wine bar with sofas and good looking bar staff, full of trendy young people. Very nice for what it is, I'm sure, but not what I was expecting at all. I was most disappointed.
So was it ever the place I thought it was? Does anyone know?
22 Dec 2004 12:54
Went there to watch the footy this afternoon. It's still a great place to watch games, but they could really do with a having some more people working at times when they know it's going to be busy. It would've been a nightmare getting served today if it wasn't for the fact that the few staff there were working incredibly efficiently. 10/10 to them for managing to remain friendly despite having to deal with the hordes of impatient customers.
12 Dec 2004 23:49
It's not closed at all - it's open every day from 8pm (except New Year's Day).
12 Dec 2004 22:33
Apparently the rumour about them being coppers is not true at all, they just happen to like pigs.
8 Dec 2004 21:14
Closed for refurbishment, opening mid/late January 2005, apparently.
30 Nov 2004 16:07
Regarding the Cask Marque thing: it looks like they do still have it, check the Cask Marque's own website. If the beer is that bad, why not contact the CM people to let them know?
12 Sep 2004 11:42
The Old Suffolk Punch, Hammersmith
Nothing wrong with the clientele when we've visited (which happened to be twice in a week, popped in during a crawl quite late on a Thursday evening and then spent a few hours there on a Saturday afternoon before heading off to the Apollo).
Staff friendly, Budvar and Kronenbourg Blanc on tap as well as all the usual suspects (no real ale). Watch out for the slant on the pool table though. Not that I'm complaining, it won me the game we played.
Air con was a definite plus in the hot weather yesterday. Oh, and the freebies in the ladies were appreciated too.
5 Sep 2004 10:34
Have to say I'm a bit surprised at some of the comments here; we've only been in there a few times, we're certainly not considered locals, we're in our twenties, and everyone on both sides of the bar has always been perfectly friendly towards us.
It's a good old-fashioned traditional pub, not necessarily to everyone's taste, but I'd recommend it if you're after a good beer and a relaxed atmosphere while you're having a chat with some mates.
15 Aug 2004 09:31
To the Ginger Prince: personally, I'd agree with you, but look at the domain name the pub itself has chosen. If they want to say they're in Bedfont, who are we to argue? And I think Bedfont FC's ground is pretty near, so maybe that's some sort of excuse?
(Anyway, the map seems to suggest it's in Hatton, what do you reckon?)
10 Aug 2004 12:40
The Railway Tavern, Hampton Wick
Every time we go to this pub I struggle to understand why it isn't busier - it's got a good range of beers, pool table, couple of nice TVs, jukebox, dartboard (and usually some darts lying around, it's not like a lot of pubs where you feel that only certain people are allowed to use it), oh, and a nice beer garden out the back too. Not only that, but the bar staff and customers are invariably friendly, even though we're strangers who only pop in once every few months.
Forget about John, just visit this pub and be grateful that places like this with a proper, traditional, welcoming atmosphere still exist. I'm definitely going to try and get here more often.
9 Aug 2004 10:04
The Old Kings Head, Hampton Wick
Well, it's gone a bit modern but not painfully so. There's a sofa, anyway. Drink selection seems fairly standard although draught Bitburger is something a bit different. Real ale is available but the choice looked fairly uninspired, it was Pride or Old Speckled Hen I think. Beer garden is fairly small but nice enough. No sign of a menu as such but there was a hog roast for the opening on Saturday so that might become a regular thing (in the summer at least), who knows. The bar is too small in my opinion, but with decent enough staff that shouldn't be too much of a problem.
In summary: it didn't get me too excited, but it's definitely a welcome addition to the area, and somewhere I'd be happy to go again. Will be interesting to see what sort of regulars it ends up attracting.
9 Aug 2004 09:55
is there an itbox quiz machine there? that should be providing wireless internet access.
12 Jul 2004 14:30
Wasn't open at about 5 today (a Sunday) - is it closed permanently or did we just turn up at the wrong time?
11 Jul 2004 18:03
Beer festival is on over this bank holiday weekend (28th to 31st May) - 24 different beers and 4 ciders. We went yesterday and really enjoyed it, good beers, friendly atmosphere and although we didn't have time to try any of the food it smelt lovely! So get down there if you have the chance.
30 May 2004 12:17
A Bar 2 Far, Kingston Upon Thames
they did refund the money and give us all a free drink though - that was pretty nice of them.
16 May 2004 11:14
Seemed to be under new management when we visited back in December. No more happy hour every day. Instead there different drinks offers, (similar to those in the Falcon by Clapham Junction, if that means anything to anyone) - cheap Carling, 2 for 1 on selected bottles, that kind of thing. Not sure how much else has changed. Hopefully they've got rid of that karaoke though.
8 Jan 2004 17:49
We visited this pub one afternoon and whilst I'd agree that it could appear a bit uninviting, we found the locals to be perfectly friendly. I personally thought that it was one of the nicest pubs we went to in Staines. We would've liked to stay for more than one pint if we'd had the time. My advice - give it a chance.
6 Jan 2004 15:14
We went in here by accident (kind of) last Sunday afternoon and it was very pleasant - friendly staff, clean, footy on the TV, and a very nice looking (if not particularly large) beer garden. No idea what it's like at other times, but I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.
26 Sep 2003 15:21
The Refectory, Kingston Upon Thames
it's closed at the moment. there are rumours of it turning into some sort of jazz venue.
21 Mar 2003 17:26
The Prince Regent, South Kensington
Goth type place. I liked it, although that could've just been the beer talking. I think I remember them being a bit arsey at closing time, but that may well have been our fault for not drinking up quickly.
10 Jan 2003 16:21
Seemed very promising, but we got some really nasty pints of lager, and the pinball was broken. Hopefully that was just bad luck though, and not the way things normally are. I'm willing to give it another try.
30 Dec 2002 11:39
Decent atmosphere, and they often have good deals on drinks. It can take ages to get served, even when it's not too busy, but it's still one of the best pubs in the area.
23 Dec 2002 17:35
The Flower Pot Hotel, Sunbury on Thames
The barmaid, landlord and regulars were very friendly and helpful to poor lost AFC Wimbledon fans who wanted to be on the other side of the Thames.
23 Dec 2002 15:08
Small pub, full of characters. Friendly atmosphere. Well worth a visit if you're fed up with going to the same old chain pubs all the time. Although the gents toilets are minging, apparently.
19 Dec 2002 13:37
The Keystone, Guildford
Yes, it was once the Cannon and they went through a phase of not being too strict with their ID checking. I quite liked it back then, I must admit. But that was a good ten years ago, and it's been through at least two changes of management since then. It is indeed very different now, just see the description above.
30 Sep 2005 17:47