BITE user comments - bigsand
Comments by bigsand
The Langton Arms, Tarrant Monkton
The wife and I have a sentimental attachment to this place, having had one of our first 'proper' dates here in September 2003. So this Valentines evening, we booked for food and went back. The new (to us, anyway) 'Stables' eating area is nicely done but lacking in character, and browsing the menu, with starters at anything up to �10 and mains up to �20, I expected a proper 'gastropub' experience commensurate with these prices and the occasion. I ordered crab souffle to start at �9.50, the missus had a mushroom medley kind of deal at �7. The crab was nice, but not �9.50 nice, and the mushrooms were mainly a handful of buttons on a virtually inedible piece of toast. For mains, the wife had faggots (having had them and loved them last time we ate here), which passed muster, but my game pie at the thick end of �15 was positively fraudulent. It had clearly been reheated and thus dried out, and had I been blindfolded I would not have guessed I was eating game. It all just tasted of overcooked steak. It came on a bed of mash, which had also received no care or culinary skill to warrant the price - it was slightly better than packet 'Smash', that's all that could be said for it.
There was something on the dessert menu that I had my eye on, but after the highly variable starters and mains, I'd lost faith in them, so we paid and left, me with a nagging sense of having been 'had'. I didn't complain because I didn't want to upset my wife on this day of all days, but I really wanted to. The Hopback GFB was nothing to write home about, either; this can be an excellent pint at other establishments, most notably The Duck in Laverstock.
In short, not an amazing experience, save for my bank manager's.
We won't be going again till reports drastically and consistently improve.
18 Feb 2009 12:16
The Anchor and Hope, Salisbury
Cosy, well run and easy-going boozer, now sadly engaged in a battle with the council over noise generated from the courtyard beer garden. Chief complainer, I'm told, only relatively recently a resident. Can only presume that his/her property was bought sight unseen; Salisbury is not short of a pub or two in this area!
An infinitely better bet than the overpriced and slightly pretentious Coach & Horses just up the road, whose landlady once took issue with me when I questioned why she'd charged me more for the same round than we'd been served all night by her staff! "If you don't like it, you can leave", was her opening gambit! Never forgotten it....
No nonsense of that kind here, thankfully.
3 Dec 2008 19:14
I'm anxious that this pub succeeds, but afraid I have my doubts. All the 'Hidden' brews are terrific when well kept, but are either troublesome to keep well or there is a deficiency of will or knowledge amongst the staff. I love the stronger 'pleasure' brew (4.9%), but it has on more than one occasion been awful or not available. One one occasion, having achieved consent with the barman that it was a lot below par, the alternative 'fantasy' that I chose was a bit rum too.
As a keen student of human nature, the alleyway that faces on to the Market Square has a few metal tables to sit at and gawp at your fellow men and women of Salisbury as they go about their business whilst you sup and toke, which I like.
The food is no more than OK in here.
As I say, it's a regular haunt of mine and I wish it well, but quality control needs some attention if occasional beer fans aren't to visit once than decide to get their malt and hops elsewhere....
3 Dec 2008 19:01
The Coach and Horses, Salisbury
An adjunct to earlier review:-
The chinese takeaway immediately opposite, Wongs, is bloody brilliant.
23 Dec 2006 19:01
The Coach and Horses, Salisbury
If you're tall and have freely imbibed either here or elsewhere in this great beer city, you'll probably get an early headache in here. Lots of unpredictable low beams and ceilings, all just aching to make painful contact with your head.
The staff are nice here.....
23 Dec 2006 18:59
This is a shabby old place, but throughout is stamped Landlord Joe's personality and peccadilloes (woebetide you receiving or making a mobile phone call!) and his love of good beer and railways. I can take or leave the railway paraphernalia (one wall of the pub is given over to an unvarying pictorial display of sixties and seventies British Rail diesel locomotives), but I can't stop going back for the beer (I'm a big Timothy Taylor's fan)and the convivial atmosphere (The Village is definitely 'home' for Salisbury's bohemians and oddballs). There's usually 'Private Eye' in the magazine rack, too, which tells you something about what type of pub this is!
There's a low-alcohol beer festival in late summer (all beers under 4%) which is worth checking out, although it does involve braving the cellar bar and it's damp mustiness.
Pubs like this have largely disappeared, and if you like me lament their demise make sure you patronise this one. For beer and for friendliness the best pub in Salisbury. Don't miss it!
23 Dec 2006 18:19
My partner's daughter has recently moved out to Laverstock, providing me with an excuse to wander the 500yds or so down to this excellent little pub on a fairly regular basis. This may possibly be the best of Hopback's pubs in terms of the quality of it's beer - the Crop Circle is unfailingly excellent, always leaving a residual trace down the inside of the glass to the last drop. I agree with another poster on this site about the interior decor and furniture arrangements - it doesn't seem quite to know what overall effect is being aimed for.
Don't let this put you off, though. The staff and regulars are friendly enough, and although I've not eaten there yet, others tell me that the food is pretty good.
23 Dec 2006 17:47
The Horseshoe inn, Ebbesbourne Wake
An unmucked about with gem. Nothing substantial has changed here for at least 50 years save for the addition of a conservatory to house more keen diners. Pat of the kitchen never lets very high standards slip, and most of the food is sourced locally. Try the amazing stilton on the cheeseboard..! Tony of the bar is entertainingly patronising and sarcastic, as are many of the locals. Don't let this put you off; it's all well-meant and is intended to be funny (as indeed it is). There'll be good ale and scrumpy at his fingertips, mark my words.
If you're very lucky, you may also get a car-park display from an itinerant troupe of Morris dancers on some summer nights, where a friendly bobby of my acquaintance may guest with his deft hanky-work for everyone's surprise and delight.
It's a belter.....
26 Sep 2006 20:43
The Horse and Groom, Salisbury
A friendly local. Strong sense that the excellent staff and landlord enjoy each other's company and are happy in their work as a consequence. Have eaten (and drank) here many times. The carvery on Sunday is good quality and generous, and their steaks are pretty cheap and decent too.
Not an enormous amount of ale to choose from, just 6X from Wadworth of Devizes and Ringwood Best, but both are well kept.
All the pub furniture is uncomfortable, so the conversation you're having will need to be good to prevent you wanting to move on after a pint or two.
The two house labradors will subtly deprive you of some of the food on your plate, and the size of both of them will testify to their long history of success at this..!
The Tuesday night pub quiz referred to elsewhere has long been consigned to history; I remember it as a cheater's paradise (mobile phones going off all over the place) which the quizmaster blithely ignored week after bloody week.
26 Sep 2006 20:28
An outstandingly good pub in an underwhelming town. Craking pint of Batemans 'Valiant' last Thursday night, unfortunately not available when I went back for another crack on the Friday! No worries tho'; there were plenty of other good alternatives. The 'whispering jukebox' referred to in another review may also randomly play a selection not even listed - if you're a fan of Bad Company's 'Can't Get Enough' (and let's face it, surely we all are) you'll get Queen's 'One Vision' instead, which is an underwhelming substitute. All things considered, keep your 50p's and pounds for the beer.....
26 Sep 2006 20:11
formerly my favourite boozer in Salisbury, before I moved up here permanently 18 months ago. The ale is always well-kept, and if you're into your lager the Amstel is excellent, too. Everything is super-cheap in here. With the sole exception of landlord Frank, who's a nice bloke with great taste in music, afraid all the other regular staff are varying degrees of rude and/or surly.
The shabbiness is beyond a joke now, too. If you think the paintwork was intended to be burnished yellow, it wasn't. Fail to see how a lick of paint would adversely alter this place's 'character'.
If you love your beer and crave a friendly reception, walk a liitle way out of town and go to The Village on Wilton Road - doubt whether you'll regret it!
25 Sep 2006 18:53
Visited late afternoon Sunday 24 Sep. Initial impression was of slightly surly service, but that was probably because the lass responsible was due off on her lunch break. Judging by the amount of the appetising nosh she packed away, she was clearly very, very hungry.
Tremendous selection of ales, including some very heavy-hitters alcohol-wise from all over the world, ditto the scrumpy, of which no less than 4 are served here.
Place is bedecked with old metal advertising signs, but I don't think they do still serve WD & HO Wills fags at 3d for 10. You could try asking the pleasingly sarcastic landlord for an interesting response.
Great pub. You'll need a sense of humour, but other than that, everything your heart may desire from a pub is provided for you here. Daresay many have lost afternoons or whole weekends in this place.....
25 Sep 2006 18:35
Had a beer or two in the Golden Fleece on Sunday, and were recommended this pub as we wanted to eat. This was fortunate; this is a cracking old pub with a lovely warm atmosphere, great ales (Tim Taylor, Deuchars IPA, Abbott), friendly and attentive landlords in Darren and Sarah, and Sarah's Steak & Kidney pie with homemade chips was the best of it's kind I've ever tasted, and I've tasted some good 'uns!
Some blokes might carp about the outside khazi, but I just found it nostalgic - it's how my first-ever local was in the mid 70's.
We'll definitely be going back; really can't believe some of the negative comments about this place on here - were we just lucky?
25 Sep 2006 18:22
The Village, Salisbury
Still appallingly shabby (and the toilets still emit an unappealing hum on a warm night), but the quality of the beer remains.
Some nights now staffed by a dryly amusing Martin Clunes lookalike.....
4 Jul 2010 15:27