BITE user comments - gliddofglood
Comments by gliddofglood
Makes you think it's more "wine in the evening" than "beer in the evening". Stupendously loud so that you have to shout at your friends and can't hear what they reply. Hideously packed - a bit like trying to drink on a rush hour tube train. Full of apparently affluent types - unsurprisingly, perhaps, given the location. I have been once and haven't been back, despite working about 2 minutes away. So I suppose I don't like it that much. But is it much worse than a lot of other places? Hmm. Probably not.
So it's not really a pub then. But as it calls itself a bar, you can't complain. If you wanted a pub, you don't want this.
20 Aug 2006 02:15
This feels like a country village pub rather than one in the heart of London. Except the prices - no surprises there. Very bona fide, olde worlde decor. Traditional seating and because it is so tucked away, no real tourists, despite its being very close indeed to Buckingham Palace. I thought it was great - I really like going there. It's not overly large though, so if it got any more popular, you would be out in Crown Passage where there is nothing to look at at all.
Also, it isn't staffed by young foreigners with a poor command of English who offer you ice to put in your Guinness (it has happened elsewhere...).
So if you want a pub that doesn't look as if it has changed dramatically in the last few decades and probably won't in the next few, this is an excellent bet. It is part of the now vanishing non-Costa-non-Starbucks London that is rapidly vanishing underneath a tide of rampant drossy commercialism. You'd never know you were about 5 minutes walk from Oxford Street.
20 Aug 2006 02:03
The Lord Moon Of The Mall, Whitehall
The thing in here that really brings it all back home is the menu. It looks like a fast food one which is totally out of the character that you suspect they are trying to create. After all, there are even un-nickable books on the bookshelves. You know the sort of thing - a maths primer circa 1957 and deadly novels by obscure authors that are now out of print.
I appreciated the fine ales, especially one that went by the name of SKW or something equally unmemorable. It was excellent. Alas, the foreign bar staff could tell me nothing about it. Nothing. I don't even know where it comes from. On another occasion, I asked them what 2 other beers were like. They couldn't tell me anything about those, either, but they did at least let me taste before buying - their idea. There was a very dozy young English lad behind the bar, though. But he knew precisely nothing either. He offered me a glass with a Belgian beer - good - but then when I said yes please, immediately forgot about it and I had to remind him. I suppose the Wetherspoons staff don't get paid enough to care, but it is a little sad to know so little when the place goes to the trouble to offer such a wide range of real ales. Maybe you have to tell them what goes in a gin and tonic too. (I haven't tested this).
I have to admit, the cavernous room is nothing special nor the clientele and definitely not the atmosphere. What you do get is space, very good and interesting beers, affordable prices and a central location. Which all things considered, isn't too bad. And the staff may be ignorant, but at least they are not unpleasant.
20 Aug 2006 01:51
I like the logo. Can I say that? It makes you think that it will be trendier than it is. In fact there is nothing very trendy about it. It has no real ale, so it is strictly lager and Guinness as far as I am concerned. The inevitably foreign barmaids were smiling and pleasant, which makes a change, and it has the added bonus of staying open until midnight when most other pubs in the area are closed. I wouldn't mind coming here more often, except that if I'm going to drink Stella, I may as well get a can and sit in the garden. Come to think of it, I enjoyed the music, which was non-obvious reggae, so I suppose you know that you are approaching Camberwell and that Brixton is down the road. It's not exactly the frontline, though.
20 Aug 2006 00:30
I stopped by at lunchtime during the New Year holiday when London was deserted, especially the City, so my impression may not be typical. But there is an impressive range of Fullers beers - ie pretty much all of them. The decor is also superb, as you can see from the photo. I didn't try the food, but the menu looked good - good enough for me to want to return to try it. In fact, it looked a spectacular place and well worth a visit. Not sure what it is like when filled with beery bankers, though.
20 Aug 2006 00:23
If you are in the area and fancy a pint, you could do worse than come here. But it isn't worth going out of the way for. Yes, a big bare room full of suits in the early evening. Beer seems fine, but marred for me as I had my pocket picked there, so beware. Plenty of jostling and barging to the bar makes this all the easier. Pickpockets only have to walk a couple of hundred yards to make use of your credit card on Oxford Street - handy for them.
It serves beer including real ale, so far so good, but not one of my real favourites.
20 Aug 2006 00:19
A singularly uninteresting pub. So it may have a theatre attached - thus it could be useful if you needed a pint with a play. Otherwise I can't see any good reason for going there. The decor is tawdry, the loos somewhat moist - although there was paper, soap and something to wipe your hands on, so could be a lot worse. There is one real ale -again better than some, which have none. You can sit outside on the Kennington Road and shout over the traffic. Or you could just walk 200 yards and go to the Prince of Wales in Cleaver Square which is superior in every respect. Except that it doesn't have a theatre.
20 Aug 2006 00:11
Back to gliddofglood's profile
The Mitre, Paddington
The food comes in tiny and expensive portions. Think of it as a snack not a meal if you are feeling hungry. It's not bad, but there just isn't much of it.
Pub is Victorian, alright - good. But sort of dingy Victorian - bad. It doesn't have much in the way of atmosphere, really. It's not especially snug. On the other hand, there is no TV that I have noticed and if there are fruit machines, they don't gurgle at you annoyingly. So sort of unsnug dingy.
The bar staff are pleasant and amazingly put all pints into their appropriate branded glasses. But don't use too much English vernacular, they won't understand you. Makes you feel really at home in your capital city - not. Much like the rest of Paddington, then.
I seem to always end up here as a friend likes it, but I keep wishing that we could go elsewhere. It's OK, but I wouldn't go looking for it especially. You can however avoid the dinginess by sitting outside in the summer. If you can prise a seat away from all the other people who are also trying to avoid the dinginess.
Am I overdoing the dingy nature of the place? It's not that bad. It's just not that good.
20 Aug 2006 02:28