BITE user comments - redjim73
Comments by redjim73
The Claret Free House, Addiscombe
Beer Festival in full swing last night. Some good ales available, and a mild and a wheat beer.
Bowlands 'Devil's Rock' 3.8% 5/10
Potbelly 'Pigs Do Fly' 4.4% 6/10
Blue Monday 'BG Sips' 4.0% 7/10
Beartown Black Bear (Stout) 5.0% 9/10
Brentwood 'Spooky Moon' 3.8%
Palmers IPA 4.2% (and always available) 10/10
The beers were all in good condition and cold enough.
2 May 2010 10:17
The Claret Free House, Addiscombe
Mini-Beer festival upcoming over the Bank Holiday. Requests welcome at the bar.
18 Apr 2010 10:03
What a pleasant surprise - a treny bar that serves decent ale. I attended a birthday of a younger and much more trendy friend, and was delighted to be able to drink Hophead all evening. It was in quite good condition.
They don't do crisps - (!) - just devilishly tasty bar snacks, but to be honest you don't mind because it's a very pleasant environment, a cut above most of the places in Central Croydon, and the clientelle are all young and nice to look at....
Hope it stays that way. Staff were helpful and polite, and gave me free olives. I don't think olives go with Hophead necessarily, but as other people I was with were on Champers, it didn't matter.
18 Apr 2010 09:55
Absolutely, totally cripplingly expensive! Even beer prices take the micky.
Save your money and drink in central London, which is cheaper!
8 Apr 2010 18:01
I was back in the Fat Cat for the first time in six months last week. The beer was excellent. I was accompanied by my father. He thought he had died and gone to Beer Heaven.
Is there a better pint in Norwich than Fat Cat Best? �2 a pint of pure beer delightfulness.
31 Oct 2009 11:47
The Northcote, Clapham Junction
Can't understand the previous comments relating to this pub. It has had a decent re-furb., and is staffed by pleasant, helpful young people. I had two good real ales, A Summer Ale and a Wandle. Both were in good condition.
It's a bit expensive, but then it's in Clapham, so that's to be expected.
Recommended.
Overly picky and nasty comments are spoiling the usefulness of this website.
25 Aug 2009 10:10
In an encouraging move, the old White lion pub that has been almost derelict for a number of years has been renovated and re-opened.
It is a Milton Pub and has a range of their real ales available. I sample the Spartan, Minotaur (a chocolate mild) and the Dionysus. It seems that the only lager available is a Czech of dubious origins, but I�ve not got a problem with that. There is a wide choice of bottled lagers including Belgian beers.
The d�cor is smart; the red walls are pleasant if you don�t mind the modern trend for bold colours. I got the impression that the developers had invested well in the bar decoration, and stinted a bit on the toilets.
I�ll be dropping in again to complete a tasting of the other Milton beers available, purely on a �use it or lose it� rule.
14 Apr 2009 22:57
Is This The Best Pub In Britain?
I was in the Fat Cat on my thrice-yearly pilgrimage on Tuesday evening. Being of sound mind, solvent, and solo, I decided to try to be as objective as possible about my favourite pub.
I drank Fat Cat Best, Epping Best and Wherry. All were excellent. The Wherry in particular was good. There were twelve hand-pump and sixteen gravity beers available, which is quite amazing.
The staff were pleasant and knowledgeable on the beers available.
The little extras that make pubs special were all in place: clean bar, polite staff, prompt service, an array of foreign beers for interest, plenty of beery snacks, decent toilets, pleasant fellow drinkers.
I needed to get back home before ten o�clock, and to top off a perfect evening I was allowed to buy some Fat Cat Best to take away. They do two-pint carry-outs in what looks like a milk carton. Excellent for surreptitious spiriting into the house.
What else can I say?
You�ll have to go a long way to find a better pub than this for a Real Ale drinker. It�s the best pub I have been to in Great Britain.
14 Apr 2009 22:55
The comments from the previous few contributors are not greatly warranted. This is a pleasant country pub, reasonable food, nice place to come out for a spot of lunch.
Moaning about cold plates is overly picky.
23 Mar 2009 22:11
The Claret Free House, Addiscombe
The word is that there is going to be a mini festival in March with some Scottish Ales. John said 5th - 8th March
29 Jan 2009 22:21
All the points made by pintpuller are valid - it is very clean, and they'll sell you nice clean cold lager in the right glass. If that's what you like, then fine - I prefer real ale, which is not available.
Pubs have to change to adapt to the times, but there is nothing wrong with nostalgia.
It's just another bar selling lager - not very exciting.
31 Dec 2008 19:34
A great pub, purely for the very high quality of food that is served. It has a wide variety of choices including fish, and the ribeye steak is excellent.
There was London Pride and Tim Taylor Landlord on offer, and I had the Landlord. It was excellent.
31 Dec 2008 19:30
What happened? This used to be a great place to get some Thai food and enjoy a bit of footy. It has new owners, and is now just another soulless bar. When I asked what had happened to the former landlord, I was met with snooty guffaws from a woman wearing too much make-up.
No proper beer either.
2 Oct 2008 15:57
This is a traditional village pub that has managed to retain some of its charm despite modernisation. It serves great, good value food - big fish & chips. The staff are friendly and helpful. Along with the Beehive (just down the lane) this is one on the ancient pubs of Cronton. Worth a walk out to it.
31 Jul 2008 15:26
What can I say about the 'Jock? A pleasant little pub, friendly welcome, so reasonable ale available. The locals are welcoming. Watched the Rugby Union World Cup Final here, which was great in a real League pub.
Interesting history, I think one of the Naughton Rugby League players used to be landlord here a long while ago, perhaps a future reviewer will tell us who.
19 Jul 2008 10:15
The heavy-handedness of the security on the gate to this pub can be annoying, but really doesn't justify the moaning on a few of the previous reviews. The history of the pub is already well documented, and it's great to go and have a pint and look at the building.
The ale is in reasonable condition, but I was there on a busy Friday night and the service wasn't fantastic - only two people on the main bar most of the time, which is an oversight by the management.
Expect to pay London prices - if it is your local, it's unfortunate, but the way the industry works now, and no about of complaining is ever going to make a pub lower its prices.
Great place to take visitors to London, it's what everyone wants to see and experience.
19 Jul 2008 09:48
The is my favourite pub in the whole world.
Brilliant real ale, massive selection, excellent quality, vast range of other drinks.
I visit family in Norwich as often as possible so that I can sneak in here and chug down a few pints.
Unmatched anywhere I have been.
17 Apr 2008 10:05
Held in affection because this was the first pub I visited in Norwich in 1992.
Nice little place, good real ale, but can be a bit dear.
17 Apr 2008 10:00
Great pub. If you want 'character', then this is the place - claims to be the oldest in Norwich.
17 Apr 2008 09:58
Hugely reliant on its 'Time Out' entry. Very, very expensive.
17 Apr 2008 09:53
Magnificent Thai food. The best pub quiz in Croydon. Good bar atmosphere at weekends. Recommended if you are on a big night out.
17 Apr 2008 09:52
Really good, well run town centre boozer. Good food, upstairs to get away from it all.
Recommended.
17 Apr 2008 09:48
Never had a decent pint of real ale from this pub, best to stick to Guinness.
THE place to go if you are into rock and metal, great loud music in the evenings, occasional live stuff. If you want decent real ale or a quiet sit down I suggest you look elsewhere, but this is a great pub for music and mixing with exotic goth types.
17 Apr 2008 09:46
This pub used to be the Smokiest Pub In Croydon before the ban came in, which was a pain.
However, it is much more pleasant now and worth a look. It is peopled by office types after work, and locals in the evenings. A few real ales on. Decent food and the chance to eat it outside.
Not sure if they still have it but it used to have bar billiards.
17 Apr 2008 09:43
The Porter and Sorter, Croydon
Not a bad place to pop in and have a pint if you are waiting for someone from the station. Busy on Friday nights full of people from Town slipping in a cheeky one before sloping off home.
Food used to be good, but I haven't eaten there in a while so can't say for sure now.
17 Apr 2008 09:40
How you find this pub will depend on when you arrive. If you fortunate to not share the experience with a load of Chelsea regulars then you will find it pleasant and enjoyable. If you are unfortunate to coincide with them all at the bar getting drunk on lager, it can be unpleasant. They dominate the proceedings and are all friends with the people behind the bar.
Shame because it is a clean, well run pub with a decent area outside for sitting and smiling at people getting off the tram.
They only have London Pride and it is not well kept.
It is one of the more expensive Croydon pubs, and the lager isn't brilliant, which makes you resent the high price of a round.
If you take part in the Thursday Quiz regularly you get to know the quirks and traditions and it can be a really good night out, although the questionmaster whittles out the questions and answers all evening to keep you in late.
17 Apr 2008 09:37
This really is a poor pub. I felt like I was walking into the set of Eastenders - a real edgy Cockney atmosphere, Dads sitting around 'with their boys' scratching their tatoos.
No real ale to speak of.
Overpriced lager.
Bad karaoke.
Avoid.
17 Apr 2008 09:32
The Claret Free House, Addiscombe
In terms of real ale this is the best pub in Croydon. Do not be put off be the overly local atmosphere, once you have been in a couple of times you are recognised and afforded a warm welcome.
The real ale is top notch, and I usually go for the Palmers IPA, which is on most of the time. The bloke behind the bar said they sell more of it in the Claret than in Bridport where it is produced.
It's good to go in a pub like this as a (reasonably) young person and not be stared at, despite most of the clientelle being a bit older.
Highly recommended. No food as such, but then there is a chinese restaurant NEXT DOOR and plenty of takeaways down the street.
17 Apr 2008 09:30
The Black Horse Inn, Cronton
Had an excellent meal in The Black Horse over the May Day Bank Holiday. The Sunday Roast was excellent. Beer good.
3 Jun 2011 17:06