BITE user comments - steve
Comments by steve
Does the music need to be quite so loud? Half the volume would make this place much, much better. Recommended if you like cocktails, avoid if you drink beer.
19 Mar 2012 14:37
Race week the place was busy and lively, nice little pub, spolied only by one barman with the manners of a stone. Not the first time his miserable looking face has served me. Still, don't let that detract from the atmopshere of a decent British pub, do they pump the smell of sheep shit in? Only the Beehive knows...
19 Mar 2012 14:34
The Wessex Belle Bistro, Station House
What better way to enjoy your Sunday lunch than on a luxury train travelling through the beautiful Purbeck countryside. View the ruins of iconic Corfe Castle as your roast lunch arrives at your table.
3 Jun 2011 10:41
After the closure and sale of The Black Swan, this venue is now open again as 'The Polished Knob' and is a good drinking and dining pub.
The real ales are �2 per pint Sun-Thurs every week. We had the Hyde's Manchester's Finest which was a really good pint.
Food is relatively cheap and looked good when we were there although we didn't eat. It is a tastefully furnished pub with outside covered area for smokers out the back and a couple of tables out the front in the street. The staff were very pleasant and efficient. A really nice pub.
3 Jun 2011 09:47
This place has been re-decorated, it's gone quite cold and clinical. They serve Guiness Red here as well as extra cold, the Guiness Red tasted different to when I tried it in O'Neils. Good service with a chatty barmaid, great outdoor facilities and close to the town center. My experience was only spoiled by three locals who had arranged themselves at the bar and bottle necked others being served. We thought they had left so sat at the bar ourselves, only to find that they had just gone out for a cigarette. On returning one of them pushed my chair forward as if to tip me out, he then backed up this gesture with some stares and a few 'effing's.
Won't be going there again. Typically it's another case of the people that spoil a place and not the pub or landlord themselves.
19 Dec 2007 12:17
Nice livley atmosphere, busy town centre pub. Good to see that the licensee of this place hasn't done the typical Ikea furniture nonsense, it looks like a pub and feels like one. Good service, friendly chatty barmaid. Lots of drinks to choose from. Food smelt great, although I didn't eat here the couple next to us has a huge plate of casserole - good to see traditional food being served in a traditional place.
19 Dec 2007 11:59
Went there last night, they had mulled wine on tap, now thats the spirit! Really nice relaxed atmosphere with great service from behind the bar, it's so good to get a smile fromt he person who serves you! It was only spoiled slighty by the quite loud 10 year old dance soundtrack, Thursday nights is late night shopping in Cheltenham, so perhaps some lounge music would have made a little better mood, after walking round the shops for 2 hours I certainly didn't feel like drinking to get pissed and dancing. But I say it only slightly spoiled the ambience so no need to grumble really.
The food was ok, is it gastro? Not sure. It seems to be immitating so many bars up and down the country, burgers, fish and chips, chill, something for the veggie, Brake Bros chips etc. Personally I blame the food culture not the chefs (having been one for 5 years) with TV chefs telling everyone to keep it simple, the problem is everyone does exactly the same menu. Perhaps thats a good thing as you know what to expect, I must say the lightly spiced Copa burger was nice to eat perfect balance of sealed meat on the outside compared to medium rare on the inside, it was like a steak in a bun. I would say that the three fistfulls of rather sweaty cheese that topped the burger was a bit much, it's quite a strong cheese, and I find that they do taste strange when melted, plus I hate rocket/frisee/lollo rosso and the fact that the cheese had been melted into this hideous lettuice only made it harder to remove. I must reiterate I know what it's like to work in a very busy kitchen but perhaps the chef may consider this final note - "the Copa Burger was excellent, how about buying a square block of mature English cheddar and not melting it over the burger, just placing it a top of the burger, you might save on ingredients and time"
Thats a lot to say about a Burger I know, but seriously, Copa is an excellent place to visit.
14 Dec 2007 11:54
The Fox and Anchor, Smithfield
This establishment has now reopened info came from BITE user "Topdog Andy" - thanks for the update.
27 Nov 2007 09:11
This establishment has now been turned into student flats. Sort of ironic really.
27 Nov 2007 08:53
Popped in here having once worked just across the road some years ago, the place has hardly changed at all. It suffers from the same Wetherspoons/ Lloyds karma that the mojority of their bars take flak for, cheap beer + prime highstreet locations = every idiot with two pennies in his pocket trying to get as pissed as possible, it's not Wetherspoons it's the people that frequent there. The BD has a real olde England gentlemans bar decor to it, food was pretty quick seeing how busy it was at lunchtime early afternoon.
26 Nov 2007 09:44
Excellent pub, no wonder it won Pub of the year (Cheltenham 2006) - This place is usually packed on a Friday night, one of the few places I think that benifits more from the smoking ban. The staff are very friendly, and that includes the doormen, the food here is priced slightly higher than your chain pubs but thats because it's proper food, local food for local people, ... are you local? Seriosuly it's well presented, perfectly cooked, & huge portions when your plate arrives, so paying a few extra pence is irrelevant, you get exactly what you pay for.
Not a great deal of real ales on tap, tried the Harrier Lite, which is not my favourite beer but a few pints of it and I didn't care anyway. I remember drinking a strange home brew cider called Black Rat, more of this please! Haven't seen the concoction since.
The Swan is an excellent pub for any time of the day, been there on a saturday afternoon and sat alongise families, then returned later that night to meet some friends and been in a mix of students race goers (posh types) and 30 somethings.
Fantastic pub, anyone who comes to Cheltenham as soon as you get into a taxi, don't ask for your hotel, ask for the Swan, get yourself a pint and watch the wolrd go by.
19 Nov 2007 12:04
Revolution Vodka Bar, Cheltenham
Expensive shot - chunder pit, if you like your music louder than gatwick runway, so loud your ears ring for days after, if you like being shoulder barged and cattle herded trying to get to the bar and then inconsiderately ignored when you turn to walk away with a round by the rest of the cattle, this place is for you.
If you're going to go, go on a Sunday, actually very nice without the people who make this place avoidable. Or go in the afternoon when the food is pretty good. Avoid on Fri/Sat nights.
19 Mar 2012 15:02