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VERSION:2.1
N:The City Barge
FN:The City Barge
TEL;WORK;VOICE:020 8994 2148
ADR;WORK:;;27 Strand On The Green;W4 3PH
URL:
NOTE:Despite the building being nearly six hundred years old, and a fantastic location down by the riverfront, there's something curiously fake about all the wooden beams and rambling rooms. It feels too much like a pre-Raphaelite painting, a chocolate-box fantasy of how the past should have been, a cosy reference point for all the wealthy couples and well-adjusted families that congregate here in vast numbers. I love that feeling of effortless wealth, like everything is right with the world, but the danger of taking this attractive simulacrum for real life becomes overwhelmingly obvious after spending a few minutes sitting in this safe, atmosphere-free zone.
NOTE:Booked a table for my dad's 81st birthday this evening, having had two yummy experiences before. Despite having reserved a table, when we arrived, the attitude from the bar lady was 'sit where you want', so we put tables together, as you do. Then the rather nasty 'chef' came by to warn us casually that if we didn't order by 9.45 that was it. The bar staff were edgy and obviously weren't on the best terms with the chef. Obediently we ordered, only to find out there was no: salad, burgers, prawns, soup. (ie. half the menu.) We paid our bill and went to Pizza Express. The menu is great here and we have eaten here quite happily but tonight was appalling and I think you should know about it. Pubs aren't closing because of the smoking ban, they're closing because of this kind of stuff.
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