All Pub reviews (page 1)

Not reviewed yet.

Want to review it? Now closed. Looks like it will be re-opened as "acorn urban bar and kitchen". The pub's sign does not bode well. The dancing image of the famous character from Oliver Twist and the wacky writing promise the kind of 80s theme pub hell that died out over a decade ago. We were expecting such varied delights as plastic furniture, video machines and perhaps even a bowling alley. Thankfully we were wrong. The reality is a decent local boozer with a pleasing variety of offerings at the bar. There is a pool table, a modest number of games machines and a small beer garden that is covered by a vine-clad pergola. Its proximity to the station is a likely indication that it gets busy after work. For maximum enjoyment arrive on a Saturday afternoon when all the idiots are drinking elsewhere in the town. Pillar of the gay community in Soho, spilling out to take over most of Compton Street in the summer, it seems to have lost some of its kudos recently to the nearby rising stars of Comptons and the Duke of Wellington. Wireless internet. First impressions? Well, it's ultra traditional. It retains separate lounge and bar areas. The beige/brown walls display a mixture of vaguely nautical pictures and pub bric-a-brac. Middle aged builders sup on their pints at the bar whilst discussing the price of timber. Englebert Humperdinck croons his Last Waltz on the jukebox. It's all very old school. Just like the alehouses in days of old, they don't serve food. The beer is worth mentioning - McMullens (never heard of it until now). It does exactly what it says on the tin. A solid, no frills local boozer. Unremarkable but pleasant enough, parked on the corner near Sainsbury and Woolworths, and therefore a good enough excuse not to visit either. Hovering halfway between traditional pub and trendy bar (and managing to be neither), its very lack of definition appeals to a broad enough range of people to slowly fill up as the evening progresses, but not getting to the point of being too busy (at least on the Tuesday of visiting). Plenty of tables, nice bar staff, a few real ales and prices that were not too exorbitant considering the area. The occasional weird punter. Has a TV showing football, but the sound was off and no-one seemed to be paying attention anyway. I don't usually like pubs that have gone all sofa lounge style. It usually attracts people with odd beards who work in advertising, are ex-web developers or do something equally useless. However, this used to be a firkin Firkin (if you see what I mean,) so this new incarnation is a big improvement. In fact, to my horror, I actually found it, er, quite relaxed, and even, um, pleasant as I lounged through a lunchtime in a smug beardy sort of manner, watching people pass by on the street. The food is crap and expensive, but to compensate the staff are lovely. I'm not sure what's coming over me. Must be time for a shave... Has just undergone a refit, which from the outside looks truly horrific. Not reviewed yet.

Want to review it? Large, with little rooms and passages opening off in various directions, a huge beer garden and an interesting food menu. Dark wood, standard decor, a lovely front lounge opening onto the street. Disorientating toilets keep the beer-addled brain in working order. Set in some kind of utopian parallel-universe London of easy lives and limitless wealth, lost within backstreets of white stucco bliss and urban pleasantry, this is worth taking the trouble to locate. Especially on Saturday afternoons The bar inside mimics the curve of the elegant Victorian faade that faces the street. Ageing men seated at the bar struggle to converse over the blaring “Urban” music. After several futile attempts at communication, they give up and return to their newspapers and fags. The daughter is clearly in charge of the music in this family run establishment and I don’t think she’s quite yet grasped the musical tastes of the clientele. Light streams in through the large windows highlighting the tobacco haze and shows an absence of dust. Evidently, the family seem to be doing a good job of keeping the place clean. The beer was equally well-kept. A solid unpretentious local.

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