BITE user comments - Haldir
Comments by Haldir
I'd love to say that this is my favourite pub as I live around the corner from it. But frankly, it's a dive. These people don't give a flying f**k about anything but their profits.
The noise from Thursday through till Sunday night is a major annoyance to many locals. Despite many calls, complaints etc. it's pretty clear that the Hootenanny is just another carpetbagging bunch of exploitative gobshites who want to get rich on the "Brixton vibe" while treating the locals like shit.
I've lived here for 25 years and have seen the "Canning" through all its phases - this is the worst so far.
15 Apr 2010 23:26
Oh dear, the food is going downhill very fast. Went there last week (we go fairly regularly for a drink) and decided to eat. Husband had an awful fish and chips in beer batter. Note to chef: batter is supposed to be crispy, and fish shouldn't smell of ammonia. The chips were crap too. Shame, as we have had many good beers/food there before.
That said, when it's not packed to the doors and noisy, it's a nice place for a leisurely drink.
4 Aug 2009 00:02
I like the Commercial - weirdly enough, mostly for the music they play. Good beer, nice staff. Friendly crowd. The only thing I don't like is that it's really not very clean.
No one ever wipes down the tables which are frankly, filthy, womens' toilet need a deep clean.
C'mon Commercial - I like you - clean yourself up a bit.
3 Aug 2009 23:51
Surprisingly good beer considering how grotty the building is. I visit the Black Friar now and again to see if they've managed to clean it up a bit. This is a grade II listed premises saved from demolition and is well worth a look. However, it is very badly in need of a sympathetic clean and restore. The stink inside is really awful, there are clear signs of rodent infestation (yes really!). They do serve real beer and if its not too crowded you'll get a nice pint. Note to the owners: you really need to raise your game a bit here, you are destroying a historic building by neglect.
22 Aug 2006 09:59
Our new favourite place in Herne Hill. Small, but very stylish and spotlessly clean (especially the loo). There is a small 'lounge' area at the front + bar stools, then proper restaurant tables at the back, with a large fireplace. Interesting paintings, professionally hung, which is a nice change in Herne Hill (see Escape + Cafe Prov.). The food and bar snacks are very good, with a great wine list which includes a range of sherries - these must be tried - they're about as far from the stuff your granny drank at Christmas as you can get. The wine list has been carefully chosen with excellent and reasonably priced Spanish wines. Friendly and helpful staff. It is a non-smoking premises (great!). I'm pleased to say that it's often full (but makes it hard sometimes to get a seat). Definitely for grown-ups who appreciate good food, wine and service. My only very minor quibble is that the tapas portions are a bit on the 'nouvelle cuisine' side of small - or maybe I'm just greedy!
24 Jan 2006 09:31
Escape Bar and Art, Herne Hill
We've really tried to like this place, and had several crap experiences here before, but the last straw happened last week. Husband and I arrived, got settled in with our drinks and food at the back, on one of the big sofas,it was about 7:10. At about 7:30 one of the staff came over to the table and put a notice saying that the table had been booked from 8. I assumed that this applied to the seats opposite us, as she did not speak directly to us. Got another pint. At about 8 a posse of Nathan Barley lookalikes with their girlfriends arrived, came down to the back of the bar and started setting up dj stuff. Wine was uncorked and served at the big table. As no one had spoken to us yet, we didn't move. Some of the low benches were then placed in such a way as to block us from getting out of our seats, and the party animals were staring at us in a "please leave" kind of way. Then a woman who was obviously 'in charge' in some capacity came over and told us that the seats we were in were booked for a 'private party'. I pointed out that I had been in the seat for about 20 mins before the notice was put there, that this was a bar, and as far as I knew, if you got a drink and sat down somewhere, assuming that it wasn't marked 'reserved' AT THAT POINT, then that was "your seat". This didn't play too well, but since one of the Tristans had started to "dj" at that point, I decided to drink up and leave. We went next door to the Commericial for some nice Belgian beer.
The woman who spoke to us was the owner, I believe.
And since the music was probably too loud for me to tell her at the time, I would like to take this opportunity to tell her:
A successful bar needs paying customers - not free-loading Mockney art student DJs and their anorexic, snotty girlfriends.
Your bar is filthy - how about cleaning the toilets and the floor?
Make up your mind - are your running a bar for the general public, or are we just an amusing backdrop for your private parties?
The bar staff - get them some training in basic hygiene and food-handling, maybe they could run a mop over the floor occasionally.
We won't be going there again, but if your idea of a good night out is to be patronised by a bunch of no-talent trendies, deafened by their truly awful 'music', drink flattish beer served by surly/depressed staff, and be ordered from your seat by someone desperate to halt her impending middle age by hanging out with trendy 'yoof', then this is the place for you. Otherwise avoid like the plague.
23 Jan 2006 14:30
The Commercial, Herne Hill
Oh dear, the Commercial is circling the drain if our last visit was anything to go by.
It did seem a bit cleaner, but we waited for 50 minutes for some simple bar food. Partly the delay was caused by the wait staff who clearly forgot to send the order up to the kitchen. Then it got swallowed into some chef wormhole where the normal rules of space and time were suspended.
To be honest, we wouldn't have minded if any one of the boot-faced staff came over and apologized. But they don't do apologies at the Lubyanka, sorry I mean the Commercial. Customer service is definitely Soviet style: no bourgeois manners or friendliness here, Comrade.
It's a shame, this is a pub I used to really like.
15 Apr 2010 23:36