BITE user comments - RichRichMan
Comments by RichRichMan
Found this place by chance whilst out on bikes with my brother a few years ago. Stunned - it was like stepping back to the 1930's. The two ladies 'running' the bar, both wearing jodphurs, were slightly surprised to see us and we were the only people in the place. Two pints of ale (I can't remember which), two cheese sandwiches, we sat on the old cracked leather sofa in a bare and slightly cold room, happily taking in the ruralness of it all.
As we cycled off into the early May evening, I still wasn't sure what year it was - until I saw a car in Checkendon.
18 Jan 2011 16:08
This pub has long gone. It's now a "trendy" and utterly dead bar called Mannakoo, which due to lack of interest appears to be open only sometimes.
The Jolly Porter used to be a meeting venue for a hardcore of alcoholic middle aged Irish navvies back in it's glory days of the 1970's and 80's.
18 Jan 2011 14:21
An old Victorian beer house, and one of the last of its kind in Reading. Small, functional, and home to a handful of regulars. Friendly enough and beer is generally good. Unless you live next door, it's a bit too out of the way for a casual drop in unfortunately.
18 Jan 2011 14:13
Has undergone a refurbishment since I lived in the area and has lost some of the character it did have. Not a bad local boozer though and a good mix of characters. Hardcore and cliquey quiz night with some very determined players who don't seem to appreciate cocky strangers challenging their authority.
17 Jan 2011 12:02
The White Horse, Parsons Green
Good fun and very busy pub. Spills out onto the park in the summer and it's very pleasant lay around on the grass sipping your ale.
Busy it is. There can be high waiting times at the bar during peak hours, which seems to be every single evening and all day at the weekend.
17 Jan 2011 11:54
The Mad Bishop and Bear, Paddington
A bit like an Americanised theme park version of an English pub, such as you might expect to find at Disneyland or Universal Studios. Complete with wacky name and wooden interior.
It's not a bad place though in fairness. I feel at least I can relax here whilst gulping down my second waiting-for-the-train pint. The pubs in the Paddington area are generally poor and the whole area has a slightly creepy edge and I find myself checking for wallet and mobile every 2 minutes, whilst I clutch my bag firmly between my knees.
17 Jan 2011 11:42
The Dickens Tavern, Paddington
A completely unremarkable pub which is unfortunately the closest one to Paddington Station and one most likely to catch the unweary waiting for their trains.
Long, yes - I believe it claims to be Londons longest pub, stinky - check, it surely does hum like a Victorian doss house, characterless - check, I see people but theres no sign of life captain.
I've walked in a few times, strolled the entire length, and then changed my mind and left. Such dull and lifeless pubs are typical of Paddington, and they vaguely give me the creeps.
17 Jan 2011 11:30
The Fountains Abbey, Paddington
An OK place for a pint if you're waiting for a train. Looks good from the outside, looks OK inside, but is full of people who are either waiting for a train or those who are completely lost. The odd tourist here and there staying in cheap hotels in the area.
I can't ever imagine going here unless I was waiting for a train.
17 Jan 2011 11:11
Really not a bad pub at all. I regularly drop in for a crafty one on the way home from work, and I'm always impressed by their range of ales.
I wouldn't do a whole night there though, as it doesn't (in my mind) seem the right kind of place.
18 Nov 2010 01:00
A great place if you are in with the 'gang', or can get a seat at the back early on (out of the 'gangs' way). If you have to loiter near the bar to sup your ale, then you'll soon get on 'gangs' nerves and further requests for beer may be accidentally on purpose not heard and 'gang' may have a little collective chuckle to themselves about that.
Tiny, always full, and you have to admire their determination in variety of very good real ales. Just don't get in 'gangs' way, or you won't be made to feel at all welcome.
18 Nov 2010 00:39
A precious relic of olde Reading. A pub clearly many 100's of years old that appears to have been last furnished in the 1950's and which seems to change ownership regularly.
Thankfully the previous owners Thai food experiment failed, lest it may have followed a similar fate to the old Mitre Inn on West Street (now Thai Corner).
It must be preserved for the good of Mankind, being one of only a tiny handful of genuine old Inns left in Reading. The beer isn't bad either.
18 Nov 2010 00:25
Good town centre pub for an after work beer or watching the rugby, sadly let down by thick-wit Australian bar staff who repeatedly tried to short change me with Euros!
6 Sep 2005 11:46
The Sun Inn, Reading
I agree with the last post here - this pub has a lot of potential, but until that is realised then it will probably teeter on the edge of closing down for good.
A very old and long established coaching Inn that dates back to the 1600's. It's original purpose has long become invalid, though the town centre location has kept the pub successful up until the residential clear outs of the Butts area and development of the IDR in the 1960's and 70's. Since then the pub has become rather isolated, and has struggled to develop or maintain any identity into the 21st Century.
Many of it's type have since disappeared or changed business - such as the old Mitre Inn on West Street, now Thai Corner.
In order to continue the Sun Inn must change - as it stands it cannot be a commercially viable proposition. I would love to see it transform gently into a real ale venue, in the style and spirit of the Nags Head. The town centre currently lacks this type of pub. What I wouldn't like to see is this historic old Inn receive an unsympathetic gutting into yet another ethnic restaurant.
23 Jan 2011 13:10