BITE user comments - TheWickerMan
Comments by TheWickerMan
Kenbabs you do adopt the moral high ground don't you? And please feel free to scroll through my pages of reviews and you will also find positive comments, giving credit where credit's due.
I am also more than happy to supply my name, so how about we all 'un-mask' (at the risk of our discussions becoming more of a masquerade than the Investors' care for the Swan's existing regular trade)?
The facts, my friend remain:
1: The balance of opinion is that the interior has been poorly done, which radically alters the feel of the place. Put simply, I understand you disagree with this Kenbabs.
If the Investors cared a jot that this was important they could simply hire a real designer to put the mess right.
2: The atmosphere has been sterilised by replacing the staff with untrained teenagers who have to have a large labels on all of the bottles in order to identify the contents.
I've nothing against these guys but as the quality of the staff make a pub, again here the poor Swan has taken a backward step.
I don't either want or need to debate this ad-nauseum when Kenbabs you clearly have some sort of relationship to the Investors who have cocked the whole thing up.
And I agree with the most recent review in that I think the Swan's trade will suffer in the winter when it had been we regulars that had been continuing to spend there, keeping the place afloat.
25 Jun 2010 13:35
Me, a disgruntled crony kenbabs??? Would you like to meet for a drink and say that to my face?
Im not a 15 year regular, just six years and feel I am entitled to my opinion. So Twickenham pub history is your speciality huh and you like the interior?
Kenbabs you are shyster sir and should return to the murk of the George and Web Ellis where you surely usually inhabit.
21 Jun 2010 15:11
The Investors have given this fantastic old pub a lobotomy for sure, flashed a leery smile and a wink at its regulars and the kicked us all in the nuts.
Whilst some rennovation was doubtless needed on the infrastructure of an historic building, why feel the need to alter the look of the interior so radically? And fundamentally get it so wrong? If the 'Designer' is reading this, you're rubbish mate. Yes I'm sure your flat's very trendy but why have you inflicted your sterile, soulless, bland and ultimately average taste on the poor old White Swan?
I used to go here for the colourful regulars, the cool staff, the beaten up traditional interior and basically the warmth of welcome and feeling of jolity and relaxed contentment whilst having a pint by the fire. Now the only thing that hasn't been meddled with is the view of the Thames.
I would very much like to meet some of these charming Investors for a drink and personally expend time and energy explaining why they (and other nipples like them) should stay out of decent pubs and stick to wine bars where they would be so much more suited.
I have just changed my rating of this pub from 8 to zero and strongly urge everyone else who feels the same to do likewise.
You mess with our pub and we'll floor your rating. See you all in the Fox then...
19 Jun 2010 15:17
As grotty a pub as you could ever hope to find. I like to pride myself on the fact you usually find something positive to say in a review, but abandon all hope ye who enter here....
17 May 2010 12:38
Hello again!
Hmm well I'm not happy. What do the management of a pub have to do to make two very long-standing bar staff, the assistant manger and the previous manager (who was still working) there leave?
I'm not sure either, but the new management of the White Swan have 'managed' this at one stroke! Goodbye to Tom, Lee, Daisy and Ash - this is certainly the end of an era!
And to the beloved investors (I'll keep this short):
Swivel.
10 May 2010 15:44
Having just moved into the area you're going to check out your locals aren't you? I get the impression with The Blucher that you have to have been going in there for years to get a hello and and I won't say anything bad about the Sussex for fears of my own safety...
My vote undoubtably goes to The Bloomsbury.
The pub is large and perfectly decorated (nice lampshades...) with seperate dining area, saloon and comfortable lounge with leather benches, sofas and chairs and a roaring fire for those chilly winter evenings. All the sport you need pops out of the plasma screens for the footie and rugby fans amongst you, but they don't get in the way if you just fancy a pint.
The drinks could be cheaper (�3.30 ish a pint) but I guess there's not much that can be done about that and it's pretty standard unless you really love the atmosphere in a Wetherspoons. Everything's spotless and never had a bad pint.
As for the grub, in my view The Bloomsbury serves the best pub food in Twickenham. There's nothing poncy or pretentious here, just spot on traditional fare.
Hearty, huge portions are presented piping hot and all made fresh. Melt in the mouth lamb shanks come out alongside enormous chargrilled burgers, but my favourite has been kidneys in gravy with fluffy, buttery mash and spring greens - you don't see that every day do you? Absolutley delicious and good value when you consider I paid the same amount for a miniscule ham sandwich in the Blucher.
There's also basket meals for bar food (�3.95?????!!) - freshly made (no, not frozen) chicken dippers and chips if you just fancy a quick bite. I'm looking forward to the warmer weather when they can fire the BBQ up regularly! They've got the space and the know-how to cater for larger groups so it's also a great option for groups to use it for business, birthdays or parties.
What The Bloomsbury is all about is effort and standards. Pete and Jane are putting their heart and soul into making this pub a real contender - most recently all of the front and rear has been newly decked ready for the summer and for a crack at defending their Pubs In Bloom title from last year.
For those of you bored with the same offerings in Twickenham, walk up past the green and be welcomed in The Bloomsbury.
Yes, this apparantly used to be a dodgy boozer called th Five Oaks. So??? Sometimes things in life change and get better? The ghost of the Five Oaks has been laid to rest, so let's all get over it and go and enjoy oursleves in The Bloomsbsury!
15 Apr 2010 10:55
What are you doing to my favourite pub?
Now, whilst I expect the staff to wear faceless black uniforms in an All Bar One (I'd rather chew my own foot off) or a Pitcher and Piano (I'd rather set fire to my own nostril hair), why has this been adopted by the most welcoming and relaxing boozer in Twickenham?
For me the White Swan's charm is the atmosphere created by the regulars, the blazing fragrant wood fires, the quirky interior, the ales, definitely the staff but most importantly the fact that the whole experience is the very antithesis of the chain-run bar or branded corporate run boozer.
Making the staff wear black (and those strange little aprons) changes these guys into something they're not - young people with wit, flair, individuality and (for many of them I suspect) a history of working in the Swan stretching back years. Go on, make them wear ties and shiny shoes to complete the look - I dare you.
A small change like this gives me a sense of foreboding about to what extent the new owners will change the Swan into yet another Twickenham pub becoming fat and vapid, feeding on the excesses of rugby day.
Stop looking at your investment plan and realise what makes the Swan great - it's individuality!
Don't fix what isn't broken!
28 Mar 2010 13:10
Back to TheWickerMan's profile
The Britannia, Richmond
Not bad at all if you fancy a swifty whilst you're in the town centre. Barmaids are usually quite fit too!
12 Jul 2010 16:21