BITE user comments - emcg
Comments by emcg
Popped in on Friday lunchtime after seeing that this pub was once more 'Under New Management'.
Good to see plenty of guest ales, an extensive wine list, a good value menu and a happier, livelier feel about the place. The cheerful barmaid certainly knew her stuff about the ales. My pint of 'Bitter & Twisted' was well kept and served.
After several recent changes of management hopefully this pub now has the landlord and lady it deserves.
27 Mar 2009 22:06
The Queen has reopened its doors. Essentially, it's the same friendly, lively community pub as before.
However, it's been given a good clean up and redecoration. There are now 2 big TV screens, a pool table and a darts room.
Great to have a boozer back in Queens Park.
10 Jun 2008 06:35
Just got back from this pub - live traditional Irish music - 1st Wednesday of every month - superb music, great beer, good staff. Get along here.
4 Jul 2007 22:44
Popped in on Saturday. Wow - what a place. Beautifully refurbished - lots of wood and tiling giving the place a real sense of an old ale house. Fantastic selection of beers - including an excellent pint of Bombadier (something very hard to find in Bedford!)plus lots of bottled ales & foreign beers. Friendly and knowledgeable service, they even helped with the kids buggy I had with me. Plus a nice garden out back. Food looks good value too. It seems that I have a new local.
28 May 2007 12:15
There seem to be builders inside - perhaps it will be reopening soon. But rather than a different floor they need a different type of customer if they hope to make this place worth visiting.
13 Mar 2007 18:38
Now completely demolished. Only 2 pubs left in Queens Park now - The Queen & The Bell.
13 Mar 2007 18:34
This has now turned back into the Saracens Head with an emphasis on food. The menu was good value with decent portions and the service was both cheery and efficient. Good selection of beers with Youngs Bitter on draft when I visited. Hopefully, this incarnation will succeed where so many have failed before. It certainly deserves to.
13 Mar 2007 18:33
The Park Pub and Kitchen, Bedford
Since last visiting in July this place has gone downhill. Foof menu seems to have halved and service was poor. Sort yourselves out!
29 Oct 2006 18:50
This pub was recommended to me by the Lewes tourist office when I was down for a day trip. What a fantastic boozer - great beer (try their own brew Lewes Arms Ale) - friendly staff - good food and a fine old building.
18 Aug 2006 20:19
The Park Pub and Kitchen, Bedford
Upmarket pub in a posher part of Bedford. Great selection of beers, friendly service plus an excellent menu. Well worth a visit.
23 May 2006 21:10
I was really looking forward to a trip to this juicer. The reaction the wife and I got when we walked in was akin to that given by yokels to stangers in the village tavern in a Hammer horror film. As a CAMRA member myself this place did sniff a bit of the 'real ale snobbery' often found in such pubs. But the beer was tasty and the music good. But I did find the place a little unwelcoming as if the regulars resented any newcomers in 'their' boozer.
4 Dec 2005 20:14
New landlords have added some excellent real ales in this small and friendly local. If you like your boozer to be cosy, wood beamed and have great beer then this is the one for you.
13 Nov 2005 14:09
Tavistock Pub & Carvery, Bedford
Used to be The Corner House but has since been redecorated and opened as The New Inn. A recent visit left me disappointed. Firstly, there were no cask ales just the disappointingly bland Eagle Smooth. Secondly, the redecoration has stripped the place of any atmosphere. Maybe it just needs some time to get a more 'lived in look'?
13 Nov 2005 14:07
A popular Irish pub. Usually gets very busy on (especially on pension day) as the local OAPs get smashed and enjoy a kareoke. Good luck to them. Often very cheap Eagle IPA is available and there is a pool table around the back. But get here early if you want a seat as the place is pretty small.
13 Nov 2005 14:04
A local boozer on the corner of Coventry Road and Howard Avenue. A bit of an oddity this one. My Saturday afternoon visit (with 2 friends) was met with odd looks from the locals. The same looks given to strangers who enter the local tavern in a Hammer horror film. But the customers and staff soon turned friendly. The place was busy with a table full of OAPs and another table full of kids busy with colouring books. At the same time Trance music was belting out. But the beer (Directors) was very good indeed. All in all, an odd but not unfriendly place.
13 Nov 2005 14:00
Tucked in a street just off Hurst Grove this pub has a lot of potential. But sadly, at the moment, that is all it is - potential. The service and other drinkers are friendly enough and both Eagle and Bombadier are available (well, the Charles Wells brewery is only about 100 metres away.) But the place needs a bit of TLC. I see from the Charles Wells website that the tenancy is available so maybe a future landlord/lady will give this place the renovation is deserves.
13 Nov 2005 13:55
Atmospheric pub - good range of ales and nice bar staff. Just watch out for the odd nutter like the one who tried to stick his fingers in my wife's ears.
31 Oct 2005 18:42
Very smokey and very crowded - an OK bar but I have to say I am a bit mystified by all the accolades this place has received.
31 Oct 2005 18:36
Beautiful old english pub, great choice of ales, excellent food and friendly staff. What more could you want?
13 Aug 2005 11:44
No knives needed - never ever felt threatened in this place - good music, good beer and far less idiots than anywhere else on the High Street.
28 Jul 2005 19:38
Was The Circuit Bar, then turned back into it's original incarnation - The Saracens Head. They did some excellent food (esp. the homemade steak and ale pie)at decent prices and had a good beer selection. They lasted about 6 months. Now it is The Flamin' Galah - 'Bedford's No.1 Aussie Sports Bar' according to the sign - no steak and ale pie anymore - but maybe a koala burger perhaps?
28 Jul 2005 19:36
Great pub with lots of beautiful Victorian tiling, mirrors and woodwork that has been ripped out of most other pubs. Good Guinness and great music on a Saturday night - get there early if you want a seat.
3 Jul 2005 20:05
The pub that put the ales in Wales - great place tucked away on a Mumbles residential street - real beer served in a real pub for real people. Recommended.
8 Jun 2005 20:23
Looks lovely from the outside but you'd best stay there. Once inside the place disappoints. Nice garden but filled with hoards feral kids screaming and running about as their white trash parents look on. Lots of uncleared glasses and plates and staff who look like they'd rather be somewhere else. Who could blame them? Avoid.
6 Apr 2005 07:07
Friendly pub with a great selection of real ales. Opening hours might catch you out - they seem to be 12-3 and 5-11 during the week. Well worth a visit.
24 Nov 2004 18:09
The Embankment, Bedford
Visited a couple of days ago. Really outstanding food, service and atmosphere. The refurbishment is little short of incredible compared to the dowdy, tired old place this used to be. Admittedly, it is on the pricey side but since the food is so good is does represent good value. So perhaps a place for a special occasion. All the usual Wells Youngs beers on tap and well kept too. Highly recommended.
26 Oct 2009 08:51