I think that their précis says it all really. The landlord had my last review taken down although as I write this you can still see the remains on Qype and it's still floating around Google.
So that he can't do the same thing again, I shall firmly abide by the rules of Qype; Write this as though I were talking to my mother, no rudeness, no spam and nothing personal. Purely and simply what I have experienced at this pub.
1) The building: The oldest surviving building in Henley apparently. That, clearly, has nothing to do with the current tenants it's a bit like advertising that your pub is on the oldest habitable planet in the solar system. Sadly, this historical building has not been maintained to show off it's heritage. A previous owner decided to paint the beams and, in general, the place looks tired and run-down.
2) The bar staff: Other than the landlord, the only chap that I have had dealings with is the bearded gentleman who, in current parlance, would be described as a Hipster. I find him to be arrogant and, when passing the pub, don't particularly relish the way he stands outside smoking and sneering at me presumably, feeling clever with himself for having my last review removed.
3) The landlord: In my experience, highly strung. What ever you do don't repeat my mistake of making any disparaging comments about his (his girlfriends?) dog. I believe it is a Chinese Crested Hairless dog, and I made the mistake of referring to it as a rat dog. Clearly, it isn't a rat. It's a dog. Presumably upon reading my previous review, he then visit at least one other pub in Henley to try and find me. Very professional behaviour!
4) The garden: Please note the quotes there. A small courtyard out back that you have to walk through to get to the toilets. A haphazard mixture of attempted trendy statement pieces old chairs, moss, wires and grime.
5) The toilets: Outdoor loos great in the winter one of each, so it's lucky that there is rarely a queue.
6) The food: There is none.
7) The drink: An average list of, what I find to be, poorly kept drinks that they try to spark up with the ever changing cocktail list (their words there, not mine). In practice, pretty pricey and again in my experience the red wine seems to have been sitting around for a while.
8) The crowd: I really can't describe this place as a destination pub and, therefore, it is hard to place a particular label upon the denizens. There seem to be a mixture of people who have popped in whilst shopping, waiting to get into the Bull, can't get into the Bull or the couple of what I assume to be regulars propping up the bar each time I have been in there. Probably just me, but not the sort of crowd that I would normally go out of my way to meet up with and, in my experience, generally thin on the ground.
So overall then. You may have spotted that I am not hugely keen on this place. Of course, your mileage may vary and, who knows, this could be the destination of your dreams. read more
