Pickman's model
sunset spires and twilight woods
what about the quiz?
The Prince Regent, Dulwich Road
- Thread starter goldengraham
- Start date
Fucking prat
Public forum.
2nd post above.
Public forum.
2nd post above.
hendo
Fish finger sandwiches
(Bumped)
The Prince Regent re-opened with little fanfare this weekend so I did a bit of intelligence gathering.
It's been bought by Punch Taverns, who've leased it out to a startlingly young and enthusiastic landlord. A lot of money has been spent totally refurbishing the interior. The minging loos have gone, but so have the pool tables and the big screen tellies.
Sofas have appeared, and lots of tables with an adequate number of chairs. Food is being spoken of by the management. When I asked what it would be like, the telling reply was: 'Better than the Commercial'. I heard the sound of tanks arriving on lawns.
There will be a pub quiz, it is said. And the beer? Bass, Flowers IPA, and a guest bitter.
The Prince Regent re-opened with little fanfare this weekend so I did a bit of intelligence gathering.
It's been bought by Punch Taverns, who've leased it out to a startlingly young and enthusiastic landlord. A lot of money has been spent totally refurbishing the interior. The minging loos have gone, but so have the pool tables and the big screen tellies.
Sofas have appeared, and lots of tables with an adequate number of chairs. Food is being spoken of by the management. When I asked what it would be like, the telling reply was: 'Better than the Commercial'. I heard the sound of tanks arriving on lawns.
There will be a pub quiz, it is said. And the beer? Bass, Flowers IPA, and a guest bitter.
corporate whore
oh, thought you were dead
hendo said:
Good.
hendo said:
Bad.
hendo said:
Ha! In which ways, I wonder? Cheaper would be a start..
Went past yesterday and saw the refurbished place. Looked fairly busy too, albeit with an entirely different crowd, mainly families eating Sunday lunch. Even a couple of 3-wheeled baby buggies in there.
All the TVs have gone, as have the pool tables. Bumped into a few of the Regent's old regulars in the Oirish abomination down the road (for the Man City game) and they weren't too impressed.
I can understand why the new management may have done it and the Regent needed a bit of a shake up, but the whole pub's now become set up for dining - even during empty weeknights the tables are are laden with condiments and cutlery.
Perhaps not the most inclusive approach, particularly as a roast dinner will apparently set you back a mighty £10.50....
All the TVs have gone, as have the pool tables. Bumped into a few of the Regent's old regulars in the Oirish abomination down the road (for the Man City game) and they weren't too impressed.
I can understand why the new management may have done it and the Regent needed a bit of a shake up, but the whole pub's now become set up for dining - even during empty weeknights the tables are are laden with condiments and cutlery.
Perhaps not the most inclusive approach, particularly as a roast dinner will apparently set you back a mighty £10.50....
Ms T said:
Hey, we're not talking about watching Eastenders here. Sometimes foks want to watch a big sporting event together and, short of paying more money in Murdoch's coffers, can't watch it at home.
I can understand why you may want to segment a dining area and remove some of the distractions, but a pub the size of the Regent could get away with having a goggle box in the corner. I'm just wary that the Regent now seems to be all about serving food, and at those prices it's unlikely to prove a draw to a large numbers of the locals and old regulars. You can't be everything to everyone for sure, but I'm still in favour in keeping the idea of an inclusive neighbourhood boozer in that location rather than a polite pseudo-restaurant.
Ms T said:
Eh? If there's one thing Herne Hill can lay claim to, it's plenty of restaurants, cafes or bar/pubs serving food. Not all of it may be great, but there's plenty of choice for the size of area.
In recent years, traditional old boozers such as the Hamilton, Commercial, Regent and to a lesser extent Brockwell have all bit the dust, or been tarted up to offer food and drink at considerably higher prices. I'm not claiming the older places were perfect, but they all did try to be middle ground places for all and sundry - their new incarnations seem to be far more targeted towards one style of entertainment/provision and (largely) one group than ever before.
Ms T
Honey-coloured ramparts
tarannau said:
I'm afraid I can't shed a tear for either the old Commercial or the Prince Regent. They were both horrible pubs that have been much improved by a good wash and brush up. I haven't been to the new Prince Regent yet, but I will probably pop in soon. IME there are still plenty of the old regulars in the Commercial -- it doesn't seem to me that they've been driven out by the revamp, and the beer is much better now.
As for food, afaik it's only the Commercial and now the Prince Regent that do food, no?
The Prince Regent revamp looks to me a bit like the Prince Albert one. They've given it a lick of paint and de-minged the toilets. Otherwise it's not much changed (apart from the pool tables have gone).
I was very sorry to see the Hamilton Arms go, even though it wasn't my kind of place.
Donna Ferentes
jubliado
The Prince Regent was, however, one of the very few pubs anywhere in London where it was sometimes possible to watch rugby league.Ms T said:
Sofas? No thanks.
Ms T said:
Nope, the Oirish eyesore that was the Brockwell is now marketed as a 'Steakhouse' with a huge conservatory and designated dining area. In fact every pub down there, with the exception of the Half Moon, now serves food at comparatively high prices. Don't even get me started on places like Escape...
The Half Moon is, from what I can tell, the last traditional boozer in Herne Hill. Whatever your views on the old Regent, Commercial and Brockwell, I do find that a little disappointing. Those places admittedly needed a buff-up and revamp, but the current changes have pretty much steamrollered everything in favour of maximising profits from food. And this in an area which has plenty of cafes, bars and eating establishments already. Gone are the pool tables, the tvs, much of the social mix - it's about primarily putting bums on seats to eat or drink premium (ie higher priced) beers - factors which work against creating truly mixed and diverse neighbourhood pubs imo.
PS: As for many of the old Commercial drinkers, I think we'll have to agree to disagree. Judging from the number of disgruntled old regulars at Ganley's yesterday (the Commercial used to be a renown Man City pub) I suspect that's not really the case.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
I've lived in Herne Hill for just over two years, in which time the Commercial, the Brockwell and now the Prince Regent by the sounds of it have been done up and the Hamilton has shut down. It's been a very rapid move towards identikit food pubs.
tarannau said:Went past yesterday and saw the refurbished place. Looked fairly busy too, albeit with an entirely different crowd, mainly families eating Sunday lunch. Even a couple of 3-wheeled baby buggies in there.
All the TVs have gone, as have the pool tables. Bumped into a few of the Regent's old regulars in the Oirish abomination down the road (for the Man City game) and they weren't too impressed.
I can understand why the new management may have done it and the Regent needed a bit of a shake up, but the whole pub's now become set up for dining - even during empty weeknights the tables are are laden with condiments and cutlery.
Perhaps not the most inclusive approach, particularly as a roast dinner will apparently set you back a mighty £10.50....
£4.99-£6.99 up here (in the heaving metropolis of Stockport) and loads of pubs and traditional boozers with decent beer. Thank heavens most trendies from Stockport seem to move to London to seek that 'edgyness' and 'vibrancy' that we have somehow missed out on.
Chuck Wilson said:
And it can be the same price in many pubs down here. I can get a roast for a fiver in Brixton, and I suspect the bargain boozers around here can get close on price for beers too. Competition works pretty well in most cases in keeping prices down.
Do you understand the difference between Herne Hill and Brixton btw? I wouldn't want you making an idjut out of yourself in your haste to make a cheap and snide point about 'edginess' and 'trendies'
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
I don't think it's very 'edgy' where I live, which is more the area being talked about.
tarannau said:
I do indeed tarannau .I lived in London for over 25 years although always in the North West, Harlesden, Kilburn and for a while in Acton. Edginess there was wanting to live in Ladbrook Grove or Westbourne Park. I wasn't making a cheap and snide point about anything apart from the effect of gentrification on pubs, traditional cafes etc in some parts of the country. What I will say is that there is a phenonema where people move to London for that 'edginess' that they think their home town lacks and then return back to their home town . Very often these professionals have a disproportionate affect on the develoipment of local communities even though their stay is only temporary and is replenished by people following a similar route.
You get exactly the same in parts of manchester where the influx of students and post students have led to butchers, fishmongers, traditional cafes, pubs, hardware shops closing and bars, takeaways and student rented accomodation taking the area over.
Donna Ferentes
jubliado
You're not kidding. There's still a couple of real shops down at the Plough (down my way) but other than that it's Non-Essentials City.
Chuck Wilson said:
I agree in part, but this is not just a London phenomena. All across the country traditional boozers are closing, squeezed by ever increasing property values and higher profit expectations. At their best pubs can provide an important community focus, which is why it's disappointing to see the hostelry landscape increasingly characterised by an economic bunfight of serving more food units and higher profitability beverages.
And blaming students and 'post students' (whatever they may be) for the decline of 'butchers, fishmongers, traditional cafes etc' seems farfetched to me. Brixton's hardly cheap accommodation student territory and in many cases more-monied work at home types can keep these kind of stores open - witness the number of butchers and fishmongers surviving in more affluent areas for example. If anything it's the other way round - supermarkets have often helped to destroy those kinds of stores in the most woirking class and least 'edgy' locales.
Donna Ferentes
jubliado
You can't have "a" phenomena.
tarannau said:
I also agree in part but I think you will find that this is an uneven phenonema nationally accelerated in certain areas.
Interstingly enough local residents in Fallowfield in Manchester were quite clear that the influx of students and post students had had a disproportionate influence in the development of the area at the expense of locally born residenst when they were interviewed on the effect of the first evenings extension of the licensing laws on Radio 5 live. A combination of Lansdlords and student parents have bought up houses for their kids and then sub let them.Similarly say in Chorlton and Didsbury the earning power of students who have become realtively high earning white collar proffesionals have inflated the housing market .
Supermarkets and national pub chains have got have to have a market and there is a difference in the proliferation of Aldi,Netto and Weatherspoons and the proliferation of Sainsburies and gastro pubs.
christonabike
Elm Park Bencher
No pool tables
Bollocks
Where's the pool team gone?
Bollocks
Where's the pool team gone?
Streathamite
ideological dogmatist
i'm not sad the Regent's gone. the pub quiz was cool, but the rest was pretty grim
top_biller
a big bowl of wrong
Went in for a couple yesterday, seemed like the new landlord had packed it out with his mates on a celebratory opening lunch. Pretty inoffensive I thought, food looked good although a bit steep, bar staff friendly although all still learning the ropes. The menu with manuscript notes for the waitresses had been left on the bar and passed the time whilst I waited for my Guinness -"Thyme - herb, cannelloni beans - large white beans". It's got the honour of being my new local as of this weekend so I'm going to have to focus firmly on its good points, such as its proximity to my front door.
corporate whore
oh, thought you were dead
At christonabike - good question. Think the Hamilton pool teams migrated to the Regent, so there's more than a few looking for new baize.
Couple of points - for a fine example of how a football pub shouldn't try to combine food, take a peek in Ganleys of a Sunday. Families trying to have lunch find themselves hemmed in by people wanting a better view of the many screens, one of which is in the dining area.
Can't agree that East Dulwich is 'Non-Essentials City', though I'd agree the area has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. Off the top of my head I can think of a place to buy household goods, a decent butcher, a few cheap caffs, a plumber and a glazier. What surprises me more is that Lordship Lane didn't die a death when Sainsbury's opened on Dog Kennel Hill..
Couple of points - for a fine example of how a football pub shouldn't try to combine food, take a peek in Ganleys of a Sunday. Families trying to have lunch find themselves hemmed in by people wanting a better view of the many screens, one of which is in the dining area.
Can't agree that East Dulwich is 'Non-Essentials City', though I'd agree the area has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. Off the top of my head I can think of a place to buy household goods, a decent butcher, a few cheap caffs, a plumber and a glazier. What surprises me more is that Lordship Lane didn't die a death when Sainsbury's opened on Dog Kennel Hill..
christonabike
Elm Park Bencher
It's where we went after seven a side football down Dulwich, so we'll give it a try tonight again now it's open
We're usually messy as fuck, in our kit with shinnies hanging out, after kicking a ball and running about
So, will they let us in?
We're usually messy as fuck, in our kit with shinnies hanging out, after kicking a ball and running about
So, will they let us in?
Ms T
Honey-coloured ramparts
corporate whore said:
The butcher only opened a couple of months ago, though.
Even my friends who have lived in East Dulwich for ages are vaguely embarrassed by how posh East Dulwich has become. Plus it means that they can no longer afford to live there now they have a child and need a bigger place.
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