Acceptable or even GOOD pubs in London city centre?

full story - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/apr/14/gay-claim-ejected-pub-kissing

it was pretty cool to see how twitter not only gave the story legs, but actually put those witnesses in touch with the couple, having not known them previously

The John Snow is clearly run by weirdos, we were in there during the protests and the pub was heaving and clearly making a fortune, and they then closed up at about 5 due to fear of "riots". As if even the most mental black bloc types would smash up a Yorkshire brewery's pub, especially one full of protestors.

Obviously there is now a gay kissing flashmob planned for the John Snow.

i've never had any probs there, and actually quite like it (mainly due to the prices) but then I was merely fisting my partner at the time and there were v few people in the pub.

Lest we forget the Greencoat Boy: http://www.fancyapint.com/pubs/pub1520.php

If I want Sam Smiths prices I just go to GHS tbh.

iirc John Snow have some ludicrous system for letting people drink outside as well. Although tbf that may be imposed by the council or something

Yeah the GHS is so much nicer than the John Snow.

x-post they do actually yeah...i can't recall what it is but it's fucking absolutely crazy is my memory of it.

is ghs also cheap booze?

Sam Smith's as well.

ah yeah...i've been in it before but not that often.

GHS smells perpetually of puke though. it's like the upstairs stage at minehead butlins.

that's because unlike the john snow, they don't kick you out for puking

well yeah

Jonathan Williams, a journalist for a financial trade magazine, and James Bull, a charity volunteer, say they were ejected from the John Snow on Broadwick Street, Soho, by a woman who claimed to be the landlady and said they were being "obscene".

Bull said he was physically sick after the incident

haha

Not sure that every gay person in London turning up at the John Snow is going to be a particularly effective protest if they're all buying drinks in between the kissing.

i guess that's why it says to only order tap water

Surely then they'll just get kicked out for not buying drinks?

They should form a kissing ring around the pub that blocks anyone from getting in.

you can't get kicked out of a pub for ordering tap water can you?!

You can get kicked out of a pub for just sitting there and not buying anything. Considerably less controversially.

you can kiss in a pub but can't even sit in and enjoy a nice refreshing glass of tap water. broken britain, tbh

20 years ago you could kiss man woman or beast in a pub. today we are at war in libya. the prices are a disgrace.

aids.

not sure mocking people upset about this is a good look

good thing i'm not doing it then.

this is bullshit and i will avoid the john snow as a result most likely. i hereby announce this to the web, may god have mercy on me.

oh sorry i couldn't parse that shining example of jaded "humour"

you should start a sock account to have these fights with yourself...or just take up yoga. lex i agree it's completely out of order, in fact that's prob the reason people are making dumb jokes about the glasshouse stores and the john snow, because nobody would defend this.

front cover of the guardian!

http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2011/Apr/Week2/15972673.jpg

OMG, dark-haired one on the right has been in a drinking situ with me and Lex! "Financial journalist" would be the pertinent clue re. the connection - dude knows a fair few activists, let's say.

ws white shirt

OMG, dark-haired one on the right has been in a drinking situ with me and Lex! "Financial journalist" would be the pertinent clue re. the connection - dude knows a fair few activists, let's say.

really?! did not recognise at all (and still don't) - we had no twitter follows in common when i checked

Twitter doesn't come into it. Dude in question is a good friend of Hugo's and I'm pretty sure he came to one of my birthday drinks with him.

ah that makes sense, wondered if it was through hugo!

reckon this piece of info can make tomorrow's guardian front page #slownewsdays

Love how the Guardian stopped its liveblog just before the flashmob was due to start.

I know I've mentioned this before but what is the deal with London barstaff? They are a fucking joke. Maybe specific to east, maybe not, but the amount of rank awful bartending, eg you tell them someone else is before you and they then forget to serve you next, or they stand around and don't serve anyone, they talk to their friends, they can't take more than one order at a time, they come back and ask you for the order again etc. Do the owners of these pubs never make an appearance?

I hate this. Another thing is when they are serving someone and it's just you waiting, like, they can see you and there's been some eye contact. Then just as they've finished they get distracted and then go off and do something else. Just say something like "I'll be back" FFS. I'm used to walking out of places if I spot this in advance.

I was at a bar yesterday and some guy asked for a White Russian. The only girl behind the bar didn't know how to make one, so in a 'chat-up mode' he goes "I can show you!". CHOOSE SOMETHING ELSE MAN. She's collecting together the stuff and there's queue building up. Then she doesn't hold the shaker top, gives it a big shake and I'm covered in milk. Nice.

Jesus that's astonishing...

Yeah it's nigh on stopped me wanting to go to the Florist at any busy time, but other places are horrible too, the Spurstowe (don't like this place anyway, full of weird yuppies) is particularly bad.

I feel all Frank Sobotka but even a tiny bit of pride or sense of craft about working in a bar would be nice. When I worked in retail (granted in shops, but it did get incredibly busy at Christmas) I was nice to people and hurried at it because it's a good buzz serving huge volumes of people politely. I feel like some of these people think they're cool because they work in a gentrified pub or something, "you're just not quite in on the vibe of the project of me working here...which involves a lot of staring into space"

You go abroad and even in countries where they're rude at least they're efficient and can take a few orders at once. Or London can surprise you too, but I don't want to have to buy cocktails at the Hawksmoor to deal with friendly barstaff who are a good laugh.

that girl behind the bar sounds hot xpost

I was at the Florist a few Fridays ago. The thing I noticed there was the price for a pint, is it £4.90 or something? I worked in a pub when I was 19. Not knowing who is next or offering hand out for a note without totaling it up in your head just wasn't tolerated. Maybe I'm not cool but working in a pub can be fun, I really enjoyed it. I do think that in some East London places you must have to audition like working in American Apparel or something.

Yeah, she wasn't bad. She tried to talk to me after all that but I was fucking fuming.

The thing I noticed there was the price for a pint, is it £4.90 or something?

What in blue blazes are you doing there then?

Was at the pub/bar at Kings Place a couple of weeks ago and the service was shambolic.

hum the one that has the outside bit by the canal? it was okay when i went (although i was mostly bought beers for free all night tbf) and the last time while i looked for a toilet i stumbled upon a art viewing thing and got some extra free wine (the beer was already free but you can't turn down free booze can you?) while looking at some photos of pj harvey

that's the palm...better service there generally, albeit with weird quirks!

I was at the Florist a few Fridays ago. The thing I noticed there was the price for a pint, is it £4.90 or something? I worked in a pub when I was 19. Not knowing who is next or offering hand out for a note without totaling it up in your head just wasn't tolerated. Maybe I'm not cool but working in a pub can be fun, I really enjoyed it. I do think that in some East London places you must have to audition like working in American Apparel or something.

what were you drinking? think it's about 3.70 a pint, for meantime pale ale anyway, it is expensive i guess, mind you i feel like last 3/4 months almost everywhere has jacked up prices.

They have

Yeah, just a bit further on from the offices of the Guardian.

So I guess you didn't have to wait too long for the beer to be bought to you, and wonder what happened to the person who was buying. You were lucky. At least we got an apology.

First the person right behind us got served first (I was just talking to the person I was with). Ended up having to wave right in front of the bar guy's face to eventually get service. At the end of that we then just a good 10 min rant to ourselves about the service. Great way to start an evening. xxp

yeah 20p or 30p more most places, dunno, i still mentally compare to dublin so uk has a long way to go to get that bad. 5.50 euro a pint etc...

4.90 makes me so angry