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Disappointment of the week with Tris39
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Detail Pages
Barrel & Horn, Bromley
Bromley
BR1 1PW
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john gray left this review about Barrel & Horn
Scruffy pub compared to Fullers usual standard but it is Craft so maybe that explains it.The beer does the talking.Rear beer garden.Two good cask beers from Siren and burntmill and about 10 kegs from Burnt mill so an excellent times was had .
On 19th November 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1023 recommendations about 1009 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Barrel & Horn
As described in more detail below, this is Fullers' attempt to create a craft beer restaurant/bar and achieves limited success. It consists of an open plan room in pastel green, with a kitchen and dining area to the rear, but lacks much in the way of atmosphere. The front windows appear to open up in summer which might be nice, but the furnishings left a lot to be desired. A dozen or so keg taps offered a reasonable range of craft stuff, but just London Pride available on pump. Not really my sort of place.
On 9th December 2021
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Barrel & Horn
This pub was one of a small number of Fullers houses revamped by Steve Keegan (now of Late Knights Brewery-fame), with the idea being to strip back on visible Fullers branding and products to create a feel akin to a freehouse, allowing for a wider range of beers to be sold and the chance to target a different sector of the pub market. As with one of his other high profile projects, the Union Tavern in Maida Hill, the interior has been refitted to make it less traditional in appearance. You enter into a spacious bare boarded area with the servery down the right hand wall and ample canteen style benches and tables filling the bulk of the room. The bar has a basic counter and a bar back with swan wallpaper, whilst the rest of the room was decked with Oktoberfest bunting and there was plenty of promotional material detailing the range of German lagers they had on offer over this period. Some standard tables and chairs can be found under the front windows, whilst the walls have been painted in pastel shades, with one wall covered in a large sheet with an interesting design on it. The room narrows further back and here you can find some high tables and stools, a few armchairs and plenty more standard seating, as the room gradually becomes darker and darker the further back you move. There is an open kitchen back here and the walls are wood panelled in part with some white tiles and butterfly wallpaper thrown in for effect. To the rear right there is a small raised room with limited seating of varying degrees of comfort and something of a 1950’s living room aesthetic. Music played quietly throughout our visit and live music was being promoted quite extensively.
The decision to vary the ale range resulted in just the one Fullers Beer – Oliver’s Island – being available alongside guest options of Windsor and Eton Zinzan’s Drop and Tonbridge Blonde Ambition, with a real cider occupying an additional hand pump. I tried the Blonde Ambition, which I found in excellent condition and served by a chatty barman. As mentioned above, the pub was celebrating Oktoberfest and had put several German beers on keg, which supplemented a fairly interesting and diverse ‘craft’ range.
I’m not sure what this pub was like in its previous incarnation, but I thought this was a decent attempt to create something a bit different out of a well established format. I was more than happy spending time in here and would liken the place to a less chaotic Antic venue. This is a decent option for a town centre pint and I’m sure I’ll be calling in again soon.
On 17th November 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Alan Winfield left this review about Barrel & Horn
The Barrel & Horn is a unsigned Fullers tied house which is very close to Mascotts and the Partridge.
Once inside there is a largish room with the bar to the front right,the front area has a tiled floor and tall tables and chairs plus a few normal tables and chairs,the rear area is bare boarded and has more normal tables and chairs,there is a small raised area to the rear right.
There were three real ales on the bar that i noted,i had a drink from Tonbridge brewery which went down very well,the other beers were Gales Seafarers and London Pride.
The pub was quite busy on my Saturday afternoon visit,i was happy enough having a drink in this pub.
Pub visited 14/2/2015
On 14th February 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 6113 recommendations about 6113 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about Barrel & Horn
Previously known as the Tom Foolery, this is one of a brace of Fullers pubs within a few doors of each other in the town centre (the other being the Partridge) albeit the 2 have very little in common. As the Tom Foolery it was always a bit more of a trendy bar than pub but since the refurbishment and name change it has slipped further into bar/diner territory.
The interior is quite open with an extended rear section and a small recess on the right that can be used for functions or private parties. The décor is quite bland, featureless and lacking any real character. The seating to floorspace ratio favours the latter and the large open areas suggest that when busy the place can be a bit rammed with vertical drinkers. Various programmes of entertainment were advertised (Monday quiz, Thursday Open Mic, Friday Live Bands and Saturday Acoustic Session).
The 4 handpumps were offering Fullers ESB, Late Knights Worm Catchers, Truefit Ironopolis Stout and Westons Scrumpy. I had both the Worm Catcher which was fine and the Ironopolis which was bordering on vinegar. At £3.75 each, the prices are pretty hefty for the best of times, let alone for such inconsistent quality. The food menu seemed a bit limited but reasonably priced between £6-£8 for main meals.
On both my visits the service has been quite poor with the latest almost bordering on a walkout despite there only being a couple of people at the bar.
Despite my ropey pint (which to be fair may have been a one off), poor service, excessive prices and lack of character, it is one of the few outlets in Bromley that offer a few out of the ordinary ales and for that reason alone is worth popping in. That said, don’t expect the place to leave you with any great lasting impressions.
On 11th October 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about Barrel & Horn
Recently refurbished and re-named from Tom Foolery to the Barrel & Horn, with all obvious Fullers branding removed (although the ownership has not changed). Modern decor and furniture, with paper placemat-type menus on each table. Lots of identical lager and keg fonts in a row, plus four non-obvious handpumps with shiny metal handles. The latter offered Seafarers, ESB and Jack Frost (£3.55); with the fourth off (but normally dispensing Pride, I would guess). Overall, quite a civilised atmosphere but very much a bar rather than a pub.
On 29th December 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]