Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
Hall & Woodhouse, Bath
Bath
BA1 2JW
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 5 of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about Hall & Woodhouse
More akin to an upmarket Spoons, a large open-plan interior with a ‘glass and lights’ staircase up to a second floor. There's also a fully illuminated dead tree for the oddballs. Elsewhere it’s copper fittings, metro tiles and so on - it's actually not bad (tree excepted). Sadly, even by H&W’s historically dismal house standards it was a ‘mare at the bar. Three of their cask were clipped, however my supposed Tanglefoot clearly wasn't (not the barmaid's fault as it got poured from the correctly labelled pump). What I ended-up with was a light blonde coloured aspiratored mess (NBSS 1.5). Why are H&W so bad at serving their own beer in their own pubs? Do they have no pride? If run properly, this could be a destination rather than an upmarket curio.
On 16th May 2023
- rating: 4
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about Hall & Woodhouse
As described by others, below, if this is supposed to be H&W’s flagship, the fleet has already sunk. Expensive and impersonal, the young female staff were functional but unengaging, the other clients were a bunch of entitled tourists and the muzak was much too loud. Only Fursty Ferret and Badger Bitter were on tap, the former in poor condition. Given the number of better pubs nearby this one isn’t worth the bother.
On 9th July 2022
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3281 recommendations about 3246 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ivor Longhorn left this review about Hall & Woodhouse
I too found the food expensive for what is offered and the staff a little surly. I don't recognise David Robinsons description of a "traditional pub area" on the ground floor, not like any pub I've ever been in, warehouse with sofas and some bookshelves and a faux shop, don't know why. The whole place on the night i went seemed to be full of estate agents and office types, for a drink with "friends" I suggest elswhere, for a central venue with colleagues or student mates it will do. Low score when one rates ambiance, food, drink and whether you want to come back and be as anonymous as the first time.
On 30th January 2011
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Hall & Woodhouse
Quite why the brewery that owns this pub couldn’t come up with a slightly more imaginative name for it than simply calling it after the brewery I’m not sure. On one hand it seems a little unimaginative and even slightly conceited. On the other, maybe it’s their flagship establishment and they are very proud of it. It’s a fairly recent opening in an impressive large building just behind Jolly’s department store. The pub is on three levels, with the ground floor being your more traditional pub area, the middle floor being a restaurant and the top floor being an open air terrace. Unsurprisingly this was not open on our visit, on account of it being about -5°C outside.
The downstairs room has an impressive parquet wood floor and a large copper clad bar running along the right hand side, and a cosier area at the back with a couple of bookcases and some comfy leather sofas. The rest of the room is given over largely to bench tables, and there is also a subset of the restaurant menu available here. Wine presumably features strongly with an impressive glass cased display in one corner and there is also some wooden shelving featuring various household ingredients such as Oxo, HP Sauce and even tins of Golden Syrup. Why, I’m not entirely sure.
The centre of the pub is large atrium rising right to the top of the building and topped with a glass roof. A sweeping staircase with trendy LED lighting on each step rises to the restaurant on the next floor. This has a different feel to it from the bar downstairs, with chandelier lighting and an unusual silver plated ceiling. This has an open kitchen running up the right hand side instead of a bar, and there are some large windows on the opposite side. The seating is arranged around the central atrium which makes for a pleasant view looking at the goings on downstairs. There’s exposed brick work at one end, but mostly the walls are pained a delicate pastel blue colour, with a selection of pictures hung around. There is also what appears to be a private dining room at one end.
Menu was extensive and offered a good selection. Prices varied from the reasonable to the slightly more expensive, e.g.; starters from £5 to £15. We stayed at the lower end of that scale and were pleased with our Eggs Benedict and Crab and Smoked Trout Fishcakes. Mains were similarly good, although I felt that perhaps £15 for my fish pie was a little expensive. It was very tasty and contained a good selection of fish - Crayfish, prawns, scallops, monkfish and smoked haddock, but even so, this is a pub and it didn’t even come with any vegetables. Perhaps I’m being picky though, we enjoyed what we had, they have a considerable investment to recoup, and I did of course know the cost before I ordered. I would certainly go back.
Beers were both their own, with just Badger and Picked Partridge being available. It looks as though they usually have Tanglefoot, but this was unavailable on our visit. The solitary cider was Stowford Press.
On 7th December 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]