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Detail Pages
Blakes, Dover
Dover
CT16 1PJ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about Blakes
Not a GBG pick for 2024 but has plenty of positive reviews so thought I'd check it out and I’m glad I did. It’s a cellar bar which is accessed down some stairs from the porchway of Blakes restaurant. Dimly lit and atmospheric when you make landfall - exposed stone and brick with a bit of varnished wood panelling. Classic ephemera of old pump clips strung up and foreign currency nailed onto the beams; could have done without the tacky Home Bargains style signs though. 70s-esque fake black beams and Artex on the ceiling give you a pretty good clue as to when the place was last refurbished. More modern is the surprisingly contemporary rear garden area. One old fella behind the bar not taking any bantz from the American tourists and their English guide and he didn’t say much to me either. Three pumps with two ales on, Adnams Ghostship and Wantsum Bitter with the third taken up by a local cider. My Wantsum was in good shape (NBSS 3.5). This one really is a Dover must-visit.
On 14th August 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5552 recommendations about 5533 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about Blakes
An easy to miss cellar bar under a restaurant and B&B in a Georgian terrace, Blakes has a well-deserved reputation for quality ales and is a GBG regular. There are flagstone floors throughout, and there are stairs at the back leading up to the garden. The staff are very friendly and knowledgeable, a couple of the locals were hostile but I put that down to in-breeding. The atmosphere was calm overall, and the tv screen was switched off. Six ales on, 3 from gravity fed casks, this time I had a pint of Cottage Brewing's MGA which was a truly excellent pint. Well worth finding and an essential part of a town crawl.
On 28th July 2013
- rating: 9
[User has posted 3517 recommendations about 3481 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Manky Badger left this review about Blakes
Visited yesterday, In the past I’ve encountered a very conceited attitude from the bar staff and the locals. There was none of that on this visit: in fact the bar staff were very helpful. I've put the rating up to 7/10. Had I visited for the first time yesterday it would have got 9/10, but I'm afraid the history counts against it.
On 6th February 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 155 recommendations about 154 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Manky Badger left this review about Blakes
Two years ago I visited Blakes of Dover and wasn’t impressed. I would so dearly love to have this place in my top ten list of pubs. It has everything I rate in a pub. It’s off the beaten track, but easily accessible on public transport. It’s downstairs in an obscure basement. It has decent ale from the best breweries – and some of the ale is poured from the barrel. It even has pickled eggs.
However it also has bar staff who know how marvellous their pub is. And rather than clientele or regulars, it has an “in-crowd” who make a point of staring at the newcomer. On my last visit I rather slated the place in my last review, and today’s visit gave me no reason to change my opinion of the place.
It gets 4/10, which for me is "could do better"
On 5th December 2010
- rating: 4
[User has posted 5 recommendations about 5 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Manky Badger left this review about Blakes
It's a wonderful place to drink – the only drawback is that the people behind the bar know it. Perhaps I'm being over-sensitive, but I wasn't impressed by the condescending attitude of the staff. What might possibly have rated a score of 9/10 was lucky to score 6/10.
On 7th February 2009
- rating: 6
[User has posted 155 recommendations about 154 pubs]