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Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
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Detail Pages
The Greenwich Pensioner, E14
E14
E14 0ES
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 3½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Greenwich Pensioner
The Greenwich Pensioner is a square single room pub with a bar on the back wall that supports standard keg fonts in addition to a tap for keg Yardbird Pale Ale. There are two plasma screens, one of which was off and the other was showing a comedy program on E4 or some such channel. I did spot a live sport advertisement but my visit was on a Friday afternoon when I found myself to be the only person in the pub. There is a pool table, a dartboard and some gaming machines. The furniture is made up of some high tables and chairs, a couple of sofas, some standard tables and chairs and some stools that are spread along a beer shelf that runs down the left hand wall.
Out the front are a couple of picnic tables and the friendly barmaid mentioned that the rear garden was a nice spot to relax, but I didn’t venture out to have a look.
I have to admit that I concur with the views that this pub is a bit disappointing, especially considering the exterior. I do not plan to return to this part of town any time soon.
On 29th April 2015
- rating: 4
[User has posted 5228 recommendations about 5196 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Greenwich Pensioner
This pub looks mightily impressive from the outside with its original brewery facade and signage, and floral displays that give it a well cared for appearance. But it flatters to deceive, and the interior is very disappointing. There’s a pool table on the left; a sofa with a low cerise coloured plastic table; and a few normal tables and chairs comprise the furnishings. There are some bizarre decorations as well – the walls are adorned with advertising posters for the “Confessions” films, and there is a large false shark’s head on the wall to one side of the bar glaring down at punters in the pub! There was a TV showing a music channel, and the usual one-armed bandits and cigarette machines. In essence, it’s pretty characterless inside.
What they didn’t have is anything worth drinking. There are two pumps; one had a clip turned round and the other advertising GKIPA which was not on. I always wonder why pubs leave a clip facing out when the beer in question is not on? It just leads to disappointment – not that I’m a great GKIPA fan, but it’s a darn sight better than the only other bitter (John Smith’s smoothflow) that they had on. I can’t see any reason to return.
On 29th May 2009
- rating: 3
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about The Greenwich Pensioner
From the outside the Greenwich Pensioner appears to be a typical traditional Victorian local with a fine façade bedecked with flower arrangements and a beckoning welcome. I thought I had found a lost back street gem in a somewhat bleak part of London as I approached but once insdie you realise that it has become a cynical designer pub that has had every last drop of its 100 odd year old life and atmosphere removed and shoved down the nearest drain by people who do not seem to care one inch for a building's past. Heaven knows what the previous regulars must have thought when this place reopened. It is now a kind of modern art deco yuppy pub with designer lighting, cushioned cube seating, glass top coffee table, even designer nibbles (£1 for a packet of designer crisps if you please) and just so you don't forget where you are, there are business cards neatly arranged on the tables. I am surprised I didn't get my change on a silver tray. The only feature worth mentioning is the living room mural plastered across one wall (apparently a prized piece of art). There is hardly a single original feature left and it is impossible to imagine what the pub looked like before the makeover. Outside it says “Prized Ales”. Inside you will find Fosters, Stella, Guiness and John Smiths and not a hand pump in sight. Other than that it is wine, spirits and cocktails and this is the customer base that it is obviously aimed at. I don't mind there being modern, trendy and fashionable bars around but not at the cost of the established local pubs and especially in an area that is somewhat sparse for pubs in the first place.
On 10th December 2005
- rating: 3
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]