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Disappointment of the week with Tris39
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Detail Pages
The King Charles, Poole
Poole
BH15 1JN
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The King Charles
I used to regularly frequent this pub in the late ‘90’s as it was one of two pubs on and around Poole Quay that we were always able to get served in prior to turning 18. I’d not been back since those day, when we would inevitably congregate in the upstairs room where there was normally a DJ blasting out dance and Britpop tunes at a suitably loud volume. Things were very different twenty-odd years later, when we visited on a depressingly quiet Saturday evening, finding a relatively unchanged layout but very muted atmosphere. You enter through a short passageway which has a couple of small front rooms off to either side, both of wish have some decent traditional seating options and one of which boasts a nice little fireplace and an etched glass partitioning screen bearing the words ‘Coffee Room’. These rooms are decorated with plenty of old breweriana and have an intimate quality that you don’t find through the rest of the pub. At the end of the passageway, you emerge into the main bar area which has modern laminate flooring through the middle and a carpeted seating area to the right. The bar runs down the left-hand wall and has a nice wood panelled counter front and mirrored bar back with a collection of old nautical themed photos along the canopy. The room has some ancient looking beams running across the ceiling, many of which have old jugs, tankards and other such drinking vessels hanging from them. There are some half height wall panels around the seating area, broken by a fake fireplace with a relocated brass hood, whilst the upper half of the walls have been decorated with a great old pub sign, an out of action TV screen and similarly redundant dartboard and a high shelf stacked with coloured bottles which were backlit to good visual effect. The room runs to the rear of the building where a few high tables and stools can be found occupied by the locals in a space that has a bit of a public bar feel to it, thanks to its jukebox and functioning dartboard. A staircase to the left of the bar leads up to the aforementioned first floor overspill room, which has a nice, high pitched ceiling, muted lighting accentuated by fairy light features and a good deal of additional seating.
The pub stopped serving cask ale for a while but has re-introduced it again in recent years to some acclaim, with three hand pumps in operation dispensing Taylors Landlord, Harveys Sussex Best and Sharps Doom Bar on this visit. The young barmaid who served us has to be one of the most enthusiastic and friendly bar staff I’ve encountered and served me a well-kept pint of Landlord before checking back to make sure we were enjoying our drinks a bit later on.
It was nice popping back to this pub for a quick nightcap and blast of nostalgia. I certainly appreciated the cask ales and two pleasant traditional front rooms a lot more this time round and wasn’t particularly sad to see the DJ wasn’t playing. There are better pubs around Pool Quay and the Old Town area but this one holds up reasonably well in comparison and would be worth adding to a crawl of the area.
On 18th November 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about The King Charles
Lovely old pub with various seating areas, beams, including two front rooms. Shame the beer quality is poor and the fires are electric
On 28th July 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The King Charles
Nice looking old pub but a dull beer range, Doom Bar, Atlantic and Tribute, the later was in tired condition, not good enough to entice me back in a hurry.
On 24th June 2018
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The King Charles
A good, traditional pub in historic buildings with lots of old beams, wood, brick and stonework, perhaps a little tatty round the edges but pleasant enough. The main part of the pub rambles though various rooms clearly knocked through at some point, but still breaking up the interior into separate areas. Up a few stairs to the left is a spectacular ancient large vaulted room, which perhaps could be made more of but is an impressive drinking location. Real beers on offer at time of visit were Landlord, Sea Fury, Proper Job and the inescapable Doom Bar and condition seemed good (Cask Marque certified). The menu seemed fairly standard apart from a speciality of daily fresh fish, varying according to what has been caught.
On 14th January 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The King Charles
This 14th Century building was originally a wool house hence its position close to the quay, and it was much larger than it is today. It became a pub in 1765 and was originally called The New Inn, changing its name in honour of King Charles X of France who hid here when escaping from the Revolution in 1792. Today it is a freehouse, atmospheric and allegedly haunted by a young woman's ghost. Some of the original timbers are clearly visible, and there is an upstairs bar area in addition to the large ground floor bar. The building rambles a bit as you would expect from one of this age. There is a bar billiards table and a dartboard, while the music is largely nostalgic 1970s/1980s rock. The front bar area has a lovely old fireplace, while the remainder is functional. The staff are very welcoming, and the clients are a mixed bag, but mostly civilised. Three ales on – I had a pint of Tribute which was in perfect condition. Food is basic pub grub and is reasonably priced, and they'll even make a coffee for you if you ask. Well worth a visit
On 13th January 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3281 recommendations about 3246 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The King Charles
Some elements of character here in this aged building but essentially it feels and smells like a pub where the 70's and the modern day have collided. The front area is much nicer than the rear, with quarter length dark wood panelling, fireplace and some original timbers. To the rear is a dart board and an unplayable bar billiards table. Music TV blaring out. I missed the medieval function room mentioned below. Two ales, Doom Bar and a warm, lacklustre, Milk Street. Could be good, but isn’t - the whole place needs a rethink about quite who it’s trying to appeal to.
On 26th November 2014
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The King Charles
This is a very old pub of many parts, the front area has some exposed stonework, timber framing with brick infill, wood panelling, an attractive fireplace. There is a grandfather clock and an atmospheric painting of Poole Quay in years gone by. Seating is traditional including a few settles. Shelves have stone jars, jugs, a soda syphon and an old radiogram. The middle area has the bar along one side, Doom Bar, Tribute (£3.20), Young's Bitter on handpump plus Ringwood BB on stillage. Some wood flooring, white painted exposed brickwork, exposed wooden ceiling beams; the far end has bar billiards, a dartboard and TV.
The star of the show however is up a few stairs to the side in front of the bar. A 13th Century medieval hall with exposed oak roof trusses, light pools in from a couple of windows, exposed stone walls, a fireplace and piano. This area can be hired separately. I found out later that this part of the building was once continuous with the history centre opposite, earlier called the Town Cellars and was once a wool warehouse. The building was divided when the need for a road through caused it to be. Old photos also show it was two separate buildings, clearly evident from the front, and originally called The New Inn.
Food served, good value basic fare, jacket spuds and fillings around £4.25, gammon and chips or chilli £7.95. Wednesday is steak night and there is a meat raffle on a Sunday.
An historic and interesting building which is today in use as a good old basic boozer.
On 30th June 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1707 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The King Charles
A traditional and good sized pub just off The Quay, it consists of a single bar in the main part of the pub with a function room up a few stairs to the left. This had an attractive vaulted ceiling and was hosting a RNLI benefit gig on the evening we visited.
Despite being one open room, it’s divided in to a few different areas by virtue of the décor. At the front to the left is a small snug reminiscent of a hotel drawing room with a few beams on the ceiling and opposite this was an old grandfather clock. The walls were white washed stone and these had been covered on the lower half with dark wood panelling and there was also some exposed brickwork including an old pillar. At the rear this gave way to red paintwork. A plasma screen was also at the rear showing a darts match and there was also a darts board and some type of miniature snooker table (I’m sure there’s a proper name for it, all the pockets were at one end).
Food wise, the menu looked to be a traditional “pub grub” affair with options such as Scampi & Chips, Ham Egg & Chips, Burger, Sausage & Mash, Chilli Con Carne, etc. Most of these were priced somewhere around the £7 mark, although we didn’t sample anything so I can’t comment on the quality.
Drinks on tap were Doom Bar and Bombardier whilst the ciders were Strongbow and Thatcher’s Gold.
On 31st July 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]