Death of a Restaurant

[Robert Poste's Child]

maxxi Wrote:

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> and rows

> of warm baby mixers sitting in half an inch of

> water on a broken zinc cold shelf.

Where I come from, if another girl asked for a pineapple juice you knew she was difficult.

[david_carnell]

Now I really want to know where you're from, Flora. It sounds a hoot.

[Robert Poste's Child]

I expect even in deepest East Anglia life has moved on since then. God, I hope so.

[david_carnell]

Ah - Normal for Norfolk.

[LouiseC]

It's actually Skehans in Nunhead.

[david_carnell]

I love that pub!

[BrandNewGuy]

Bird in Hand, Forest Hill. Proper boozer. Not that I'd actually go in, you understand, but watching it from the safety of the Sylvan Post is very entertaining.

[Sue]

Jah Lush Wrote:

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> I don't want to stick the boot in but I felt once

> they got rid of certain key staff at least six

> months ago, staff, that new customers had become

> friendly with and also at the same time became

> regulars got on with, that was the death knell.

>

> Having said that I wish them well though it's not

> somewhere I've been in since the mid summer. ?4.40

> for a pint of Guinness. Get ta fcuk with ya. I

> just hope they can address the faults and turn

> things around.

xxxxxxxx

Guinness is ?4.35 a pint in The Actress, as I recently discovered.

Not far off The Patch's price.

Even in The excellent value Ivy House it's ?4 a pint :(

I was drinking Guinness in The Actress because for the first time I can remember there was no real ale on :( :( :(

[Jah Lush]

I loathe The Actress. It is seriously vile. If you want to drink Guinness I suggest you go to The Castle where you'll be served the best pint of the black stuff in ED. And it's only ?3.50 a pint.

[Sue]

Jah Lush Wrote:

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> I loathe The Actress. It is seriously vile. If you

> want to drink Guinness I suggest you go to The

> Castle where you'll be served the best pint of the

> black stuff in ED. And it's only ?3.50 a pint.

xxxxxxx

Well, each to their own. I quite like The Actress apart from their pizzas with very strange combinations of toppings.

Not knocking The Castle, far from it, I've spent happy evenings there (good jukebox for one thing) but I wouldn't go there just to get 50p off a pint of Guinness :)

The point I was making was that the Patch's price for Guinness wasn't very out of line with (most?) other pubs round here.

[Jah Lush]

Sadly, four quid is roundabout the norm this days.

[Alan Medic]

Jeysus, when I started drinking you could get 5 pints for less than a quid. Showing my age here.

[MrBen]

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d5960435-Reviews-The_Patch-London_England.html

[peggoula]

Could someone please confirm if they are closing down?

I have a party booked upstairs for February and this will be very annoying...

[david_carnell]

I'd re-book somewhere else regardless. It's going down the swanny.

[Seabag]

Is it actually dead yet

This thread is turning into the "Dead Parrot" sketch

[Sue]

MrBen Wrote:

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> http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g18

> 6338-d5960435-Reviews-The_Patch-London_England.htm

> l

Empty frozen roast potato and yorkshire pudding bags in the bin?

But the owner claimed that everything was freshly prepared? Well, that's not a lie. You prepare frozen stuff by taking it out of the bag and heating it up.

Has the Patch completely changed ownership, then? I thought only two thirds of it had gone? Is there nobody at all from the original team still there?

Sounds like they need to do something very urgently about the food if they're still charging those prices. I'd be spitting blood if I paid seventeen quid for a roast like a school dinner - but probably not from the meat. If anything like my school dinners, it would have been in the oven for years :))

[StraferJack]

"But the owner claimed that everything was freshly prepared? Well, that's not a lie. You prepare frozen stuff by taking it out of the bag and heating it up."

yup - drives me mad so many places do this.

Then again not many places promised as much as the Patch did

[MrBen]

General point specifically not related to The Patch:

Whats the typical form when pubs die slowly - is it that you're down for the lease anyway so you may as well keep open and sell off as much stock as possible to minimise your losses? And to help further you can avoid "creditors" by going cash only? Hire a cheap chef and move to frozen stuff to sell on demand and make a small turn?

Or is it a garish coloured blackboard brought out the basement that says "2 for 1 cocktails all night long".

Seriously - i'm genuinely interested. The last incarnation of the Mag was open for months with just the same 4 customers per night and a chill in the air.

[Sue]

According to their Twitter feed they are currently selling an oven which is "surplus to requirements."

[Earl Aelfheah]

*PING*

[Sue]

rahrahrah Wrote:

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> *PING*

:))

[edcam]

The place was rubbish when it reopened so gawd knows how bad it is now. Those tripadvisor reviews say it all really.

[Sue]

edcam Wrote:

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> The place was rubbish when it reopened so gawd

> knows how bad it is now. Those tripadvisor

> reviews say it all really.

Some of the early reviews were quite glowing, to be fair.

Since I couldn't afford to eat there, I can't say whether or not they were accurate, or placed by friends of the owners. As that Masterchef chef was involved at the start, probably they were accurate.

Had a drink there once. The place was empty.

[DulwichFox]

Seem to remember having serious doubts about the likelihood the place would last much more than 6 - 9 months.

There were more people on site while the cheap refurb was being carried out than has ever been ever

since it opened.

Did I not liken the pub bit as being like a dental surgery.

The hideous mural. ???

It's location is not ideal.

I don't think it viable to run any successful business from that location.

Even someone who knows what they are doing would fail.

DulwichFox