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Work started on the Honor Oak pub
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Honor man


Posts: 31
Joined: Jul 2014
Post: #21
15-08-2014 12:32 PM

Pubs are SIMPLE.

Have 3/4 good largers on tap

A pool table

Juke box

Football on a large screen

Ban ALL people under the age of 18

No food, just snacks (crisps, nuts, scratchings etc)

Get a 2/3 fit birds behind the bar, short skirts, red lippy, big knockers.

Maybe a pub quizz on a Sunday

If you do all the above (which is a piece of p***) then you'll have a good steady trade business for years. As landlord you'll be well known and respected and you'll be helping RETAIN THE TRUE ENGLISH PUB.

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barriedalenick


Posts: 18
Joined: Jan 2011
Post: #22
15-08-2014 03:05 PM

I think I'll give it a go tonight - looks OK to me from the outside.
Anyone know if it is serving any Brockley Brewery beer?

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lacb


Posts: 627
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #23
15-08-2014 03:20 PM

Yes, I understand they have Red Ale on tap

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Chipcity


Posts: 42
Joined: Nov 2012
Post: #24
15-08-2014 04:09 PM

Honor man - Just wondering whether you wear string vests?

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Honor man


Posts: 31
Joined: Jul 2014
Post: #25
15-08-2014 04:21 PM

I work in the City, i dont think a string vest would be suitable, do you?

Tho i sat BRING BACK THE STRING VESTED CREW

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Ponyboy


Posts: 18
Joined: Mar 2012
Post: #26
15-08-2014 04:35 PM

Honor man, you've hit the nail on the head with the HOP and pubs that serve burgers on wooden boards - it's SOOOO last year. Should we pop in and suggest they use papyrus? I think we could really start a trend going and it's much more hygienic. Come to think of it I might start doing this at home - I could also see if they would start serving the dandelion cordial that I've been making at home.

Ps. I've not heard of Skoll, but sounds like fun.

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lacb


Posts: 627
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #27
15-08-2014 05:09 PM

Honor man is revealing the time capsule he comes from. Skol, a tasteless gassy lager with strong marketing. Forerunner to Hofmeister, Fosters, 4X, Heineken and Carling. Surely must have missed out a few but you get the gist.

Would have thought banana leaves would work better for burgers though AFAICT the Honor Oak don't have a reasonably priced burger option. I wish they did and frankly I don't give a fig what they serve it on.

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Bcm


Posts: 187
Joined: May 2010
Post: #28
15-08-2014 06:12 PM

Skol is perhaps the least manly beer on the market by ABV. http://www.carlsberggroup.com/brands/Pages/SKOL.aspx

Cool

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Malkyvich


Posts: 2
Joined: Nov 2013
Post: #29
15-08-2014 10:29 PM

I think Honor Man is an aficionado of the fabled Skol Super - a real man's beer if ever I saw one.

Hagar would be proud...

This post was last modified: 15-08-2014 10:30 PM by Malkyvich.

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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #30
18-08-2014 02:44 PM

Okay, I think I've got this sussed. This forum is where 'Al Murray Pub Landlord' comes to try out new material, masquerading as 'Honor Man'.

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sydenhamcentral


Posts: 269
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #31
18-08-2014 04:24 PM

I don't think so, Al Murray is funny.

(runs and hides)

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Mr_Numbers


Posts: 513
Joined: May 2012
Post: #32
18-08-2014 04:29 PM

Quote:
I don't think so, Al Murray is funny.

Yes, quite. I see I've been over-estimating this Honor Man.

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Baboonery


Posts: 581
Joined: Sep 2007
Post: #33
19-08-2014 12:33 PM

At the risk of getting this thread back on topic, I visited the HO last night.

A bit underwhelmed.

The bar seemed little changed from the latter stages of its last incarnation. I had a pint of the Brockley Red (good that they're stocking the local produce, though it's priced a touch high), that stayed a little cloudy, but tasted fine. It ran out the next time they tried to pour it. The server (not the one I had, but the one who had tried to pull the next pint) saw my pint looked dodgy and pre-emptively took it away before I had the chance to ask (bonus to sitting at the bar). Good.

The menu looked a bit gastropub schmastropub to me - all very well, and I look forward to sampling, but nothing really interesting that you don't see in similar establishments all over London. The dining room looked a decent space, however.

The biggest problem with this place for me is and always has been the acoustics - more than a couple of conversations going on in the pub and you can't hear yourself think. This is a structural problem with the space and less to do with the refurb. However, it all adds to the sense that the place is quite impersonal - I can't see it ever achieving any kind of local community hub status.

I hope it thrives - it's the nearest pub to my house by far - and I'll definitely be back. But I can't see it becoming a regular haunt. I'm not its target bottle-of-sauvignon-blanc-and-four-meals clientele, though (well, not often, anyway), and if it does well in attracting them, then it may well be a success. Alas, I suspect it's pitched itself too high upmarket with too few distinguishing features. But happy to wait and see.

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BillieJameson


Posts: 48
Joined: Jan 2014
Post: #34
19-08-2014 01:43 PM

It's a shame to hear that the acoustics are still a problem. My reason for not using the previous incarnation - it was impossible to have a conversation over a meal.

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squashst


Posts: 129
Joined: Mar 2009
Post: #35
19-08-2014 05:31 PM

Yes, I agree, it really needs some noise dampening (carpets?), bare boards, open plan and wooden tables make it (and its previous incarnation) very noisy - something of a fad with bars these days (ever been to a All Bar One). But its good that it has opened, and its worth feeding back comments to the staff.
I'm equidistant between the Honor Oak and the Brockley Jack and still quite like the latter (and its a fair bit cheaper!).

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Jane2


Posts: 221
Joined: Jan 2007
Post: #36
04-09-2014 12:50 PM

Just thought I'd post my comments on the new Honor Oak pub. I've been living in the area since it was the St Germains and have visited all the various incarnations so was very interested to see the latest.

First impressions - very impressed with the interior. They have made it all much lighter, and a much better use of the basement space (which was always rather dingy). It looks like a quality refurbishment rather than just a lick of paint. I was with a group of 6 at a table and the acoustics weren't a problem for us, although we were in the back room.

The staff seem nice, although as others have said not that confident yet. It took a while to get our drinks, but once that was sorted everything else came on time and they were quite attentive.

The menu though I am not so impressed with. As a non-meat eater there was not a huge choice. We weren't sure whether to go with the bar menu or the restaurant menu but when we looked at the bar menu there was actually nothing on it we wanted to eat - a ploughmans in my opinion is fine for lunch, but not for an evening meal, there was nothing vegetarian except salad or chips, and veal burger or lobster roll are quite specific tastes, even the meat eaters in my group did not fancy veal. A bar menu IMHO should be a simpler, cheaper menu than you would get in the restaurant (the lobster roll was £12 and I have seen it and it's not that big). You can't have the restaurant menu in the bar by the way.

So I decided to go with the restaurant, however some in my group were not eating, the first person I spoke to said this was a problem, and I was about to cancel and go elsewhere but then the second person said this was fine (this was a weekday evening, the pub wasn't fully booked).

So I think there is a bit of a personality crisis here as to whether it is a simple gastropub or an up market restaurant!

The food itself was good, my tart was nicely cooked with crisp pastry, the chips were lovely (although not a very big portion). The pudding on the other hand was massive and I couldn't finish it!

The wine list seemed good, I am not a wine connoisseur but it looked a good selection to me (and a huge improvement on the 'red or white' option we had when we last visited the Honor Oak!)

So overall, generally a thumbs up, but I do think they should revisit the menu as I am not sure I will eat there again until the choice improves, but I'll definitely go for a drink. So glad we have finally got a nice pub back.

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Nick M


Posts: 35
Joined: Sep 2012
Post: #37
04-09-2014 07:21 PM

Regarding acoustics in pubs, I haven't been to the Honor Oak but I think this is a deliberate design feature and would not been seen as a 'problem' by the interior designers, rather a virtue. If you strip out all soft furnishings and carpets as well as intervening walls for the design effect of a big bare 'trendy' space, you also get one big soundbox where everything is amplified - that's how acoustic musical instruments work after all. This isn't a drawback if you are a pub designer - the ensuing hubbub and raucous din is deemed to be sympomatic of a lively, 'happening' place, it is supposed to create the feeling that it is a venue alive with happy chatter and laughter, and an essential place to be. Most of the pubs in East Dulwich have the same effect and the Rose would also have the same racket in Forest Hill Rd if it had more clientele. London is full of such pubs. Noise is meant to equate with liveliness. I'm a bit mutton in one ear so it does nothing for me. The Blythe Hill Tavern down the road from the Honor Oak (well quite a long way down the road) is fully furnished and still has walls in it, and has the authentic sound of a cosy pub filled with chatter and banter yet you can still enjoy it and have a conversation yourself. It's authentic and true to itself and a comfortable environment to be in.

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ringingcod


Posts: 84
Joined: Jun 2005
Post: #38
13-09-2014 07:36 PM

Expensive. Looks like an All Bar One.

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