Bickley Arms — Restaurant in London

This pub used to be one of my favourite pubs, one that I would endeavour to visit when I was nearby, but after a disastrous visit yesterday I doubt I’ll be making that effort again anytime soon. I’ve worked as a waitress and behind a bar, so I know how difficult things can be at times and not to judge a place on one not-so-great member of staff or a couple of issues, but I struggled to retain my positive outlook as the evening wore on. In short, during our visit: The menu being served at the time (the Lunch Menu at Dinner time), was not the menu provided at the bar. These were the other TWO menus, but no one seemed to be swapping these over, and certain food items could not be eaten outside, so we swapped to inside on a lovely sunny day. The staff were either rude or inept - one staff member just mumbled indecipherable, stroppy answers to simple questions (such as, ‘Oh, are there tables available in the restaurant section?’), they could not keep track of who needed to be served next at the bar (it was VERY quiet), the waitress couldn’t find a pen (we’ve all been there, but really?), and then didn’t wear her glasses at the paying of the bill so we had to read it out to her and work out the sums. She made a joke that she couldn’t be bothered to put her glasses on (this is your job?) And every other member of staff seemed to hide in corners, despite it being very quiet anyway. Despite being one of only two tables (two tables of two people) in the restaurant area, and the pub being fairly quiet overall, we waited over 40 minutes for our food, and when it came mine was partly inedible. My fish and chips had been so over cooked that the fish had partly turned to rubber, and the chips were fairly hard all the way through. During all this time, the waitresses had just stood and chatted to the chef, and seemed annoyed when after 35 minutes I came to ask if everything was alright (we were very hungry by now!) Our table had not been properly cleaned - cigarette filter wrappers left on it, stained paper napkins... Kitchen staff were working behind the bar (despite there being enough bar staff available).

So, overall I was very disappointed with the visit, which was a shame as it was the end of a lovely day and we just wanted a bite to eat before heading home. Unless they retrain/replace their staff, and reconsider their overall planning of the place, I would...

Nice place. Limited parking at the venue but the local streets.have pay parking. After 1800 is £1.50. Nice airy pub, not overly noisy, bar was a bit slow, don't know if I'd got there at a particularly busy time but it seemed even the chef had come out of the kitchen to help. 2 pints of Guiness and a vodka and lemonade was £18. So not a cheap place for a beer. Guiness was poured well. Group of us seated downstairs for food. Again goodambiance, muted conversations so you could talk to your table. Decent menu selection. The usual gastro pub fare. Steaks, lamb shanks, pies, fish and chips etc. Order taken quickly but the food delivery was very staggered. Maybe 5 minutes between first person and last. On a table of 7. I had lamb shank, truffled mash and spring greens. Typical lamb shank. Edible. Soft meat. Probably the usual bagged in a sauce version that gets the microwave or Bain Marie. Look it was very edible if standard. Greens were food as was a seared piece of sweet potato. The mash really did have the taste and texture of Smash. If it was real potato I'm not sure what they did to it. If it was smash instant mash it needs a drop of milk and more butter. But I'm hoping it wasn't instant! And the jus had a nice flavour, maybe a splash of truffle oil. Needs a little more to go with the dry spuds. Cleared the plate though so could be worse! It's a gastro pub not a Michelin ! Opted for the sweet menu. Again standard choice. Opted for crumble and custard. Was disappointed with this. Looked like half a tin of mixed fruit in a bowl with a handful of uncooked crumble mix on it. Too small a jar of custard. Had maybe 4 table spoons in it. Others around the table had fish, steak , pie, brownie, ice cream etc. All plates cleared. But all agreed it is pub grub only. Very nice double espresso to finish. Strong, good flavour and after taste of bitter chocolate. Whoever made that well done! £32.50 per head of seven with service charge.

Overall I'd recommend this if you want a pint and some pub grub on an evening or weekend.

If the kitchen can make some small improvements and tweaks it would be a regular...

The place itself is well kept and is well decorated too, there is a nice look and feel to the place overall, including the outside. We have been there a couple of times, in the quieter times, during the day, its quite laid back and there is a nice relaxed feeling about the venue. At peak times, such as a Friday night, which was when we last went here, the place is a lot busier and is a bit annoying as it becomes increasingly difficult to get served at the bar, it doesn't become difficult purely because there are more people, its actually because a lot of the staff do not pay attention to who is next in the queue, if there is such a thing, and there are many people (mainly ladies and those who are quite short in height) who seem to just get ignored - it seems as though if you waive a £20 note higher than everyone else around you, you are likely to be next - so the service is actually quite poor here - it is better at quieter times but there was an instance where I had been waiting patiently to be served for about 10 minutes, which can feel a lot longer when you are actually standing there with no drink and nothing else to do - it was going to be my turn next, it wasn't busy enough to not know or realise that, I did the thing with eye contact, so the barman knew I was going to be next and right at that moment, 3 young ladies, dressed for the night out walked up to the bar, the barman immediately grinned from ear to ear and proceeded to serve them next, to which I swiftly said that it was actually my turn next, at which point he decided he had selective hearing and walked off to get them their drink. I did actually make a complaint to the next bar person who served me and she replied that the exact same thing happens a lot in there. That experience alone means that I probably won't go back in there for a long time, not never, but for a considerable amount of time so that the bar staff will have hopefully changed for the better by the time I do go in. The prices are also quite steep at over £5 per...