The Tim Bobbin — Restaurant in London

The manager of this place was really incredibly rude to us, generally treated us like pariahs rather than paying customers, and quite obviously couldn’t wait to get rid of us. I didn’t get any dinner, and an all round rubbish experience. I absolutely recommend going elsewhere. My friend specifically booked a large table in the window so that we could have Xmas drinks and food for a group of around 10 friends. The idea was he’d book it from 2:30pm onwards, some friends would come early with kids, then others would join later and we’d have an all round lovely time, eating, drinking and being merry into the evening. When I arrived at about 6pm I found my friends had been booted off the big table that had been booked, and had been relegated to a room out the back. We pulled up some chairs and joined them. My partner was just getting us our 2nd pint when the manager arrived at our table and angrily announced “we need these chairs back” before sniping “is this taken? This one this one?” I explained that people were just at the bar, they were taken. He stormed off. Then someone came back and said we’re being kicked off this table too - it’s reserved. We explained, but we have also reserved a table, what about our reservation? They said actually no, they’d only booked it for us for 2 hours. They assumed we were only having lunch. But obviously no one had mentioned this to us at the time of booking - if we’d have known we’d have explained we wanted it for longer and if that wasn’t possible, we’d have booked somewhere else that met our needs. We were still waiting for some people to arrive - but we were basically told to leave as they were still arriving. Maybe we were naive thinking we could have a table all day at a busy time of year - but it’s a pub - it’s not such an unusual use of a pub to reserve a table and then stay to drink. No one had mentioned anything about a 2 hour time limit. They just sniped at us as though we were deliberately taking the mickey. Which we obviously weren’t - we had literally no idea that we weren’t welcome to stay for more than 2 hours. So... we didn’t get to order any food and had to down our second drink before practically being physically chased out. We went to another local pub which was pleased to accommodate our group and we had our lovely evening with food and drinks at the Jam Tree instead. All in all it was a pretty unpleasant experience at the Bobbin, I wouldn’t recommend it, and I’ll never spend my money...

I’ve been to this pub a few times over the years and taken my dog with me and always had a great time. However, they changed their policy to a “no dogs inside” one, which is fine (a venue is allowed to choose), I just take issue with the fact that I said I was bringing my dog with me on my reservation notes.

So they either didn’t read the notes, or just didn’t bother to call me! Both is pretty bad, because reservation notes are super important to those with disabilities or severe allergies, not so much dog owners; I do admit!!

Buuuut, no bother, they had a table outside. I did ask my husband if it was going to rain, and the guy seating us took the mick a bit which annoyed me.

Though our table outside was a little snug for six people but, it wasn’t going to be a problem as it was under an umbrella.

I asked for the WiFi code, the waiter said he’d find out then he just didn’t come back for twenty minutes when he came to take our drinks order; which he then got wrong. No WiFi code was provided.

Just after we ordered our food, a thunderstorm started, the one that literally caused floods, we cancelled our food order which wasn’t a problem given the torrential rain.

However when shielding from severe weather we just went to the bar to pay for the drinks and gather ourselves before deciding what to do, and we were told that we may need to wait outside before paying while they checked with the manager if we could stand there even momentarily with the dog. We were very very taken aback by this, don’t get me wrong, we knew the dog wasn’t allowed but the weather was the worst I’ve seen in a long time we thought they would be a little lenient given the circumstances!

I was really disappointed with the service. They could do [and have done]...

In complete contrast to my last post about a pub, this pub seems acutely aware how to retain a nice pub atmosphere whilst also being able to serve a good standard of food without any serious issues…

It’s not that hard a task to accomplish is it? In my opinion the standards of food, restaurants and general impressions have markedly improved for what has been produced and served in the UK over the last two decades. When this is born in mind it always leaves a sense of frustration that any venue that touts itself even in the smallest regard, fails to achieve a decent standard.

Wondering around Clapham Old Town one Saturday, we tripped over this pocket-sized pub showing off what looked to be a good menu. Appearances are definitely not deceptive in this case.

Upon walking in there are some lovely touches to the layout of the dining area such as a nooks tucked away here and there, giving a homely feel to the establishment.

This is a self confessed gastro-pub and the smells greeting you as you enter attest to that. I ordered some Salmon and Dill fishcakes with Hollandaise sauce, whilst my better half ordered a Ceaser salad.

Both dishes arrived promptly by decent staff members, and were both delicious. Great flavours and balanced textures in both dishes. These guys do definitely know how to throw a...