William The Fourth | Leyton — Restaurant in London

GREAT GUINNESS - BEST IN AREA - ‘MANAGER’ - SEEMS TO DISLIKE IRISH PEOPLE - COMPLETE WALLY IMO- DRIVING AWAY DECENT CUSTOMERS

06.12.24 15:00

I was a fairly regular punter at this bar who liked supporting the pub. Which did not seem to fly with him when he heard my accent.

(See picture)

Regular in that, I don’t go to the pub on my own jn general much but I would have called this pub my local and enjoyed dipping in after finishing my shift on a Friday.

It’s a good boozer but does the best Guinness and has some friendly old characters.

They have two friendly Eastern European barmaids (I don’t know their names hence my description - they will know me) who work here in the evenings they pour a great Guinness and I always got on well chatting with them.

I finished work early on Friday and thought id treat myself to a Guinness. A rotund man with a buzz cut and glasses wason his laptop was behind the bar who didn’t even bother to get up off his seat to serve me when I approached the taps.

I actually had to cross to him. I went round to him and asked for my usual pint of Guinness. Pure ignorant energy.

Long story short - he heard me speak (I am Irish) and said he wouldn’t be serving me. It’s regulars only. I had never seen him before, I’m not normally in during the day, but I did like to pop in for a pint when I finish early on the way home sometimes - he told me he is was the ‘manager’ - I don’t know what or who he manages as his social skills were immediately affronting. He did not offer his name.

I was absolutely baffled. I told him this was pretty much the only pub I’ve been to in the area. I identified some of the characters there in their usual seats. I told him about the barmaids who almost know my name by now. Bear in mind, I’m on my own, it’s only 15:00 and I was dressed from coming from work, so no chance of threat or bad behavior from myself - not that I’ve ever had to justify myself.

No. He didn’t know me so wasn’t serving me.

There was more to his reasoning… I felt it was discriminatory in nature. He produced some print out ‘vip’ style card that says ‘regular’ on it as ‘proof’ that he wasn’t being discriminatory.

I told him I felt he was profiling me because of my accent he just kind of smirked and shrugged as if to say so what.

I confirmed finally “so just to be clear, it’s 15:00 pm in the afternoon and you are not going to serve me for no real reason?”

He was like: “nope” and that was that.

I’m a professional guy who has literally brought colleagues and all sorts to this pub and have been praising it to people who moved in around the area.

I rarely write bad reviews. But this has very much triggered me and I’ll be doing everything I can to make this man reconsider his ignorance with the appropriate channels.

I had found a good local pint and it was ruined by the manager behind the bar.

To the owners: This man is letting your business growth down. Looking at reviews elsewhere I can tell he has form for this behavior also.

Over on trip advisor someone had exactly the same problem a few months ago. He was Irish too by pure coincidence.

Go n-éirí leat my friend - and thanks for the horrendous bad manners. I genuinely feel sorry for whatever hang ups or insecurities you have going on inside your head.

Note - I can’t comment on food as I haven’t ordered food there. Unfortunately this kind of ignorant behaviour will be effecting their...

I went for the Vietnamese, Tuesday night 50% off food.

The people behind the bar who took the food order were brilliant. Service was excellent, The IPA beer was great. However I did not enjoy the food as much as the previous time.

The calamari rings were too thin so it was difficult to taste the calamari inside. Its a shame as it appears corners have been cut to offset the discount.

The other starter, Green papaya asked was fresh but lacked flavour due to the absence of herbs and spices.

The fried chicken burger was good. The chips accompanying the burger were too oily and not great.

The vegetarian jackfruit burger did not taste of jackfruit and felt more like the bean burgers you used to get 10 years ago. The patty was not that flavoursome and was oily. Again the chips accompanying this burger was not good.

Not sure if the chef has changed. I felt it was cooked by someone without an expert understanding of vietnanese herbs and spices. Maybe something the owners need to address. I used to do take aways from their home in midland Road b4 they joined the pub a couple of months back. Sadly the standard of the food had declined. I am not being mean just comparing it to the standard of food I eat often at the Kingsland Road Vietnamese...

Updating this review, as I came back and was appalled by the service. We were sitting outdoor, no one tells us anything, we go to order pizza at 8.01 and the manager tells us in a rude way that we have to leave as kids are not allowed after 8pm. On our way out, after complaining as no one told us anything, the manager finally apologised explaining that someone should have come outside to let us know in advance. We left without eating and went to the European, where the staff was very welcoming explaining we could stay until 9pm. I doubt I will come back despite the positive aspects highlighted last time. Amazing new look, tasty beers from Exhale, and an absolutely interesting Roman/New York style pizza prepared by super friendly pizzaiolo Ugo (Short Road pizza). Not normally my favourite pizza style, but I loved it! Outdoor terrace with afternoon sun and a cozy room for private functions at the back. Great addition to the area, I...