the larrik has customers !!!!!!

pellican

started visiting the larrik again lately seems to be getting back up there pool tables (but classily done ) i.e no betting shop lurkers are allowed to hover around .any one else been in lately ?

ActionVerb

Been once in three years. It's pretty much in the same category as the white lion for us as the pub we never go to in our rotation between pubs round SGR.

May give it another go, as the old dairy is a bit too bar-ish for my liking now. Or could be just the clientelle.

Tallboy

Larrick is my closest pub. Haven't been there much recently, but have noticed the lack of custom. Can't understand why, it's not that bad is it? Certainly wouldn't put it in the same league as the White Lion (would need a chain metal suit to get me in there).

jandb

Watched the Saturday lunchtime football in there and there was a decent turn out. It just seemed to be a bit less depressing in there than it has been recently.

I'm hoping it picks up permanently, as I don't like the Dairy.

miss annie

The Larrik is a bit too blokey for me and it just has an odd atmosphere - like there is a fight about to kick off. I don't like it in there. I like the Old Dairy for quiet drinks and food and the Fullback for livelier occasions.

I would rather stick pins in my eyes than go in the White Lion.

ADGS

For daytime food and booze - particularly when working with limited cash reserves - the WLM is hard to beat.
Though in fact, even if I'd won the Euromillions, I think I'd take their food over what I've experienced of the Noble's (gastro nonsense) or the Dairy's (like everything else about that place, it seemed to speak of a failure at the basics of operating a pub).

andy

If I won the Euromillions, I would buy the Noble and keep it exactly as it is. Even the promise of an actual White Lion wouldn't get me in the WLM, but it takes all sorts.

ADGS

The key to White Lion use is ducking through to what used to be the non-smoking area at the back which, even years after the ban came in, remains the quiet and empty bit.
The Noble...I like it a lot, but do you really think it's *perfect*? Aside from the food, I also think the music can be a bit loud sometimes for the sort of music it usually is.

miss annie

An actual white lion a la Siegfried & Roy would deffo lure me in. Perhaps they could keep it in that alleged quiet back area.

yagamuffin

The Larrick has customers? Must mean the end is nigh for the Old Dairy then. That seems to be the way it has gone in my 10 ish years in the area. One has all the trendy locals, one has the less trendy locals, the second has a refurb and the clientelle slowly swap over, until the other pub has a refurb.
As for the Noble, a really nice pub that we enjoy when we get there but we always seem to end up in the Old Dairy/Larrick/Fullback first.
As for that Weatherspoons dive, I've not been there since I finished paying my student debts. Like all 'Spoons it sells cheap food (because it's going out of date the next day) and cheap beer (because it's going out of date the next day). The WLM is a Flat Roof Fighting Pub without the flat roof.

pellican

not aquainted with the white lion but by the sounds of it if i wanted to go to a dodgy boozer id go to chapter 1 its not to bad and the irish guv is a nice guy who has a unique way of dealing with things but affected . but in the last month or so the LARRIK DEFFINATELY no 1 in my books

miss annie

Medi anyone?

Tallboy

@ Pellican. When you refer to the "Irish guv" of Chapter One, are you talking about an older guy with white hair? He's been in the area for years. Used to see him a lot in the Old Dairy, Rainbow Cafe reading his papers and Chapter One. Haven't seen him for ages though. Is it the same guy?

David

At least someone at the Larrik has decided to try and change the atmosphere. It's definitely much better, still some way to go but get the feeling a few more regulars will do the rest. Using up some of the empty table space with pool tables and some simple things like turning the lighting down a little and some candle/nightlights have helped make it a feel a bit more welcoming/warmer/less barren. Good for them I say.

sincers

Yagamuffin is bang on with the rotation theory. The Dairy has had its chips. Turn the lights down, get some of the fit bar staff back and the Larrik will be back in the game. I had a b/day party there about 5 years ago and it was the best I've ever had. After mgmt change, they tried to start charging for venue hire before food etc and being anal about minimum spend etc.
Also, to compare with the WLoM, try the Nicholas Nickleby, opposite Londis on FPR - its amazing.
My vote also for The Nobel. Although you can't beat the Haringey for pint of Guinness.

staplejack

Definitely a division of approach. Chaps & Dames, Sugar Lounge, Old Dairy ("I'm the manager / owner, would like your feedback") vs Medi, Pellican.

Discuss.

Papa

I quite like the Larrik but rarely drink there, which is odd I guess. I think it's because all the wood is a bit too light for my taste, which is a completely bonkers way to assess a pub I know. I like its decent selection of beer and reaonable value pub food. If it was your only local pub, it would be great but it suffers from people having so much choice. The Dairy's all right but I prefered it in its previous incarnation, when it was a bit less smug and a lot better value. If I want to go gastro, I'd rather the Noble. The White Lion is nowhere near as bad as you'd think it would be, but shares the same soul sapping aura of most Wetherspoons. The Fullback is great in the pub bit when you get a good spot, but I have to be in the right mood for the back room and the jukebox's invariable too loudness. The Park Tavern is the best pub but doesn't do real ale. I keep meaning to go into the Nicholas Nickelby for the novelty.

bennyfromtheblok

Honesty is the best policy. Unless you are in real trouble, and then it's jackanory time.

sg_mike

I'm not going back to the Larrik until it changes owners.

Last time I visited, last summer:

Six people in the pub at 7pm, three bar staff
Only me ordering food - a veggie burger and chips (£8)
45 minute wait for the food
Inedible food (and I've got low standards), taken back to the bar to complain, only half-eaten.
No apology, no refund

pellican

@tallboy no its a new gruff irirh guy in his 30's same name different face and @staplejack ??? what i dont get ur comment ...u are the owner of the dairy and the sugar lounge !!!????????

pellican

@sg_mike veggie burger now = £6.00 and a year ago ..??? lots can happen in a year ..

wisteria53

I like the Larrik. I feel comfortable going in there on the way home from work, for Arsenal games or with friends. I'm married to a regular, which helps I guess.

badkitteh

I'm normally easy to please but my only complaint was the prevelant stickiness of my table during my last visit. Ewwwwww.

Gas Powered Ninja

Went to the Larrick with Mr Muffin yesterday. The pool tables are nice however, there's a £10 deposit (not too bad..) and it's £2 a game. Ouch.

But with the footy on and it seeming a bit more brightly lit, I actually thought it was quite nice.

andy

£2 is just about the going rate, I would have thought.

yagamuffin

Odd setup with the pool tables. It's £2 per 10 minutes, after that if the cue ball goes down it's game over but if you finish a game inside 10 minutes then you get another go.

Papa

£2 for pool, and you can't pot the cue ball after ten minutes. Madness. (For those of us rubbish at pool) Beermats in pockets time.

Nick10

Anyone know the name of the band that played the Larrick tonight? (Friday 23rd)

krappyrubsnif

A band? The Larrick? (Gapes foolishly in disbelief).

Slabber

I went to the Larrick based on some positive comments on here. It just seemed to be the shame shite with overpriced pool tables.

If I want to play American pool, I'll go to Green Lanes and pay £4 an hour. And not sit in a place which looks like an oversized canteen.