New Pub On Silom Road

[rak sa_ngop]

I tried out the new pub opposite Soi 6 Silom Road, yesterday.

My impressions:

Pros: Good happy hour and all day price for Tiger beer

Cons: Very noisy. 'Tinny' music system with very bare walls and a large open area makes it very loud!

Not an ideal place for a quiet relaxing drink but OK for groups.

[dantilley]

I've heard it's a good pub, and it's about time Silom had a decent new boozer as the Irish Exchange and the Barbican have started to get a little stale in my opinion. Always good to have another after-work option onto the list.

All those faults mentioned are easily rectifiable also and could be put down to the teething problems of a newly opened bar (maybe except the tinny music, if fixing it would have to involve buying a whole new sound system)

[John_Betong]

I've heard it's a good pub, and it's about time Silom had a decent new boozer as the Irish Exchange and the Barbican have started to get a little stale in my opinion. Always good to have another after-work option onto the list.

All those faults mentioned are easily rectifiable also and could be put down to the teething problems of a newly opened bar (maybe except the tinny music, if fixing it would have to involve buying a whole new sound system)

I have eaten there a couple of times late afternnons. Food is OK, big plates that make the portions appear small. Atmosphere was good for chatting and relaxing. Second time we ate we had 10% knocked off the bill for having to wait.

I called in on the Friday opening night about 20:00 to sample the free food and beer, opened the door and the distorted music was bleeding painful. Never had a drink or tried the food and left rapidly.

The mind boggles as to who thinks that the music must be so loud!

[pedro01]

I was in there on Friday too - it was overcrowded - but I guess that's what happens on a grand opening night with free beer advertised. I'd like to see what the noise level would be like on a regular Friday.

I ate a steak sandwich - which wasn't good, especially when compared with the one at the Irish Exchange. I mean - if you are going to put steak inside a sandwich - cut the gristle out first. I want something that can actually be chewed. The food needs work but then again look at the competition food-wise....

Irish Exchange - good food, good selection & comes quickly. Can be a bit pricey if you take the 'build your own meal' option. Curry Buffet on Friday is good

Barbican - Everything on the menu is fantastic, although takes them a while to cook it

O'Reillys - Poor food.

Dubliner - Best pub grub in Bangkok, not cheap though.

Bulls Head - Not bad - some highlights on the menu - Sunday lunches are a dissapointment

Robin Hood - Crap. From looking at the menu, I conclude that the only cooking implement they have is a frying pan.

For sure the Duke is a change of scene compared with other English/Irish pubs in Bangkok. Perhaps better for the younger crowd in my opinion (I'm 36).

It would be good to see the Duke survive - hopefully longer than the German pub that was located nearby.

One thing though - someone needs to tell the manager about what he can & cannot do working in a bar. Delivering food to people is a bit daft considering immigration/labor dept rules.

[John K]

If it is the one I think it is, the owners are the same as the Big Mango in Nana Plaza.

[bkkmadness]

I quite like the Black Swan these days, foods pretty good as well.

[warriors]

Been 2 times to the Duke first time beer flat JOHN SMITHS 2nd time was to see why I wont go back again it is like a big barn old style New Zealand used to be.

It is crap better around but I gave it a chance.

[dantilley]

They made some real cock-ups on their opening night in my opinion which could have lasting damage by driving away lots of potential customers. Errors included:

- Proudly claiming "Free beer and food" on a huge banner on the front of the pub. The free beer consisted of possibly being able to get yourself one pint if you managed to persuade one of the staff to give you a voucher. I asked about the vouchers at the bar and was told "see the manager", of course no indication as to where the manager could be found! If they want to do this system, at the very least they should have had someone on the door giving these out.

- The free food consisted of a tiny plate of cold snack items. Barely edible and a pathetic amount.

- Only about 8 staff were employed for a pub's grand opening, busy "free beer" night. The chaos that ensued involved many people having to wait for more than half an hour - 45 minutes for a drink. One mate of mine left after not getting his pint after waiting for over an hour!

These things aside, though, I'd say it's a fairly unremarkable pub: average decor, poor beer, pleasant enough staff even despite being absolutely run off their feet.

(NB - my post #2 was written before actually going to the place!)

[markah]

I've heard it's a good pub, and it's about time Silom had a decent new boozer as the Irish Exchange and the Barbican have started to get a little stale in my opinion. Always good to have another after-work option onto the list.

All those faults mentioned are easily rectifiable also and could be put down to the teething problems of a newly opened bar (maybe except the tinny music, if fixing it would have to involve buying a whole new sound system)

Thats true about the Xchange getting stale, I dont know about the Barbican, I only drank there one time. But the Xchange has a new happy hour, Monday to Friday 5pm til 9pm, can you believe that? 1/2 price beer. Plus my mate was in there yesterday and he said he had breakfast for 150 baht and it was great, these guys must be putting there prices down due to a bit more competition.

The duke reminds me of those old working mens clubs back in the UK.

[Rinrada]

I've heard it's a good pub, and it's about time Silom had a decent new boozer as the Irish Exchange and the Barbican have started to get a little stale in my opinion. Always good to have another after-work option onto the list.

All those faults mentioned are easily rectifiable also and could be put down to the teething problems of a newly opened bar (maybe except the tinny music, if fixing it would have to involve buying a whole new sound system)

Thats true about the Xchange getting stale, I dont know about the Barbican, I only drank there one time. But the Xchange has a new happy hour, Monday to Friday 5pm til 9pm, can you believe that? 1/2 price beer. Plus my mate was in there yesterday and he said he had breakfast for 150 baht and it was great, these guys must be putting there prices down due to a bit more competition.

The duke reminds me of those old working mens clubs back in the UK.

Nipped in for a pint on last visit and the guy who served me said ...Hey No see you for a while..?

Had to think for a minute and sure enough recognised him from the time I was more of a regular..when it first opened and was ...called Delaneys Bar.

Seems to a changed a bit as well as the whole of Convent...but still friendly and the Black stuff is cheaper NOW........ ...its the craik.....

[rak sa_ngop]

Thats true about the Xchange getting stale, I dont know about the Barbican, I only drank there one time. But the Xchange has a new happy hour, Monday to Friday 5pm til 9pm, can you believe that? 1/2 price beer. Plus my mate was in there yesterday and he said he had breakfast for 150 baht and it was great, these guys must be putting there prices down due to a bit more competition.

The duke reminds me of those old working mens clubs back in the UK.

Thanks for the news about the new Xchange happy hours. Maybe this explains why O'Reilly's has been looking pretty empty these past few days.

[trajan]

Does Arty, the 8th Duke have an interest in the bar??