The Alma

im amazed at some of the negative reviews left by some people who seem to have had a bad day before going to the alma to eat. i eat at the alma almost every sunday evenings and every other evening and have found nothing wrong with the food, it has improved a lot over the last year i`m happy to say, cant say much for some of the male bar staff tho, particularly a tall chap who seemed to be in a really bad mood, only thing that made our night worthwhile was the fact that my family and i had a really lovely roast beef dinner (on the 9th of august). Again on thursday (27th August) my partner and i had a tasty meal of the pork dish and stuffed marrow with chorizo couscous (great to see not everyone is cooking the same old mundane dishes like most pretentious wannabe gastro pubs) and marrow chutney, my partner really loved her stewed cuttlefish and prawns dish, best she`s had in a long while. Chefs at the Alma, keep up the good work and hope to be in again soon.
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jay
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 9
Sunday, August 30, 2009

The Alma has a fantastic little secret garden out the back. Feels very secluded and relaxing. Great wine list love your rose.

I always find the food interesting, good value for money and not pretentious.

The staff are friendly and real. I love their music choices, very creative and different.

The thing I particularly like about The Alma is that it is what it is. It's not trying to be anything other than a really good value local pub, serving the locals, by locals. It supports local events and is a real part of my community. Can't beat that.
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Melissa Bechamp
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Thursday, August 27, 2009

One of the best down to earth gastro pub's I've been to in ages.

I get so bored of the same mundane routine of the chain pubs. The Alma is a breath of fresh air.

Granted they could always do with a bit more polish here and there but at least they are human, they speak with you and they care.

Try the cheeseboard, it's great with homemade bread.

Good food and service.
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Paul Simpson
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Just had a great sunday, lazing around at The Alma. Lovely food so I'm not so sure about the past few reviews. This place feels like a home away from home. It might not be perfect, pristine or immaculate but what typical pub is. They are old buildings always needing some repair somewhere but they are warm and homely. That's more important to me.

If you want an upmarket gastro pub with all the character wiped out of it then go elsewhere. If you want friendly, slightly kitcsh and very of the community then The Alma is your pub.
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Sarah Jane
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 9
Wednesday, April 15, 2009

One of the most disappointing places I've been to. The venue has potential, but it is completely wasted. Went there for Sunday lunch. Staff were not ready and inattentive. The place was dirty (the loos were filthy), grubby and run-down. The food was terrible and barely edible.

The worst thing was the staff. One was scruffy, constantly eating bits of food from various surfaces, and his female assistant was disinterested and had a bad attitude. She also snacked at every opportunity.

In short, we couldn't wait to leave. Avoid!
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Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Monday, March 16, 2009

Just got back from an awful experience at the Alma, i stupidly ignored the reviews and thought id give it a go as its local.

The roast beef was so chewy it was inedible (this is provided you could actually cut a piece first which was near on impossible), it was also incredibly rare. I had to leave it and make do with the 3 tiny roast potatoes, couple of shriveled up carrots and some cabbage - for £14 i thought it was a joke. The waitress noticed our plates were still full of beef and apologised offering us a refund.

I then ordered an apple crumble and pulled out 6 rather large pips which almost took out a filling with each mouth full.

The place has great potential but is run down, really grubby and not up to its pretentious status - i wont ever be going back !!
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Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Sunday, November 30, 2008

Went to the Alma on Sunday 26th Oct in a group for a Sunday Roast - very disappointing. The beef was chewy to the point that one of the party gagged as she chewed and ended up leaving all the meat. Roast beef is an easy easy dish so to get this wrong was shocking. When we came to order dessert we were told that effectively they had run out except for about 3 dishes (not 3 varieties, 3 plates of food!) or ice cream - on a table of 8, that didn't really work. Fine, but the waitress delivered this news through fits of giggles. I wasn't laughing. The automatic addition of 12.5% tip is an insult!

Summary: bad food and rude staff... erm, go elsewhere!
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Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 0
Monday, October 27, 2008

Went here for the 4th time recently and once again the staff never stop amazing! They are rude, off hand and really need to go back to catering school! The food was good but I here a little rumour that the head chef has recently left under a large grey cloud. The food had taken a little nose dive since, always a worry!

Having said this its not a bad local, but it needs to remember what it is and not let its staff think they are in a Ramsay or Pied at Terre!!
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Dave Stone
Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 4
Wednesday, September 17, 2008

I have to agree with the last reviewer - I live locally, have only ever had excellent food and good, reasonably-priced wine in this pub, so I would would visit it more far more often if the staff situation were not so patchy. It really puts you off. Admittedly, on our last visit we had a delightful Australian waitress, but previous experience (mainly of English, male) staff has marred otherwise pleasant visits and left us unwilling to brave this place unless feeling particularly hungry and robust. Staff behaviour has ranged from grumpiness and off-handness to the plain rude - my personal favourite was being ticked for only picking up on a significant overcharge on the bill after they had put the card payment through! Oh - and the music is far too loud in the dining area. So, we usually end up in one of the Turkish restaurants on Green Lanes instead -they let you take your own wine and don't seem to think that they are doing you a favour.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 8
Friday, June 20, 2008

Great atmosphere, great food but very arrogant staff. Really really annoyed me. If they got over themselves this would be a fantastic place to eat.
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Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 7
Thursday, June 05, 2008