Forum Topic

The Lord Nelson Pub

I have eaten a bar snack, and a meal in the restaurant part of the pub, both of which were excellent and very good value for money. The restaurant meal was as good a gastropub meal as I have eaten anywhere, and had a real touch of originality about it. The garden is fab.

Pattie Friend ● 7542d23 Comments

We also buy only organic food.It was a Sat pm when we ate there.  Due to our poor experience it has put us off spending any more money with them & trying their Sunday lunch.

Lynn Clark ● 6851d

Thank you for your kind comments Jim but I have to say I take my food quite seriously and I am therefore easily disappointed whilst others are I think, easily pleased!  I personally only buy organic meat and veg so I am particularly pleased that the Nelson uses organic meats for their Sunday lunches.  I can understand the negative posting if they visited on a weekday or a Saturday as the daytime menu is more bar food.  On a Sunday though it's primarily roasts although there are other choices available.  In the evening they have a chef and although I have yet to try it, I am reliably informed it is extremely good.

Bernadette Paul ● 6857d

I always enjoy reading your postings Bernadette..and the trouble you take in giving some good detail.You had previously recommended the Lord Nelson for sunday lunches so I was surprised when someone recently gave it the thumbs down.That's surprising news about the Fox at Hanwell..near the Canal and the Locks..(what a delightful location that area)and your report ought to find its way to the Ealing Forum..I think its Peter Wright local!So the Nelson has the thumbs up again. Goodo..it's time I made my maiden trip there!

Jim Lawes ● 6858d

This week I deserted the Nelson in favour of The Fox in Hanwell which has quite a good reputation for Sunday lunches (I believe the landlord also owns or owned the Cabbage Patch in Twickenham which also had a reasonable reputation) All I can say is that its customers are easily pleased I thought it was rubbish and not a patch on the Nelson.  We all ordered roast beef which I suppose it what we got but it had no taste so I can't be sure.  The only way to explain the plate of food delivered to us would be to say it that it was like an old style school dinner or some sort of canteen food.  If it had cost about £3.50 I wouldn't complain but they charged £8.50 each for 1 slice of beef so thin it was transparent, half a roast potato and the usual veg, cauliflower,carrots and broccoli, the gravy tasted of absolutely nothing (which was possibly a blessing)and the cauliflower came in something purporting to be a cheese sauce.  I couldn't taste any cheese it was just a globby white sauce which I could definitely have done without.  Horseraddish sauce was not to be had.  Having become used to copious amounts of thick sliced evidently organic beef, lamp, pork or half a chicken with much the same vegetables and tasty individual jugs of gravy and dishes of either mint, apple sauce or horseraddish accompaniments and all for £7 I was most put out and won't be deserting the Nelson again when in search of a Sunday lunch.  Incidentally they do have a childrens menu on a Sunday and a childrens roast is about £3 - £3.50.  They also do the usual sausages, chicken nuggets etc., and there are other dishes for adults apart from the roast meals.We have also in recent weeks tried The Bull on Strand on the Green which was not much better than the Fox and The Kent in Ealing which was not too bad but again more expensive at about £10 for a roast beef.  It is also a Fullers pub so the wines are the same as the Nelson but all bottles were a couple of pounds dearer.

Bernadette Paul ● 6858d

Having read about the pub on this forum, we have been meaning to give it a try.  We actually got around to it a couple of weekends ago.I must say we were very disappointed on many levels:The menu was extremely limited.The food was expensive but portions were small.The pub appears to market itself as a family pub (play area in garden) but does not have a child menu. Generally we don't find that a problem as childrens menus tend to be very limited & of poor quality (we rarely feed our children chips!), so we chose what we thought would be the best (only!) option for them from the very limited menu - spanish omelette, which came with salad.  Unfortunately the omelette had very caramalised onions in it (nearly black) & it had copious amounts of black pepper in it, far too much black pepper for me. (I do wish chefs wouldn't do that - pepper can be added afterwards as desired).  Unfortunately it just wasn't suitable for them.My husband had the lamb, which was OK but nothing special, small & about £12.Perhaps the Sunday lunch option is much better?On a positive note, the garden is great for children so we would probably go back again but just wouldn't eat there.

Lynn Clark ● 6871d

RebeccaThe Lord Nelson is North of the A4 off Windmill Road. Turn right down Grove Road and its on the corner with Enfield Road.I know its hard to believe but North of the A4 is still Brentford!

Peter McGovern ● 7207d

Where is The Lord Nelson please?

Rebecca Hobson ● 7207d

Couldn't agree more Claire. The Nelly is truly hospitable especially to my kids. The Landlady Diane often has sweets for them and puts up with far more messing about from them than I do.The food is good VFM as well.Child friendly is very hard to find in Brentford but Montys at the Watermans is good.

Peter McGovern ● 7207d

With regard The Weir being child friendly, I beg to differ. For a start the part of the signs that used to say families welcome, I believe has been painted out. Children are allowed until 7 but there is no clear indication of what the policy is, just I have found, dirty looks. The garden, I believe was supposed to include a child area but that never happened. All indications show that children are anything but welcome. I would rather spend £15 on a good quality 3 course meal in The Nelson where children are most definately welcome (the play area has recently had more slides/climbing frames added), than spend £30 on inadequate food where you are made to feel that you should just pay and get out.

Claire Peleschka ● 7208d

The Weir does have a nice ambiance, but I've had some issues there with the service myself.The Lord Nelson is lovely - friendly with nice food, and, yes, very good value.I know this isn't in Brentford (only just), but I feel I must mention the Ealing Park Tavern in South Ealing Road. It's my favourite local establishment bar none. The food is a bit pricey perhaps for a pub, but they've made some changes in the kitchen and I believe the food is better now than ever. They have a great wine list, guest beer, amazing garden and I can take my dog there (though not in the dining room). The service is friendly and gracious too.

Holly Hodges ● 7209d

I'm going to break my own golden rule about responding to reviews/comments. As a co-owner of The Weir, I must admit I'm disappointed to have missed this Forum thread - as a local family business we do try and keep abreast of the wide variety of discussions, when time allows. I have read the comments carefully and don't want to fall into the trap of just defending our business - everyone's entitled to an opinion, thank goodness. I was interested though on some of the comments and would like add some clarity. We reluctantly brought service charges in as a mechanism to reward (or not) the work of our staff. At The Weir we now offer table service for both drinks and food, which is unique. However, the service charge is, and always should be, discretionary. If you don't feel the experience was worth it - you don't pay, no discussions or arguments - and I speak for most restaurant owners, I hope.The Weir is child-friendly for diners, in the dining room, up until 7.00pm - we don't have a children's licence. All of our food is fresh and delivered daily - no compromise, which is reflected in the price of our dishes.We do care deeply about our business and the ambiance we help create, which is mellow and relaxed - again, no compromise.If you do visit us and have a problem let me or Joanne know

Noel Lavery ● 7213d

My understanding of service charges is that if you are not satisfied and can stand the embarrassment of arguing, you don't have to pay it.  As regards the Weir, I ate there quite regularly in the early part of last year but the food was never great in my opinion and then it deteriorated to quite poor.  However I don't recall ever being charged for service so I think it may be a new thing with them and another indication of their mistaken ideas of grandeur.Give the Lord Nelson a try if you want a pretty good meal at sensible prices and as far as I am aware no service charges.

Bernadette Paul ● 7249d

What is the thing with service charges? Do we have to pay them? I eat in some restaurants and the service charge is sometimes 12.5% It is not an amount i would leave as a cash tip, especially when sometimes the service is not great. I have experienced in the past some places get quite funny if you do not want to pay the full service charge, as though you are tryimg to underpay them. I don't understand why this is put on a bill, it surely must be the customers choise if they want to leave a tip for the service!

Rebecca Hobson ● 7249d

Agree about the Weir.  We ate there soon after it opened and found it reasonable, although over priced. Tried it again a week or two back on Sunday evening and weren't impressed. Still very expensive and not a great menu either. Why they have to make a service charge always has me puzzled, all they have to do is bring it to the table, it's not silver service.

Pat Kingham ● 7249d

Just thought I would resurrect this original topic i.e. The Lord Nelson.For the last 6 weeks or so I have had Sunday lunch at the Lord Nelson with various members of my family.  The garden is a delightful surprise as even though I had been in the pub before many years ago, I didn't realise it even had a garden.  It has so far proven to be a child friendly pub and the food is excellent and reasonably priced.  I would even go so far as to say it's good value.  Also they provide traditional Sunday roats with organic meats as well as a fairly extensive alternative menu between 1 - 5.00p.m. rather than the usual 1 - 3.00p.m.I really shouldn't encourage others to try it as it may become too packed to fit me and my family in but it's nice to give credit for a change instead of a moan.While I'm on the subject of food and moaning etc., The Weir has in my opinion become so up itself that it deserves a mention only to dissuade people from wasting their money and child friendly it is not!  In fact I'm not even sure it's people friendly.  I have heard some very negative feeback about their attitudes to customers.

Bernadette Paul ● 7250d