The Valentine

I was thrown out of this pub for discreetly giving another customer a Green Party newsletter during a private conversation. I wasn’t disturbing anyone & explained that I was not leafleting as such, yet the manager sent two bouncers over, one of whom was bewildered by it.
Since when has it been an offence to give someone a leaflet? Would he have minded had it been about cancer or a Pilates class? Probably not. I expect he objected to the Green Party. Maybe he’d have been ok had it been a BNP leaflet…

For locals The Valentine needs no introduction. This is where we spent our youth. This is where girls ignored us. This is where your friend puked over his hand. This is where you sang Lionel Richie songs on Karaōke night.
The startling thing is not much has changed. Whilst strolling around Ilford you will inevitably run into someone with a name like Richard Dulhurstberry who you used to know from school, and he will excitedly say «Haven’t seen you down the Val in a while, you should come on Wednesday». And all you can think in response is «Dude, we’re 36. I stopped being 16 and sneaking in there like twenty years ago!».
It’s a hard place to review because, even though most of us were there every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday — it’s entirely possible that the place isn’t very good.
But, y’know, it’s fine. It was a place to get drunk, and apparently a sure place to find women. I found them, but, they never found me. Heartbreaking.
This place works on many levels — you can be there on a Wednesday night and even now you’ll know everyone there. Or you can pop in on a Thursday afternoon and you’ll have the place to yourself and find it surprisingly relaxing. Better yet– you can head in there on a Saturday Night and you’ll be certain to find a band playing.
It’s also a great starter place if you’re into the whole clubbing thing. With Faces only ten minutes away, this is generally where people start.
I’ve had some great nights here and some utterly forgetful ones. Ultimately, your experience in a Pub is only going to be as good as the friends you take there with you. Luckily The Valentine tends to be a place where everyone knows your name, and the establishment should take some credit for that.

Nice pub, close to Gants Hill Underground, good atmosphere, drinks reasonably prices and a fair range to be had. It has it’s own car park.

This pub is great! I’ve been going here for a few years now and always enjoy myself.
The food served at this pub is delicious, it has full english breakfasts, sandwiches/​wraps, scampi, steak, burgers, mash — a great variety of food, especiall good for those Sunday hangovers :-) Sometimes the portions are a little small compared to what they used to be but they are still the same great quality and good value for money. Food is served between 12 and 3pm Mon to Fri and ’til 5pm on Sunday — it’s a shame that the hours aren’t longer but they do also serve hotdogs from behind the bar for £2.50 if you need a quick snack.
The drink prices are pretty competitive too. They also have drinks offers on Thursday nights, Happy Hour between 5 and 7pm Mon to Thurs as well as two cocktails for £6.50/three shots for £3.50 all day, everyday!
They have Karaōke on Wednesday nights which is hosted by a lovely man who has been doing it for years and they have live bands every Saturday night — most of which are pretty good. Saturday nights are incredibly busy, alot of people go for the live bands in particular East Of Java. On Sunday’s they host a pub quiz starting at 9pm — it’s free to take part and the winner gets a bottle of wine. The quiz is hosted on the tv screens placed all around the pub instead of someone with a microphone! The pub genrally gets quite busy towards the end of the week as it is only 5 mins away from the well known nightclub Faces.
As with all pubs they show the majority of football games — I’m not too big on football so I don’t know exactly how many and which ones they show… They have a huge screen at one end of the pub as well as plasma screens fitted around the pub.
The pub had a refurbishment about 2 years ago and looks great! As you walk in to the right is as area with lots of chairs and leather sofa’s & tables to chill out and watch the footie on the massive projector screen. The middle of the pub is filled with more tables, a stage and a dancefloor. Then of course you have the bar and then there are 3 pool tables which charge £1.20 a game.
There are also several touch screen quiz machines, gambling machines, cash machine and change machine in the pub so it really does have everything!
The atmosphere in the pub is always good — there is very little trouble there and they have doorman who will immediately take care of any trouble that arises.
**EDIT
They have also now re-​opened their very large garden. It’s very spacious with lots of old school wooden tables/​chairs/​umbrellas. They have also put massive TV’s up in the garden for when the football is on. Finally you can go out to smoke, get some air without having to worry about finding someone to look after your drink or seats.
They have also changed the menu and now offer more food in the evenings. You can now buy pizza’s and chicken baskets too. These include offers such as 1 pizza & 2 bottles of Peroni for £8.00! The pizza’s are always well cooked — they have a pizza oven on the bar.