Waters Edge

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Situated at the end of Reservoir Road, just inside the confines of, and facing on to, Ruislip Lido this pub is beautifully situated. Sadly that is where what is good about it ends.

The building itself was put up to replace the old art deco cafe that was visited by arsonists one night in the 80's. I am sure that there were restrictions placed on whoever designed it as to exactly what they could build as I suspect what was burnt down was listed, and what went up had to be in a similar theme, but this pub is a planning disaster!

Looking at the picture above you can see that it paints a very welcoming exterior to the road. It is actually difficult to see just how you get in it for a start. It improves at the other side and from a distance looks reasonable from the lake side. Inside however it is dark, drab and boring.

The side facing the lake (note lack of windows, and bushes in the way of the few that exist!)

To be fair it majors on food and really tries to be a restaurant, but a pub it also is, so I continue...

It was such an opportunity, it was so wasted. I don't know by whom and I doubt if they would stand up and account for their actions even if you accused them. This was more than an opportunity wasted, it was a chance for Ruislip to be really put on the map. A chance to do (and build) something that people would really remember. Much as I am a fan of art deco and wish the idiots had not set fire to what stood here the replacement should have been something different, something with flair, something bold and ultra modern, something with, dare one actually say it, WINDOWS! But I have the benefit of hindsight....

Leave Ruislip towards Rickmansworth along Bury Street. Look out for the petrol station on the left and then a car showrooms on the right (that was a petrol station). Turn here down Reservoir Road and the Waters Edge may be found on the right at the end. There is a huge (council owned) car park on the left which is free and also used by visitors to the Lido, so you do not have to visit the pub to park in here. There are also local signs for Ruislip Lido.

Not too bad. Get the. H13 from Ruislip tube to the stop for Ruislip Lido and you are there.

Not bad, come out of the pub turn left, walk to the end and just up the hill on the other side of the road is the Six Bells. Or turn left at the main road and then right up Breakspear road to The Woodman. A final option is to turn left at the main road and walk about 1/2 mile to The Plough. Total walk between pubs a little over one mile and from all except The Woodman the H13 stops close by.

The worst pint of keg bitter I have ever had, in the darkest and worst designed pub I have ever been in, in the most beautiful setting I can remember other than on the Thames. Some building work is planned in the near future, perhaps they will add windows....

This pub has over several year had more reviews than any other on this web site by some distance. As staff and circumstances change I have, as correctly suggested by Jonathan in the review below, removed them and have "wiped the slate clean"

After reading all the consistently dreary comments about the Water's Edge pub, I visited it today (July 8th 2011) for the first time, with some trepidation. I had few expectations, and my wife and I thought we would just try the coffee first, as it was about 11am. We found the staff friendly and helpful, the pub clean and cheerful, all the windows you could possibly hope for facing the reservoir, and the coffee excellent. A couple of hours later we returned for lunch to find the place packed with customers who were obviously regulars, mostly queuing for the apparently excellent carvery, where you could have all you could eat for £3.69 (amazing value!) To avoid the queue we ordered from the menu, and to our surprise, despite the number of customers, our food arrived within about ten minutes. The portions were generous and the food quite clearly prepared on the premises and not microwaved out of the freezer. We could only find two extremely minor complaints: the ladies' toilet was out of order (not as problem as I used the Gents and my wife didn't need to go!) and you aren't allowed to eat outside at the tables (presumably because of the bird problem that this would cause, as those swans, geese and ducks can see quite well).

All those ancient adverse comments on your website about this excellent pub are now completely out of date and irrelevant, and should really be removed as soon as possible (He is right and I have ROL). They give entirely the wrong impression. This is a fantastic pub, in an idyllic location, serving great food at absurdly low prices, and although we live several miles away in Edgware, it is going to be one of our regular haunts from now on.

The attractions around this pub are just to long to list here. If you have never been to Ruislip go to this pub NOW (perhaps at a time when it is closed) and take in the beauty all around it, remembering that the Lido was built as a feeder for the Grand Union canal. This is the nearest you will get to the seaside in London.

When this is the view from your pub's garden I guess you don't have to try that hard to get customers...


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