The Cotham Arms, Kingsdown, Bristol

This pub has been renamed since my previous visit, and is now most certainly a proper pub again, instead of the “bar and kitchen” that it was in it’s previous guise. In fact it has quite a traditional pub feel to it, and there’s certainly no indication that it hasn’t always been this way. Internally it consists of two rooms with the main bar area at the front and a smaller room at the rear. There are old wooden boards on the floor and cream plasterwork on the walls, whilst all the timberwork has been painted a deep shade of green. There was some stained glass at the rear of the pub and the smaller room at the back had butchers tiles on the walls and chequered tiles on the floor. An old disused fireplace was at the rear, and a pile of board games in the window. There were quite a few students in on our Saturday afternoon visit, but these were all of the chilled out coffee drinking variety rather than anything noisy. I didn’t inspect the menu, but from what I could make out the food offering looks to be limited to sandwiches, charcuterie boards and jars of sweets behind the bar. Beers on tap were Fuller’s Red Fox and Doom Bar, whilst a third pump appeared to have run out. The only cider visible on the bar was Thatcher’s Gold, but a sign indicated that they also had Rosie’s Pig, Lily the Pink and Navel Gazer. All in all I thought this was a decent pub and certainly it’s very welcome to have a pub returning from a bar and kitchen to a more traditional setup.

Official site of The Cotham Arms - www.thecothamarmsbristol.co.uk

Official site of The Cotham Arms - www.thecothamarmsbristol.co.uk

No pumps anymore and a seemingly food only focus since my last visit. I won't close it given I'm sure bottled beers can still be drunk in here without having to eat as it retains "bar" in the name.