The Lodekka, Brislington, Bristol

Large modern pub in Hungry Horse chain so primarily a family dining sort of establishment, however the right hand side of the bar has more of a pubby feel with pool and sports tv. It does have the benefit of a car park and large outdoor area however. Usual beers from Greene King in fair condition.

just for info, the Loddeka was a bus built by Bristol bus company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Lodekka hence use of name I assume In my youth I used them

A new build pub completed earlier this year on the main A4 Bath Road, it is part of Greene King’s “Hungry Horse” brand and thus focuses very much on the family dining end of the market rather than your traditional pub scene. It’s all one open plan layout, although segregated in to different areas with partitioning and such like and a conservatory area at the front. Outside it is surrounded by patio and gardens which includes a kid’s climbing frame and a number of tress adorned with lights. Decor wise it’s the usual bland corporate style and is no doubt identical to any of their other pubs up and down the country. Paintwork is a mixture of grey and maroon and there was some wallpaper featuring prints of cow’s heads. A Wallace & Gromit film was being shown on a projection screen and the pub have purchased the Gromit model Lodekka which was part of the highly successful Gromit Unleashed arts trail around Bristol earlier in the year and this is on display just inside the door. To the rear was a pool table so they are at least trying to make some concessions to normal pub activities and there was also a plasma screen was showing a news channel as well as an additional LCD screen mounted in the wall at the end of our tables, although this was not in use and it’s purpose was unclear. There were also a couple of soft toy grab machines such as you may get at a fairground or amusement arcade which always strikes me as an odd thing to put in the pub. In a nod to the pub’s name and the area’s history there was a painting on the wall of the Lodekka bus which was made by the nearby Bristol Commercial Vehicles. Food features extensively as mentioned previously and the menu was a large laminated affair divided in to various sections such as sharers, big plates, burgers, classics, curries and even super sundaes. There also seems to be some type of meal deal on most days including steak night, curry night and fish and chip night. Beers on tap were Greene King IPA, Abbot Ale and Moorland Original. Ciders were Strongbow, Strongbow Pear and Thatcher’s Gold. Although I’m not a massive fan of Greene King, and even less so their Hungry Horse brand, they are clearly catering to popular demand as it’s a large pub and was pretty much full to capacity on a recent Thursday evening visit, which must be over a hundred people. The three other more traditional pubs that I went in the same evening managed barely a quarter of that number between them.