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Picture of The Royal Oak
Image posted by Blackthorn _
Submitted on Tuesday, 21st August 2012
With picture contributions to 5138 other pubs
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The Royal Oak, Northampton

Chapel Lane
Blisworth
Postal town: Northampton
NN7 3BU
Correct details

Served areas

Reviews of The Royal Oak (Average Rating: of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Bucking Fastard left this review about The Royal Oak

ORIGINAL REVIEW November 2012
An attractive stone built exterior,the interior isn't huge and splits into two section.To the left there is a real fire in a Victorian tiled fireplace with a Sky Sports flatscreen above,darts board,fruit machine and quarry tiling around a small bar.There is some fitted bench seating and original features around one window along with exposed stonework.Sadly the inane muzak clashed with the traditional interior.There is a small seperate dining area with it's own serving bar and an inglenook fire while beyond a very low beam is a seperate room for Northamptonshire skittles.
Three handpumps with GK IPA,Black Sheep Bitter and a reversed St Austell Tribute.The beer was OK and not sour which is more than can be said for the serving staff.Indifference bordering on rudeness didn't endear us to the pub and I can't see any reason to revisit given the lacklustre ale choice.

UPDATE
A change of hands has led to a big improvement and there is now a large choice of pub food with some Italian dishes to the fore.My bubble & squeek was good.The real ale choice was better this time but still has the feel of being drawn from a pubco list with Doom Bar,GK IPA and Hobgoblin saved by a decent Great Oakley Wots Occurring.Lots of TT Landlord glasses but no sign of their superior ale.Good to see an upbeat vibe this time,an upgrade from me.

On 16th November 2015 - rating: 7
[User has posted 2709 recommendations about 2709 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blackthorn _ left this review about The Royal Oak

An attractive looking pub in the centre of this small village and close to the Grand Union canal, it would appear to have improved considerably since the previous reviewers visited, and overhearing a couple of punters at the bar it seems that there has been a change of ownership at some point and they were commenting on the much improved beer.

It consists of a smallish central bar just inside the front door and further rooms off to each side. Flooring is a mixture of tiling and carpet whilst the paintwork is a mixture of cream and deep red. The cosiest area is off to the right and this had a low, wood panelled ceiling with a massive stone fire-place at one end and some further exposed stone walling. This contained a wood burning stove which the barman kept topped up. A number of copper pots and pans and such like were dotted around. Beyond this was a games room housing a pool table and darts board whilst at the other end of the pub was a further fire-place with a plasma screen mounted above it.

The menu consisted of a number of pub grub dishes such as omelette, burger, sausage & mash, fish & chips, etc., and these were mostly priced around the £8 mark. In addition to this, a “light bites” section included snacks such as onion rings, chips and curry sauce or a fish finger sandwich! There were also a number of Indian dishes available which seemed to be something of a speciality and I opted for the Chicken Tikka Masala, which whilst it may not be authentically Indian, surely counts as a pub staple these days. It had some decent chunks of chicken in it and was tasty enough, but the sauce seemed a little artificial and I’m not convinced it was really worth £8.95.

Beers on tap were Doom Bar, London Pride, Hobgoblin and Greene King IPA. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately.

On 27th January 2015 - rating: 7
[User has posted 1937 recommendations about 1850 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Thuck Phat left this review about The Royal Oak

This is an appealing building in a pleasant canal village.
Regrettably, once inside you'll find a joyless, cold pub with a deeply miserable barmaid and surly staff.
There are a number of nice features, Victorian fireplace with real fire, inglenook fireplace, beams and so on but it's all covered by the grime of years and the place feels unloved and uncared for.
Only two beers on, GK IPA and Black Sheep. This prompted a request for a red wine. Which had apparently run out.
It could be a very nice pub this, if run by people who want to do it. But as it is, it's ghastly and I'll be avoiding it like the plague.

On 27th November 2012 - rating: 3
[User has posted 679 recommendations about 678 pubs]

This pub features in the following crawls:
The 88/X88 Bus pub crawl by michael furn
External web links for The Royal Oak

No known official website for this pub.

Pub location see interactive map of local area
Map location corrected by Blackthorn _
Northampton, 5.18 miles, 1 hr 40 min walk (show)
Wolverton, 11.14 miles, 3 hr 35 min walk (show)
Long Buckby, 13.31 miles, 4 hr 16 min walk (show)
Latest updates View all updates for The Royal Oak, Blisworth
14th Mar 2019, 14:31
Picture submitted by Paul Haddon approved
 
14th Mar 2019, 12:23
Picture submitted by Paul Haddon

Pub Details

Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.

  • Accommodation : No last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Beer Festivals : No last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Beer Garden : Yes last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • CAMRA Discount : No last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Car Park : Yes last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Function Room : Yes last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Hot Food : Yes last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Live Music : Yes - Sunday - last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Micropub : No last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Real Ale : Yes last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Real Cider : No last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
  • WiFi : Yes last updated 27 May 2019 by ROB Camra
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