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Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Tuesday, 3rd August 2021
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Detail Pages
The Poacher, Bristol
Portishead
Postal town: Bristol
BS20 6AJ
Served areas
Reviews of The Poacher (Average Rating: 4½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Poacher
A light and airy refit in the intervening years which whilst sadly killing off the old cosy character has at least undone some of the worst excesses of the post-Hazleton era. A very friendly lady behind the bar took my order and delivered the pint to the rear garden where I decamped with the parental pooch I was dog-sitting. There were two ales on, Exmoor Gold and St Austell Proper Job, the latter of which was sadly a cardboardy, yeast baby-laden disappointment (NBSS 1.5) which partially ended-up as grass fertiliser. A shame really, as I really wanted to have a good experience.
July 2012
Well I popped in again to see what's happening in what was a well-run and friendly local. What a transformation! All the Hazleton's hard work over the years has been frittered away. A handful of punters effing, jeffing and bellowing pronouncements that would make Chubby Brown blush. Two ales on, Doom Bar and a pedestrian Bath Gem...yawn. Just as Portishead is going upwards with new developments this place is racing to the bottom. If you need a case study as to why Enterprise should be chased out of town and Ted Tuppen padlocked in a holdall with only a tarantula for company, look no further. Rated 4
November 2010
The Hazletons have been driven out of the pub by Enterprise and their money-grubbing ways. A real shame as they'd made a genuine success of this place.
June 2010
Enjoyable pub on Portishead’s High Street. It's a good place to get a beer, four handpulls operating with usually a couple of good choices (Butcombe, Otter, Adnams and Exmoor have all been spotted) in good nick. A bustling atmosphere in the evening, belying the pub's local reputation of being an oldies waiting room where you can hear the clock tick (which is truer during the daytime). This of course helps keep the kids and riff-raff out and the serious drinkers and characters in. Enter through a central door and find the popular bar area to the left with a more genteel seating arrangement to the right, where a carvery-style servery is located. The interior has that lived-in feel, with widen furniture and padded alcove seating. Live music is advertised, along with other events. It is pretty easy to settle in for an all-night session and get chatting to a ruddy-faced local who has a story to tell. The landlord has done well here. Rated 8.
On 1st September 2021
- rating: 5
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Poacher
An attractive looking, stone built pub in the middle of Portishead’s pleasant High Street, there are plenty of picnic benches at the front and a good sized car park to the side. It was in the same family for many years and used to be quite a decent pub as I recall, but since they left it seems to have gone downhill quite considerably.
Internally it’s largely one long, open plan room with a couple of couple of recessed areas at the rear. The flooring was predominantly a rather tatty red carpet, although some areas of exposed brickwork on the walls added a bit of character, as well as a couple of brick chimney breasts. It was a shame though that what purported to be a wood burning stove was clearly just an electric imitation. A mobile stainless steel food servery was tucked away at the rear, although this was not in use on our Friday evening visit and there was no sign of any food being served. What could loosely be described as a snug at the rear was somewhat spoilt by being on a route to the loos and some sort of water leak had caused much of the plaster to crumble off the walls. The clientele seemed to be predominantly rather loud tattooed blokes and their blond girlfriends and the atmosphere seemed somewhat less than relaxing, certainly not helped by the rather high volume coming from the karaoke setup. It didn’t help that every single person who got up to sing was quite excruciatingly awful, but this didn’t deter numerous other punters from loudly joining in.
Beers on tap were Doom Bar and Exmoor Gold, whilst a further two pumps appeared unused. Ciders meanwhile were Thatcher’s Gold, Thatcher’s Haze and Blackthorn. Perhaps the atmosphere may be different at other times, but based on my visit and can see no reason to return.
On 23rd February 2018
- rating: 4
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Richard Arwkrite left this review about The Poacher
Clients are mainly middle aged plus which give this pub a more relaxed air. No cheap beers or wine but I have always found them first class. Pleasant beer garden. It has a large car park and decent wheelchair access, the interior is not to cluttered.
On 1st October 2009
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 197 recommendations about 185 pubs]
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- Official site of The Poacher - www.thepoacherportishead.co.uk
- Twitter - The Poacher
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Poacher - whatpub.com
Shirehampton, 5.77 miles, 1 hr 51 min walk (show)
St Andrews Road, 6.59 miles, 2 hr 7 min walk (show)
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 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Car Park : Yes last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Function Room : Yes last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Live Music : No last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : No last updated 01 September 2021 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes - Free pub wifi from arqiva - last updated 21 December 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
