The Old Vine, Winchester

We found the "bar half" of this pub to be very lively, almost to the point of being nosiy. It was very popular, no chance of getting a table, and the majority of the punters appeared to be just there for a drink. Certainly that was the case by the end of the evening, we were there until gone 11:00 and they certainly weren't having their pre-dinner drinks at that time. The dining half of the pub is just that, it's very much a restaurant and not somewhere to go for a pint. The staff were very pleasant and friendly, it's conveniently situated right opposite the cathedral green, and there's an enormous window at the front of the bar to take full advantage of the outlook. There's a selection of board games at the back of the bar, plenty of wood beams and unusually even the outside seating area and courtyard is non-smoking. Obviously this may be a good thing or not depending on your point of view. I'm not going to get in to that argument. Beers were Flower Pots, TT Landlord, Ringwood Best and Bowman's Swift One. Cider was Thatcher's Gold.

Official site of the Old Vine, contains menu and wine list - www.oldvinewinchester.com

A half brick, half white terraced Georgian styled pub and restaurant that does accommodation, that has a rear patio and is in the GBG 2010 The interior has two rooms that were separated by a curtain, which rather set the tone really. The first room was a dining area in white and wood panel, with some red wallpaper and a brick fireplace. The bar/lounge was also in white and wood panel and both had wood floor and ceiling beams. The decor is that modern and rather tedious way they cut up bits of arty fabric into squares and diamond shapes and then put it on the walls. The service was good, the clientele mixed and it was well attended. Beer; tap stuff with four handpulls; Ringwood Bitter, Timothy Taylor Landlord as well as some decent enough Oakleaf Hole Hearted and Andwell Brewery's Gold Muddler Nice beer, but alas, just not my kind of interior. Many will like it and clearly did on my visit.