The Vine, Maidenhead

Vine page at the Brakspear site - www.brakspear.co.uk

Vine page at the Brakspear site - www.brakspear.co.uk

The Vine is a traditional town centre pub which has survived the renovation and redevelopment of the nearby Sainsburys shopping centre and multi-storey car parks. A few years ago, pre smoking ban, it was certainly an ‘old mans pub’ with an Irish boozer feel to it, especially the more public bar section to the left of the bar which was always frequented by people with a copy of the racing post watching the nags on the tele. But post smoking ban, it has been redecorated and tidied up and the interior remains a fairly cosy traditional pub set up, with water jugs hanging from the ceiling , plates on a high ledge and pipe smoking paraphernalia on the walls. The pub has kept its Irish influence and Irish sport is commonly shown on the two tele’s and, not that I’ve been , but work colleagues who live locally tell me it’s a good place to visit on St Patricks day. It does have a small outside pavement area with a few tables and chairs and this is an OK spot for a drink on a sunny day. A Brakspears house with usually only Best on, as it was the other lunch time when I caught a pint in here. As the gentlemen below says, a solid enough, friendly traditional town centre pub but nothing exceptional.

Tucked away from the main town centre drag, the Vine looks quite enticing on approach. The interior is pretty small, with a pool table plonked directly the middle of the main area not really helping matters. It’s quite tidily decorated, with sky blue painted boards from which hang jugs and sit plates. There were some daily papers available, along with an unobtrusive TV showing the football. Three pumps at the bar but disappointingly only Brakspear Bitter available (Oxford Gold was turned and the other pump was lifeless). My pint was OK but nothing out of the ordinary and it wasn't cheap either for 3.4%er. It’s decent enough here but I think the place fails to fulfil its potential, it could be quite a draw.

The Vine dates from 1820 and is situated just off the town centre. It is a comfortable and enticing enough place but on reflection probably doesn’t go beyond itself too far stand out as much as it possibly could do. The pub has been included in past Good Beer Guides although the choice is limited to Brakspear with just the one ale available on my visit (Brakspear Best) and one (Oxford Gold) with the clip reversed. A third pump was unused. The traditional style interior is knocked through but retains two discernabkle areas with a lounge section to the right and more of a public bar to the left containing a TV, pool table and dart board. The décor is tidy enough with a few plates, dangly pint pots and brewery mirrors on display. I wasn’t really there long enough to make a detailed judgement and whilst it seemed friendly enough, it didn’t really stand out for anything in particular although I wouldn’t have any qualms popping in again if passing.