John Barleycorn, Reading

Another corner pub in Goring and another Marston's pub. This one looks and feels older than the Catherine Wheel, but it is actually the Catherine Wheel that is the oldest of the two. On entering, a door to the left leads to a lounge and restaurant. I chose the right-hand door which takes you into a bar and a small games room containing a bar billiards table. The bar is at the rear of the room. There is an outdoor courtyard beyond. Service was friendly, with ales listed on a small board on the bar (handpulls are on the lounge side). As with the Catherine Wheel, the regular beers are Brakspear Gravity & Ringwood Forty Niner. The guest here was Eagle Bombardier. Poor beer selection, but a nice interior full of character nonetheless.

May feel a little more homely when the newly-painted smell dissipates. Entrance splits to rooms either side of the bar; the public to the right with a small adjacent room given over entirely to the bar-billiards table, to the left a similar lounge giving on to a dining area. Some pew-style seating in both bar-rooms. The two beerpumps, stationed only on the lounge side, offer Brakspear bitter & special, beers not bad but not as perfect as the nearby Catherine Wheel.