Queens Arms, Reading

now a tesco express

Rather disappointing considering the positive remarks attached, the weakest venue on our Goring and Reading crawl yesterday. Only GK ipa on offer; it was ok but that's all it's ever going to be. A pool table one side of the bar & a handful of locals sombrely watching Chelsea West Ham on the other, no hostility but no sense of warmth either. Barmaid was friendly enough and helpfully pointed out the Reading train times listed at the bar. Taxi driver back from Aldworth suggested Queens was frequented by younger (albeit not chavvy) locals, but it was very quiet on this visit.

A comedy cliché station pub. Shot furnishings, shot carpet, over-loud jukebox music and a few lonely middle aged men. Items of despair included a phone socket hanging out of the wall, a cardboard patch over smashed glass door panel and a Henry Hoover seemingly displayed as a pub feature. Two GK ales available, IPA and OSH. I was slightly alarmed by the landlord saying he'd been away for a few days and he'd need me to try the OSH to see if it was ok (it wasn't too bad, despite the bits floating in it). Dog friendly, darts and red felted pool table were some plus points. Perhaps oddly it had Wi-Fi though my phone battery was on its last legs so I didn’t try and connect. When the Good Pub Guide made their media-baiting editorial announcement that ‘some pubs are so bad they deserve to close’ they may have had places like this in mind.