The White Horse of Hermitage, Thatcham

A Victorian village pub currently owned by Greene King. There is a small garden with a children’s play area and some parking spaces at the front. The single bar is ordinary and devoid of atmosphere, feeling more like a waiting room than a place to enjoy conviviality. The barman was supercilious and unhelpful, needed help in identifying what a full pint looked like, while the few locals that were in just looked miserable. Food was overpriced and dull. There was one ale on, Old Speckled Hen, which was also overpriced and fairly uninspiring. One craft beer, East Coast IPA, was predictably too cold, tasteless and very luch overpriced. Fine at a push, but I wouldn’t race back here, and the fact that at 10PM on a Saturday, the day after our visit, it was empty, while The Fox was packed, suggests the locals agree.

Blisteringly unspectacular Greene King pub. When we popped in it took an age for someone to serve us and what we got was a pretty average pint of IPA and a grumpy look. Pub interior not much to write home about either. Shame.