The Tom Hoskins, Belgrave, Leicester

The Tom Hoskins was easily the better of the two pubs that I tried in this part of the city on Sunday evening. I was initially wary when I saw a sign that said that only regulars would be allowed entry. But I bypassed that and found a couple of reasonably friendly barmaids. The pub was busy. There seemed to be a couple of rooms and I took what was possibly the last table. Greene King IPA is the regular ale. But I opted for the guest beer - Lancaster Blonde. Having been in Lancashire the previous day, I hadn't actually seen any Lancaster beers. So, it was a surprise to find this one in the Midlands and it was very pleasant too.

Located down a less-than-promising street lies this fabulous local. Eight pumps with a mish-mash of five ales (M&B Brew 5, Tetleys Dark Mild, Castle Rock Harvest Pale, GK IPA and one I forgot to note). My Dark Mild in good shape and at £1.15 ludicrously cheap. Popped up for second beer and some snacks - four quid for a half, a cob and packet of pork crunch, fantastic value (I initially mistook the cheese and tom cob for ham – the barmaid offered to make me a ham one from fresh, unprompted). The Castle Rock slipped down a treat. Pretty busy, the clientele were mainly mature punters. Interior is well done out in a cosy manner with a number of different drinking areas including a comfy padded banquette pew room with the football on. Door to rear leads to barber shop (!) and in that same area there’s also a fake shop window advertising raffle prizes. A notice was up about joining the pub darts team though I didn't spot a board. Cloud WiFi available. One small downside was that the gents smelt like a badger corpse had been stuffed behind a radiator. This is a fabulous little pub and well-worth planning a special journey out of the city centre for.