The Old Plough, Oakham

An evening trip down some of Rutland’s more obscure country lanes led us to this fine stone-built pub in a rather out-of-the-way village. Entering through the front door, you find yourself in a carpeted bar area with the servery directly opposite, along the back wall. The room has lots of nice uneven beams and pillars, mostly decorated with horse brasses, and a couple of stone fireplaces at either end of what presumably used to be two separate bars, now opened out to one long, wide room. Comfy banquettes run around the corners of the room with some nice plump, padded chairs serving a variety of differently sized tables. The bar has a pleasant dark wood panelled counter which contrasts with the uninteresting and cheap looking bar back, whilst various pint pots have been hung from the beams above. The walls throughout the room have been decorated with old photos, a large plain mirror, the daily specials board and a collection of asinine slogans that people seem to love but I can’t stand. Beyond the bar, a door leads through to a sizable conservatory area where diners are generally directed, but as there was only one other group of customers in there, we asked if we could eat in the bar instead and were happily accommodated. The conservatory has plenty of formally set tables but somehow the space felt a bit cold and empty, despite the nice drapes and candlelit tables that elevated it from the usual bland conservatory set-up. A trip along the corridor to the toilets takes you past an impressive collection of fishing lures that will be of interest to anyone with a passion for angling. There are four handpulls on the bar, but two of these were out of action when we arrived, leaving an uninspiring choice between Greene King Abbot Ale and IPA. The Abbot was pretty well kept but getting hold of a pint of it proved extremely difficult, as the hopeless barmaid needed three attempts to get our simple two-drink order right. In fact, she was the undoing of this place, making a hash of our phone reservation and denying the existence of the ‘Curry of the Day’, despite it being listed on the menu and specials board – one of the locals had to eventually put her right. Thankfully, the food, including the aforementioned curry, was very good and made up for the painful process of ordering it. This is a pretty nice village pub that does good, hearty pub food and offers some nice spaces in which to enjoy it. The beer range was a bit disappointing but my pint was at least well kept and if they can ensure their staff are a bit more clued up, I’m sure they’d have a pretty good pub on their hands.

Cosy and traditional place with wonky black beams, green pub carpet, red banquettes. Looks good for the locals, with signs that have been hijacked and scribbled over for extra amusement value. To the rear is a nice glazed extension. Two ales on; GK Abbot and local beer Stoney Ford Sheepmarket Supernova, which was in good nick. Shame we were the only customers early Friday afternoon as it was a nice place, I’d imagine an evening session would be good value.

The Old Plough is a decent looking stone built pub. Once inside there was an oblong shaped room whch ran the width of the pub,the bar faced,there was a low beamed ceiling and very comfortable bench seating and normal tables and chairs,there was a seperate dining room to the rear. There were three real ales on the bar,i had a drink of Grainstore Tupping Ale which went down very well,the other beers were Stones Cask and London Pride which had a giant pump clip. This was a really pleasant pub to sit and drink in,there was also a few other customers in on our Saturday afternoon visit. Pub visited 19/10/2013