The Black Cat, Bedminster, Bristol

A long established, and good sized, street corner pub, this has had something of a “refurbishment” since my last visit, although I use the term quite loosely. At that time, it was quite cosy with beams on the ceiling, much wood panelling, a few horse brasses and so on, and felt more like a country inn than an inner city boozer. Unfortunately that’s all now gone, it now has a basic, no frills appearance and certainly has nothing in the way of any character. Internally, it’s all one long open plan room with a wood strip floor and very pale blue/grey paintwork on the walls. There were a couple of mirrors and arty pictures on the walls, but nothing else of any note, or indeed, nothing else at all, it all felt rather plain. A pool table and a darts board were down at the far end as well as a couple of fruit machines. Seating was predominantly wooden benches with black padded vinyl seating, and a TV screen was showing The Chase at too loud a volume. The solitary beer on tap was Bass, although ciders were well represented with a trio from Thatcher’s – Haze, Dry and Gold, along with Natch and Blackthorn. All in all, a quite disappointing visit, with the only saving graces being the friendly landlord and the prices - £4.70 for two pints.

The Black Cat is a corner pub that now sports the crap battleship grey colour. Once inside there is a single oblong shaped room which runs the width of the pub,the room is bare boarded,the seating is bench type and chairs,there are lots of fairy lights on the ceiling and behind the bar. No real ales on here,so it was a drink of John Smiths smooth crap which it was. A pretty poor pub in my opinion.