The King Of The Belgians, Huntingdon

A traditional town boozer with a GBG entry. The car park is tiny and has an even tinier smoking terrace next to it. The garden was completely covered with a marquee so it wasn't possible to see what it was like. The smaller bar, named 'Lounge/Kitchen' was entirely laid to table and had no-one in it. The main Public bar was quite lively and had a very convivial atmosphere. The pub runs theme nights including Thai food night, race night, Beer and Cheese night and various quizzes. The staff appeared a bit vague, but they were competent enough, and their beer was on top form, vindicating the GBG entry: Goff's Lancer, 2 from Adnams and one from Banks. Food was very good value too – home-cooked pub grub, no fuss, just proper meals, which they supplement with home-made pizzas. This is the sort of pub I'd be very happy visiting for an afternoon's drinking or a quiet evening out with friends.

The left hand bar is for food only and the main entrance to the tap room is to the right of the pub. Four real ales on hand pump including a good 4.8 ABV IPA, Nice pub.

This is a wonderful olde worlde pub that is a privately owned free house. It is a single storey cottage dating from around 1540 which has two rooms and a couple of dormer windows in the roof. On the right of the entrance is the public bar, this has a copper topped bar counter in the back left corner, an unused ingle nook fire place in the left wall, a small brick fire place with cast iron fire in the right hand wall, green leather bench seats, oak beams and unusually for this type of pub, modern air force badges stuck to the ceiling directly in front of the bar. These are due to regular visits by the USAF personnel from Alconbury up the road which is now closed. On the left of the entrance is the restaurant area, this has a tiled floor, small counter in the back right corner, half timber walls and modern pine dining furniture. At the back of the public bar is a corridor that leads to a nice flowery beer patio behind the pub. Regular ale is currently Fullers London Pride with two changing guest beers which on my visit were Slater’s Top Totty and Hydes Swift Delivery (GBG 2011). I sampled all three and considered them to be in good condition. I noted with interest that every one of the dozen or so people in the pub during my visit was drinking the real ale. A great country village style pub which was well supported by the friendly locals who helped to create a good atmosphere. The pub was originally named The King of the Prussians who were allies of the British during the Napoleonic Wars, but it was renamed during the First World War as Prussia was one of the founding states that formed Germany in 1871. I was in the area for a couple of days on business and this pub was recommended to me by the landlord of the Victoria in Huntingdon, which I thought was surprisingly supportive of a potential competitor. I am very grateful as I really enjoyed my visit and I would definitely return if in the area again.