Pack Horse Inn, Bridlington

Up in the old part of Bridlington, away from the sub-par tourist-oriented seafront establishments, this is a fine old pub that successfully mixes the feel of an old coaching inn with contemporary styling. You enter down a side passage that looks like the old entrance to the stabling yard out the back, now converted to a beer garden of sorts, with plenty of decent garden furniture to pick from. A door way takes you through to a quite pleasant an cosy front seating area with benches and chairs arranged along the front wall in a classically styled space with dark wood beams along the ceiling, a nice fireplace to one side and some rudimentary traditional décor. The servery appears as you move towards the right, running down the left-hand side of the room as it turns 90 degrees and heads towards the rear of the building. Initially passing through a relatively narrow space with limited seating underneath a large beer board, the room eventually opens out at the rear, into a carpeted space dominated by a pool table, with a few tables and chairs to the right and some chunky benches and chairs further back, including a rather forlorn looking space at the far back with half panelled walls and limited décor. The bar has a nice tongue and groove panelled counter, modern mirrored bar back and a fine decorative fireplace at the far end. I spotted at least one TV screen, but this remained turned off throughout our visit, with 80’s pop tunes playing instead. Five handpumps were dispensing Ossett White Rat, Castle Rock Harvest Pale, Adnams Ghost Ship and a Lilley’s Cider, whilst Acorn Gorlovka Stout had annoyingly just been taken off. A no-nonsense governor served up a very good pint of the White Rat and we enjoyed sitting in the back room taking the place in. I didn’t really have any expectations for this place, which we spent about 20 minutes walking out to from the town centre, but it turned out to be a pretty good pub with a decent ale selection, prompt service and comfortable surrounds that seemed to appeal to a wide range of customers. There are a few decent looking boozers in this part of town that make the walk out here worth it – be sure to include this one if you do get this far.