The Nag's Head, Abingdon

The Grade II listed Nags Head is situated halfway across Abingdon Bridge, nestled in stunning surroundings on Nag’s Island (not sure which came first), positioned in the middle of the Thames. Internally its modern décor is nothing you haven’t seen many times before from Gastro pubs. White painted brick mixing with half-timbered walls in Farrow and Ball Duck egg blue shades with the odd pink and burgundy surface thrown in to try and make the place at least a little bit interesting. And then the usual clean wooden flooring throughout. You enter from the bridge into the upper bar area which has a few tables dotted about, and then you transcend some steps into the restaurant section below, which also goes outside onto a decking area for dining on fine days. The first thing that sets The Nags Head apart from the usual Gastro pub model is a very decent beer range. The bar supports eight hand pumps from what I could see, although the sign outside advertised 10 real ales. These included regionals such as Doombore, Adnams Ghost Ship and something called Nag's Island Ale, which a house beer is brewed by Caledonian I believe, and Westons Old Rosie Cloudy Cider. But then the rest were all local offerings in the shape of Loddon Brewery Ferryman's Gold, West Berkshire Brewery Mr Chubbs, Plain Ales India Plain Ale and Vale Brewery Red Kite. So a very decent choice that I guess contributed to it being the local Camra Town and Village Pub of the Year for three years running between 2013 and 2015. But the real key selling point for this pub is the excellent garden at riverside level which stretches back filling the rear of the island providing great views of the surrounding countryside whilst the Thames flows either side of you. The garden has its own bar area, but only with one real ale available, the Nags Island Ale, and a garden Pizza hut serving Pizza’s and grilled meats to the garden area. There’s plenty of seating which includes a raised decking area underneath a couple of large jumbrellas. This area also doubles as the stage for live music which includes an afternoon Jazz session most Sundays in summer. We were primarily here to eat in the restaurant (very good Sunday lunch and traditional pub dish menu by the way ), but as we were blessed with a fine weather day, after a walk up and down the Thames path we returned to the pub garden in time for the Jazz band and enjoyed a couple more pints to some sultry Sax tunes. If all food focussed gastro pubs were like this one, I wouldn’t have to be so dismissive of the genre.

Official site of The Nags Head on the Thames - www.thenagsheadonthethames.co.uk

Official site of The Nags Head on the Thames - www.thenagsheadonthethames.co.uk