The Old Post Office, Shrewsbury

Unless there is another entrance this pub is located through an alley and into a small courtyard. The pub is larger than expected but sadly its not great. Basically open plan, it does have distinct areas to sit. A small sunken area is the first bit you come to on entering and beyond that, to your right is the bar. There were 4 real ales to choose from but none were particularly inspiring, being National standards. Its a clean and well presented enough pub but it just doesn't do it for me.

Its ok looks better from the outside had a good pint of Full Brazilian 4.4% from whitch wood brewery. Would call back just to talk to a nice girl behind the bar called Robin

I was attracted to this large pub and hotel by the entrance arch which bears the pub’s name in a mosaic floor and leads in turn into a well kept front courtyard. The pub dates from the sixteenth century and is apparently the only survivor of five pubs that used to be located on Milk Street. The name refers to the fact that the pub used to be a posting house for horse drawn coaches and there were thirteen stables available up until 1900. Nowadays, the pub provides accommodation, with six en-suite rooms available at reasonable prices. The pub shows signs of its history, but the interior has sadly been opened out as much as seems possible. The front bar is carpeted with standard tables and chairs and the servery along the right hand wall. There is a space in the front right corner, which looks like it would have been a separate room in the past, but now is fully visible from the bar area. It’s set up as a lounge of sorts, with bare floorboards and some tub chairs and a sofa around a fireplace with a TV screen showing BBC News. There’s a lot of dark wood in the front half of the pub, be it in the form of beams or wall panels, but as you pass the servery towards the raised dining space at the rear, the fittings become a bit blander. The dining area has plenty of formally arranged seating, but was empty on a Saturday evening. The menu looked fairly good, with main meals clocking in around the £7.00 mark. Three beers from the Marston’s portfolio were available – EPA, Pedigree and Wychwood Hobgoblin – with a fourth pump showing a turned clip. I tried the EPA, which isn’t the most inspiring beer, but it was at least kept in good condition. There were plenty of staff on in relation to the number of customers, so service was prompt and they all had a good laugh when the barman who served me dropped my change into a slops tray. This pub seemed to have a lot of promise but the interior felt too formulaic, which in a town like Shrewsbury, sets it at an immediate disadvantage. The beer range was a little uninspiring, but I would imagine it’s a decent place for a bite to eat and would certainly suit larger groups who might struggle to fit into some of the smaller ale houses around town.