The Riverside, Cheddar

As described by Blackthorn, this large town pub feels like a cheap chain of the Harvester/Sizzling type, but it is neither. It certainly wasn't anything special, though. There was a pervading stench of stale chip fat inside, while the garden area reeked of smoke and stale vape, giving it the air of a fire in a jam factory. Given that they had advertised Sunday roasts as a main selling point, they would only give you one if you had pre-ordered, so it was disappointing to go to the junk food menu while others had freshly cooked roast - they couldn't even spare a Yorkshire pudding. The staff were enthusiastic, over-pally in some cases, and they looked rather dull in their corporate T-shirts. There were several feral children running around without any parental supervision, the muzak was dire, and more than one entitled coffin-dodger tried to get us to move off our table so they could have a better view. Apart from the care home escape committee, the majority of customers were families. Two ales on, Hobgoblin Gold which was extremely lively, and Pride, which was the opposite. There was also a range of keg beers, but nothing exceptional. We shan't be rushing back.

A surprisingly large pub at the foot of the gorge, it must get plenty of tourists in during the summer which perhaps accounts for why the village can sustain such big pub. A lounge and bar are at the front of the pub, with a modern extension at the rear providing a restaurant, and beyond this is some wooden decking and patio area as well as a large garden. Service at the bar was very slow at times, but staff were friendly enough. The public bar is to the right, and at first glance appears to have much exposed brick walling, although closer inspection shows that this is merely wallpaper. The flooring was mostly rather cheap looking laminate, although with a few flagstones around the bar counter, whilst the lower part of the walls were clad with wood panelling, some if it painted cream and some in a very pale khaki shade. The room extended some way down to the right where there were several round arm-chairs as well as a darts board and a couple of TV screens. The lounge bar to the left was an L-shape room, and perhaps designed to be more contemporary with some wallpaper on the walls, although it was looking a little tired I thought. A raised seating area was up a couple of steps in the middle of the “L”, separated from the rest of the bar by some wooden balustrade. At the rear is a conservatory that has been added on at some point, and this is used as a restaurant. This was a little more elegant with dark wooden flooring, the original exposed stonework from the outside wall of the pub, and the tables laid up with wine glasses and napkins. An unusual feature of the garden was a river running through the middle of it, and some decking had been constructed across this to act both as a bridge and a seating area. The menu offered an extensive selection of dishes divided in to sections such as grills, burgers, sharing platters and so on. Main courses included pub grub classics such as belly pork, fish and chips, and so on, as well as a few more adventurous options, and these were mostly priced somewhere in the £10 - £14 range. There was also a specials board with a few more options. Our Cajun Chicken and Barbeque Pulled Pork burgers were both decent enough, although I’m not convinced they were really worth a tenner. Beers on tap were Potholer, Otter Ale, Doom Bar and Back of the Net, the latter of which was priced at a very reasonable £2 per pint. Ciders meanwhile were Thatcher’s Gold and Thatcher’s Haze.