Market Tavern, Salisbury

‘The pub, which dates back to 1904, sits prominently on Salisbury's historic market square, with plenty of seating both inside, and out’ – so sayeth the pub’s website. Of note is the old Gibbs Mew brewery name to the parapet, thereafter the interior is plush/modern, probably as the result of the 2011 fire mentioned by QP; much to my chagrin, I didn’t spot the coprolalia-afflicted chicken picture mentioned by BF. The cask choice was limited and basic with Butcombe, Sharps Coaster and Lees Bitter, a pricey £3.00 a half and fine. This place is ok, but it’s not finger lickin’ good.

The Market Inn is a door down from the Fullers Ox Row Inn, so it also bridges Butcher Row from the south to outside seating on Market Square to the north, although unlike the Fullers pub the Butcher Row side feels more like a rear entrance with a corridor that leads past the toilets to the main wooden floored market side bar. In here red banquettes run across the windowed wall and some tables and chairs run past a small fireplace that sits on the wall opposite the counter found up the right where premium keg was available alongside three hand pumps that were drawing Butcombe’s Original, JW Lees Bitter and Sharp’s Coaster. The bar upstairs was closed during an early Friday afternoon visit, but I popped up to find a space not dissimilar from the downstairs bar with a counter up the right and red banquettes with tables and stools across the front windows, but with better views across the Market Square from the elevated height. I thought it was OK in here, so if I lived locally this would be a place I’d pop into every now and again on the way to somewhere a little better.

This one didn’t start too promisingly as I entered the fairly uninspiring entrance to then turn left down a corridor and then have to turn right. It was only then that I realised that we had entered via the back way on Butchers Row and this pub has a more impressive presence facing the main Market Square. In essence it’s a one room bar with an additional room with more seating up some stairs to the left, which was advertised as ‘lovely Seating’ on chalk boards in the main bar. Three beers as described below, and it was very good to see the J W Lees Bitter this far south. For a pub on a market square I thought this was quite a good option.

Modest sized pub with two entrances off Butchers Row and the Market Square,with the servery midships and dark wood flooring offset by a loose patterned carpet.The furniture is traditional,lots of room for vertical drinking with a Tun to rest your pint.The picture on the wall is of the friendly guv'nor and his dog while upstairs is the Lovely Bar with unused handpumps,lattice windows,a low ceiling and a calm atmosphere with a few punter having a quiet drink.Again dark wooden floor and some wall panelling. The three handpumps were drawing J W Lees Bitter,Butcombe Original and Sharps Coaster Pale,NBSS 3.5.A rather mainstream ale selection might mean this is not an obvious real ale crawl venue but nothing wrong with the ale conditioning.I rather liked the chicken picture with the startled bird uttering an expletive. A better ale range would have increased my rating.