The Royal George, Salisbury

The Royal George was certainly one of the most ordinary pubs of our recent day trip. It does tick many of the boxes that make it a decent enough place but it all feels a bit like a pub by numbers creation and very contrived. The standard pub décor and colour schemes are enhanced slightly by the copius brasses hanging on every beam and pillar and the 3D model of the pub catches the attention but the decor is equally let down by some pretty cheap looking pictures on the walls including 2 next to each other that are exactly the same (eagle eyed Mrs B spotted that one!). All the usual pub trimmings are present; Plasma TV, dart board, unobtrusive pool room at the rear and the pleasant beer garden that has clearly had a recent makeover. 3 handpumps operational on my visit – Hop Back GFB, Doom Bar and Ringwood Best with a further pump unused. Something was hugely overpriced as a pint of GFB (hardly premium stuff at 3.5%) + a soda and lime racked up an astoundoing £4.30 on the till. There is certainly nothing untoward about the place (apart from the prices) to make one steer clear of it but when it comes to revising my chosen pubs for future any Salisbury pub crawls, I think the Royal George will slip into Division 2 below many that have that extra bit of appeal.

The bar ceiling in here is literally dripping with brass artifacts; spoons, jugs, horse brasses, you name it, they're dangling there. A half timbered interior with many drinking areas. The friendly and attentive landlord keeps his Ringwood, Sharps and Hopback beers pretty well and pricing is about average for Salisbury. Pool table in one of the rooms at the back. The background music is a bit naff even for middle aged brass-things lovers.