The Rai d'Or, Salisbury

Grade II-listed and dating in some form to the 13th century, the Rai d’Or (Golden Ray) claims to have the oldest history of any Salisbury pub; it also has a CAMRA Historic Interior rating of *. Drinking is permitted to the central and left-hand area, but if customers so wish, the right-hand side is essentially a dedicated Thai restaurant, which explains the Siamese carvings. Otherwise, there’s a log burning stove, low ceilinged and atmospheric with a few unnecessary modern nods. There were two cask options, with Great Uncle John’s Bootleg Beer and Downton Elder Quad, £2.40 a half and good. Worth a look, but not a special trip.

The Rai d'Or is an L-shaped pub and Thai restaurant where just drinkers are more than welcome. The three hand pumps were drawing Frome Brewery’s Great Uncle John’s Bootleg Beer Session IPA, Downton Brewery’s Elder Quad Session Pale and Sandford Orchards Devon Red Cider. The Downton and cider were on good form and served by a friendly member of staff. I enjoyed this visit, but this is one of the furthest pubs from the railway station in central Salisbury so I don’t think I’ll be walking out here again, but it was worth a visit to have a look.