The Horseshoe Inn, Downend, Bristol

Official site of The Horseshoe Inn - thehorseshoe-pub.co.uk

A large and prominent pub in the centre of Downend, it looks as though it may at one time have been a couple of buildings that have now been knocked together. It still consists of two halves, with a public bar to the left in the Tudor style half and a lounge and restaurant area in the stone built half to the right. The lounge bar is split over a couple of levels, and the lower level has quite an elegant feel to it with black and white stencilled wallpaper on the walls whilst the upper level feels a little more contemporary despite some exposed stone walling in places. Sanded wooden boards are on the floor and there is also distressed wood panelling on much of the walls and the obligatory fawn paintwork. Lighting is from trendy exposed filament lamps that are all the rage these days and there were a number of black and white photographs of old Bristol on the walls, although none of the immediate vicinity as far as I could see. The public bar was packed with people watching the football on both a plasma and a projector screen, and beyond this a few punters were playing a game of darts. Food wise, the menu looked to offer an extensive selection of dishes divided in to sections such as jackets, sandwiches and burgers as well as a regular pub grub menu consisting of options including bangers & mash, lasagne, fish & chips, ham egg & chips, chicken tikka masala, etc., and these were mostly price somewhere around £7, although many were also available as part of a “2 for £11” deal. Beers on tap were Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Courage Best, although there also appeared to be a few craft ale options chalked up and whilst I didn’t note all of these I did see something from Meantime and Brew Dog’s Dead Pony Club. Ciders were well represented with Thatcher’s Gold, Blackthorn and Old Rosie.

Official site of The Horseshoe Inn - thehorseshoe-pub.co.uk