Royal Oak, York

6 real ales and food served from a 2 sided bar that serves the 3 rooms that make up the pub.

Nice pub clean and staff friendly worth a visit

I went in the Oak bar which is on the left on entering from the street. It seems to have been recently refurbished, with plush covers on the stools and new leather on the bench seating. The wallpaper is in a very old-fashioned style and there are reproductions of old paintings, including a rather lovely one of Elizabeth of York, who became the wife of Henry VII and therefore one of the few members of the House of York not to be murdered by the Tudors. Four hand pumps were serving Theakstons Old Peculier, Greene King Abbot, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Westons Old Rosie cider. Chuck Berry was playing on the CD player - I wonder what Elizabeth of York would have made of that?

Situated next door to the Golden Slipper is the Royal Oak, a pub with a distinctive Tudor style exterior. It describes itself as a "Traditional 15th Century Haunted Inn". You might be starting to think that being a ghost is a productive career in this city! Whilst retaining its multi bar layout, I found the interior relatively bland and characterless by York pub standards. A small basic bar at the front has fixed seating round the edges and was empty, apart from a group of mature customers enthusiastically playing dominoes. A larger bar at the back is similar in style, but a bit more comfortable and had a TV showing motor racing when I popped in in late June. A third room, on the other side of the corridor, seemed to be a bit newer and, of particular note here, is a framed photo of the fire at York Minster in July 1984.This bar is serviced via a hatch in the corridor. There's rather basic outside toilets Food has a rather naff Tudor theme - eg Henry VIII pie The pub is in the Punch Taverns portfolio and is, according to the local press, due for a refurb in July ( about now then !). Beers on were Copper Dragon's Golden Pippin, GK Abbott and TT Landlord, a somewhat disappointing selection by today's standards. The Golden Pippin ( served in a Timothy Taylors branded glass ) - £ 2.90p - was reasonable. This pub didn't particularly excite me and there's a fair few pubs in York that I'd rank ahead of this one.

Pub is as described by Rex below. It's one of those pubs that we call in sometimes when in York. We always think "Yes, it's OK in here" but it's not a pub we call in every time we're in York. 4 handpumps on serving TT Landlord, GK Abbott, Kelham Island Pale Rider & Westons real cider. On this visit I had the Pale Rider which was fine. We have eaten here in the past and the baguettes were pretty good as well. It's a decent pub in a city full of great ones.