The Gloucester Old Spot, Bristol

A good sized pub that was formerly the Kellaway Arms, it was refurbished and renamed a couple of years back and has since been receiving favourable reviews in the local press. There is an attractive beer garden at the rear of the pub that has been attractively landscaped with astro-turf and sun umbrellas, although it was unfortunately full to capacity with families on a recent Saturday afternoon visit, with numerous young children charging around meaning any chance of a quiet, relaxing pint was lost. Internally it split on to a restaurant and bar area. The restaurant looked fairly contemporary with most, if not all, tables being reserved. The bar area was to the left, and this was a U-shaped room wrapped around the bar counter. Black and white chequered tiling was around the bar counter with wood strip elsewhere, whitewashed walls and black timberwork. A few old maps were on the wall as well as pictures of some pigs from which the pub takes it’s name. Service at the bar was a bit chaotic at times, but to be fair with the number of punters in there were considerable peaks and troughs in demand. The menu offered a decent enough looking selection of “pub grub” dishes with options such as fish & chips, ham egg & chips, sausage & mash, steak, etc. Most of the main courses were somewhere around the £10 - £12 mark. A Piri Piri chicken burger with avocado, sour cream, tomato and coriander was a decent and tasty dish and the accompanying skinny fries were very good too. Beers on tap were Ringwood Boondoggle, Exmoor Fox, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Butcombe Original. Ciders meanwhile were Thatcher’s Gold and Orchard Pig Reveller. Overall this isn’t a bad pub, but the strong emphasis on family dining means it’s not the sort of place I would choose to frequent too often.

Official site of The Gloucester Old Spot - theoldspotbristol.co.uk

Official site of The Gloucester Old Spot - theoldspotbristol.co.uk

Reopened on 23/09/2014.