Burrington Inn, Bristol

This is a slightly strange pub nestled amongst the woods at the bottom of Burrington Coombe and is consequently a popular spot for people who have been walking in the area. We were surprised to find the large car park almost full to capacity on our recent mid-week evening visit, but that was apparently due to a Rotary Club function that was in progress. I call it strange in as much that it’s not at all like your traditional pub, but more of a cross between a café and a Swiss ski lodge! The cheap looking aluminium entrance door wasn’t a great start, and the windows were of similar style. Once you get through the entrance porch you’re confronted with a food order point and a servery containing an array of chilled puddings, all wrapped in cling film and looking decidedly uninspiring. To the left is a further room that was full of the Rotarians, so we headed right in to the main bar area. A sign on the deserted bar counter said that we should request service from the food order point. Clearly food is the major focus here, although as mentioned previously it’s certainly more café than gastro-pub, and all the tables were laid up with buckets of cutlery, serviettes that were little more than tissue paper and laminated menus. Décor wise the dominant theme is pine wood cladding, and this covered most of the available walls as well as a pyramid shaped roof which was an unusual feature and this also had a couple of large black and white photographs of the local gorge. Elsewhere there were butcher’s tiles on the walls, whilst the flooring was blue patterned carpet. A further room off to the right was in darkness on our visit and whilst there is some outside seating this is fairly minimal and over-looking the car park. The menu offered a decent looking selection of dishes divided in to a number of sections such as salads, grills, seafood, pub classics and so on. The latter included dishes such as roast chicken, curry of the day, big breakfast, beef & ale pie, barbecue chicken, etc., and these were mostly priced somewhere around £9 - £12. Both dishes we chose were generous enough portions but tasted as though they’d come straight out of a packet and in to the microwave. The curry of the day in particular, which you might reasonably expect to be something that the chef had whipped up, tasted very much like a supermarket ready meal. For a few pounds less they’d have been fine, but they certainly were not worth what we paid. The solitary beer on tap was Butcombe Bitter, although there was a second pump for Old Speckled Hen which appeared to have run out. The only cider was Thatcher’s Gold. Overall with it’s over-priced food and limited drinks selection I can see little reason to visit here, although to be fair the staff were all very friendly and it is a handy enough pit stop if you’ve been walking in the area.

Official site of Burrington Inn - www.burringtoninn.co.uk

Official site of Burrington Inn - www.burringtoninn.co.uk