The White Horse, Aberystwyth

Open plan, spacious pub - I'd usually walk straight past but my half of a pale was very welcome on a warm day. Worth a revisit on a quieter day to see if beer quality remains as good through the week.

The White Horse is a large open plan pub with U shaped bar and upstairs seating area. Plasma screens are found throughout for showing Sky Sports and along the left-hand wall are a quiz machine and children’s toy grab machine. A standard and premium keg range is available from the bar and I counted four hand pumps. During a recent Tuesday evening visit these were drawing Wychwood Brewery’s Hobgoblin and Gold Hobgoblin alongside Brains SA and Even Evans Cwrw. Cheap pub co food is available all day and there are various meal deals available throughout the week. I thought the food was terrible, my burger was awful and my wife’s steak pie and square mass of mash was microwaved. A little chalk board on the bar proudly stated that the average wait time for food the previous week was 9 mins 42 secs. I would suggest the staff take a little more time to prepare so that the food doesn’t look like it was slung together as an afterthought. I’ll not be visiting here again.

Sadly, the various interesting features on the façade of this substantial corner pub (which include some decorative tiling and ironwork) do not extend inside. The interior has been totally remodelled and now features a mezzanine over the side part of the bar. All is now rather corporate, light, semi-modern furniture and decor with an abundance of TV screens (showing a Welsh international football match to a surprisingly limited and indifferent 'crowd'). On the counter, four of five handpumps were dispensing two beers from Brains - SA (at just £2.25) and Rev James - plus Hobgoblin and Old Rosie cider.