White Horse, Oxford

The White Horse is a tiny little pub with bench seating in the front window and up the right-hand wall opposite the L-shaped bar counter up the left. At the rear is a raised snug and during my recent midweek afternoon visit there was some background music coming from behind the bar. I counted four keg beers alongside six hand pumps. Five of these were in operation drawing Loose Cannon’s Number of the Beast and Abingdon Bridge alongside Hogsback Brewery’s TEA, Black Sheep Best and Rosie’s Pig Cider. The pub was a bit different being so small, but I wasn’t that taken with it and I thought the NOTB was very poor, only just drinkable. I also found people walking in to have a look around before walking out again a bit odd. There are better pubs in the area.

Still long and narrow, as described below, and heavy on the woodwork but a good place to drink, although a slight whiff of drains was a bit off-putting. Ales on this occasion were Loose Cannon Abingdon Bridge, TT Landlord, Ubu Purity and Hophead, with Old Rosie also on pump. Apparently it was under threat of closure a little while ago but it seems to be surviving.

A small and narrow pub located on one of Oxford’s main thoroughfares, it makes the most of it’s location with plenty of references to Inspector Morse filming on an A-board outside as well as numerous photographs of the cast on the walls inside. Internally it’s all one single plan room with a bar counter taking up most of the left hand half and small tables squeezed in to the right. Further seating is available up a few steps at the rear, but this was just one table as far as I could make out. Décor wise it’s quite traditional with a low beamed ceiling and burnt orange paintwork in between the beams, much dark wood panelling on the walls and a wood strip floor. The menu offered a basic selection of pub grub dishes and we opted for the fish and chips along with a chicken, ham and leek pie. They arrived alarmingly quickly, certainly on a par with Wetherspoon’s, but were decent enough I suppose. The fish was a little on the small side and the batter a little greasy, whilst the pie looked a little unappetising but was actually quite tasty. They did the job, as long as you’re expectations aren’t too high. Beers on tap were Old Hooky, Brakspear Oxford Gold and White Horse Wayland Smithy. Ciders meanwhile were Aspall’s Suffolk and Old Rosie. Overall, not a bad little boozer, but don’t expect to get a seat due to it’s diminutive size and popularity.