Stables, Towcester

Official site of Stables - www.stablestowcester.co.uk

A traditional looking pub on the edge of town, it presumably takes it’s name from the nearby racecourse but is otherwise devoid of any equine influences. It appears to have been recently refurbished and now has little in the way of any traditional pub ambience and in many ways looks more like a trendy restaurant with high-backed wooden chairs and colour co-ordinated napkins. As you go in the door you are offered the choice of going right to the “grill” or left to the bar, although in reality it makes little difference since it is all just one open plan room inside, but divided in to two halves for eating and drinking. The flooring is dark polished wood whilst the paintwork is the usual neutral Farrow & Ball shades with one wall in contrasting chocolate at the restaurant end and lime green at the bar end. Cream wood panelling covered the lower part of the walls and the curved bar counter. Various vases of twigs were dotted around, with some of them being illuminated. The bar area had limited seating options with a number of stools at the bar and a couple of high tables and chairs. A plasma was stuck up on the wall at the restaurant end which seemed somewhat out of place, although this was not in use. Food wise the menu offered a decent selection of dishes with a few pub classics such as Scampi & Chips, Steak & Ale Pie or a Burger at around the £9/£10 mark and a few more adventurous dishes such as Beef Wellington, Sea Bass or Lamb Shank were priced somewhere in the £10 - £15 range. My Crab & Vegetable Stir-Fry with Noodles from the specials board was a decent and tasty dish and good value at £9.95 I thought. A bar snack menu meanwhile offered such delights as Cheesy Chips or Onion Rings. Beers on tap were just Doom Bar and Hobgoblin, whilst the ciders were Strongbow and Weston’s Rosie’s Pig. This is a tricky one to mark – the staff were friendly, the food tasty and overall I quite liked it, but it’s got little in the way of appeal for someone just dropping in for a pint.

Official site of Stables - www.stablestowcester.co.uk