Royal Oak, Ambleside

Prominent and central pub in the tourist town of Ambleside. As I approached, there were plenty of people drinking outside, in spite of the cold weather. However, I was soon to count myself lucky by grabbing a small table inside. For a Greene King pub, the ale range was impressive, primarily because there were no Greene King beers on! In fact, apart from Timothy Taylor Landlord & Theakston Old Peculier, the cask ale range was entirely from Kirby Lonsdale - Monumental, Stanley's, Tiffin Gold, Pennine Ambler, Ruskin's & Jubilee. My Jubilee (stout) hit the spot nicely and I also received a 10% CAMRA discount. The pub was very busy, even though they hadn't been serving any food. There are a number of different seating areas, where conversation dominates. Although, there was background music played at an acceptable level. I rated the Queens Hotel (now the Ambleside Inn) as my favourite pub on my last visit. This was every much as good, if not better.

Traditional pub, although owned by Greene King it had a range of eight from Kirkby Lonsdale brewery over all the pumps. Many small rooms make up the pub with the counter roughly in the centre room. Mix of decor styles, none actively distasteful, there’s lots of photos and stuff of various sorts. GBG 2021 listed and beer quality was up to the mark, service was pretty good as well in spite of there still being hoards of tourists about.