The Well House Tavern, Exeter

Located in Cathedral Close, just across the green from Exeter Cathedral, is The Well House Tavern, a bare boarded bar with dark beams and wooden furniture and that inevitably uncomfortable, rather echoey feel that such places inevitably have. Large plain glass windows at the front give you a good view of the Cathedral but, unfortunately, presumably because of Council restrictions, outside drinking on the green is not permitted. Inside the pub, a blackboard tells us that the original building was a Norman hall and was constructed as part of the medieval burial ground before tenements were built in the 15th century. After a number of varied uses, the building became The Well House Tavern in 1984 and is now part of the Royal Clarence Hotel next door along with a sister café bar and Michael Caine's restaurant. Despite an apparent emphasis on food and wine, particularly at lunchtime, there's 6 handpumps which, on my recent early evening visit, were serving O'Hanlons Yellowhammer, Cotleigh Tawny Owl, Cotleigh Buzzard, plus Teignworthy Reel Ale and Well House Ale ( brewed by Otter ). Mistakenly as it turned out, I went for the Cotleigh Tawny Owl ( £ 3 at 3.8% ) , which was pretty uninspiring, but a subsequent pint of Yellowhammer ( 4.2% and a notably cheaper price of £ 2.50p ) was much better. The pub is listed in CAMRA's 2010 Good Beer Guide and is holding a beer festival on 24/25 September. Despite the lack of comfort and the rather incongruous loud music, I wouldn't be entirely averse to a return visit.

This pub has a great view of the cathedral. Its a bit cafe-y and therefore pretentious, but it is rather nice for a pint.