The Blisland Inn, St. Kew

Had a fantastic time in this 2016 Good Beer Guide pub up on Bodmin Moor. The pumps were taken over with mild beers for May, and we enjoyed sampling from the variety available. Good atmosphere with visitors and regulars mixing. The food was good too.

Whilst staying near Bodmin we had found a walk in Blisland which is a small out of the way villagea quite lovely. After the walk we finished up at this pub and what an absolute treasure, old fashioned looking with a small lounge which would seat about 16 - 20 diners comfortably, a Bar which was very nice with seating for another 20 - 30 folks and there was also a Family room (no children in bar or lounge - but dogs are welcome but understandably not on the chairs) There was also a Pool room I discovered on route to the toilets which were also well kept. Approximately 8 Ales on draught (including two which are brewed by Sharpes for the pub these being Blisland Bulldog and King Buddha's Blisland Special) and a couple of Ciders and over two visits three of the ales had been changed and they seem to have a very healthy turnover of ales keeping things fresh. Staff were friendly and knowledgable about the ales and the local area They have a decent basic menu and then specials on a chalk board, we eat on both visits and the food was tasty and good. All in all a great place, good old fashioned pub with good old fashioned values and friendly welcoming people and the service was excellent, no excessive waiting and everything home cooked. Will definately be back here next time we visit the area.

I rarely give a 10 as there is usually room for even a little improvement. The Blisland deserves 11! It has all been said below, just pay a visit and enjoy! Like previous reviewer, I too am always driving. I guess I'd better try a local B&B to do the Blisland justice!

A wonderfull pub a bit out of the way but worth the detour. King Buddha serves a great pint including one beer alweays straight from the cask. Amongst beers and ciders on hand pull are 2 from Sharps badged for the pub, King Buddha Special and Blisland Bulldog. Good pub food. Out door drinking area ajacent to the village green.

What's not to like about this pub? It is a mecca for beer drinkers and also does some pretty good cider...trouble is I'm always driving.....The food is fine pub grub..nothing fancy but good portions. The location is fantastic and for us walkers offers plenty of scope for walks on Bodmin Moor. Long may King Buddha reign!

The Blisland Inn is on the north west edge of Bodmin Moor, in a village that is only a short detour from the main A30 Okehampton - Bodmin stretch. It's a fine traditional granite built, two bar village community pub on the edge of what, the CAMRA Good Beer Guide tells us, is the only village green in Cornwall. The main bar on the left of the entrance has a splendid collection of pump clips on the ceiling and coffee mugs suspended from the beams. In one corner of this bar are a collection of CAMRA certificates, mainly from the Kernow ( Cornwall ) Branch, but also the one recognising the pub as CAMRA National Pub of the Year 2000. There's also a number of old photos of the pub, including one showing a Watney's sign on the wall, and a number of items of brewery memorabilia. On my recent Saturday lunchtime visit, this bar was very busy with a good mixture of village locals ( accompanied by their dogs unfortunately in a good number of cases ) and people like myself who were just passing through. This bar leads through to a small family room - children are not allowed in either the bar or the lounge - and beyond that, a pool room. The lounge bar was much quieter, but is equally traditional and inviting, with a number of photos of past kings and queens, together with some photos of the local fox hunt meeting up outside The Royal Oak ( as the pub was evidently then called ). There's a number of seats outside overlooking the green across the road. There's no TV or electronic distractions in the pub. A good range of pub style food is available at normal meal times. My meal of cold meats, egg and chips, arrived promptly, was generously proportioned, very tasty and reasonably good value. On the beer front, there's 9 pumps which, on my recent visit were serving mainly local Cornwall beers, but also, most notably, Sarah Hughes Ruby Mild ( 6%), at what I would consider to be a very reasonable £ 2.95p. A local cider (7%) was selling at £ 3 per pint. I went for the King Buddha Blisland Special ( 3.8% ) at £ 2.50p, which is brewed exclusively for the pub by Sharps. "King Buddha" is the larger than life, likeable landlord, Gary Marshall, and a Buddha effigy appears on the pumpclip. There's also a mini Buddha statue on the window sill. Reflecting the role of this pub in the village community, King Buddha's shop ( behind the bar ) sells useful odds and ends such as shoelaces, elastoplast etc. The pub advertisement in the latest local CAMRA branch magazine tells us that the pub has sold as many as 2713 different beers in the last 15 years. It's been a CAMRA Good Beer Guide regular in recent times. Definitely well worth the short detour ( 2 miles or so each way ) from the busy A30 to visit.

Blisland Inn (pronounced Blizland). Village pub on the green in Blisland and with a friendly gaffer. The pub has four rooms: lounge, bar, pool/darts room and another room to the rear. A sign by the entrance informs visitors that they do not have a children’s room but they are welcome to use the family room. Not surprisingly for a former CAMRA National Pub of the Year, and a few more recent South West awards, there were 9 handpulls (including one cider). I had King Buddha Blisland Special which was fine and very similar to Doom Bar, probably because of the tendency of the Cornish breweries to brew ales under various badges. Tranquil location, if you can get there without the sat nav trying to get you into a head on with a tractor (but worth the risk). GBG entry.