Dr Foster, Gloucester

Much like the doctor for whom this pub is named, we found ourselves in Gloucester in a shower of rain and decided to take shelter in this modern bar set in a converted warehouse on the attractive Victorian docks. You enter down some steps into a large room with a basement bar feel created by the lack of natural light. The servery runs down the left hand side of the bare boarded room which has a lot of bare brick and dark wood beams which gives the impression of a traditional pub within an old warehouse and is actually quite effective. There is a good mix of sofa and standard seating throughout the room, mostly serving small tables with images of various nursery rhymes pasted onto the surfaces. There are also some low tables made from old packing crates, which look quite nice, if not necessarily all that practical. There are loads of lanterns running the length of the room, which create a nice low level lighting effect. Stairs in the middle of the room lead up to a restaurant area, but this was shut on our Monday lunchtime visit. Behind the staircase, there is a pool table and on one of the walls there was a TV screen showing a trippy wavy image whilst music played in the background. Steps to the right lead you into a glass fronted, bare brick room with additional seating and a nice raised front section which offers great views out across the docks. The room is decorated with various paintings, flowers and sculptures and is arguably the nicest part of the pub. There were four ales on the bar - Wells Bombardier, Bespoke The King's Shilling, Theakston Old Peculiar and Gloucester Gold. I decided to try the latter, having just walked past the brewery at the other end of the docks, and I was pleased to find it in excellent condition. We also had a bite to eat here and whilst the food was maybe a little pricier than normal, I enjoyed my meal very much. The bar staff seemed nice enough and humoured a local eccentric who was pestering them at the bar all afternoon. If you're down in the docks area, there are very few options for a drink, so it's reassuring that you can get a decent pint from this place. I'm not sure this is the sort of pub you'd want to spend a long session in, but the building is worth a look and the food is worth stopping in for. Doctor Foster might well never return again, but I would have no such problem.

Well described by Soupy below, so I won't bother. The same ales were on the bar during our visit, so I guess these don't change much. The Gloucester Gold was in decent nick though. We visited twice over our 2 nights in Gloucester. The first time was mid afternoon and it was very quiet with just a couple of people eating in the whole place. We called back later in the evening when it was busier, but at 10 they suddenly announced it was last orders and promptly closed the bar, very strange as there had to be 25 - 30 people in the bar drinking. This left us at a bit of a loose end as it's a bit isolated round here, so we went back to our hotel. The following night we didn't bother calling in, we just stayed up in the city where they keep sensible opening times.

This is a bar/restaurant, named after the fabled Doctor, housed in the Kimberley warehouse in the historic docks. It has a covered patio area overlooking the dock. The warehouse, originally a corn store, is Victorian and in functional brick. The interior has a single bar room downstairs, with a restaurant area on the floor above. The bar is open plan, in white, grey and brick, with a mix of wood and flag flooring. The ceiling has impressive large beams, with sayings carved on them - the most appropriate being "mine host is full of drink and history", as she not only sold the ale, but we had a good chat about the history of the pub too. The place is modern, with sofas, comfy seats, plants in glass bowls and the dreaded twigs with lights on, but the iron support columns, old photos and the pool table take the edge of it. The TV had music on, at a decent level. The service was friendly and a few, but mixed clientele were in. Beer; usual tap stuff with Bombardier and Gloucester Brewery's Gold and Darkside on handpull. The last two were pretty good. Being a traditionalist, this was a far better experience than i expected and the Gloucester ales were well worth tasting.