The Hoptimist, Dover

Upmarket and contemporary quasi-micro which smells of dogs. Grey, white and mint green interior with a nice selection of chunky wood seating and bar. Some rather feminine decor touches which may or may not appeal. Vaping allowed inside which again, may or may not appeal. There's an upright piano which hopefully gets a tinkling every now and again though on my Saturday afternoon visit it was decent piped music instead. To the rear is a small but nicely secluded rear patio. Four cask from a range of styles dispensed from a cold room with ales from Canterbury, Time & Tide, Kent, Tiny Rebel plus ciders (9) and some craftykeg. Both of my cask were fabulously kept, 2x NBSS 4 and came with friendly service. The ale quality demands a visit, best in show for central Dover and the pub is GBG listed as a consequence.

Thankfully, the former Mash Tun has come back as the Hoptimist; still a micro-pub, but perhaps stretching things a bit with the background music? Anyway, it had a great atmosphere on a Sunday afternoon, and the welcome was friendly. The front section around the compact bar was full, but I managed to find a perch in the smaller rear part leading to the little patio seating area. With four cask ales being served by gravity, including the Bohemian Dark porter from Leatherbritches (£4.50) and eight interesting crafty keg beers available too, this was by far the best pub on my afternoon walk.