The Half Moon Inn, Preston, Paignton

The Half Moon is a large L shaped pub with a leaning towards food which is served daily from noon until 15:00 and from 18:00 until 21:00. A carvery serving area is incorporated into the bar and there was a smell of roasted meat at 22:00 on the Monday evening I visited. There is pool table at the front of the pub and ‘jam night’ is advertised for every Thursday. Live entertainment is advertised for Saturday nights, but the only music playing during my visit was courtesy of a local radio station. I didn’t spot any televisions or Sky advertisements. A selection of standard draught lines the bar and two of the three hand pumps were unused leaving Sharp’s Doom Bar as the sole ale choice. At the rear there is a large grass covered beer garden and some picnic tables. I didn’t see anything here that would have me rushing back, but I do have to mention that the barman was extremely friendly.

This place was a bit of a surprise as I felt the exterior with its free house pub sign suggested a fairly traditional pub, but the interior is one large open plan room with modern décor. Signs outside the pub direct you to the door at the rear of the building but I shall describe the interior as if looking from the front of the pub. Down the right hand side of the room is a long bar and serving counter for a carvery and a buffet, on the left of the room are several booths, in the back right corner were a couple of leather sofas with a large flat screen TV on the wall, in the middle of the back wall is a small coal fire place and there were various modern paintings dotted around the walls. Something that seemed very odd to me was a group of traditional high backed wooden settles in the middle of the large room which were surrounded by more standard dining furniture. Behind the pub is a small but pleasant beer garden with several picnic tables. One ale on hand pull which was Sharps Doom Bar on this visit, unfortunately it was poorly kept at room temperature at least. Two further hand pulls were not in use. I was a little disappointed with this place as judging from the exterior I was looking forward to having a nice beer in a traditional pub. In fact this is more of a carvery restaurant with a bar than a pub which is probably why the beer wasn’t very well kept. I didn’t try the food but it looked decent, the place was clean and the service was good but I’m afraid that I wouldn’t rush back.