Sidcot Arms Hotel, Sidcot, Winscombe

Official site of Sidcot Arms Hotel - heartstoneinns.co.uk

Official site of Sidcot Arms Hotel - heartstoneinns.co.uk

This is a large Brewer’s Fayre pub set in a beautiful old building attached to a Premier Inn just outside the village of Sidcot and handy for Bristol Airport. Despite high hopes generated by the fine exterior and ornate façade, expectations fade rapidly once inside, where you find a bland 90’s style family dining pub full of dated carpeting, plain unadorned walls and basic cheapo furniture. The servery is to the right on entering and has a reasonably nice curving wood panelled counter in front of a plain modern shelving unit bar back, with a Costa Coffee station at one end. A decorative frieze runs around the top of the bar and offers more visual distraction than everything else in the room combined. There are a couple of seating areas to either side of the entrance and some more seats further back, all spread through what was clearly once a series of separate rooms, now partly opened out to create a confusing, incoherent internal layout – only the ceiling cornices and various bits of retained partitioning wall tell the story of the building’s former self. The ceiling actually makes a bid to be considered one of the pub’s most interesting features, thanks to some smart coving and decorative roses from which modern light fittings now hang. Its only competition comes from a stained glass window at the far rear of the pub and a nice fireplace in the left hand room, which sports some attractive tiling and a very ornate mantle and surround that incorporates two intricately carved wooden figures – we breakfasted opposite this fireplace and it felt like we’d bagged the best seat in the house by far. A number of windows to the far left give you a nice view out across the front lawn from the building’s raised position, as do the tables out on the small patio. A room to the far right has one of those toy-grabber arcade machines and there are a few other child-friendly bits and bobs dotted around here and there, although we didn’t see too many kids in when we visited. A terrible radio station was being aired throughout the pub on our evening visit, playing dated tunes that were probably in fashion the last time this place had a refurbishment. As we were staying in the neighbouring hotel, we ended up having dinner and breakfast here. The latter was a little disappointing, but the main menu had a few interesting dishes on it and we both came away pleasantly surprised with how tasty it all was. On the evening visit, I braved the sole cask ale, which was inevitably Sharps Doom Bar, with a second pump unused. It was in reasonable condition but not really the satisfying pint I’d wanted after a day spent walking here from Weston Super Mare. Appearances are definitely deceiving in the case of this pub, which promises much on approach but somehow manages to deliver a disappointing end product, even by this chain’s low standards. Sure, it’s ideal for family groups and the food was pretty good but drinking Doom Bar in such a featureless, out-dated pub felt like I’d discovered a tenth circle of hell, which I would unsurprisingly not recommend to anyone. It’s handy if you’re staying in the hotel but otherwise, think carefully before traipsing out to this place.

An impressive old stone built pub at the head of a long drive, it has great views across rolling countryside and I’m sure on a warm summer’s day would be a lovely place to stop for a pint. It’s just unfortunate then that the pub itself doesn’t live up to the setting, being a bland and generic chain affair and looking somewhat down at heel in places as well. Internally it is indistinguishable from many such places with a mixture of cream and maroon paintwork and a predominantly carpeted floor with some wood strip around the bar area. The walls and ceiling were stained in places suggesting water ingress and you could still see a faint wallpaper pattern through the paint where it had just been painted over. A slush puppy machine was on the end of the bar dispensing rather lurid looking concoctions in a choice of blue or pink and next to this was a machine for tubs of Pringles. In the next room was a fairground style grab machine full of cuddly toys. The menu was the usual mass produced laminated affair and offered an extensive selection of dishes divided in to sections such as grills, burgers and pub classics. Most of the main courses were in the £8 - £10 range, and a fish pie was, I suppose, ok in a “fresh out the microwave” sort of way. Across the table, battered fish and chips was a generous portion but somewhat on the dry side. A selection of puddings were revolving around in a glass cabinet. Beers on tap were Butcombe and Doom Bar whilst the solitary cider was Thatcher’s Gold. I overheard another punter asking what wines were available to be told “New Zealand or Chilean”. Surely the grape varieties might have been a little more helpful? Service at the bar was very slow with just one person serving and a long queue of people ordering food. Overall I can see no reason to visit here unless you’re going to enjoy a pint on the terrace, or, more likely, are staying at the adjacent hotel and don’t want to drive anywhere.