Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Will Larter left this review about The Black Horse
My latest visit found three Oakham beers, and the banner in the car park suggests that this is not unusual. I went for Tring Colley's Dog, which was also on five weeks ago when I was here last. A little lively, so the staff were pouring a half in expectation of topping it up before long. My rating of NBSS 3 is unusually optimistic for a Luton Town fan, but I would certainly have had another if kick off had not been looming. I'll be back next season.
On 19th May 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 4273 recommendations about 3935 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Black Horse
I believe the pub has changed hands once or twice since the review below, which is five years old. Some redecoration has taken place, but the gents toilet has always been a bit off. There is still a decent selection of beers on the four hand pumps, which are placed on the short end of the bar and are almost invariably difficult to access because people tend to congregate there and occupy the bar stools. There are no regular beers: they are sourced from breweries all over the country and in my experience are always in good nick.
There is a beer festival here, usually in November, but the banner affixed to the gable end (see photo) has the dates of October 29th to November 1st, which would be Sunday to Wednesday, so I'm expecting this to be corrected any time soon!
On 24th September 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 4273 recommendations about 3935 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Black Horse
An unassuming location in an iffy area, I walked in expecting cursory ales to find four interesting ones (Brakspear Oxford Gold, Cottage Golden Arrow, Jennings Soggy Bottom and Cross Bay Nightfall, though a criticism would be that they were samey, mid-range goldens) plus a real cider (Westons). The Jennings was decent but the Cross Bay was stunning. The jukey was playing some great tunes, from My Bloody Valentine to Led Zeppelin via Simple Minds and the Rolling Stones. The interior is L-shaped with a tiled wood floor. The decor looks fairly plain and, although newish, seems to have been done on a gnats chuff budget; a couple more homely touches required I think. A pool table is at the rear of the pub and the front part of the bar hosted a decent range of nationwide CAMRA mags. Another plus point was that the barmaid said hello and had a brief chat. The toilets needed a bit of tlc though.
Well-worth the walk out of the immediate town centre, I imagine this is a good one on a busy evening. A bit more effort on the smaller points and this could be a real breakout pub to compete with the English Rose and Bricklayers.
On 27th January 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5552 recommendations about 5533 pubs]