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Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
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Detail Pages
The Calleva Arms, Reading
Silchester
Postal town: Reading
RG7 2PH
Pub Type
Fuller'sReviews (Current Rating Average: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Pub SignMan left this review about The Calleva Arms
This is a good sized Fullers pub, with a classic rural location opposite the village green and hall. The pub has a strange, shallow but wide interior set across a number of different levels. You enter through the main door directly to the bar area, which is bare boarded and has the servery positioned opposite the front door. The bar has a tongue and groove panelled counter painted in a fancy colour scheme with a recessed modern bar back and a basic gantry to one side with a few pint pots hung from it. Nice banquettes fill the front window bays, with high tables and stools in support and another banquette to one side of the bar. The right-hand side of the pub is set up as a dining area, and is semi-screened by a shelving unit and furnished with lots of tables and chairs, a few old rugs, shelves full of random bits plus lots of old photos on the walls and mini blackboards listing food options above a small brick fireplace. To the left of the servery is the 'Village Bar', which has its own entrance and can be reached down a few steps from the bar. It's a quarry stone floored space, that offers pew and chair seating under dark beams lined with fairy lights and I spotted a dartboard in one corner.
A reasonable selection of Fullers ales were available - London Pride, HSB, Gales Seafarers and Dark Star Hophead - with the latter in pretty good condition. The barmaid was a little cool with her welcome, but the place felt pleasant enough and had a family feel, with a few groups clearly here for lunch.
I thought this was a decent village pub, benefiting from a good location and offering a few different seating areas to cater for different customer groups. The beer range is nothing you haven't seen in countless Fullers pubs elsewhere, but they seem to keep it well and I was happy to rest with a pint after walking out here from the Plough.
Date of visit - 17th February 2024
On 30th June 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Calleva Arms
A nice village Fullers pub in a decent location, obviously been knocked through but this hasn't ruined the local pub feel. Five hand pumps with Pride, HSB,Seafarers and Oliver's Island on from the owning brewer plus a guest from the Channel Islands, Liberation Ale.Although I'm not overly keen on Fullers,I quite liked this pub.
On 2nd July 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2151 recommendations about 2118 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Calleva Arms
Fullers pub overlooking the common with a sun-trap front beer garden. Very child friendly and quite a locally feel. Long and narrow knocked-through interior with a mint green and chocolate brown colour scheme, all rather nice I thought. Rear conservatory and garden. Sports TV on the go. Five ales, four from Fullers and a guest in Butcombe Haka which was in excellent shape. I really liked it here and would be making an effort to sample it again. One of Fuller’s best outside London on this showing.
On 9th October 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5552 recommendations about 5533 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
rose whitehead left this review about Calleva Arms
visited the area for a roman ruins tour, it was a cold day, the log burner was roaring, staff were very helpful, food was excellnt value for money, we had their famous fresh baguettes, just right for lunch, fullers London Pride and HSB ales served among others, heaven!! all in all a great country/ village pub.
On 5th April 2009
- rating: 10
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]