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Submitted on Sunday, 19^th November 2023
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The Moderation, Reading

Caversham Road
Reading
RG1 8BB

Phone: 01183750767

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Served areas

Reading Central

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Reviews of The Moderation (Average Rating: 5½ of 10) Add Review see review guidelines

Pub SignMan left this review about The Moderation

This stylish, modern gastropub on the fringes of Reading’s town centre seems to operate more like a Thai restaurant than a traditional boozer. The main space is opened out from what appears to have been two rooms, with the bar running along the right-hand side and tables and chairs lining the left. The decor includes bare wooden flooring, moody grey walls, modern etched glass windows and ceiling-hung bottles converted into light fittings. The bar itself features a beautiful Thai-style patterned front, a polished wood top, and a large traditional pub mirror set into the smart bar back. A front dining area adds a slightly more formal touch, while floral wallpaper and Thai ornaments introduce a bit of personality to an otherwise uninspiring space.
It's not the sort of place you expect to find cask ale, but they had three on—Otter Bitter (£5.00 a pint), Sharps Doom Bar and Butcombe Original—and the Otter was certainly in decent enough condition. The staff were friendly and kept things moving smoothly in what was clearly a busy service environment. Rugby was playing on a couple of TV screens, but the atmosphere remained fairly sedate. The food is definitely the main focus here though, with tables mostly taken up by diners or else reserved during my visit.
I felt that this place leant far too heavily to the food side of things and that were it not for the fact that they keep cask ale on the bar and offer a few, limited seating options from drinkers, I would probably have otherwise classified this place as a restaurant. The staff were friendly enough and the food looked pretty good, but it's not an ideal space to enjoy a pint, even considering that the beer was in good nick.

Date of visit: 11th January 2025

On 7^th May 2025 - rating: 5
[User has posted 3361 recommendations about 3361 pubs]

Mild Drinker left this review about The Moderation

Quite a smart looking pub located near the river. On entering you can instantly smell the food which is of a South Asian persuasion. I noticed 3 handpulls on offer. Lager is well priced compared to some others in the area. A nice beer garden to the rear. I would definitely come back to sample some food here.

On 26^th March 2025 - rating: 7
[User has posted 108 recommendations about 108 pubs]

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Moderation

Food-led pub between the main station and Caversham, with the main bar along the frontage and a smaller dining room with its own counter off the L-shaped servery. Also has a rear patio beer garden and some tables out on the front pavement area. Four real ales on handpump: Black Sheep, Brakspear Bitter, Otter Bitter (£4.40) and Ringwood's Razor Back. Overall, not quite clear why this is in the current Good Beer Guide, other than to mix things up a bit?

On 4^th June 2023 - rating: 6
[User has posted 8733 recommendations about 8733 pubs]

View more reviews of The Moderation (8)

This pub features in the following crawls:
Official London Irish Pubs (Rdg+) by London Irish

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