Halfway House, Langport

Pub SignMan left this review about Halfway House

I was very pleased ro discover that my drive to North Devon took me within touching distance of this classic two room rural pub, which has a great reputation for its ale but is seemimgly just as popular for its food now, making it a perfect lunch time pit-stop. You enter to the main front bar area with whitewashed walls and a low ceiling.a couple of large tables stand either side of the entrance, but there's also loads of standing room around the servery, which is positioned in the centre of the back wall. The bar has a nice counter with a traditional bar back that has a door through to the taproom in the centre and a very helpful beer board to one side. There's a large fireplace to the left and lots of traditional decor plus a load of CAMRA certificates and a local notice board on the walls. A single step leads down to a quarry stone floored back room with its own hop lined bar access to the right. Five large tables with a mix of chairs, pews and backless benches are not all that practical if you're alone or as a couple, but we managed to squeeze around the end of one table with no objections for the loacls. A raised fireplace under a huge beam dominates the far left end of the room and had a lit stove inside. Local maps, old photos and the like was on display along with an old Summer Lightning advert and some plain mirrors. There's a tidy garden space out the front with an information board about the village, and some nice seating options. The pub's ale reputation extends back for many years, so I was a little surprised to find a sign in the gents toilet proclaiming the pub's 1995 CAMRA Pub of the Year award - why this great achievement was relegated to the bogs, I'm not quite sure.
The ale range shows no sign of diminishing in these post-Covid times, and I was accordingly faced with a near impossible choice from Teignworthy Reel, Bristol Beer Factory Vibe Lake and This Side of Paradise, Otter Beech and Bright, RCH PG Steam, Hopback Summer Lightning and Parkway Jailbird at £4.70 a pint. The Jailbird was in good nick and a half of the Vibe Lake was even better, so beer quality doesn't appear to be an issue with such an extensive selection. The staff were all very friendly and whilst the food was a bit pricey, it was still delicious and I didnt feel particularly hard done by. There was a good lunchtime crowd here on my Friday afternoon visit, almost all of whom were eating - the modern rural pub dilemma encapsulated.
I thought this was a great pub that definitely merits a bit of a diversion to go and check out. The ale range alone would be a big draw, especially as they seem to know how to keep the beer well, but it's also just a great place to spend some time and I suppose my only real reservation is that it can feel a bit too food-led at times, but that's a minor gripe in the main scheme of things.

Date of visit - 1st March 2024

On 4^th August 2024 - rating: 8
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