Druid Arms, Bristol

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Blackthorn _ left this review about Druid Arms

A traditional stone-built country pub, it blends seamlessly in with the adjacent cottages and can’t get too much in the way of passing trade as it slightly off the beaten track in this sleepy village. It’s only a stone’s throw from Stanton Drew’s famous stone circle, and indeed a couple of the stones appear to have found their way in to the pub’s good sized beer garden. It was refurbished a year or two back, but fortunately still retains much of it’s cosy ambience, albeit in a slightly more contemporary way, and has resisted to temptation to go down the gastro route. There were a good crowd of locals were in the bar on a recent Tuesday evening visit and the barmaid was pleasant and friendly.

Inside it’s divided in to three rooms, with the larger central room holding the bar counter (although this is itself still quite tiny) and a couple of smaller rooms off to each side. Decor wise it has slate tiles on the floor which are probably the main difference from the previous rather old carpet, and the walls are a mixture of exposed stone work and whitewashed plaster. A large stone fire-place was off to one side and there were plenty of black beams on the ceiling and a few old black and white photos of the pub on the walls. A plasma was stuck up in one corner which seemed a little out of place, but fortunately this was not in use. The room off to the left looks to be more intended for dining with all the tables being laid up for food. Decor wise this is broadly similar, with the addition of some pale green wooden benches around the perimeter.

The menu offered a fairly concise selection of “pub grub” dishes with options including a burger or fish & chips, as well as some slightly more restaurant style offerings such as roast place or a rib-eye steak. Prices were perhaps slightly above your usual pub prices with the cheapest options being £9.50 and rising to £16.50 for the steak. I opted for the ham, egg and hand-cut chips and this was a generous portion with three good sized slabs of hand carved ham and a couple of eggs. On the other side of the table, giant cous cous with roast butternut squash and goat’s cheese salad was similarly well received and this too was a good sized portion with plenty of cheese, something that many places tend to scrimp on.

Beers on tap were a slightly unadventurous Butcombe and Doom Bar, whilst a third pump appeared unused. Ciders meanwhile were a duo from Thatcher’s with their Gold and Dry.

On 29^th May 2015 - rating: 7
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