The Jekyll and Hyde, Hook

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Steve of N21 left this review about The Jekyll and Hyde

I used to utilise the Jekyll and Hyde quite a few years ago when working in the local area and visited again the other week for the first time in some 15 years.
It used to be a traditional country side Inn when I used to utilise with decent beer and food, and although it’s obviously moved to meet changing requirements to keep a profitable business, I wasn’t overly disappointed.
As a large roadside pub, basically in the middle of nowhere between two largish population centres of Reading and Basingstoke, it has to try and provide something that will entice people to get in their cars and drive out to, so it’s no great surprise that it focuses on food and has been given a modern makeover that provides a clean comfortable environment, mainly for dining.
But in my opinion they have avoided the trap of making it completely a gastro restaurant and there is enough of a pub feel still about it, especially the front two areas which are more aligned to just sitting and drinking. And a lot of the original features, the large stone fireplaces, most of the oak beams e.t.c. have been retained and overall it still keeps an overall feeling of a being a country pub, but with a strong emphasis on the food side.
One large positive is that this is now a Hall and Woodhouse tied house and therefore does have good ales, very good in fact, but then I do like Hall and Woodhouse beers. There are four pumps lined up on the bar as you enter, two dispensing Badger and Tanglefoot and then the other two dispensing the seasonal brew. At the moment this is Fursty Ferret, which I thought was a bit thin and lacking in taste for 4.4% ale. This could have been due to the pub, but fortunately the Badger and Tanglefoot were on good form so I think not. And the food menu was more towards standard pub fare than pretentious gastro offerings and there is a full range of baguettes and Jacket potatoes to support the standard mains.
As mentioned internally it is two front areas with seating and wooden tables and then a restaurant section to the back of the pub. Then out back there is a spacious well kept garden with modern decking, and a large children's play area for attracting families.

On 30^th August 2011 - rating: 7
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