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Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Saturday, 24th June 2023
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Detail Pages
The Turks Head, Exeter
Exeter
EX4 3DJ
Served areas
Reviews of The Turks Head (Average Rating: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about The Turks Head
Two entrances to this one at either end, so don’t necessarily trust Google to be sensible. Long and narrow inside which I assume to be a connecting extension to another building behind. Surprisingly little seating downstairs though there's an upstairs room which was full of footy watchers seeing Leeds head towards their Premier League demise. Found a high table downstairs in a fairly pleasant space with aged wood panelling (Original? Fake? Either way, looked nice enough) and high ceiling with a blessed set of windows to let the light in a bit. Has picked up a CAMRA gong for 'outstanding conversion or restoration' which is fair. This is a brewpub (which I hadn’t realised) with five of theirs on. My Cash Is King was a disappointing non-shifting homebrew (NBSS 2) which at £2.45 a half was a bit of a piss-take so I can see why the local CAMRA's overlook this one for GBG. IRONY ALERT - despite the beer’s title this is a card-only outlet. I wanted to like this one but I struggled to see much beyond a place that box-ticks; either sort your homebrew cask out and shift it at sensible prices, or can the thing and stick a couple of brews on that will shift.
On 5th July 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Turks Head
It’s difficult to miss this quaint city centre pub thanks to its prominent location on the main shopping street. You enter into a narrow room with a nice patterned stone tile floor and some great stained glass work in the porch and along the upper part of the front windows. The room has dark wood panels to the right and a mix of panels, dark painted walls and ugly wallpaper down the left side. Long high tables and benches run down the right-hand side of the room, with small round high tables and stools to left, which eventually give way to a recess with limited bench and chair seating. There’s a high shelf to the right with an amazing bottle collection under a beer-style memory map, whilst the left side has plenty of plants along ledges, with the brewing process detailed on a blackboard-paint wall above. The bar is to the rear right and has an attractive dark wood counter, stone top and very nice bar back that blends into the panelling down the right wall. Opposite are some steps that lead down into a side room with lots more tables and chairs, although the space was being used to host a ridiculously easy pub quiz on my Sunday night visit, so I didn’t get a proper look around. Meanwhile, a staircase leads up to a first floor restaurant, with lots of high tables and stools through the main space and a small servery that was closed on my visit, as was the side room down a couple of steps, which has lots of nice traditional fittings. You can also access a roof terrace from up here, but it was dark when I visited, so I didn’t explore. Despite the daft quiz, the place had a real buzz about it and seemed to attract a lot of students, despite looking like a bit of an old man’s pub from outside.
There’s a good ale range here, drawn in large part from the in-house brewery, with Turks Head Witches Brew Stout, Hand Off, God's Little Cow and Crusader all available on cask alongside Hanlons Firefly and Prescott Hill Climb. A very friendly barmaid drew a good pint of the Witches Brew, which I enjoyed supping whilst answering the banal quiz questions in my head.
High Street pubs tend to be quite depressing affairs, so it was a pleasant surprise to find one with bags of character and a real lively atmosphere, especially given the fact that I visited on a Sunday night. The great ale selection and friendly service made this one a definite hit and one that would benefit from repeat visits.
On 3rd July 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about Turks Head
Madness... the best pub I found in Exeter and not one review. Its not in the GBG but I would be surprised if its not in 2023.
Smart pub, with a lovely roof terrace, with a large downstairs and a few snug rooms off the first floor. A brew room, with their own on tap/cask.
Tiny Rebel Cwtch was superb on cask. I went for a 2nd and saw they had Deya Steady Rolling Man on Keg.
Easily the best of the Exeter pubs visited.
On 22nd November 2021
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1337 recommendations about 1323 pubs]
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- Official site of Turks Head - www.turksheadexeter.com
- Facebook page of Turks Head - www.facebook.com
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Turks Head - whatpub.com
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : Yes last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : Yes - Roof terrace - last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : Yes - 10% - last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Car Park : No last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 03 July 2022 by Pub SignMan
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Function Room : No last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 03 July 2022 by Pub SignMan
- Karaoke : No last updated 03 July 2022 by Pub SignMan
- Live Music : No last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 03 July 2022 by Pub SignMan
- Pool Table : No last updated 03 July 2022 by Pub SignMan
- Quiz Night : Yes last updated 03 July 2022 by Pub SignMan
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 05 July 2023 by Quinno _
