Pubs Galore - the UK pub guide

This is very much more a cocktail bar than your traditional pub, with nothing at all available on tap and so with hindsight it should probably not have been added to this site. It’s quite dark and gloomy inside, and it was consequently quite difficult to note much about the décor, never mind read the cocktail list. But then, perhaps I am not their target demographic. Oddly, one of the bartenders was wearing sun glasses which must have made it impossible to see much of anything, I would have thought. The ceiling was black with caged light fittings, whilst the walls were predominantly dark blue with some grey glazed tiling on the lower part. The flooring was wood strip, and a number of mirrors were on the walls, many of them arranged to look as though they were windows. There were also a few colourful pieces of artwork at the back. A singer with a guitar was playing on our recent Thursday evening visit, although the volume was a little too loud for easy conversation. Seating was a mixture of blue padded bench seating in much of the pub, along with high stools around the bar counter and in the window at the front. As previously mentioned, there was nothing at all available on tap that I could see, and I’m not even sure if there were any bottled beers. Certainly the only drinks list out on the counter was an extensive cocktail list running to several pages. This was divided in to numerous sections and I went for a “Crunch Time” with Mozart dark chocolate liqueur, a chocolate Crunchie bar, honeycomb syrup and vanilla ice cream. This was really very good indeed, although perhaps more like a desert than a drink. I couldn’t really work out how I was supposed to get the Crunchie bar out of the glass with only a plastic straw, and ended up having to fish it out with my fingers. At £9.20 it was perhaps a little on the expensive side for a mainstream cocktail bar though. Overall, I thought this was decent enough if it’s a cocktail you’re after rather than a beer.

Food orientated pub, no obvious drinking area. That said, there are 8 handpulls serving Tribute, Doombar, Wye Valley HPA, Bombardier English Ale and Gold. The gold was in good condition, somewhat unusual for a food pub but rather pricey at £3.80. Quite a few eating on a Thursday lunchtime, so may be worth a visit if you're looking to eat and want a pretty good pint with your meal.