The Bottle of Sauce, Cheltenham

Having visited on two evenings during the recent Cheltenham Jazz festival I can fully answer Old Boots question to who likes this one. My first visit to The Bottle of Sauce was at a lunchtime, primarily to check it out as it was a venue for free gigs during the Festival ( for those not aware the Jazz Festival is three or four main venues around town where you pay to see the big hitters, then lots of other venues including a Free Tent on the main Montpellier show ground, where you get to see bands for free), and I confess on this lunchtime experience, with not many in, my feeling would have been the same as Old Boots… But then I returned in the evening after dark ! Firstly one key point that all previous reviewers have missed. As well as the main bar room and the additional room to the back of this, if you leave by the door to the right that leads to the outside courtyard area with its bench tables, there is an additional long rectangular room called The Canteen. At the far end is the kitchen but at the near end is a small stage. During the day the room is full of additional bench tables, but on gig nights these are removed and this becomes your live music venue. So I returned when the sun had gone down to find the pub packed with 30 somethings and the main bar area resembled Millennial vertical drinking only and not a seat to be had in the back room and the courtyard. Fortunately these youngsters ( compared to me) were not here for the Jazz and a Latino three piece who had packed out the Free Tent earlier in the day at the main site had plenty of space left in The Canteen for us to slip in and enjoy them in relative comfort, as it was the following evening with another band. On the beer front a few decent Dodo branded craft options for the Millennials and Arkels beers were on the pumps for those after an ale and Hoperation IPA and 3B were available alongside a cider on the third pump and the IPA was a pleasant session pint to sup whilst watching the bands. So this is very much an evening pub attracting a youngish crowd, but agree that during the day it can be a quieter option for a pint and some lunch compared to those pubs in or near the pedestrianised sections of the Cheltenham centre.

A stripped out barn like place, looks a bit like it’s been on fire or had a bad restoration. Lots of exposed air-con type stuff, no plaster or ceiling, lumps of tin on the walls behind the counter with rusty iron shelves in front. The inevitable Edison lamps are there but hiding in old acid carbouys strung up over the counter. It’s a tongue & groove counter with four pulls, a cider and a weak Arkells bitter on, 12 kegs taps on a bit of white tiled bar back, they are listed on a shiny bit of copper above. I discovered the table was cast iron when my phone cover closure magnet stuck to it. One big L shaped room with a side room and a courtyard under cover. I thought it pretty dreadful but someone might love it. Apparently owned or rented by the Dodo Pub Co, which explains the neon dodo sign in the bar. Cask Marque rated for now and noodling plumbing in the gents.

A prominent and good sized street corner pub, it’s located in the back streets a short distance away from Cheltenham’s town centre, but is certainly worth taking a short stroll if you want a little more relaxed ambience than you’ll find in many of the high street establishments. Internally it consists a large and high ceilinged L-shaped room with rough brickwork on the front and side walls and dark green paintwork elsewhere. The ceiling boards have been removed at some point leaving the bare rafters on display, which does perhaps make a more interesting feature. The flooring is sanded wooden boards and there are quite large, but high, windows on two sides giving a light and airy feel. A notice board displayed an array of forthcoming events including a book club, yard sale and clothes swap party. Whether you bring clothes along to swap or swap what you’re wearing with other customers, I’m not sure. A smaller room at the rear is perhaps a little cosier, with blue paintwork on the walls as well as a large painted rabbit, a book shelf and padded bench seating. A small selection of nuts, cakes and various flavours of popcorn were displayed on the bar counter. Cask ales were all from Arkell’s with their Hoperation, Moon Light and Wiltshire Gold. A few further “craft ale” options were available from taps mounted on the wall behind the bar, with the listing being displayed on a large copper plate mounted on the wall. Ciders meanwhile were Stowford Press and Cotswold Cider Co’s Yellow Hammer. All in all, a decent enough pub and one I’d happily return to when I had a little more time to enjoy it.