The King Alfred, Winchester

Yet another GK pub in the area, though this one does sport a rather original style: large etched glass windows, dark green walls, muted sodium lighting, lots of framed prints and a wood floor covered with rugs - quite the cosy Victoriana. Along with the clientele it felt very upper-middle class. Apparently it has been refitted in the recent past to much disdain but I thought it was alright, based on this being my inaugural visit. Ale-wise we were stuck with the less-than-mesmerising prospect of GK brews; Old Golden Hen (not brilliant), IPA and Morland Original (fine). If you’ve got all day in Winchester it’s worth putting this on the list for curiosity value.

This was the second nearest pub to our hotel after the Hyde Tavern so had to pop in for a Sunday afternoon pint as we made it back to the hotel, despite is being a GK house. It is situated in the back streets of the residential Hyde area of Winchester and takes a bit of finding but was worth it for a pint. Very good looking pub from the outside, festooned in hanging baskets. Internally it is a double sectioned bar area and then a separate dining room behind and as Old Boots mentions, a nice all wood, slightly Victoriana decor which is pleasant enough but does come across as a bit identikit and plastic. But still rather this than sterile bland gastro and was comfortable to sit inside or outside as there is a nice covered terrace and an extensive beer garden and child-friendly play area out the back. Lots of people were in for the Sunday roasts and the food looked good, but we didn’t try it so cannot really confirm. There are three pumps on each bar section and as mentioned it is a GK house, so two of these were Abbott and one marked King Alfred Bitter at 3.9% which we took to be either Hardy & Hansons Bitter or Morlands original. But the other had Timothy Taylor Golden Best which was well kept. Also it’s a functioning B&B with rooms over the pub and scores very highly on Trip advisor for the accommodation.

This pub was one of the many Marstons pubs in Winchester due to their purchase of the Winchester Brewery which was just up the road from this pub. Sadly most of that estate has now passed to Greene King. Now selling Greene King’s Abbot and IPA plus a guest from Bath Ales in good condition, usual range of Stella, Guinness etc, There has been a modernization of this pub from excellent back street boozer into a bit of an identikit fake victoriana place. Lots of wood and modern etched glass has been used quite tastefully but not inspiringly. This divides the space up into a confused series of areas mainly given over to food service. I suppose the mix is about 60% food 40% drink. There is also a fair sized garden. The staff were young, pretty females but reasonably attentive, of course the place wasn’t too busy. Customers were a few family diners and well heeled thirty something foodies. Strangely the foodies were seriously discussing haute cuisine while drinking mass market lager and GK IPA, however I doubt they would have understood the irony of that.