Clifton Arms, Reading

Basic locals pub full of geezers on a Friday afternoon,I only spotted three pumps offering Brakespeare Bitter and Marstons Pedigree, the third pump had a reversed Brakes Bitter clip.I found the pub to be a little dated and tired and nothing particularly special.

The Clifton Arms is a thin Brakspear pub with a plasma screen at either end for watching Sky Sports and a dartboard to the left. I was the only customer in the pub during my fleeting visit on Saturday afternoon last week, but there were a handful of locals sitting at the picnic tables by the car park out the back. Standard draught products are available from the bar that supports five hand pumps. One of these was unused and the others were drawing Brakspear Bitter (x2) and Oxford Gold (x2). I found the service to be polite and the Oxford Gold was passable. There are better pubs in the area.