The Jolly Anglers, Reading

This is a surprisingly basic two-room pub with a decent location alongside the River Kennet. The pub has been given a modern refit that has left it all feeling a little bland and devoid of character, which is a shame given that it has managed to retain the two bar interior. You enter through a short corridor with rooms off to either side, both of which have modern floorboards and plain painted walls, dotted with a few arty photos here and there, but mostly left blank. The left hand room seems to be the smaller of the two, but both have their own bar counter and plenty of smart chairs serving simple rectangular tables, each with placemats and a small potted plant on top. Large tables under the bay windows provide a little variety, but as the right-hand room extends beyond the bar, more of the same basic seating arrangements appear, including one table positioned rather unhelpfully beneath a dartboard. The bar has a modern timber fronted counter beneath a matching ganty with a long panoramic photo of Limassol on it for no obvious reason. The mirrored bar back was quite nice and had been adorned with a railway station style clock that hung from a small post. Pop tunes were audible in the background, but they seemed to be coming from the kitchen, which was churning out plenty of plates of comfort food, rather than deliberately being piped through the pub. A few seats are available outside the front of the pub, on the riverside path, but this space was in the shade early-afternoon. My plan to take advantage of their rooftop garden backfired when it turned out the space was closed for a private function, which was a shame as it sounds like an unusual space complete with its own bar, cinema screen and pool. Just the two cask ales to pick from - Andwell King John and Bond Brews Bengal Tiger - with the former setting me back £2.00 for a half and being in good shape, albeit far too sweet for my taste. The barmaid didn’t endear herself upon my arrival, serving me whilst talking to some super-needy customer who had arrived just before me, but she redeemed herself with some good-natured banter when I left the pub without taking my jacket with me. This was a bit of a mixed bag, as I was encouraged by the two fairly interesting beers, the good quality of the ale and the potentially warm service, but the place is just so dull that I can’t imagine wanting to come back on a regular basis. Maybe I needed to see the garden to get the full effect - I’ll be sure to pack my trunks if I’m back this way again.