The Eastfield Inn, Henleaze, Bristol

Official site of Eastfield Inn - www.theeastfieldinn.co.uk

Official site of Eastfield Inn - www.theeastfieldinn.co.uk

A large and imposing pub on the outskirts of Henleaze, it was presumably at one time divided in to a number of separate rooms, but as is the vogue these days it is now all one open plan space, although the old leaded windows in the front of the pub still bear the legend “Public Bar” and “Smoking Room”. It looks as though it may have recently been refurbished and there is a conservatory to one side of the pub and a large garden at the rear. Décor wise it has quite a contemporary appearance for the most part with the flooring being predominantly a mixture of wood strip and parquet whilst the paintwork is shades of grey and deep red. A lounge area to the right had a tartan carpet on the floor, tartan armchairs and an old fire-place giving something of a farmhouse dining room feel. The conservatory looks a bit squashed in between the pub and the adjacent house, but it has a contemporary look to it and is clearly intended for dining as all the tables were laid up for food. A number of fire-places were dotted around, although these looked to be mostly of the built in gas variety rather than logs and there was also a piano in one corner. There is a surprisingly large garden at the rear as well as a patio. A covered smoking area at the rear of the pub included a table football game. The garden has a fenced off fish pond, a pen containing a couple of ducks and some quail and a kids play area consisting of climbing frames and such like. We didn’t check the menu, but did notice a cake display stand on the end of the bar as is often the case in pubs that cater as much for mothers and toddlers during the day as proper drinkers. There was a good range of beers on tap with Caledonian Golden XPA, Butcombe, Bath Ales Summer’s Hare, Wadworth’s Ipanema and their own Eastfield Ale. After that selection, the cider choice was somewhat disappointing with just Symonds Founders Reserve. Overall I quite liked this pub, but it does perhaps lack something in the way of atmosphere and it does perhaps concentrate a little too much on the family market.