The Rose & Crown, Bury St. Edmunds

Facebook page of The Rose & Crown - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Rose & Crown - www.facebook.com

Very traditional backstreet pub with a heritage interior featuring two separate bars: the rectangular front one being slightly larger and the square one off to the side being plainer but almost timeless apart from the post-coronavirus notices. Six real ales available on handpump, three on the front and another trio in the passageway between the two bars; mostly Greene King and other nationals, but I went for the Nethergate Melford Mild (£3.10) with Greenjack's Mahseer IPA also available.

A traditional looking street corner pub just along the road from the Greene King brewery, this is very much a no frills boozer and there was a crowd of old boys propping up the bar on our recent Wednesday evening visit. Décor wise it’s fairly unremarkable with sanded wooden boards on a slightly drab appearance with dark brown curtains at the windows, brown vinyl bench seating and dark wood panelling on the lower part of the walls with cream paintwork above. A few branded mirrors were on the walls including Bells Whiskey and Colman’s Mustard and a collection of china pigs were on a shelf opposite the bar. Food is served at lunchtimes only. Beers on tap were Greene King IPA, Betty Stogs and Oakham Inferno, whilst the solitary cider was Thatcher’s Gold which makes a very pleasant change from the usual dross around these parts (the landlord told me they used to stock Aspall’s Suffolk, but he got fed up with the supplier increasing the price virtually every time he ordered it).