Bridge End Hotel, Llangollen

Just a quick visit when passing through - my first time in Llangollen, but I hope to be back to have a longer look around. This was the only pub open before noon, so I called in for a swift half of Unicorn (NBSS 3.5) - Dizzy Blonde and Trooper were the other options, with a cider available too. This is a nice old fashioned place with a good vibe. Date of visit: 22nd September 2022

All of the other pubs in Llangollen on the northern side of the river, including the Ponsonby Arms, have shut down. The Bridge End Hotel is the exception and still enjoys a decent trade. My B & B owner said that it wasn't worth staying here and didn't recommend it for food. However, I wasn't intending to make use of either. As you arrive, there is a small patio area at the front for outdoor drinking. This appeared to be a popular spot for some of the more elderly locals. To the left of the entrance were a few different areas primarily for eating. I made a beeline for the bar to the right-hand side. A middle-aged couple were polishing off their meals in there and the chef soon appeared to ask them how their food was and to try to tempt them for a dessert. For the record, they were already full up! Later, a group of young lads arrived wanting to watch a football match (possibly Tottenham) on the screens that were showing a music channel. My conclusion was that the pub seems to attract a wide cross-section of society. So often, Robinson's pubs serve the same old real ales. Sure enough, Unicorn is the regular beer. However, there was also a Robinson's Citra Pale Ale & Weston's Rosie's Pig on other handpulls. Fully expecting this to be the worst of my 6 pubs in Llangollen, I was pleasantly surprised and after my Rosie's Pig, I decided to stay for the Citra too. A good start to my Wednesday evening stroll around the town.

This Robinsons House has had a makeover since Johns review below and is now quite smart inside. Still two areas internally with the larger dining room section to the left and the lounge bar to the right of the main entrance. A mixture of wooden flooring and stone flags, the decor is now pastel shades with lighter walls above darker lower wood panelling. The bar now has four hand pumps in one group at the end of the bar as you enter the lounge and are now the first thing you see. For my visit there was Citra Pale, Unicorn and Dizzy Blonde available on the first three and 2 Rosie pig ciders badged on the 4th. There is a small enclosed courtyard garden to the back of the pub but the best outside spot still remains the sun trap tables to the front of the pub. We didn’t find it too bad to sit here despite the busy road in front as the junction with Bridge Street is such a dodgy junction the traffic tends to be slow when navigating it.

This Robinsons house is the only pub this side of the river and the seats out front are a real sun trap. Dizzy Blonde and Unicorn on offer when I called. Both were fine.

Occupying a prime position across the road opposite the famous 16th century stone bridge (one of the Seven Wonders of Wales apparently) that crosses the River Dee is the aptly named Bridge End Hotel. It’s a large prominent building which, apparently, is of Victorian origin – 1840’s – but has been considerably altered and enlarged over the years. It’s a family pub / restaurant sort of place with a large dining area on the left hand side and a smaller lounge style bar on the right which principally appears to cater for locals. It’s a comfortable, but rather ordinary looking bar with standard pub seating and nothing of any great age or interest. A large screen TV at the end above the fireplace caters for football fans, with matches shown being prominently advertised. Seats outside at the front are a real suntrap in fine weather, from which you can’t see the river, but you can watch the traffic crossing the busy old bridge. The Bridge End Hotel is a Robinsons tied house and hidden away almost apologetically on the bar counter amongst a plethora of the usual keg and lager fonts were two handpumps, not together and almost at opposite ends of the bar, serving Unicorn and Dizzy Blonde. I didn’t sense there was much interest or trade in real ale. Both beers were in good condition, but rather uninspiring in the usual Robinsons manner. Overnight accommodation is available on a B & B basis in a number of rooms upstairs, but, in reality, it’s much more of a pub with rooms than a full blown hotel. I can personally recommend both the B & B accommodation and the food as being of a reasonable standard and representing good value for money, but, as regards the pub goer and beer drinker, there’s a number of better options in town close at hand.

If you can get a speck outside in summer its a good place to watch people coming and going. Handy for breathing in car fumes too.