The Litton, Radstock

This is in many ways more of a restaurant than a pub. There was someone to greet us at the door and a computer terminal there, presumably to check reservations like you get in some chain restaurants. Apart from a quick hello, I strode on in to the pub as I don't expect to have to introduce myself to someone on the door when I go in to a pub. The lady at the door then followed me in to the bar to serve me as there was no-one else there. She seemed to be serving behind the bar, greeting people at the door, and taking them through to the restaurant area when their table was ready. It's a shame really, as this has always been a great country pub and one of my favourites for years. Since it's gastropub makeover a couple of years ago, it's lost some of it's character and has had a chequered history recently, being closed as often as it was open. Let's be fair to the current owners though – the larger than life landlord and his equally large dog were very welcoming, the gastro-pub makeover was before they arrived, and there's no reason why you couldn't just pop in for a pint. None of the tables in the bar area are laid up for food which is more than be said for many so called pubs. The pub itself it's still a pretty decent venue with a nice garden at the front. Unusually there's a dart board and a table tennis table out in the garden, and even a piano! It's one of those pubs that seems to go on for ever, every time you get to one room there's another one on round the corner. There's a mixture of seating with chunky wooden tables and a leather sofa or two. The restaurant area has an open kitchen and also had a large projector screen showing the football which seemed a little out of place. In one of the bars maybe, but the restaurant? On this occasion I think everyone in the pub was eating, although as mentioned previously there's no reason why you couldn't just have a beer. The menu itself is definitely more restaurant like, with most of the mains starting at around the £9/£10 mark and going up. That said though you get what you pay for, and Mrs. Blackthorn and I both really enjoyed the meals we had. I've had a lot worse for the same price in many pubs, although it would have been nice to have had some veg with my fish pie. Beers on this occasion were Butcombe, Greene King IPA and Abbott Ale. Ciders were Aspall's Suffolk and Stowford Press. In summary I would say it's well worth popping in, even if it has lost some of the character it had a few years ago.