Toby Carvery Almondsbury, Bradley Stoke, Bristol

Previously The Orchard, it’s now a fairly ordinary Toby, with all the trimmings you’d expect:  gaming machines, a glass cabinet full of Toby jugs, pay-for car park, cheap carvery food and a single ale on at the three handpumps on the bar – Doombar, which was rather dull.  The staff were perfunctory, and unlike many Toby’s the clientele were mainly workers rather than families.  Fine for a meal and a pint if you’re working in the area, and probably a cut above some of the nearby estate pubs, but it’s not somewhere I’d go out of choice.

Official site of Toby Carvery Almondsbury - www.tobycarvery.co.uk

Official site of Toby Carvery Almondsbury - www.tobycarvery.co.uk

A new build pub in an area that is a mixture of housing and office blocks, it is fairly unremarkable and has the bland, corporate look of many similar establishments. There are a few picnic benches out the front on a patio area, but nothing that you would really describe as a garden. Inside it’s all one large open plan room in an L-shape, with the left hand part being reserved for diners going on the “Please wait here to be seated” sign. Decor wise the flooring is predominantly generic red carpet with some wood strip elsewhere, and the paintwork is a mixture of duck egg blue and salmon. There are also a few painted boards and exposed brickwork. There was a free standing dual aspect chimney place with a coal effect (i.e.; gas) fire and a few black and white photos of the locale on the wall. One corner was made in to a bit more of a snug with a couple of low leather sofa’s on the wall and various pictures of Winston Churchill, although what his connection was to Bradley Stoke was not made clear. Beers on tap were Doom Bar, Butcombe and 6X, whilst the ciders were Blackthorn and Stella Cidre. Overall this might be a convenient place for the local office workers to get a lunchtime pint, but otherwise I can see little reason to visit.