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Disappointment of the week with Real Ale Ray
on the Pub Forum
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The Fountain Inn, Gloucester
Gloucester
GL1 2NW
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Fountain Inn
Traditional style pub interior that has been upgraded recently and now attracts an upmarket customer base, calling in for Sunday lunch on our visit. The layout consisted of an L shaped lounge with the bar facing you as you enter. There was also a further smaller room on the right hand side found through an ornate door opening. The main feature for me was the large sandstone fireplace, found in the main lounge and the seven handpumps along the bar. We went for the Battledown Tipster and the Salopian Whirligig.
On 29th March 2020
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Fountain Inn
An attractive looking pub set down an alleyway away from the main road, it has a pleasant outside courtyard and all together looks very inviting. It was perhaps then a slight disappointment on getting inside, to find not quite the old world charm that I had expected. There was nothing at all wrong with it, and many of the ingredients were there, but overall but just seemed a little bit tired looking.
The pub is divided in to two halves with the main bar being an L-shaped room. There were a few black beams on the ceiling with the obligatory horse brasses tucked on to them and a large, and ornate, stone fireplace, although all that it contained these days was a rather feeble looking wood burning stove. Red patterned carpet was on much of the floor, and there was a large free-standing brick chimney breast with some sort of open fire within it, although this was not lit on my visit. The paint on the walls was some sort of off brown colour and the papered ceiling had that nicotine colour that one saw in many pubs years ago but has rather gone out of fashion of late. Seating was a mixture of wooden pews around the perimeter along with conventional chairs and a few red leather arm chairs. The second room was perhaps a little more geared up for dining with rows of tables and chairs, and this had a bit more of a contemporary look with light wooden laminate on the floor, although it too somehow managed to look a little shabby.
I didn’t inspect the menu, but a couple of boards on the wall highlighted a wrap of the week, various steak options and several dishes that all ended with “and chips” – scampi, beef burger, sausage, and so on. These were all priced at £5.
There was a good choice of beers on tap which on this occasion were Legend of Hillside, Butcombe, Gloucester Gold, Tribute, Dartmoor Jail Ale along with Independence and Nova from the Bristol Beer Factory. A smaller bar counter in the other room added Wickwar Star to the line-up. Ciders meanwhile were Thatcher’s Gold and Stowford Press.
On 27th November 2016
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Helen Iwanczuk left this review about Fountain Inn
The Fountain has reopened, we're sitting in the pub at the moment, enjoying some really good ale.
On 24th July 2015
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 255 recommendations about 195 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
ROB Camra left this review about Fountain Inn
Called in here on both of our evenings in Gloucester. Fully described by OB & Soupy, so I won't bother. Exactly the same beers available as when Soupy called in, so I'm guessing these don't change much. I had a Hook Norton Lion one evening and a Butcombe bitter the following night, both were in very good nick. Ms CAMRA had a red wine on both occasions which she said was fine. It's a really nice pub and we'll call back next time we're in Gloucester.
On 8th December 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3223 recommendations about 3134 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Soup Dragon left this review about Fountain Inn
This is a GBG pub in a courtyard, with a patio area. The building consists of a larger 'house' with a smaller side extension and incorporates features from the 16th-20th century. The extension looks earlier, the main building being 17/18th century. It is in white, with black paintwork. Interesting features are the neo-classic door, lower oriel window, quoins and the central octagonal upper window - it looks great. The interior has an L-shaped room, part bi-sected by a brick hearth feature. The walls are in white and brown, with a red patterned carpet and a part wood panel ceiling. There is a mix of bench seating, with general tables and chairs, and at least one impressive fireplace. some arty pictures co-exist with a few traditional prints, and there are a few vases dotted about. The TV wasn't on and the music was general and at a decent level. The service was fine and the place pretty busy on the night, with a mixed clientele - quieter on the day. Beer; usual tap stuff with Purity Mad Goose, St Austell Tribute, London Pride, as well as excellent Butcombe Bitter, Hook Norton Old Hookey, Lion and MILD. A really nice place, where you could happily stop for a few - even Mrs Soup said the tea was adequate (believe me, that means good).
On 3rd November 2013
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3067 recommendations about 3062 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Boots left this review about Fountain Inn
A pub reached via an alleyway off Westgate St or from Berkley Street It’s quite sizeable once you enter the courtyard, there are two ranges of buildings, the bar being on the left as you enter down the alley. Inside it’s a comfortable lounge bar with tables and chairs in a L shaped room, probably once three or more rooms. The counter runs along the back and carries 7 handpumps of regionals plus Purity Gold. To the right is an area with a panelled ceiling and a magnificent carved fireplace, other parts of the bar are in different styles and there’s a big brick fireplace at the left hand end. Décor is modern arty pictures. It was quiet when I dropped in with just a couple of old buffers in one corner, a dining couple and one regular at the bar, all fairly middle class in atmosphere. The yard outside is very pleasant which is a word that describes the pub well.
On 8th October 2012
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3230 recommendations about 2939 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Roger Button left this review about Fountain Inn
The 4 main streets of Gloucester seem awash with tiny passageways hiding tucked away pubs of which the Fountain is one, accessed via a narrow gateway in Westgate Street. The original pub that stood here from 1455 was known as the Savages Inn (after its owner, not the customers) but the current building dates from the 17th Century. Its recent history has been a little fragile having been closed and seemingly lost in 2008 only to be rescued and subsequently reopened.
From the passageway, a quaint courtyard opens up containing with several benches and umbrellad tables plus old gas style street lamps with hanging baskets.
The pub has a cosy, carpeted L-shaped interior with low, partly panelled ceilings but feels like it should be a bit more Ye Olde worlde than it actually is. The décor is quite plain with a few old pictures and ornaments but nothing too fussy. The left hand end when facing the bar is divided by a large pillar containing a double fronted fireplace and the right hand end is dominated by an impressive open stone fireplace.
6 ales available on my visit; St Austell Tribute, Butcombe Bitter, Hook Norton Old Hooky, Greene King Abbot, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Purity Pure Gold, perhaps not the most versatile selection given the number available but certainly enough to keep all but the fussiest drinker going for a while.
Whilst I do like the place, I couldn’t help but feeling slightly underwhelmed from my initial expectations but, that said, it is certainly remains a short list entry for any future beer trips around the city’s hostelries.
On 9th September 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1239 recommendations about 1233 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Thuck Phat left this review about Fountain Inn
The Fountain is signposted through an alley off one of Gloucester's main shopping streets. The alley opens into a courtyard which has tables and chairs for drinkers and diners and hanging baskets outside the pub. It's a haven from the town but the courtyard would benefit from tidying up and an upgrading of furniture from the shabby white plastic incumbents.
The interior is welcoming with plenty of wooden furniture and beams and it's a comfortable place to be.
Six handpumps offered Old Hooky, Cotswold Spring Old English Rose, Purity Pure Gold, St Austell Tribute, Abbott and TT Landlord which, as Mr Fastard notes, wasn't actually on when we asked for one. The Old English Rose and Tribute were ok but not inspiring.
This is the best of the pubs we visited in Gloucester but I'm not tempted to return and can only conclude that if you want decent beer then Gloucester isn't the place to look.
On 20th July 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 679 recommendations about 678 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about Fountain Inn
Probably the best 2011 GBG listed pub in central Gloucester that we visited.The courtyard outside the pub is a charming place to drink when the seagulls are not in town,while the interior has a low ceiling but rather dull decor,with a large fireplace and seats to the right of the central bar ,and an L shaped section to the left.Musak is played at quite a volume,and some wit has posted humourous quotes in chalk on the beams but this did not raise the spirits when confronted with a fairly standard range of national ale brands.The TT Landlord clip promised a possible decent pint ,but to be informed that this was not available yet the pump clip remained resolutely unreversed was a cynical crime against drinking.If there was a better alternative I wouldn't return but the fact that this was both the start and finish of our crawl speaks volumes about the ale scene in Gloucester.
On 19th July 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about Fountain Inn
A pub down an alley that opens up into a courtyard with outside seating.Inside is a single bar with up to 6 real ales with the Purity Mad Goose being in great form.
On 25th May 2011
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]