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The Jolly Anglers, Reading
Reading
RG1 3EA
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Jolly Anglers
This is a surprisingly basic two-room pub with a decent location alongside the River Kennet. The pub has been given a modern refit that has left it all feeling a little bland and devoid of character, which is a shame given that it has managed to retain the two bar interior. You enter through a short corridor with rooms off to either side, both of which have modern floorboards and plain painted walls, dotted with a few arty photos here and there, but mostly left blank. The left hand room seems to be the smaller of the two, but both have their own bar counter and plenty of smart chairs serving simple rectangular tables, each with placemats and a small potted plant on top. Large tables under the bay windows provide a little variety, but as the right-hand room extends beyond the bar, more of the same basic seating arrangements appear, including one table positioned rather unhelpfully beneath a dartboard. The bar has a modern timber fronted counter beneath a matching ganty with a long panoramic photo of Limassol on it for no obvious reason. The mirrored bar back was quite nice and had been adorned with a railway station style clock that hung from a small post. Pop tunes were audible in the background, but they seemed to be coming from the kitchen, which was churning out plenty of plates of comfort food, rather than deliberately being piped through the pub. A few seats are available outside the front of the pub, on the riverside path, but this space was in the shade early-afternoon. My plan to take advantage of their rooftop garden backfired when it turned out the space was closed for a private function, which was a shame as it sounds like an unusual space complete with its own bar, cinema screen and pool.
Just the two cask ales to pick from - Andwell King John and Bond Brews Bengal Tiger - with the former setting me back £2.00 for a half and being in good shape, albeit far too sweet for my taste. The barmaid didn’t endear herself upon my arrival, serving me whilst talking to some super-needy customer who had arrived just before me, but she redeemed herself with some good-natured banter when I left the pub without taking my jacket with me.
This was a bit of a mixed bag, as I was encouraged by the two fairly interesting beers, the good quality of the ale and the potentially warm service, but the place is just so dull that I can’t imagine wanting to come back on a regular basis. Maybe I needed to see the garden to get the full effect - I’ll be sure to pack my trunks if I’m back this way again.
On 7th January 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Jolly Anglers
Came here in 2006 on a walk. This week, i am completing a similar walk - along the Thames from Caversham and then onto the Kennet, where this little boozer sits by the gas tank.
Three punters and one of those was a Labrador. Decent pint of Plain Ales.
On 23rd May 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1337 recommendations about 1323 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Jolly Anglers
Small canal-side pub that was the centre of a well-publicized tussle between pubco Enterprise (trying to shut it) and local residents/CAMRA (trying to keep it open) in which the latter have, for now, prevailed. Three to four real ales (down from six) remain at the bar, and personally I don't rate them. Pub grub is offered and there's a dartboard. Live music is also a regular feature, plus pub dog. The walls are purple.
On 1st October 2014
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Jolly Anglers
A little sparsely decorated inside, three ales available , nice enough place with friendly landlord and pub dog,nice location and beer in good nick,there are no longer any CAMRA discounts though as advertised on the Whatpub site.Well worth a passing pint.
On 15th August 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about Jolly Anglers
The Jolly Anglers is a small, community pub on the towpath beside the River Kennet in Reading, close to where the river joins the Thames and a short walk along the towpath from the Oracle shopping centre.
It’s a turn of the century brick built building and forms part of a short terrace of the few remaining historical buildings that remain along the river following the demolition of the Huntley and Palmer’s factory on the opposite bank.
It was a Good Beer Guide regular and a solid community pub until Enterprise Inns callously shut it down without warning in June 2009, after arranging to sell it to property developers.
However the local Reading CAMRA branch and local residents stepped in and vigorously campaigned to have the Jolly Angler saved as a pub and fortunately an understanding council agreed and the pub was reopened as a free house on March 1st this year, selling six real ales.
Inside its a no frills fairly basic 2 room pub layout with a wood floor and basic table seating in one room and sofa seating in the other.
On my visit this weekend whilst cycling the Kennet and Avon canal, the six handpumps are still on the bar, but these now double up for three real ales, presumably because there isn’t the throughput to sustain six ales. The beers available were Youngs Bitter, Lodden Russett and Kennet Side Jolly Good Bodge, and the ones we tried were in very good condition albeit served a tad on the cold side. There were also 4 Cider polypins on the bar, and talking to the landlord, he will be focussing more on Ciders and Perrys to try and differentiate from some of the other offerings in the area.
The landlord is trying to rebuild the trade after the enforced shut down and trying to get it back to a solid community pub. He currently offers price discounts on both beer and food to card carrying CAMRA members and a guest (which is a nice touch), runs open mic night twice a week for budding musicians and has a student night with discounted prices to NUS members on Wednesdays. And anything which tries to drag the RU students out of the chrome bars in the town centre for a real pub experience should be applauded.
The Landlord still has some work to do to make this one of the best pubs in Reading, but I wish him well and he will have my support again the next time I am in Reading
On 12th October 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]