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Detail Pages
Hope & Bear, Reading
Reading
RG1 5DE
Pub Type
Castle (Mitchells & Butlers)Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Hope & Bear
Currently being refurbished and rebranded as the Hope & Bear due to open early May.
October 2014
Formerly the student-oriented Upin Arms (and before that the rough-house Jack O' Both Sides), this large pub had a massive contemporary trendy refurb by M&B in late 2010 and has gone all upmarket - the interior is very tidy indeed, if somewhat dim. There's now lots of fancy expensive keg lagers (some quite rare ones too) along with five ales - which are usually well-selected but can be a little variable quality-wise which makes parting with upwards of £3.70 a gamble; get a taster first or go with a half. Service can sometimes be Spoons-esque if the bar is understaffed. Higer-end pub grub is available. With tighter quality control this could be a winner; at the moment it remains an intriguing enigma.
On 23rd April 2018
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Abbot Cook
This place came as a pleasant surprise to me on a chance visit.A little plush and upmarket as Quinno mentions below but had quite a good vibe about the place. Five handpumps That I noticedWith a decent range, one of which was unfortunately Doom bar but the rest were rather more interesting including Hopback Summer Lightening, Sambrooks Lavender Hill, Sharps Cornish Coaster and my choice of Everads Xinngu which was a first and exellent taste of this beer. I liked this place ca lot and will include it in any future trips to the area.
On 15th August 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
I L left this review about Abbot Cook
We were going to soe of the other good pubs not far fom this place but they dont open till mid dy so went for a wander and came across this pub. What a god find as a very smart interior with wood block floor cosy chirs along with various other forms of seating. One long smart barwith a huge amount of beers available including the new Stella Artois Black although we didnt try it as there was a good range of ales including a Cherry Porter from North Peak Brewing Co in Mtchigan, USA on cask! Also a large range of bottled beers from various parts of the world. This is definitely worth visiting if you are into unusual beers. The young barman was friendfly and very knowledable on his beers. They also o berr tasting nights.
On 7th January 2012
- rating: 8
[User has posted 287 recommendations about 284 pubs]