Saddle Inn, Melton Mowbray

Blue Scrumpy left this review about Saddle Inn

Yesterday was probably not the best time to have visited the Saddle. After 14 years of ownership, it was the last day for the long-standing publicans.

I walked in to a packed pub. There were 4 handpulls, but all were unclipped. I asked if there were any real ales, but was told by the landlady that they'd now all gone. I got the impression at this stage that this was some kind of closing party and locals were drinking up the beer, but with no wifi or phone reception, I couldn't check. Their Facebook page has since confirmed my suspicions. Fortunately, it does sound as if it will remain as a pub and that new owners will come in.

Keg beer options were Fosters, Guinness, San Miguel, Thatcher's Old Rascal, Madri, Amstel & John Smith's.

I didn't get chance to explore much, but did notice a pool table off to the right of the entrance. There was also a league table of pizza eaters. The pub has a challenge whereby if you eat a 20" pizza with 4 toppings within 1 hour, you get it free. The league table showed that one person had managed it in 12 minutes in 2019. That beat the rest by a considerable margin, but I'd imagine the incumbent would have been considerably ill afterwards. Several of the top 10 had YouTube videos. So, there's obviously no pressure when you're eating.

I didn't perhaps view this pub in its best light. But with no real ales and being very packed for a Saturday afternoon, it wasn't a very comfortable visit. Good luck to any potential new owners.

On 4^th June 2023 - rating: 4
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