The Whitchurch, Bristol

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Blackthorn _ left this review about The Cartwheel

A fairly typical 70’s estate pub without much in the way of character but serving it’s purpose well enough. It’s not an unpleasant building, and the current owners seem to take a great deal of care with the gardens which surround it on three sides. Besides a well manicured lawn, there’s a selection of shrubs and potted plants including some in old beer barrels which seems appropriate. There is also a good sized patio area at the front which is a bit of a sun trap, and a similarly good sized smoking shelter at the rear, complete with a few picnic benches.

This used to be my local a few years ago, but it’s had a fairly major refurbishment since I was in here last. In fact, I’d suspect that it’s only recently been completed as it still had a bit of a “new smell” about it. The front bar which used to be the lounge now seems to be more of a public bar having a pool table, darts board, plasma and a couple of fruit/quiz machines. The flooring is made up of some attractive stone tiles, there is some wood stripwork around the bar and some bench seating around the perimeter with green painted wood backing.

There is also a sectioned off raised area which is carpeted and thus creates a bit of a cosier ambience. This looks to be more geared up for dining. At the other side of the pub is what used to be the public bar and also had a skittle alley. However, there was a private function in here on a recent visit, so I was unable to investigate further.

The food menu was fairly extensive, and looked to be your typical “pub grub” selection with dishes such as lasagne, chilli, ham, egg & chips, etc. mostly somewhere around the £5 mark. The sign outside proclaims that good food is served seven days a week, but I didn’t eat on this occasion so am unable to put that to the test.

No real ales on unfortunately, just keg John Smith’s. However, it’s good to see that they’ve gone from no cider many years ago, and then to having just Olde English (which is almost as bad as having nothing) to now having three on – Stowford Press, Blackthorn and Natch.

On 8^th April 2011 - rating: 6
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