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The Armoury, Shrewsbury
Welsh Bridge
Shrewsbury
SY3 8LH
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Tris C left this review about The Armoury
A big barn this, with a very spacious floor around which forklift trucks were once driven. Now it's a riverside restaurant with a gastro menu but equally with a large selection of well kept ales. It's all very efficient - corporate even - with my half of Three Tuns XXX coming in at a very corporate £1.95, easily the most expensive drink of the day, though decent.
This may be a good place to eat along with a good beer, making for a pleasant outside drinking spot on a summer's day but it's not really a pub-goers drinkery.
On 25th October 2019
- rating: 5
[User has posted 1985 recommendations about 1951 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Armoury
I am always a sucker for historic old buildings (this one dating back to 1807) that have now been brought back to rude health as a pub / bar / restaurant and although I don’t always like what Brunning and Price do to their places, I have to give them credit for this one.
Formerly an armoury store and at some point a bakery the large interior with two sizeable seating sections either side of the central bar the smart interior decor has a bit of a drawing room feel to it with chandelier lighting, large bookcases, plenty of framed pictures and a dark wooden floor throughout. It’s clearly more utilised by the locals as a restaurant than a pub and outside of the Pubs Galore crew, everyone else was seated and eating on this particular Friday lunchtime. But in saying that the central bar area still has some tables reserved just for drinking and also there is some external tables by the Riverside which I guess would be a nice spot on better weather days than the one we experienced.
And the reason to just drink here is the eight real ale handpumps the bar supports with a decent selection including local brewery offerings. The eight for our visit were as described below and I also went for the Green Duck Plum Dumb which I totally agree was no Titanic Plum Porter and didn’t really work. But that was the fault of the brewery and not the pub so it didn’t really attract from my enjoyment of this one.
On 25th October 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Armoury
A large and rather salubrious Brunning & Price house by the river, apparently in an historic building but thoroughly refurbished. It has a very select interior with a country house feel, lined with bookshelves and laid out with posh tables. The nice bar in the centre has 8 changing ales on handpump, with a broad range of styles and flavours including several fruit-based. One for upmarket dining rather than a boozing session, but pleasant enough.
On 21st October 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Armoury
Upmarket Brunning & Price dining pub in what should be a fine quayside position although a row of large trees somewhat obscures the view. Comprises a long rectangular space with the bar counter in the centre and a modicum of sub-division provided by the small entrance lobby. Semi-traditional furniture and print-covered walls (although if you look closely they seem to bear no discernible relation to the locality). However, the surprise comes when you see the bank of eight handpumps, offering real ales in a good range of styles, although I was a bit unlucky with my Woods Shropshire Lad (£1.95, half, which turned out to be from the end of barrel).
On 20th October 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Armoury
Part of the Brunning & Price chain,the exterior looks very corporate and seemingly modern in an old style,while the interior has lots of exposed brickwork,a wooden floor and much wood panelling on the walls.To the left is a large,dedicated dining area,while to the right there are traditional style square wooden tables ,well occupied on a Friday lunchtime crawl visit.The high tables nearest the bar seemed the best place for a quick sup.
The eight handpumps were dispensing Three Tuns XXX,Enville Ginger,Lymestone Cherry Stone,Cotleigh Barn Owl,Woods Shrophshire Lad,Salopian Oracle,Brunning and Price (Phoenix) Original and Green Duck Plum Dumb (NBSS 2.5,a strange plum and vanilla MILD that didn't really work)
That's a decent ale line up but this place lacks atmosphere and is very chain like,so maybe that limits it to a real ale crawl venue rather than an extended visit.
On 19th October 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
John Bonser left this review about The Armoury
Update – September 2015
Still very much as described below following my previous visit in September 2009, a recent visit again found a good range of real ales from local breweries being offered – amongst them being Salopian, Woods, Ludlow, Longden Shropshire Brewery. Also on was Boggart Mud Brawler, a fine tasting porter. Beers sampled were in good form, prices ranging from £ 3.40p to £ 3.60p. There’s a few seats over the road by the river on the pavement, but nobody appeared to be servicing these tables, with some tables remaining uncleared of dirty glasses and plates throughout the duration of my visit
This is a Brunning and Price food led establishment with, on my early Saturday evening visit, a diverse customer mix including several hen and stag parties and groups of diners all seemingly getting on well together despite their differing reasons for visiting.
Worth a look in when in Shrewsbury.
ORIGINAL REVIEW – SEPTEMBER 2009
Spacious gastro pub / restaurant situated by Victoria Quay on the riverside.
The building is a former bakery and, at the entrance, we are told that the original building was built in 1807, relocated in 1920 and restored in 1995.
Externally, it's a bit understated - there's only a small green sign which doesn't tell you what the premises now houses - and you could easily walk past without noticing there was a bar / restaurant inside.
It's a large spacious room with a distinct drawing room feel to it, created by the high ceilings, period posters and pictures and some large bookshelves. It's bare boarded, but the exposed brickwork, period furniture and rugs help create what I thought was a rather stylish up market ambience.
Food is clearly the dominant factor here, being quite a wide range of gastro pub food with a daily changing menu. In fact, it's basically a restaurant, but one where you order food at the bar.
Perhaps surprisingly, a good range of real ales from local microbreweries is offered, approx 8-9 in total. Tasting notes are provided for the ales on offer. For example Wye Valley HPA was described as "a bit like brown sauce". My pint of Weetwood Cheshire Cat - at £ 2.40p, benefitting from a 50p happy hour discount - was an enjoyable tasty pint in fine condition.
I don't normally like gastro pubs, nor pubs that are housed in buildings previously used for different purposes, but I have to say that I quite liked this one. Given that the range of beers seem wider than most, you might want to call in, but don't expect a normal pub experience.
On 4th November 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 560 recommendations about 560 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Al Bundy left this review about The Armoury
A very big place. Descriptions elsewhere but there is now seating available over the roadway outside now. A decent selection on real ales.
On 15th September 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3487 recommendations about 3390 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Armoury
More expensive than the normal but you do get decent decor, nice looking food and in a rare twist - table service if you are sitting outside in the sunshine.
Nice touch.
I enjoyed my Shropshire Lad.
Some photos at my blog - http://mappiman.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/270615-shrewsbury-pub-crawl.html
On 29th June 2015
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1338 recommendations about 1324 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Armoury
Walloping great riverside building that’s as big inside as the outside suggests. As the name implies, it is a former armoury (and also bakery!) and opened as a pub/restaurant ten years ago by Brunning and Price. A barn of a place, décor is obviously quite ‘contrived’ but well-done nonetheless - traditional-style library sections at either end, bare board flooring with rugs and exposed brick walls. As mentioned elsewhere, the large arched windows running across the length of the pubs frontage are attractive and allow for plenty of natural light. A selection of paintings and old photos are to be found as well as a collection of fuses(!). Outside (though not quayside) seating with views of the line of Weeping Willows looks like a good bet for the summer months. The set-up is mainly for dining though it isn’t an issue just drinking. Perhaps unusually given the food and family ethos, the pub appeared to be dog friendly. Blackboards located above bar listing the ales beer including beer miles. Eight pumps, seven ales (mainly local) plus Westons (that all?) cider. My Longdon Golden Arrow was zombie-like and I suspect the dead hand of an over-used cask breather. My companions Woods Saturnalia was warm which overemphasised the sweetness (it being a honey beer). There’s also an impressive whisky collection. I wanted to like the place but the quality of both ales gives an indicator to me that there’s not enough care going on. I can see why it doesn’t make the GBG cut.
On 26th April 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5081 recommendations about 5064 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Mark Davey left this review about The Armoury
A tractor shed sized place that seemed to cater mainly for families with pushchairs who were all eating. We however persevered, headed to the bar and bought 6 pints, all of which were in tip top condition. The screaming infants and smell of fried food did however drive us outside to drink, despite the wind and the rain. This place is OK, but there are better places in town with just as good a beer selection and less vocal children. Of the 10 or so places we drank in Shrewsbury, this was by far the most expensive, with a round coming in at over £20.
On 25th June 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 292 recommendations about 276 pubs]