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The Famous Royal Navy Volunteer, Bristol
Bristol
BS1 4EF
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Famous Royal Navy Volunteer
From outside this looks like a long standing traditional town pub however the interior belies this and somehow combines tradition with a modern sleek feel. The front area has a real fire, comfortable seating and framed naval pictures but this changes almost seamlessly into a more modern bar towards the rear. The eye is immediately drawn to four large light wood panels on a side wall which list all the various beers, keg and cask, adding eclectic tasting notes and priced by the pint, two thirds, half and third. Prices are certainly not cheap but at least they are consistent so there is no mark up on smaller quantities. Beers are numbered so you make your selection and order by size and number at the bar, a bit like phoning for a Chinese takeaway. The concept works to a degree I suppose as it certainly reduces clogging at the bar while people peer at pump clips however unless you know or are guided there is no knowing which are keg and which cask. For clarity, L-R, the first two are keg, the second two cask.
Seating is a bit mixed with leather benches and sofas, a side door says "restaurant" above but this turned out to be another room which in fact links through at the far end; a fireplace in here had hops strewn along the top. The gents has been mentioned, I believe that a photo soon to be added will describe them adequately.
An unusual spot, I initially didn't like it being a bit of a traditionalist but I gradually warmed. I just think the beer boards need some clarity and that the prices stretch it a bit.
On 16th November 2014
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Famous Royal Navy Volunteer
This 17th century listed building with a very pleasing exterior has been refurbed internally to produce a hip craft beer establishment.The interior still retains a lot of original features and three distinct areas with the main bar to the left of the entrance which had a working fireplace to the front surrounded by sofas,a large bench seat in leather and lot of prints of navy ships on the walls.A door way leads to a smaller room with varied traditional furniture,another fireplace and a small servery while the back section is probably aimed at diners with more conventional seats and tables but with a mix of high tables.Tea lights abound and the wooden wall coverings are painted in best Farrow and Ball colours.The gents is a jokey work of art and should not be missed.
The large wall mounted list of kegs beers and real ales is in the best Shoreditch tradition,all beer priced by the third,half,two thirds and pint ,a pricing policy which draws attention away from the normal per pint pricing,in reality this is an expensive place to drink but the target demographic are more likely to come in to sample a whole load of thirds rather than sink a gallon.The beers are numbered and all the handpumps and keg taps are unclipped ,so ordering by numbers is quite the norm.It was certainly popular with a young professional crowd on our Friday afternoon crawl,and the Pubsgalore crew swelled the average age by a significant margin.There are 12 keg and 8 cask options,and it is worth noting that the cask offering are to the right end of the board.The cask selection was from Wild Beer Wild Goose Chase,Siren Soundwave and Undercurrent,Arbour Triple Hop,New Bristol Brewery India and Sam Haim,Waen Brewing Snowball and Red Ink 100 (in very good nick).I didn't note the kegged beer but there were some well know craft brewers on offer.
I doubt my wallet would sustain a full night session in here,and it probably isn't a pub I would come to for a session,but I would always pop in to see what interesting ale is being offered in the hope that something from the ever changing range is outstanding.For a younger crowd ,this place may well be unmissable.
On 15th November 2014
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2737 recommendations about 2737 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Naval Volunteer
Since my previous review, this has been shut for a few months and has now re-opened under new management after a refurbishment. The basic layout is still an inverse “U” shape, with the right hand side being signed as a restaurant. The left hand bar is mostly one open space, although divided in to a separate area at the rear. Leaded windows look out on to the cobbled street.
Decor wise, the paintwork is a mixture of cream and a very pale brown and there are plenty of nautical pictures such as old sailing ships on the wall. The flooring is some type of laminate wood and there were candles on all the tables as is the vogue in many pubs these days. At the rear were several brown leather arm-chairs and sofa’s which created a somewhat more relaxing ambience, although this made the plasma mounted up in the corner seem all the more out of place. Fortunately it was not in use on our visit, but a blackboard listed a number of forthcoming sporting fixtures which seems slightly out of kilter with the image the pub presents. An interesting feature were the gent’s urinals which were all made out of old beer kegs, with the top and part of the front cut away. The cistern too was an old keg.
Unusually the hand pumps on the bar were all unlabelled, with the beer choices being displayed on a board to the right. There were quite a number of both cask and keg options, although whether it would be called a good selection or not is debateable, since they were all, at least as far as the cask went, from just one brewery, Yorkshire’s Summer Wine. On this occasion they were Calibo Cali, Rouge, Diablo, Oregon, Zenith, Resistance, Teleporter and Barista Stout. A similar number of keg options were available, some of which were duplicated with the cask offering and all but one still from Summer Wine. The only other choice was Williams Draught. Ciders were Sandford Orchard’s Devon Mist and Purbeck’s Dorset.
On 7th October 2013
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1953 recommendations about 1866 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pete Yeates left this review about Naval Volunteer
Well, something I thought I would never see, the "Volly" closed in the afternoon. Opening hours in the window state it's closed between 2:30pm & 6:00pm.
Gone are the days, it seems, when the place was stacked to the roof with telephone engineers from the nearby telephone exchange and office staff from Telephone House, now student accomodation.
On 4th July 2010
- rating: 4
[User has posted 99 recommendations about 92 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Naval Volunteer
Large pub right in the centre of King Street. It's almost two pubs in one, with two long rooms either side of the bar and a comfy snug at the back.
It's lost some of it's atmosphere since it's refurbishment a few years ago, but it's pleasant enough. Nearly all the seating is comfy leather arm chairs which makes for a real oasis of calm away from the hustle and bustle of the road outside.
Staff were friendly, and on there was good range of unusual beers on tap. On this occasion it was Cotleigh's Golden Hawk, Moor Revival, Jenning's Cumberland Ale, Timothy Taylor Landord, and, of course, Doom Bar. Ciders were Aspall's Sufflok and Kingstone Press. I feel I must make some comment on the prices though - £7.45 for a pint of the Aspall's and a Vodka & Orange seems to be really taking the proverbial. A point deducted for that.
On 18th March 2010
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1953 recommendations about 1866 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Sam Son left this review about Naval Volunteer
Visited this pub on Thursday evening after having a shocking beer down the end of the road. This very friendly pub with lovely bar staff offered me a taste of the ales, I decided on the porter which I was not sorry at all, superb pint I had two more and our friends were well impressed. Then a quiz started in a back bar area which didn't interupt us in the front cosy area. And the toilets were clean, tidy and even smelled fresh which is very important to my wife. Would i come here again YES!!
On 4th October 2009
- rating: 10
[User has posted 1 recommendations about 1 pubs]