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Detail Pages
Druid Arms, Bristol
Stanton Drew
Postal town: Bristol
BS39 4EJ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Druid Arms
A traditional stone-built country pub, it blends seamlessly in with the adjacent cottages and can’t get too much in the way of passing trade as it slightly off the beaten track in this sleepy village. It’s only a stone’s throw from Stanton Drew’s famous stone circle, and indeed a couple of the stones appear to have found their way in to the pub’s good sized beer garden. It was refurbished a year or two back, but fortunately still retains much of it’s cosy ambience, albeit in a slightly more contemporary way, and has resisted to temptation to go down the gastro route. There were a good crowd of locals were in the bar on a recent Tuesday evening visit and the barmaid was pleasant and friendly.
Inside it’s divided in to three rooms, with the larger central room holding the bar counter (although this is itself still quite tiny) and a couple of smaller rooms off to each side. Decor wise it has slate tiles on the floor which are probably the main difference from the previous rather old carpet, and the walls are a mixture of exposed stone work and whitewashed plaster. A large stone fire-place was off to one side and there were plenty of black beams on the ceiling and a few old black and white photos of the pub on the walls. A plasma was stuck up in one corner which seemed a little out of place, but fortunately this was not in use. The room off to the left looks to be more intended for dining with all the tables being laid up for food. Decor wise this is broadly similar, with the addition of some pale green wooden benches around the perimeter.
The menu offered a fairly concise selection of “pub grub” dishes with options including a burger or fish & chips, as well as some slightly more restaurant style offerings such as roast place or a rib-eye steak. Prices were perhaps slightly above your usual pub prices with the cheapest options being £9.50 and rising to £16.50 for the steak. I opted for the ham, egg and hand-cut chips and this was a generous portion with three good sized slabs of hand carved ham and a couple of eggs. On the other side of the table, giant cous cous with roast butternut squash and goat’s cheese salad was similarly well received and this too was a good sized portion with plenty of cheese, something that many places tend to scrimp on.
Beers on tap were a slightly unadventurous Butcombe and Doom Bar, whilst a third pump appeared unused. Ciders meanwhile were a duo from Thatcher’s with their Gold and Dry.
On 29th May 2015
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1947 recommendations about 1860 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Jonathan Wilde left this review about Druid Arms
Further to Blackthorn's review and my previous visit this has now had a refurb, gone are the carpet and mixed height ceilings to be replaced by new bar and stone floor (Didn't tap it to see if real or not, suspect not). The exterior has seen the gable end wall repainted and the exterior Druid Arms and Courage signs removed as well as the Hot & Cold Meals ones from the window frames.
The main bar back room by toilets is now home to 2 dart boards, gone are trophy cabinets described below, which tonight was sprung into action at about 7 pm with most furniture and the bar/table skittles table moved to the main bar area to accommodate the darts team. The room to the left is used for dining from what I could make out as I didn't go in it.
Pleasant enough visit popping in to see my friend who is currently working there as the chef and recall Doombar and Butcombe remained as real ales.
On 8th October 2013
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 365 recommendations about 347 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rod Ward left this review about Druid Arms
Friendly village local - good food at reasonable prices. If it is a nice day visit the prehistoric stones in the garden.
On 11th August 2004
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 5 recommendations about 5 pubs]