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The Pelican Inn, Bristol

10 South Parade
Chew Magna
Postal town: Bristol
BS40 8SL

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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) Add Review see review guidelines


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Pelican Inn

Butcombe pub in what was perhaps the biggest Somerset village we visited on Saturday. The pub feels much more commercialised than others we visited on the day. There is a large single room at the front of the pub, which appears to suit drinkers. However, most people were families dining in an outdoor courtyard. Some rather smelly toilets can be found in a separate block off the courtyard, whilst there is a barn for indoor dining space. The village car park is a reasonable size and is to the rear of the pub.

Butcombe Bitter & Adam Henson's Rare Breed were the real ales. The real cider was Thatcher's Stan's Cheddar Valley, which went down quite nicely.

On 16th May 2022 - rating: 6
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]


Please Note: This review is over a year old.


Blackthorn _ left this review about The Pelican Inn

This pub was extensively refurbished around eighteen months ago and it was a complete transformation. Prior to that, it was a traditional, two-room country pub with the thatched straw roof over one of the bars being an unusual feature. Now it’s been opened out in to one large room and looks nothing like a country pub anymore, or at least not a traditional one. But maybe it does represent the new genre quite well, as there are increasing numbers these days that look something like a cross between a gastro-pub and a trendy wine bar.

The flooring is all pine boards, there is the usual shade of green paint on the walls, the tables are chunky wood affairs with a lighted candle on each, and there are a few leather sofa’s dotted around the fireplace along with an exposed stone wall at one end. You get the picture I’m sure. Whilst I begrudge the loss of more traditional pubs, Chew Magna is a small village and has two other pubs besides this one. It must be difficult to sustain that number and this is clearly far better than seeing it closed or sold off for housing. Upmarket touches include recessed blue LED down lighting under the bar counter and very plushly tiled loos according to Mrs B. To emphasis the wine bar feel, the back drop to the bar is a large wooden wine rack, and there are chrome, ceiling hung wine glass racks suspended above the bar.

The menu offered a reasonable selection of dishes at prices that might be considered a tad on the high side, but are certainly not out of the way. Most of the main courses were around the £10 mark and included pub staples such as Meatballs & Spaghetti, Chicken Curry and Fish & Chips along with a decent selection on the specials board. We enjoyed what we had, although it was nothing spectacular. The specials menu was written on a long scroll of paper, which was an unusual touch, but this was located behind the bar and extended down to floor level. This meant you had to be right at the bar counter to read it all, in the way of punters trying to get a pint and trying to peer round anyone serving behind the bar. Not really a practical location, and Mrs. B missed half the dishes as she was stood further away and didn’t realise it carried on down.

On the downside, the harsh acoustics meant the pub could be very noisy, particularly when a group of a dozen or so people came in and were congregated around the bar. Whilst it’s good to see the pub busy, this certainly made for a less than relaxing experience and we had to almost shout at each other across the table to have a conversation. The barmaid also seemed far more interested in chatting to her colleague than serving us which was rather off putting, particularly when you had to wait for her to finish her conversation before you could order the next drink in your round. On the plus side, her lack of concentration meant that a glass of Amstel was filled to the brim, way above the half pint line some way down the glass.

Beers on tap were just Butcombe and Doom Bar, although there were further pumps for Gem and Butcombe Blond that appeared to have run out. Ciders were Ashton Press and Thatcher’s Gold.

On 22nd September 2011 - rating: 6
[User has posted 1949 recommendations about 1862 pubs]