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Chat about:
Disappointment of the week with Tris39
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Graham Coombs
Submitted on Thursday, 28th June 2018
With picture contributions to 5136 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (9 more images)
Detail Pages
The Purple Turtle, Reading
Reading
RG1 2JR
Served areas
Purple Turtle
Another Tuesday night in the dungeon with @WOBZevents !!!
12:21 PM May 30th from Twitter Web App
Reviews of The Purple Turtle (Average Rating: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Purple Turtle
This is a decent sized town centre pub and live music venue with a good sized main bar and performance space and some smaller, discreet sweating areas off to the side. I came here specifically to watch a band playing, so perhaps I didn’t get to see the place exactly how I might’ve done were there not large areas cleared for people to stand and watch the show. You enter into quite a pleasant looking front seating area where a few comfortable bits of furniture offer you a relatively bright spot in front of the shop style windows. As you move towards the rear, the room narrows slightly due to the positioning of the servery down the right-hand wall, leaving just enough space for some drinking ledges down the opposite side, with more towards the rear, in the space that acts as the dancefloor thanks to the stage being positioned along the back wall. There weren’t too many punters in when I visited, so I had a good view of the band, but the stage is very low, so this could pose a real problem on a particularly busy evening. As you might expect, the walls are covered in what appeared to be copies of old gig flyers and various music-themed posters and the whole place had a bit of a student-pub feel to it. A door next to the servery leads through into a couple of small seating areas to the side of this main space, which look decent enough, if a bit disconnected from the rest of the venue, whilst out the back there’s a decent split level decked garden with loads of additional seating and a good amount of shelter.
Sadly, there was no cask ale on at the bar, but they had managed to get a few craft keg options on, albeit of the fairly mainstream variety such as Brooklyn Lager. There were plenty of people manning the bar, so queues were kept to a minimum and service was polite and friendly.
This is a decent enough place to go and watch some local bands play - it seems quite well set-up, with slick organisation and some nice spaces to escape the noise if required. Assessing it solely as a pub though, it falls down on the beer selection, most notably the lack of cask ale, which is a common problem at such music venues. Not the worst place you could end up in, but no need to add this to a town centre crawl.
On 11th January 2022
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about The Purple Turtle
Long narrow and trendy music bar with a stage at the far end and a terrace garden at the rear. Alongside the predictable range of craft and other keg had 3 handpumps serving New Wharf Brewing beers at time of visit: very tasty and nicely-kept too. Pleasant enough early evening but not sure what it might be like when busy.
On 23rd June 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Purple Turtle
Surely the oddest entry in the Good Beer Guide.
American diner style booths, live music stage, eclectic furnishings. Lovely patio entry around the back, discovered for the 1st time tonight.
I've been before and the beer choice was a damn sight more interesting than Doom Bar and Hobgoblin on offer tonight.
Also tend to avoid any place that requires bouncers.
Visit blogged at http://bit.ly/2i4SbeS
On 16th August 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 277 recommendations about 276 pubs]
View more reviews of The Purple Turtle (6)
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- Official site of the Purple Turtle - www.purpleturtlebar.com
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- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Purple Turtle - whatpub.com
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 07 May 2014 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 29 July 2013 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 06 August 2013 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 29 July 2013 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 29 July 2013 by Quinno _
- Car Park : No last updated 29 July 2013 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : No last updated 07 May 2014 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 22 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : No last updated 29 July 2013 by Quinno _
- Function Room : Yes last updated 22 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 13 October 2014 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 23 June 2018 by Graham Coombs
- Karaoke : Yes last updated 08 June 2015 by Dave McNally
- Live Music : Yes last updated 22 September 2015 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 23 March 2015 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 23 March 2015 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 07 May 2014 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 20 November 2015 by Quinno _
- Quiz Night : No last updated 04 August 2014 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : No last updated 11 January 2022 by Pub SignMan
- Real Cider : No last updated 11 January 2022 by Pub SignMan
- Wheelchair Access : No last updated 23 June 2018 by Graham Coombs
- WiFi : Yes last updated 23 June 2018 by Graham Coombs
