Category Archives: local

Is it just me, or does the S at the end of the sign outside Bierhaus look wonky? Not that it really matters for pulling in the punters. I think it’s one of those places that you have to know it’s there and actively make an effort to get there. It’s stuck down a side… Read More »

On a cold winter’s day, what better to do than take a trip to a nice old country pub to have a few pints and some food by the fire.  I get that if you stumble on this review in July that’s not helpful, so substitute “on a warm summer’s day, what better thing to… Read More »

This week I had the absolute, but unexpected, pleasure of joining the Reading Board Games group in the Hope and Bear for a night out. How can it be unexpected? Well, I invited Reading’s premier gin expert, The Gin Devil (Daryl) to come for a review with me, and when I suggested the Hope and… Read More »

I have to admit I was surprised when I got a tweet from an internationally famous celebrity, volunteering to review of all places, The Bugle. In fact, she claimed it was the one pub in Reading she most wanted to see reviewed. It seemed implausible, but who am I to turn down the opportunity?

I hate pubs with ambiguous names. It really distresses me to write about somewhere without knowing exactly what it is called. The Queen’s Head is one such example. Outside the pub it’s called “The Queens Head Inn” on the wall, “Queens Head Inn” on the sign, “Queens Head” over the window, and “The Queen’s Head”… Read More »

If you didn’t know the Dairy was there, you’d never find it. Tucked away in an alley way at the edge of the University, it looks more like a machine room from the outside than a bar. And the sign saying “Building L14” on the outside doesn’t exactly change your opinion of that.