When Grumpy Goat moved from their shop in the Harris Arcade to Smelly Alley, one of the things they promised was to open a bar too. The shop in the arcade had been their home for 7 years, but it was barely large enough for 3 customers at a time, so when they moved in… Read More »
It’s been 12 weeks since any of us have been able to go to the pub, so naturally my pub reviewing has been non-existent. I did have some places ready to write up (The Boundary and The Last Crumb), but it just didn’t seem right to write them up, because who knows what pubs are… Read More »
Taprooms seem to be cropping up everywhere around Reading, and the latest to join the collection is Phantom Brewing Co., which opened late last November. It seemed to come out of nowhere – the first I heard of it was a press release in the local newspaper of all places, and a lot of people… Read More »
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 »
As a pub reviewer, I occasionally get invited along to openings and events (which I tend not to go to). However, this week Zerodegrees managed to trick me into going to their grand re-opening by not telling me about it and me coincidentally turning up for a long overdue review. Normally I’d not review somewhere… 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?
Reviewing hotel bars isn’t really my thing. They are generally so impersonal with middle of the road beer, middle of the road food, and high-end prices. But the Crowne Plaza looked to be potentially different. It has one of the few bars in Reading where you can sit outside by the river, and it’s got… Read More »
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 »
German life expectancy at birth overtook UK life expectancy recently as growth in UK life expectancy growth has stalled. Germans born in 2020 are expected to live to 81.41, while British people are expected to live to 81.39.
