Category Archives: review

West Berkshire Brewery

My first attempt to visit West Berkshire Brewery was a bit of a disaster. It was meant to be a Father’s Day treat, but when we eventually got there we found that everyone else had had the same idea – the place was overflowing, no spare seats at all, and over an hour wait for… Read More »

Airport Bars

My day job (yes, blogging about pubs is not a full-time job) involves me occasionally flying to America. And if that has taught me one thing, it’s that flying and drinking more than a pint is one of the worst things you can do for jetlag. However, that opinion isn’t a popular one, especially with… Read More »

The Back of Beyond

There’s only so many times you can visit a Wetherspoons’ pub and have something novel to write. A few years ago that number of times used to be capped at an absolute maximum of four if you were limiting yourself to Reading. Now that the Baron and the Monk’s Retreat have both passed in to… Read More »

The Dairy

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.

Smokin’ Billy’s

Smokin’ Billy’s is a funny old place. I’ve always wondered who on earth goes in there, because from the outside it doesn’t look like much. With so many nice looking places in Reading, it’s hard to imagine how it stays in business. Thanks to my extensive research, I can fill you in.

The Horn

The Horn is a funny pub to try and describe. I’ve re-written this introduction about ten times now, because what is it? Is it a town centre pub? A sports pub? A local? Posh? A dive bar? Well, it’s somehow all of those things simultaneously. A jack of all trades. Is it master of any… Read More »

Loddon Brewery

There are so many great breweries in and around Reading, and what better way to spend your Saturday afternoon than visiting one of them, and taste fresh beer from the brewery. On this particular Saturday afternoon I was looking for somewhere to watch the rugby too, and since Loddon Brewery has  rugby connections, it seemed… Read More »

The Corn Stores

The Corn Stores was, surprisingly enough, originally a storage building. For corn. You might think that is obvious, but it wasn’t to someone I met there, so I thought I’d mention it. Some time after being a warehouse (for corn) it became a Fullers pub, then an Italian restaurant, then it sadly closed in 2015.… Read More »

The Turks

I’m confused, because I’m sure The Turks used to be called The Turks Head. And I have a sneaking suspicion that they changed their name simply because they thought that people would just google “The Turks” and so it was better for the name to match what people search for. If that’s true, it sets… Read More »

The Red Cow

I’d heard a lot of great things about the Red Cow in Amersham Road. A bunch of people had suggested I go there – apparently it did great food and great beer. It gets a 4.5 star rating on Google reviews, and 5 on trip adviser (admittedly that’s only from 3 reviews). However, the Nags… Read More »