Reviewing pubs in Reading
Arguably Reading Festival doesn’t really count under the remit of pubs in Reading, but then neither does Reading Beer Festival or Reading Cheese Festival, and it’s important to know what the drinking situation is like if you are heading there. Time is of the essence on this though, so enough pre-amble and on with the review. Continue reading “Reading Festival”
Due to some good luck at a charity auction, I found myself in possession of two tickets to a brewery tour at Binghams Brewery. It was either that or bid on a family portrait sitting – and that’s not a good idea. There’s a reason I stay out of photos. Within 2 minutes of shamelessly bragging about my win on Twitter, Mr. Affable replied unprompted that if I was looking for someone to go with, his arm could easily be twisted. Continue reading “Binghams Brewery”
When Big Gary said he was in the Clifton Arms to watch the football, I knew I had to double check. Last time I thought he said that it turned out that he was in the Prince Of Wales, and I simply couldn’t read. But no, this time he genuinely was there. Other than walking in by mistake and walking out again , I haven’t been to the Clifton Arms in some time, so with a little reluctance I agreed to join him. Why a little reluctance? In my mind it’s not the nicest pub in the area. But this time I was going with my reviewer’s hat on (that’s figurative – I’m not Sherlock Holmes), so in the interest of fairness all preconceptions were buried. Continue reading “The Clifton Arms”
This week I visit what must be the poshest pub in the Reading area – the Bottle and Glass. It’s a bit out of town, but their twitter feed kept pushing their amazing pizzas from the pizza oven in the garden, and it was a nice sunny day (yet again – that seems to be a recurring theme of my reviews recently), so I decided to take the family for a treat. At least it sounded like a treat to me. When I triumphantly announced to them that we were going to drive to a country pub to get some pizza, the eldest promptly informed me “I don’t like pizza”. “You love pizza.” I replied. “You even have a sticker from Dominos on your phone”. “Yea, well. I don’t like this pizza”. He’s never been before of course. He doesn’t have a clue what their pizza is like. Continue reading “The Bottle and Glass”
The Nags Head has a reputation that’s hard to ignore as you set off for a review session. They have won pub of the year in Reading so many times that I’m not sure even they could tell you how many. I took a photo of their awards, thinking that I had done some sterling research, but then when I was at the bar I noticed that they have a bunch more hidden in the cider cupboard – too many to count.
The combination of lovely weather, and England playing someone in the world cup prompted Mrs. Quaff to suggest inviting friends round for a BBQ. She likes football more than me, and I suspect she likes us doing things which mean I do the cooking. Fortunately this was just the excuse I needed to visit the Siren Craft Tap Room to get some beer – after all, what is a BBQ without good beer. I have been trying hard for a while to contrive an occasion where it was worth while us making the drive out to Finchampstead. What better excuse than needing beer for a BBQ – after all, you can’t settle for just supermarket beer for a good BBQ. Continue reading “Siren Tap Yard”
“Fancy coming down the pub to watch the Champs League Finale?” asked Big Gary. I fancied at least half of that activity, and figured that I could have a nice drink and a chat while the football played in the background. I was even prepared to shout the occasional “come on ref” to fit in if necessary – I’m pretty good at picking an appropriate moment to do that. And it turns out Liverpool were playing. I had a Kevin Keegan pencil case when I was at primary school (one of those long ones that could fit a full length ruler), so to be honest it was all falling in to place for me. Continue reading “The Prince Of Wales”
This week we’re just slightly outside Reading, at The Pack Saddle, on the road to Oxford. But which one is the Pack Saddle, and which one is the Pack Horse? Is it the first pub or the second pub? Have a guess. Because I’m willing to bet it’s 50:50 whether or not you get it right. Continue reading “The Pack Saddle”
The Caversham Rose (formerly The Grosvenor) is the only pub in Caversham Heights. Does that make it the most under-beveraged part of Reading? If you know anywhere more unfortunate areas in terms of numbers of pubs, let me know. Anyway, it’s Caversham Heights, so it must be a good pub, mustn’t it? Continue reading “The Caversham Rose”