Inn On The Green, Horfieldback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Got off the bus at the wrong stop for the football ground but it turned out to be the right stop for the pub!! Extensive range of beers in this large rambling building which has a main bar and then seems to go on for ever. Wood floors and a mix of furnishings give it an alehouse feel. Only one barman on duty so we had to wait a bit to get served but we then tried the Bristol Beer Factory "Sunrise" which was superb. Butcombe was also sampled and the beer was in generally good nick. There has been a change of management so this is pressumably why the pub does not feature in the 2012 Good Beer Guide - but don't let that stop you visiting it. Yes there are things which need "tidying-up" but that's true of many boozers and the new guvn'r may well be dealing with these issues. Food was available but sadly the "mini-meals" weren't on until 5pm (3 snacks for �10.50 looked good value). Cider is sold and the pub is popular with football and rugby fans as the Memorial Staidum is only a short walk away. The 76 bus stops opposite (Horfield Sports Centre) and there is a regular service both ways.
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wide amount of ales on including brews from Summerskills,sharps,arbor and dorset brewing;however all of which were tried seemed in a rather dull and uninspiring condition,the majority being �3.20plus,prob just too many on for the actual demand,shame as a nice pub interior and building itself,6/10
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Let�s get one thing straight first of all. This pub is not �on the green� as you might infer from it�s name. In fact there�s no green anywhere to be seen. True, there are some playing fields opposite, but they are separated from the pub by the A38, a high hedge and an even higher fence. Maybe there was a green at one time, but if you turn up expecting to see one today, you�re going to be disappointed.
The pub itself is very long, having a main bar area, an intermediate lobby, and then another long narrow room that may well have been a skittle alley in a former life. Starting with the main bar, this is an L-shape running along in front of the bar counter and around the end where there are a couple of sofa�s and a fireplace. The flooring here is a mixture of carpet, wood strip and stone tiles. The bar counter itself has an exceptionally good selection of hand pumps all along it � see the end of this review for the beers that were available on this occasion.
At the end of this bar it opens out in to a lobby area with a few leather sofa�s on one side and an open space with a dart board on the other. The d�cor here seems to consist mostly of hundreds of beer mats adorning the walls. The floor is stone tiling and leads in to a long room with a high ceiling going right up in to the apex of the roof and some exposed brickwork at the far end. There is some wood panelling on the walls and large dual aspect windows looking out to the road on one side and the small beer garden on the other.
The regular printed menu seems to have slightly gastropub pretensions, with just half a dozen or so main courses, mostly around the �12 mark. Unusually the specials board is cheaper and seems to consist of slightly more regular pub food. There is also a selection of tapas style light bites chalked up above the bar, priced at three for �9. We chose a Thai Green Chicken Curry from the specials board, and although it was a reasonable �7.75, we were slightly disappointed especially after the long wait for it to arrive. The sauce was very runny, and there wasn�t much in the way of flavour, just plenty of heat which is not what I would generally expect from a green curry.
As previously mentioned, there was an extensive selection of beer available. On this occasion it was � St. Austell�s Proper Job, Bath�s Barnstormer and Festivity, Woods Twist Grip and Quaff, Butts Barbus barbus, Wolf�s Woild Moild and Wolf in Sheep�s Clothing, Wylam Northern Kite, Black Sheep, Butcombe, Bass and finally Firefly. I believe the last three are the regulars.
Ciders were also well represented with Stowford Press, Addlestones, Thatcher�s Heritage and a trio from Weston�s � Old Rosie, Country Perry and Bounds Scrumpy.
Overall, a bit of a mixed bag then. It was good to see it busy on a mid-week evening and on the plus side, they clearly take their beer seriously with a great choice on the bar and a festival planned for the end of the month, a good sized layout catering to different audiences, a beer garden, some reasonably priced food and some friendly staff. On the down side, I�ve had to prefix many of the above points with �some� as opposed to all, there was a long wait for the food (although we may have been unlucky, others seemed to get served quickly enough), most of the crockery it was served on was chipped, the garden�s a little tatty and the loos need a refurb.
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Busy on a Friday evening but service still quick, large pub with pleasant atmosphere and car park. Our beer choices were OK but not in top condition. There is indeed a very good choice in terms of variety but if the pub is not regularly so busy then I can see potential problems with the quality of some ales where turnover is not sufficiently constant.
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Incredibly this pub listed in Good Beer Guide 2011 despite serving consistently sub standard ale. Not good CAMRA, not good....
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First visit for ages and was pleased to see a wide range of interesting beers. Alas! then we starting drinking them . Of the 12 ales on offer, we tried 10 different half's and I would say only the Codrington Best Bitter was served how it should be. The problem with most of them was that they were served very very flat. Weymouth Best Bitter is a delicious brew which was served insipid and lifeless by this establishment, surely a crime against the brewers. I saw a lot of other ale quaffers looking quizzically at the below standard beer that they were being served - a lot of it cloudy. A pathetic performance and the owners and/or staff need retraining on how to store and serve real ale.
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Popped in on a busy Fri eve and far too many cloudy pints being drank that were most certainly *not* wheat beer! When I asked one of the bar staff why a certain beer was being served in that condition he said the landlord said it was supposed to be like that but couldn't remember why. Well I tasted it and it was well on the way to vinegar and shouldn't have been cloudy, shouldn't have been on and landlord obviously telling porkies. tut, tut.
This place promises so much but is still failing to deliver - Such a shame!
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i have to say agree with mr x over my best friend downender quantity of choice over compensating 4 poor quality 5/10 pour moi
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First visit here in eons and range & experience similar to downender really.
Tried the Anglo-Dutch brews which were OK, the ESB was alright, nothing more sadly and lacked it's usual zing and full flavour so either the lines needed cleaning or it had been hanging about which I doubt considering how busy the place was. All in all a nice visit and found the staff on evening pretty good and attentive too. Things that can be improved upon that's for sure but I think I'll be back again soon considering how varied the range of beer was this time.
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My first visit since my critical review below and, on this occasion, things had vastly improved, bringing back memories of when this pub was briefly the best in Bristol.
First thing to note was that not one Sharp's beer was on sale, nor any dull efforts from GK, Wells & Youngs or Bristol Beer factory. Instead the "A" section of the guest beer list was available: Allgates (x2), Arundel (x3), Anglo-Dutch and Atlas. The Arundel Sussex Mild and Atlas Three Sisters were excellent. Butcombe, Bass and Fullers ESB were the other beers. The service was good too - another change for the better.
I will return soon and hope to experience a repeat.
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The pro's,well the pro maybe-it was healthily busy,particularly with eaters.
The cons,well see the previous 2 reviews. Been in a few times lately and always had medium quality ale,served by aloof staff,in (still!) dirty glasses. Beer range could be described as lazy. Had 4 different ales,Summer Lightening,Adnams best and Broadside,and Butcombe but left with a fur in my mouth. Still no lock on the bog door.
I just dunno. But definitely no beer guide re-entry though.
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I have to agree with the post below.
Service was interminably slow, a lock has indeed not been put on the toilet door after the redecoration of many months ago, and the beer choice and quality is nothing like it used to be. I don't see the point of having 10 ales on offer when most are bog standard bitters from the likes of GK, Wells & Youngs or Sharps.
A sad decline.
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Down a couple of pegs after recent visits. I've noticed this place slip a bit each time I've visited in the last 12 months or so.
It was still 11 ales(on a Tuesday) but the Wickwar was tastless,the Palmers 200 wasn't much better,the Bob Wall didn't taste as good as I've had and the Summer Lightning didn't just do it. Nothing of "sendback" quality but just limp and tired. For the record,Arbor Ales,Otter,Sharps,Flowers and Weymouth were some of the others available,all around �2.80/�3. Noted the glasses were rather dirty with "rings" and big bubbles on the inside. 2 barwomen were on,one slim and friendly though not doing much serving-the other was fuller figured(!) and unwelcoming but at least was selling drink,although with a grimace. No lock on the khazi door despite a repaint about 2 years ago(and no evidence of one ever being there) and the hand drier didn't work.
This now seems to be a place that needs to have a look at itself. Half a dozen good fresh ales,served in clean glasses by pleasant staff in a tidy pub might be a better way to go.
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Had time for a quick one before the game on recent visit to Bristol. Can't remember which beer but it was well kept and there was a good selection on.
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Definitely preferred this to the Wellington. Fantastic selection of beers, more cosy and welcoming atmosphere. Saturday lunch was a choice between sizeable salads and a satisfying selection of baguettes. Music maybe a notch too loud but worth going back.
ed007 - 29 Jun 2008 00:30 |
Get's crowded on match days, but this does not detract from the welcoming nature of north bristol folk. Always a decent selection of ales. C'mon the GAS!
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Large choice of beer - maybe too large with quality suffering at the expense of choice.Also a number of ciders if you like that sort of thing. Worth visiting if you're going to the(better) Welington down the road.
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Large choice of real ale, but no dark beers on last visit which was a bit disappointing.All beers were of the oh-so common light and hoppy variety.Lacking somewhat in atmosphere, but still worth a visit along with the Wellington down the road.
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Large choice of real ale, but no dark beers on last visit which was a bit disappointing.All beers were of the oh-so common light and hoppy variety.Lacking somewhat in atmosphere, but still worth a visit along with the Wellington down the road.
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So many ales, it's like walking into a beer festival. A MUST for visiting football and rugby fans. I can't work out why the rating is so low (must be its former life). Highly recommended.
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Visited last night. Busy-and this was only 8pm. Wye Valley Golden Ale was scrumptious. Recommended.
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Plenty of apple based goodies for the ciderheads - usually 5 or 6 decent ones on offer i.e. Westons Old Rosie, Cheddar Valley etc. Service is always pretty quick. Plenty of ales for beardy types too :P
iyers - 20 Feb 2007 15:42 |
Well said TWG. The IOTG was Bristol & District CAMRA's pub of the year 2006, and whilst this doesn't mean that it's for everyone, the low rating is odd particularly to those who recall what it used to be like under the previous landlord: rundown and near empty.
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I am frankly very surprised that this pub has received such a poor rating. I won't dispute the issue with the kitchen staff mentioned below; I really hope that isn't a regular occurrence and it does make me wonder about the food quality.
That aside, however, this is a genuine, unpretentious local which can appeal to more than just students - indeed I'd be surprised if this was flashy enough for many Bristol University types! It is spacious and comfortable, if perhaps lacking in a bit of cosiness (mind you I was there in Summer!).
Granted, it favours real ale (up to 10 beers at any time), but whilst that isn't to say those who don't should be made to feel unwelcome, the more discerning drinker who appreciates diversity in flavour and beer style, and who wishes to support local breweries rather than the numerous over-priced bland brands of the multinational corporate breweries and pubcos, will seek out pubs that serve good real ale, and I believe that a strong focus on ale, albeit not to the total exclusion of every other drink, is to be encouraged. It is not merely an obsession of old gits! More often than not those serving good quality beer (which after all requires a good more attention and husbandry than nitrokeg bitter or lager) are good hostelries overall, and I think that the Inn on the Green fulfils its brief.
A much-needed addition to an area which in years gone by has been lacking this kind of venue.
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Chef deserves a knighthood.
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After going to this pub one sunday to have a meal, the welcome was friendly enough. Just before ordering my lunch i witnessed kitchen staff drop food and place it back onto the plate to be served. As a result of this i never ordered any food, drank my drink and left. Needless to say i will give this establishment a wide berth in future.
anonymous - 24 May 2005 13:26 |
This is a Real Ale Pub and unfortunately if you drink anything else you seem to be unwelcome. Barstaff are friendly enough but management attitude leaves a lot to be desired. Drinks are very over priced for the area, and have not tried the food as rather expensive too. Complete refurb a few years ago where the guts were totally ripped out of the place. Full of students now and I must confess that I will not be hurrying back to use it again.
anonymous - 23 May 2005 00:05 |
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