please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Good place if you like Youngs (as I do), though the beer is a bit on the cold side. Nice quiet atmosphere in Exeter city centre, with a big garden just under the old city walls. Didn't try the food but the menu looks good value. Tiny criticism that won't affect most people: the bar doubles as the hotel reception area so, if there is only one person on, and someone wants to check in, you don't get served at the bar until ... [yawn] ...
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Imposing pub just off the centre. Nice eclectic mix of seating and log fire (punters encouraged to 'feed me' which is a nice touch)
Good to see a local guest beer now that Youngs has gone downhill since the brewery closure. My Ohanlons Yellowhammer was spot on.
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Good range of well-kept beers. All-in-all, not too bad a place for a pint. Had the London Porter which was on good form. Food looked quite good to.
Felt sorry for some of the younger staff as the older (managers??) ones all stood at the left-hand side of the bar laughing and joking amongst themselves as the others did their jobs for them - despite there being quite a few empty tables to clear of plates and glasses; plus a load (25-30 at least) of empty glasses on the bar.
Like a lot of places I've been to recently, the customer comes second to their wanting to go to work to socialise and not do what they're paid for!
Rant over.......
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A fairly quiet spacious pub on the edge of the city centre. The kind of pub you would go to on a sunday night for a quiet drink with your mate.
Good to get away from all the city centre chaos bars. 7/10
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what a shambles of a pub i couldnt believe the bar staffs atitude and also whats the point in having a pub with undrinkable ale will definately not be going back!!!!!!!
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Encouraged by Robski's comments, we paid another visit. It is a vast improvement on when I last visited 2 years ago, the food menu looked interesting with some nice specials on the chalkboard, the staff were friendly and the Ordinary was very nice. Well worth a visit.
(They're in the 2010 Good Beer Guide, too.)
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Previus comments are now well out of date in my opinion. Current managers of this pub / hotel run a tight ship.
Beer is always well kept, menus change twice a year, offers are on monthly and the place feels friendly, clean and welcoming.
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Welcome outlet for Young's beers a fair way from their normal catchment area.
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Nov 2007 we used the cellar bar for our Mum's surprise 60th birthday party. The venue were fantastic - food was good and plentiful, the disco as recommended was ideal, staff assited with decoration and every need, were very accomodating with a large number of under 10s and no fuss was made about the large quantities of mess - party poppers and streamers galore!?! Thank you City Gate for making it such a special evening for our Mum, us and all the family and friends who came along.
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There seem to be less and less reasons to visit the City Gate recently. The food menu used to be small but good with some very nice specials - now it seems to be based around pies or sausage and mash. There is a nice beer garden out the back which may come into its own when the smoking ban arrives, but as far as I'm concerned the only reason to go there is because it's about the only place in the city where you can get Young's Special - and even that tasted a bit unusual last week - almost like they'd forgotten to dry hop the cask. Have they changed the recipe again?
If you're not after Youngs beers in particular there are better options nearby.
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Apparently the manager has gone so am looking forward to improvements.
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If I didn't know that the City Gate is in the Good Beer Guide and in my experience is usually very good I could have got totally the wrong impression last Saturday evening. The music was over-loud making it difficult to have a conversation, the beer was served through tight sparklers (sparklers on Youngs beer? In a Youngs pub? Not if John Young were still alive) producing an excessive head which the indifferent staff were reluctant to top up, the Ordinary was cloudy. Terrible, and embarrasing to take my beer connoisseur friends there as well. How can a pub vary so much? It was excellent just two days earlier. I'd suggest that you go on any other day but a Saturday evening.
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Not bad for a Youngs pub, very busy.
paulb - 18 Dec 2006 19:54 |
Whats happened to this pub, went here 2 years ago and it was great. Now its shite! All the staff ponce about as though they too good to serve you, wheres the friendliness gone. Come on Youngs, sort it out!!!
anonymous - 17 Jun 2006 02:41 |
Well. Used to be fond of this place but have recently had a few very bad experiences there. For example, Christmas eve... A pleasant enough drink evening was ruined at the end by the bar staff trying to force us to leave by turning the air conditioning onto "Siberian" mode. The "sod off right now you're not welcome" attitude is not what I would have expected from a Youngs pub at all.
More recently I vistited the place, only to be subjected to exactly the same treatment. The difference this time was that only my party was subjected to the air-con treatment, two other couples were left alone. Now perhaps these others were hotel guests (entitled to late drinks). Perhaps the management have adopted this policy in light of their new opening hours. Whatever the reason, I was made to feel extremely unwelcome in my local pub (I live 20 metres away) and my friends and I could hardly be described as troublemakers!
I used to live in London once and was pleased when Young's opened this pub in Exeter a few years back, but I really believe the brewery should think long and hard about whether the current licensee should be in the job.
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Full of suits & students on Fri night-very busy but couldn`t see the attraction unless it was to avoid the extraordinary prices charged for food at lunchtime.Beer quality acceptable but no more.
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Very good Sunday lunch and nice to sit in the conservatory reading the papers. Excellent Youngs beer. Very chilled and relaxing
anonymous - 13 Jun 2005 13:53 |
Youngs ties house (furthest from Wandsworth)? Good ale needless to say. Smart clean and well equipped
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Has a very good traditional folk club on first friday of month.
John Andrews - 12 Oct 2004 13:49 |
Nice large youngs pub, just slightly out of the way of town center. I have'nt tried the food, but i've heard good things.
it has a nice beer garden out back.
I don't recall seing a jukebox or pool table there.
Turbo - 13 Sep 2004 20:31 |
Very snobby atmosphere. Wear a suit if you want to get served first.
Paul - 30 Aug 2004 14:37 |
