Bowl Inn, Lower Almondsburyback to pub details please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I pop in here from time to time, as it is a lovely location and generally friendly folk in there. The beer is always decent, but never tip-top seemingly. I went there about 3 weeks ago for a swift pint after a day's DIY, and it was a pleasant evening, beer was good-to-average (Everards Tiger as I recall) and they usually have a variety of Brains products on. Lovely sitting outside. [Oh - they have an odd arrangement with the car parking charge too, no problem, just additional hassle]
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Nice country pub in a quiet location next to the church in Almondsbury. Our visit was, however, totally let down by the very poor quality of the beer. Two pints, Butcombe and Everard's Tiger, served 100% flat. In my experience, flat beer seems to be the most common problem when it comes to quality, a problem which is exasperated by the fact that I have been told by (un) knowledgable bar staff on more than one occasion that it is 'supposed to be' flat. No it isn't, and you are ripping your customers off by serving a sub-standard product.
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Nice country pub in a pretty village. Ales on were Bath Gem, Warwickshire Duck Soup, Elgoods Copper Feelgood, Skinners Best & Butcombe Bitter. Food seemed to be fairly popular. Don't get caught out by the pay and display car park opposite. You pay at all times, but can get the money refunded at the bar. The car park warden is likely to be sitting in his/her car watching the comings and goings.
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A traditional stone built pub in a pleasant village setting with a particularly attractive church next door. Inside the olde worlde theme continues with exposed stone walls and plenty of black timbers, although personally I felt the rather bright lighting detracted from the ambience somewhat. If they�d dimmed the lights a bit and lit the fire there would have been an all-together much cosier feel to the place.
There�s one long, carpeted bar with bench seating in the windows and several tables and chairs, some of which felt a little squashed in. There�s another room off to the right separated from the main bar by a wood burning stove. This has whitewashed walls, leather armchairs and a few pictures dotted around. Behind this is a wood panelled room reminiscent of an old fashioned hotel. There is an interesting curved stone built fireplace in the corner.
Barmaid seemed friendly enough, and there was a decent looking menu with a small selection of specials chalked up on a board. This seems to be quite a food led pub, and most punters appeared to be eating on our visit. This is not your usual pub grub though, with no sign of a chilli, curry or lasagne. Most of the mains were between the �8 and �12 mark, although some dishes such as steak were considerably more than this. Ultimately the food was quite disappointing though. My guinea fowl with sweet potato mash and spicy red cabbage was tasty enough, but not particularly well cooked and certainly not worth the �12 it cost. Similarly Mrs. B�s lamb was well over-cooked making it not exactly tough, but certainly nowhere near as tender as was expected. This was also �12 and for this sort of price in a pub I would expect real top quality nosh, which unfortunately this was not.
Good range of beers on tap with Abbot Ale, Old Speckled Hen, Butcombe, Rev. James, Buckley�s Best and Everard�s Tiger (by the time we left the last one had been replaced by Wadworth�s Swordfish). The solitary cider was Stowford Press.
Note that the pub car park opposite is a pay and display. If you tear off the refund part of the ticket, you will get the cost refunded when you make a purchase.
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I believe it's been taken over by Brains in 2009. They now stock a good range of ales and yes I'd echo the previous comment that it certainly wasn't more than �3.00 a pint! It's a classic village local this one - very cosy and not built for those of more statuesque proportions (i.e. you might have to duck occasionally). Well worth checking out just a couple of miles off the M5.
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I agree with previous contributors that this pub used to be ridiculously expensive. However, I was in there a week ago and had a pint of Everard's for a more than reasonable �2.20. In again today and the excellent Butcombe was �2.75. Must be under new management.
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Went in again for first time in over 18 months to give it another try. Two pints of 4.0 abv ale now = �6.30 !!!!!
�3.15 a pint! And the beer was not even in great condition either, acceptable yes but *only just*. Credit crunch? I hope pubs like this go to the wall to be frank when they insult and rip off their clientele in such a manner especially as the going local rate being an already steep �2.70 in most other pubs on average.
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nice well kept selection of ales from friendly village pub, 8/10
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Overated....overpriced and down the bottom of a steep hill ?
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Nice pub but boy do they know how to charge! Almost �3 for a pint of ale is called "mugging" someone. Little chance of getting a seat in the evenings either if you "only" want a drink as it's food, food, food. Shame, because it's not a bad pub apart from that.
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friendly staff, good ales, a real find, no chavs
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Have to disagree with the current rating (5/10).
This is a charming old pub in a nice location (off-track, but so what?). Ample parking.
Good real ale. Reasonable food and bar snacks. Have twice used it for a lunch venue for conference of about 35 international delegates - they loved it.
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