please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
On my third visit to Taunton to try the various pubs, this was my second pub of the day. The nearby Bank is not listed on the site. I have to say that of the 10 pubs and clubs that I''ve tried in the town, there''s nothing that really stands out as being the best. Although the Ring Of Bells is certainly a strong contender. It''s situated on a street corner, not far from the High Street and has 5 fairly decent ales. Although a real cider (only fizzy commercial ciders were available) and a dark beer would have been a nice addition. The selection was Oakham Citra, Quantock Rale Head, Otter Twelfth Man & Summer Light & Bristol Beer Factory Nova. The Twelfth Man appears to be so called due to the proximity of Somerset''s cricket ground. The pub itself felt light and airy on a late summer''s day. There are two or three inter-connecting rooms and a popular yard with outdoor seating at the side.
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They couldn't be bothered opening today, so a big fat zero from me.
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The former manager here is now running The Bank around the corner. Both fine establishments, but whilst The Bank offers a more interesting range of cask and keg ales (e.g. Redgate Ruby Mild), for a true pub atmosphere - including 2 roaring log fires - the Ring of Bells is the best bar none!
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Much better now.
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I visited the pub last Saturday (05/11) at lunch time, as it's situated off of the main road it was never going to be busy at that time of day.
Four real ales on, Poppy Otter, my choice as I really rate the brewery and definitely an "Otter" beer in taste. My second choice would have been Quantock Plastered Pheasant, had a little taste and very nice too.
Two other pale beers, both local but not to my taste.
Friendly barman who was happy to chat about cricket and rugby etc and friendly local who was also off to the Tauntons v Raiders match.
If you are in Taunton and like a real ale, make sure you call in here, infinitely better than most of the other places in the town!
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Probably the best (of a bad bunch) pub in Taunton, and nice garden for the summer. Increasingly I find my visits spoiled by a loud mouthed "cockney wanker" / "Essex geezer" type. They usually do a pretty good job of keeping out the undesirables (of which there are plenty) but this bloke seems to be the exception. Oh well.
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Good ales & food looked good. Very quiet
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There's something not quite right bout this place, but not sure what it is. As the previous post suggests, the place is rarely busy. It is frequently empty, but generally we are talking single figures and rarely is it anything like at capacity, and it isnt a very big place anyway. However, they seem to get through beer at a phenomenal rate; with cask ales getting changed all of the time, even when the place is all but empty. An email promoting their real ale club tells us that they have 19 different ales in the cellar. Assuming these are 9 gallons each, we are talking over 170 gallons or 1360 pints. Thats in addition to all of the lagers, ciders etc. Who drinks it all ?, are they getting partly used casks from some other pub perhaps? The beer is usually fairly good (although you rarely get a full pint).
Something just doesnt add up.
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I had a really nice pint of ale here last week, I was the only customer unfortunately but it was raining heavily outside. The bar staff were preoccupied and not interested in having a chat about the beer. I will visit again though.
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Didn't know what to expect after reading previous reviews. I thought it was one of the best pubs in Taunton, with a good choice of beers. Certainly going up in the world as my friend who tends to get a potty mouth after a few pints was told to watch his language, that's always a good sign!
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Getting its act together, albeit slowly. The beer is usually pretty good, and there's a nice cosy atmosphere in there. And thankfully they seem to have kept out all of the tossers.
Food a bit poncy though; look forward to the cricket season to get going, as this pub will be a nice addition to a day watching cricket.
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The RoB has great potential now it's been gentrified; great place for a relaxing pint with very friendly bar staff. Hopefully it'll draw in the cricket fans come the summer! Just needs to work on it's publicity a bit harder, and really sell itself to the right crowd...
anonymous - 4 Mar 2013 19:44 |
Well, its open again, but I was the sole customer throughout a friday lunchtime, so things dont look good.
They plan to start serving food next month and are kicking off with a gourmet night (think Faulty Towers).
The dining area has only got about 20 covers so it is difficult to see how anything other than Brake Bros cook from frozen stuff is going to be viable.
A pity, its a nice clean comfortable pub, but going in the wrong direction again
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I dont like to say "I told you so", but this place is CLOSED. The sign on the door says for refurbishment, but the "TO LET" signs tell the real story; they went bust.
If only the owners had heeded the advice given by me in April of this year or by Stuee in June the pub would still be open and doing well. However the week management has led to the pubs demise by allowing the aforementioned tossers to ruin the place, as predicted.
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Totally agree with stuee. Its the same bunch of scum bags that also appear from time to time in the Castle Green and carry on there in much the same way. Once again the staff and management dont do anything either.
Otherwisw this group of utter little shites are barred from most other Taunton pubs.
The worst is the rat faced little shit who always wears a flat cap.
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In danger of going REALLY down Hill if they keep letting that scruffy few spoil an otherwise lovely pub. The beer's not cheap tho' always excellent but the staff seem more disinterested than when 1st reopened.
I love the decor and the beer garden but when they have a band theystick em in the back room so the only way to see them is to block the gangway to the garden& toilets! Why not next to the main bar just inside the door,much more sociable.
If they don't expel the ruffians then the rest of us will unfortunately stay away at theirprices....:-( here's hoping they get a grip soon.... As its potentially a great pub!
Stuee - 20 Jun 2012 05:25 |
A nicely refurbed pub (done a few years ago now) However very few people go there as there always seems to be a small group of absolute tossers there who spend very little money but drive good punters away.
Unless the latest manager does something, the situation will continue and the place will go bust, but without strong management I'm afraid this is what will hapen
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Popped in very briefly today. If its about the beer................the Exmoor was magic. Pub clean and tidy as usual. Music very loud but bareable, even for me, but found that I'd been shouting at the end of every track. Didn't turn heads though, no one else in there.
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Just a little too much information there, methinks!
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Seeing the barman in a sweaty T shirt and grubby shorts is a bit off putting.
Thankfully he was replaced by an attractive but somewhat charmless redhead. Beers were 2 from st Austell together with Butcombe and Bath Gem, both of which were fine.
The toilets are pretty swanky with motion detectors to flush the urinals, and motion detectors to turn the taps on and off.
Unfortunatley these mod cons were absent from the WC and my motion there remained undetected, and I had to flush it away myself.
An improvement on my last visit
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I've heard that the lease was sold without the current tenants knowledge and that the newly refurbished ring o bells will soon close
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Stuck my head in today but the place was empty. This is what happens to pubs that charge customers for entry. Learn from this.
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I need to revise my previous comment. Went there last night (Saturday) and was expected to pay to get in as they had a band playing.
Well, it's supposed to be a pub so I went elsewhere last night and will continue to do so from now on.
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A recently refurbished but traditional styled town boozer convenient for the cricket in the summer.
The beer is usually good and there is also a nice court yard / garden for drinkers in summer and smokers all year.
All very nice but somehow lacking in that certain something to make it special
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At last a proper pub in town, good beer that can be drunk in a decent beer garden so dont have to settle for gassy lagers across in mambos.
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Re-opened and selling St Austell Ales, a strange choice as there is a St Austell House the other end of town! (The Racehorse)
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Just had a refurb and now a freehouse. really well done inside and now has a very good beer garden. great selection of beers and ales. has only been open for about a week but when i went in afterwork there was a really nice crowd. Only went in there once before it shut. The people and the place have changed for the better. Good luck.
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just weird
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Looked like it was shut down when I went past.
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