The Three Horseshoes, Witney

Brilliant place. It is a gastro pub, but half price real ale night on a thursday (also champagne). Top, top food. Great staff.

3 Nov 2008 13:17

The Watermans Arms, Oxford

I visited the pub on a Tuesday afternoon. A 95-year-old woman in the corner called Rose told me that she had been born on the island and returned in 1993 after a spell living in Cornwall. She turns up for two pints of her 'Morland medicine' every lunchtime. There was another woman called Rose at the bar and they had a bizarre discussion about the provenance of their names. The second Rose was joined for lunch by a flamboyant man with a beard who, I was told, is the restaurant critic of the local paper. The elderly barman is apparently a former amateur international boxer who used to coach the university boxing club. He was quite rude to some people who came in, but they were idiots and they deserved it. The food was honest and good value. I suspect this place gets more than its fair share of characters.

1 Sep 2008 14:37

The Three Pigeons, Witney

Like stepping back in time. Horse brasses. Pictures of military aircraft and hunting scenes on the wall. Oldish regulars who dress up to come to the pub. Domino games taken very seriously. Filled rolls and pickled eggs for sale behind the bar. And they have a parrot. It is in a lovely part of the town, so the worry is that someone might try to turn it into a gastro pub � not always a bad thing, but a tragedy in this instance. I play for the town cricket club and we drink here after games. Standing looking at Wood Green with a pint and talking about the game is a real joy. This place is just right.

1 Sep 2008 14:21

The Angel Inn, Witney

Proper pub. My wife comes from north lancashire and this place reminds me of the kind of pubs you still get up there. Solidly old-fashioned without being twee and oldey-worldey. Much better since the smoking ban, as it used to get a bit much in there.

1 Sep 2008 14:12

The Hollybush Inn, Witney

Fantastic place. But..... just one bitter on tap at any one time and the place is filled with 'the beautiful people' of Witney at weekends, so not really the place to go if you are a real ale lover with low self esteem. Food is first rate and very keenly priced (better than The Fleece on both counts, although I do think The Fleece is a decent place). The staff are relaxed and attentive and genuinely seem to care about both the pub and you. Great mix of customers. You can be sitting having a meal next to a table with four posh-looking grannies on one side of you and four tattoed and pierced EMOs on the other. Can get noisy and rammed pretty much any night of the week.

1 Sep 2008 14:04