The Cross Foxes, Shrewsbury

This is a clean pub! The tables and leather seating positively gleam, and the Landlord was out flicking his mop around each time a customer left. Beerwise, fairly standard offerings in good condition. A mature and pleasant clientele when we visited. Though not much to draw real ale lovers alone, we liked the pride suggested by the cleanliness and the comfortable ambience of the place, so we would definitely return.

12 Feb 2015 19:17

The Grove Hotel, Shrewsbury

Fairly well kept community pub in a quiet, pleasant suburban area. A few TV screens showing sport, but not too intrusive. Smartly decorated and comfortable front room. Landlord not especially welcoming to strangers. Being a Marston's pub, beer offerings weren't amazing, but the unusually good Banks’s Sunbeam was on and very enjoyable. Lovely old real fireplace half way down, pool table to rear. As ROBCamra rightly said a few years back, probably not a pub you’d travel to especially, but a decent one to spend some time in if in the area.

12 Feb 2015 19:00

The Dolphin Inn, Shrewsbury

The Dolphin Pub has been renovated and reopened by the Joules Brewery. Visually, it’s very attractive, with plenty of wood and brass on show, leather seats, and a decked outdoor area for smokers (overlooking the railway). The bar is central as you enter, with a U-shaped seating area spreading either side of it. There’s a dart board to the left extreme.

But there is a problem: Beer. We worked our way through all the Joules hand pumps without finding anything we remotely liked. ‘Bland and insipid’ sprung to mind, being hard to differentiate them much. Turning to the two guest pumps, ‘Bass’ and Muirhouse ‘Tick Tock’, both failed to score any better. Wall displayed pump clips from many great breweries including Thornbridge and Oakhams left a tantalising glimpse of what had been before. We noticed another visitor leave half of his only pint unfinished as he went.

We liked the physical appearance of The Dolphin, much good work has been done here, though I’d drop the dartboard as no-one dared sit in the nearby seats despite being quite busy. We really wanted to stay longer, and had been given high expectations from locals’ reports, but they were dashed. It reminded us of our impression of the Bricklayers Arms a few years ago, Joules having likewise delivered a lovely interior but mediocre beer.

If the Dolphin could keep at least one reliable guest beer on, it would be worth the trip to visit. But with the in-house brews so dull, it’ll be a while before we risk it again.

5 Oct 2014 18:53