The Cherry Tree Inn, Stoke Row

Not very local for me, but I visited in 2002 during a cycling pub crawl of Brakspear's pubs to dringk as much Brakspear's as possible before they stopped brewing. It was a proper old-fashioned country pub, and there was a 94-year-old man drinking there who told us he had been a regular for over 80 years.

Went back last week and was sorely disappointed. It is now yet another smart food outlet (with heavily-gravelled approach so you have to walk a bicycle the last little bit). Beer drinkable but very average. Crisps nice but at �1.30 a packet they should be. Most people seemed to be eating. Nasty plastic name sign stuck on the front of the building (see image 1 at top of page).

The sign outside says "Pub Restaurant" - maybe "Restaurant Pub" would be more accurate. As a rule of thumb, I find any establishment which has a sign outside announcing it is a pub, generally isn't my sort of place. The Cherry Tree is no exception.

23 Jul 2012 10:09

The Bull, Streatley

Traditional old hotel in good location on Ridgeway and in centre of Streatley. Pleasant interior, nice garden, friendly enough staff. Like most pubs in the area, it's Marston's, but here they serve all the cask beers via sparklers which may be OK for some beers but not for Brakspear's which is a southern beer not designed to have the flavour removed in this way. (If I'd noticed in time I'd have asked for the sparkler to be removed - in some Marston's places they refuse because it's "company policy" to use a sparkler - sod the customer's wishes. I don't know what they'd have said in the Bull.)

In short, not bad, but there are better places in Goring less than a mile away, not to mention up the hill in Aldworth.

28 May 2012 15:15

The Sun, Whitchurch Hill

Nice country pub, friendly staff and locals, better-than-average Brakspear's from Marston's - on my visit they had sold out of the non-Marston's guest (Hooky Dark).

28 May 2012 14:59