please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
I recently visited The Bell with a group of friends. It was quite late, I hadn't had a lot of sleep the night before, and was quite visibly 'flagging'. The landlady noticed that I was struggling, and kindly brought me a nice cup of tea - without any charge! Whatever other qualities a pub may have, it's the quality of the staff that really makes a difference, and one couldn't ask for better than I found here. I'll certainly be visiting this pub again soon. Highly recommended.
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Sadly it wasn't open on a Saturday morning so can't comment. Don't understand why it was closed as it's near a very busy road with lots of punters around.
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A very nice pint of Butcombe Mendip Spring was quaffed here last night,nice attractive local with quick service,7/10
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A decent enough Butcombe pub, being unusual for them in an inner city location rather than a country one.
It�s divided in to two, with the larger bar on the left, and a slightly smaller narrow bar to the right. The larger bar has more atmosphere, but was full on a recent Thursday evening visit so we headed for the smaller one. This has reclaimed boards on the floor, some large speakers a small LCD TV in the corner (although this was not in use) and a dart board. Wood cladding covered the lower half of the walls with painted wallpaper above. It looked rather messy behind the bar, with bags, paperwork, till rolls and other stuff being in full view rather than just a range of drinks. There is apparently a garden at the rear, although we did not investigate this.
Beers on offer were predominantly from Butcombe as you would expect, with their Bitter, Gold and Blond. The solitary guest was BBF Sunrise. Ciders were Ashton Press and Ashton Still.
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Hadn't been back here for a couple of years. Was a decent 'basic' boozer back then with a friendly crowd. Not too much has changed, seems a little rougher round the edges and more threadbare than I remember. Was busy for sure.
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Friendly enough "bare-floorboard" kind of establishment. Tried the Butcombe Bitter, which was served too cold but still nice enough. Would probably revisit if in the vicinity but not somewhere I'd make an detour to.
anonymous - 14 Mar 2010 09:46 |
Friendly minimalist wooden interior pub with the regulars eating their Sunday lunches & supping wine. Beer was from the Butcombe stable of which the Gold was excellent plus BBF Sunrise. Music free so a little quiet at times but not a bad thing.
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Good back street boozer, came on a Sunday lunchtime, had 1 BBF & 3 Butcombe beers in splendid condition, quite a few people in for the reasonably priced Sunday Lunch of which the people next to me exclaimed 'well that was bloody good' as they emptied their plates! A fair few people drinking red wine too.
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Impolite barmaid encountered on a weekday lunchtime. Four ales on, but all far too similar - Butcombe, Sunrise, Butcombe Gold and Butcombe IPA - shows lack of knowledge and ale variety. Beer reasonably well kept though. Food looked pretty poor compared to what's on offer up the road at the Canteen. Pretty average.
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No nonsense laddish job lot boozer , as said before mainly butcombe , but one bbf beer , had a paticuirly splendid butcombe blond , which is one of my favourites . overall a decent workmanlike pub .
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Started a pub crawl here and sampled a couple of their Butcombe beers and they were both in good condition. There is a lovely beer garden at the back of the pub.
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Went for a meal with work colleagues at lunchtime - landlady messed up our food order and we ended up paying twice for a portion of fried potatoes. Hardly worth quibbing out, but wasn't impressed by the attitude and the insinuation that the mistake must have been ours not hers.
Also very expensive for drinks, �2.50 for an orange juice & lemonade (1/2 pint) and �3.50 for a white wine and soda.
I think we will give it a miss next time.
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Quite a decent pub, perhaps suprising for the area it's in. It almost seems like a country local rather than a city centre pub. Usual range of Butcombe beers, and of course their Ashton Press which is difficult to beat.
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Looks like it's just undergone a renovation. 4 Butcombe pulls in superb condition. Toilets were from a different dimension...!
Toooo quiet though, in fact more quiet than a Steve Brookstein fan club convention...exacerbated by being too dark given there was only four people in it.
Apart from a super pint there just wasn't anything to get me excited for more. I'll try again and see if it's any livlier.
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I hardly ever came here in the '90s as a student. But since then, this has grown from being a nondescript local before the Butcombe days to a smart, well-run house offering excellently-kept ale, and a convivial environment which is enjoyed by a broad mix of people, who all appear to get on well with each other, in their mutual appreciation of what the Bell now offers.
I confess that the area is somewhat deprived, and it's rather dilapidated appearance doesn't look like it would be home to such a quality establishment, but it just goes to show that it's never wise to judge a neighbourhood, or a pub, by its cover.
Well done folks.
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Probably Bristol's best pub. Ignore the area it's in as there's never any trouble from the homeless hostel down the road - Marion always sorts them out!
A mixture of long term locals, office workers, students, musicians, artists and generally cool people frequent the place. Open late most nights - until 1am on friday & saturday.
DJ's on 5 nights a week, nothing too mental, all cool tunes. One handsome chap plays some good stuff every other friday - DJ iyers! :P
Westons Organic in bottles and Ashton Press on tap keeps me happy. Full range of Butcombe beers for the real ale buffs and Stella, Fosters & San Miguel for lager types.
Gurt mint.
iyers - 11 Jul 2006 12:43 |
quality local pub -
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I love this place. Marion (the owner/landlady) rules. I left Bristol for London for 5 years ago and still feel as welcome in there as I did when I lived so close I could see the garden from my bedroom window. If anyone knows of anywhere half as good as this place in London. Let me know!!
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