BITE user comments - cosmogenist
Comments by cosmogenist
We stopped for a brief drink while on a walk along that section of the Ridgeway. A Chef & Brewer pub, indoors is mostly restaurant with a very small bar space. The grounds outside are well-kept and more suited to walkers stopping for an en-route drink. The beer was all Courage, so if you're coming here to drink, try the Red Lion (Free house I think) or the White Swan (Fuller's) instead. My rating may be slightly unfair as we didn't eat, but frankly chain-pub food doesn't do it for me anyway. On the plus side, clean toilets that are easy to access from the back door and a pleasant garden.
8 May 2007 16:03
Perfectly placed on the Ridgeway at Lower Cadsden, this pub is in the ideal spot for walkers, cyclists and tourists. Sadly, they aren't making the most of it, but to be fair I suspect the present team have not been incumbent for long as there is evidence of fresh paint in the ladies' toilets and new curtains. We asked for a pint each of two different beers, and despite coming from different hand pumps they tasted identical; this could simply be that all Greene King beers taste the same, but somehow I doubt it. A dry white wine and soda came back as something that smelt and, worse yet, tasted like sweet German wine (think Blue Nun and you won't be far off). We were there too late to sample the food and so can't comment, except to say that the menu does look interesting.
On the plus side, there's plenty of seating space out the front, which is well-kept and tidy. Dogs are provided with a tap and butler sink (with plug) from which to drink, and you can park all the way up the track from the road to the pub. Just inside the door there's a container of plastic bags for walkers to put over their muddy boots, although as we were at the end of a six-week dry spell they weren't needed this time.
My overall conclusion: has great potential and definitely worth a re-visit some time in the future to see whether it's improved.
8 May 2007 14:51
A small group of us (including two spaniels) went here after walking from Ivinghoe yesterday (Sunday). We found the place to be clean and friendly with a well-kept, pretty garden. We couldn't work out whether it was a free house or not, but the beers on offer were Bateman's and Greene King. We avoided the Greene King (we get enough of that at home), but the Bateman's was well-kept and the white wine spritzer was made with decent wine.
I'd phoned ahead to check on food times, and it's still 12-2.30pm on a Sunday. Having realised we were going to get there some time after 3 I'd packed a small picnic and having checked with the bar staff (possibly the tenants/owners, we weren't sure) they were happy for us to eat that while we drank their beer.
As I said, friendly, polite, well-kept garden and beer - worth a visit if you're in the area, and we'll certainly go back next time we're there.
30 Apr 2007 11:26
The Crown and Horns Inn, East Ilsley
Well, I'm completely bemused by the only other comment. Is it really that bad? We went there for a birthday dinner in a group of eight, and we were happy with it. The beer that night was Tim Taylor's Landlord (which I'm told was well-kept), the wine I was drinking was a very decent sauvignon blanc. Service was reasonable (good but not great), the food was good and came in the most enormous portions - I had crab cakes as a starter, and then couldn't finish the home-made burger and the Everest of chips for main. No problem with the locals either, they seemed friendly enough and certainly not hostile. Nope, I suspect the (anonymous) poster must have been talking about a different pub...
17 Apr 2007 12:57
Went to the Bell on Easter Sunday having walked from Chilton. The queue for the bar was out of the door and the garden was full, but we managed to snag a table as someone left. Spent two very pleasant hours drinking the excellently kept West Berks brew (sold in four-pint jugs) and eating fresh rolls filled with cheese, crab, ham, salt beef... The only disadvantage was that the pub closed at 3pm, so if you're walking there, don't start too late.
17 Apr 2007 12:42
Haven't been there for a while, but the last time I visited the pub was friendly and served decent beer. The beer garden is small but well kept, and the Sunday roast looked good (although I didn't actually try it).
26 Mar 2007 18:09
The Fox Inn, Temple Ewell
Very quiet when we turned up at midday on a weekday lunchtime, but that's to be expected. Good choice of beer, white wine nothing special but definitely drinkable. Partner had a ham sandwich - hand-carved ham and very fresh granary bread. I had a tuna jacket, and the potato wasn't so big that it outfaced you (as I've had in some pubs in the past), but was still big enough to be a good lunch with plenty of tuna. Staff were friendly, service was quick, place was clean, and it started to fill up as lunchtime rolled on. If you're early for the ferry, I can recommend it as a far better place to grab lunch than the docks.
2 Apr 2010 17:48