Pubs and Bars / Pub of the Week
Pub of the Week: Gloucester Road Ale House
The Foresters was one of the last spit and sawdust pubs on Gloucester Road, which has changed beyond all recognition as the Gloucester Road Ale House.
“Wow, this looks nice!” a man at the bar exclaims while ordering a lunchtime pint. “It’s a bit different to when we was last in.
“Me and the wife were having a bet whether it would be an Indian restaurant or sub-divided. So I’m dead chuffed that you’re still a pub!”
is needed now More than ever
Not turned into an Indian restaurant – the fate befalling the Old Fox further up the road, now Guru – Wickwar brewery of south Gloucestershire have done a tremendous job of transforming a pub which with its mock Tudor frontage is quite the draw.
Four Wickwar beers make up the five choices of real ales on cask – Try Me, Star, Bob and Cotswold Way. Next to them is Thatcher’s Traditional, perhaps a nod to the old regulars.
Tuesdays here will see the ales on sale for only £2.50 per pint. Other regular weekly events are live music on a Wednesday, two-for-one cocktails on a Wednesday and Thursday, and Sunday roasts.
The food menu is divided into snacks and nibbles, shares, main dishes, and sides and stuff. Among the snacks is boozy rarebit (£4) made with Wickwar ale and mature Cheddar, the pick of the mains is the cider-braised pork belly (£9.95), while the ‘Glossie’ burger (£8.95) is made with meat from nearby Murray’s butchers and a bap from The Bread Store.
It’s a surprise therefore that the wines are supplied by Walter Hicks of St Austell in Cornwall when this pub has Grape & Grind, one of Bristol’s best off licenses, situated slap bang next door.
The pub’s small downstairs drinking area has a plethora of different design touches: exposed brickwork, plain white tiles and Farrow & Ball shades of paint.
Two booths with leather sofas are nearest the window, with leather backed stools around two central tables. An upstairs room has a second bar and is ringed by purple banquettes.
The Gloucester Road Ale House should be celebrated. Not an Indian restaurant, nor a Tesco Express, it shows that the good old fashioned pub still has a place on every high street, even a pub that plays flamenco on the stereo.
Gloucester Road Ale House, 99 Gloucester Road, Bristol, BS7 8AT
0117 924 6663